Here are today’s daily SP Streamer rankings.
Every day of the 2023 baseball season, I’ll be looking at today and tomorrow’s slate of scheduled starting pitchers and ranking their matchups for your fantasy baseball streams.
There’s a lot that goes into this and you can hang out with me on Playback.tv/pitcherlist to talk about the specific ranks as I make them every weekday morning from 10am – 12pm ET. If you have questions about these ranks, please ask during the morning Playback AMA. Those are my office hours as I generally don’t answer comments on the site.
There are four tiers to these rankings with 12-teamers in mind:
Auto-Start – Just do it. Don’t overthink this, start the man. This includes “if I have them rostered, I’m starting them” pitchers.
Probably Start – I’m likely starting these arms, though I recognize there is more risk than we’d like there to be. Either it’s a tough matchup for a good-not-elite pitcher or a weak lineup for a volatile arm. These pitchers have a 50% or greater chance of performing well in my view.
Questionable Start – Think of this tier as “I don’t want to start these pitchers in a vacuum, but you could do worse.” Streamers found in this tier are not pitchers I’m targeting and are only if you are in dire need of one. To play it safe with streaming, just start the Probably Start streamers.
Do Not Start – The reward is not worth the risk. Don’t do it. Seriously, these pitchers have a very slim chance of success or sometimes none at all.
Obviously, there will be circumstances where pitchers should move between teams for your situation specifically and these new tiers should act as a little more help than the straight table from last year.
Please keep in mind that streaming is far from a perfect play. In fact, if they work out over half the time, I’d consider it a success. These matchup rankings & streamer picks are going to be wildly different than the actual results throughout the year, so please, have sympathy before the scathing comments and tweets. I’m only trying to help!
Make sure to read the notes if you’re wondering why I’m favoring certain pitchers over others – I won’t get to everyone and hopefully I answer what questions you will have.
There is a second table for tomorrow’s starting pitcher matchups as well, helping everyone get a jump on their nightly pickups. Please note that these matchups are subject to change, though, and there will be times when I have the incorrect pitcher going. I thank you for your future understanding.
Finally, there are my streaming picks of the day, and please keep in mind that I am forced to pick a streamer every day. Those highlighted in Green are that day’s streaming pick in the second tier and I’d roll with them everywhere. Those in Yellow are in the third tier and should be okay if you’re searching for something on a given day, but I don’t recommend streaming unless you’re in need. Finally, those are Red are those I really don’t want to start (they are labeled as “Do Not Start”, after all) but have no other choice. Don’t stream these guys until you are truly desperate. A streaming pick is defined as “rostered in 20% or fewer leagues,” which really emphasizes the point that I’d be happy if over 50% of these worked. I could do the whole sub 30/40% rostered, but there’s no fun in that. You can use the rankings to realize who would be those picks, instead.
(Opener) – Outlines that a pitcher is being opened for that day & the pitcher listed will follow the opener.
As I do my rankings, I thought it would be helpful to showcase a table of how we’re ranking offenses (in Alphabetical order):
I’m sure it’ll change through the year + there are differences to be made about teams vs. LHP or RHP, but it works as a general table that y’all should keep in mind.
Alright, let’s get to it.
This year, with our new daily fantasy baseball projections powered by PLV, I’ll be competing against PL Bot to pick the best streaming option each day.
To get access to PL Bot’s picks each day, sign up for PL Pro here.
The streaming record is determined by “Was this a productive game for 12-teamers if I started them?” Roughly a PQS with a Win and a strikeout per inning with a sub 1.20 WHIP, with a minimum of 5 IP. Close calls are decided by Playback chat.
Nick’s 2023 Streamer Record: 75-61
My pick yesterday: Cristopher Sánchez @ WSH
PL Bot’s 2023 Streamer Record: 71-65
PL Bot’s Pick yesterday: Matt Manning @ CLE
Want PL Bot’s pick today? Sign Up for PL Pro here.
With the new formatting for the notes, I’ve made the streaming pick of the day Underlined and Italicized.
Today’s Starting Pitcher Rankings
Auto-Starts
Zack Wheeler @ WSN – Aces gonna ace.
Max Scherzer vs. MIL – Aces gonna ace.
Max Fried vs. SFG – He’s been a touch worse since the first game, I have faith he’ll get back to the man we know and love.
Probably Starts
Kyle Bradish @ OAK – He’s been too dang good with his breakers and the Athletics aren’t a threat.
Hunter Brown vs. SEA – Brown has been back-and-forth and he’s good enough to start.
Eduardo Rodriguez @ CLE – Eduardo had terrible command against the Red Sox, an abnormality from him this season. Expect a rebound here.
Logan Allen vs. DET – I can’t say I adore Allen, but he’s a strong Toby with a great matchup.
Clarke Schmidt vs. BOS – Keep in mind, the chance of a Win is harder than it used to be pitching for the Yankees. Still, block out the game against Atlanta. That was dumb.
Nick Pivetta (Opener) @ NYY – His slider command fell through last time and out and I’m not sure if it’s the start of a trend or a single blip. I think it’s too soon to abandon ship.
Kyle Hendricks vs. KCR – The Royals are messing up pitchers everywhere these days, and I was tempted to slot Hendricks into the third just for that.
Questionable Starts
Dylan Cease @ COL – Coors isn’t as tough as it used to be, but it’s still not a fun time with Cherry Bomb Cease on the bump.
JP Sears vs. BAL – If he has his four-seamer and sweeper spotted, he can come through. It’s a low Win chance, though.
Hunter Greene vs. TOR – It’s a Still ILL, especially against the Jays. Super excited to see him start again, though.
Hyun Jin Ryu @ CIN – He’s a Toby, but could be more with every outing. It’s awfully risky in Cincy.
Emerson Hancock @ HOU – The fifth inning against the Royals ruined four shutout frames and I was most upset seeing the cutter and changeup fade from the potential they showcased in his debut.
Do Not Starts
Dakota Hudson vs. NYM – There’s a case to be made that this is too low given Hudson’s success finding the seventh frame. On the other hand, he’s ultra BABIP-reliant with a track record of poor control, without strikeout upside.
Adrian Houser @ TEX – It’s the Rangers and yet Houser took down the Dodgers. It’s weird.
Chris Flexen vs. CHW – Flexen showed some promise last time out with his cutter, but pitching in Coors doesn’t help things.
Trevor Williams vs. PHI – Williams can keep the ball down effectively. That’s it? That’s it.
Jordan Lyles @ CHC – At least he’ll be allowed to go 90+ pitches.
Carlos Carrasco @ STL – Carrasco isn’t the man we want him to be.
Dallas Keuchel vs. PIT – Dallas Not Worth.
Alex Wood (Opener) @ ATL – It may be Junis opening, which could mean a sneaky Win…but it’s Atlanta. No thank you.
UPDATE: Jakob Junis @ ATL – It looks like the Giants are letting Junis get a proper start for once…against Atlanta. Just like when my coach let me, the reliever, start a game my Senior year. When it was 30 degrees. He knew it wasn’t going to work.
Osvaldo Bido (Opener) @ MIN – He doesn’t go long enough and doesn’t have the arsenal to chase.
Tomorrow’s Starting Pitcher Rankings
Auto-Starts
Luis Castillo @ CHW – Aces gonna ace.
Blake Snell vs. MIA – Aces gonna ace.
Aaron Nola vs. SFG – It’s the Giants. I know how rough it’s been rostering Nola. Dew it.
Probably Starts
Lucas Giolito vs. CIN – He hasn’t been pitching nearly as poorly as the results have been. It’s a solid matchup and Giolito spouted 95 mph against the Rangers.
Jordan Montgomery @ ARI – He’s a safe play here.
José Urquidy vs. BOS – Uruqidy has been pitching stupidly well and has a solid Win chance here.
Bryce Elder vs. NYM – The Mets aren’t scary and Elder has a great Win chance as he does his sinker/slider thing.
Javier Assad @ DET – Assad performed better with his cutter in his second outing and it’s the Tigers.
Graham Ashcraft @ LAA – I’m weirded out by the new slider that looks more like a cutter to pair with his…cutter, but the results have been there and I think we’re at the point of treating him like a Vargas Rule – It’s a 2.17 ERA, 10.9 WHIP across his last nine starts and 58 innings, if you can believe it.
Questionable Starts
None – I originally had some from the bottom tier in here, but honestly, no. I don’t suggest doing any of it and the end of the second tier is good enough to roll with.
Do Not Starts
Tanner Houck @ HOU – He’s expected to return from the minors and I’d wait a start before considering adding him to your lineups. Feel free to spec add if you like, but this will likely come with jitters + facing the Astros isn’t what you want.
Bailey Falter vs. STL – Falter isn’t exceptional, but he does enough to make this a decent option in PNC Park. Definitely not chasing it.
Alex Faedo vs. CHC – The slider is strong, the other pieces are not.
Matthew Liberatore @ PIT – He regressed massively last time out, back down to 92/93 mph and not being the guy we wanted to see against the Athletics. Maybe it returns?
Johnny Cueto @ SDP – We’re seen Cueto magic before. That’s all I’ve got.
Alec Marsh @ OAK – Marsh shouldn’t really be considered, but it’s O.Co. He could have his best breaker and a good enough heater, but it’s unlikely.
Alex Wood @ PHI – They are letting Wood start. Maybe. It could be five frames, it could be an opener, it could be very much not worth your time.
Touki Toussaint vs. SEA – There is some strikeout upside in the curve, and yet it’s likely to still come with horrible ratios.
Kyle Muller vs. KCR – Oh hey, he’s back! I hope he’s showing us something new.
Slade Cecconi vs. TEX – It’s Texas and Cecconi ain’t it.
David Peterson @ ATL – Oh dear, NO.
Featured Image by Kurt Wasemiller (@KUWasemiller on Twitter / @kurt_player02 on Instagram)