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: 82-66
My pick yesterday: Clarke Schmidt @ DET
PL Bot’s 2023 Streamer Record: 75-73
PL Bot’s Pick yesterday: Clarke Schmidt @ DET
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 @ MIL – Aces gonna ace.
Tyler Glasnow @ CLE – Aces gonna ace.
Freddy Peralta vs. PHI – Aces gonna ace.
Max Scherzer vs. MIN – Aces gonna ace.
Justin Verlander vs. NYY – Aces gonn–oh wait. He’s really good but not an ace. It’s fine. We start him.
Eury Pérez @ WSN – The future 2024 AGA.
Kodai Senga vs. SEA – He really does look an ace.
Logan Gilbert @ NYM – Gilbert, get your fastball domination working and keep the slider and we’ll talk.
James Paxton @ KCR – There was a moment you were on the verge of AGA, but your fastball has declined steadily. Get it together.
Probably Starts
Michael Wacha vs. SFG – Wacha had a stumble last time, but it’s the Giants. We hold pat.
Eduardo Rodriguez @ CHW – He’s a solid Holly against a meh team.
Graham Ashcraft vs. CHC – Ashcraft has been cruising and you can’t not start him.
Mitch Keller @ STL – Keller has dominated for two straight on the back on his cutter and we gotta roll with it against the Cards.
Max Fried @ LAD – This game is dope and also so annoying for your fantasy squads.
Julio Urías vs. ATL – Do you actually start Urías? WHY ARE BOTH THESE OFFENSES SO GOOD.
Joe Ryan @ TEX – Oh cool, another fantastic arm against an elite offense. Cool cool cool.
Questionable Starts
JP Sears vs. LAA – He’s our streaming pick of the day as the Angels are roooough right now.
Patrick Sandoval @ OAK – It’s the Athletics, but The Irish Panda hasn’t been able to have both his changeup and slider for so long and it’s legit bothering me.
Carlos Rodón @ HOU – It’s the Astros, but Rodón is steadily improving. This could be his breakout start.
Dakota Hudson vs. PIT – He didn’t come through against the Phils, but I have to wonder if the new slider skill can return to take care of the Pirates.
Jordan Wicks @ CIN – I love his changeup with a solid cutter and heater. It’s at Cincy, though.
Hyun Jin Ryu @ COL – Coors isn’t as rough as it used to be, though the ceiling is still limited here. Push him up at least one if you’re chasing six frames.
Cole Irvin @ ARI – Irvin is fine. Ish. You may steal a Win here.
Jake Irvin vs. MIA – Is Irvin’s two heaters + curve approach enough?
Touki Toussaint vs. DET – Here’s a decent strikeout upside play, as long as Touki goes to the curveball at least 35% of the time.
Do Not Starts
Zach Davies vs. BAL – His changeup isn’t enough. No thanks.
Chris Flexen vs. TOR – It’s the Jays. In Coors.
Cal Quantrill vs. TBR – This is a clear Still ILL for Quantrill, who I’m not interested in even if he’s healthy.
Jordan Lyles vs. BOS – When have you felt good starting Lyles?
Ben Lively vs. CHC – Sadly, he’s Raggedy Anne again without the heavy slider lean.
Caleb Kilian @ CIN – Hey, he’s back! And I have zero interest taking the chance in Cincy for this doubleheader.
Tristan Beck @ SDP – Beck doesn’t go long and the Padres are dangerous.
Tomorrow’s Starting Pitcher Rankings
Auto-Starts
Luis Castillo @ NYM – Aces gonna ace.
Blake Snell vs. SFG – Aces gonna ace.
Aaron Nola @ MIL – As long as it’s a major focus on four-seamers and curveballs, Nola should look like an ace.
Kyle Bradish @ ARI – He’s certainly acted like an ace across the last two months.
Jordan Montgomery vs. MIN – He’s a Holly against a middling offense. I don’t see why you wouldn’t start him.
Probably Starts
Andrew Abbott vs. CHC – Abbott has had his ups-and-downs lately, but I’m not ready to give up.
Hunter Brown vs. NYY – Brown looked solid last time out, but he still carries a low floor.
Griffin Canning @ OAK – Canning is our streaming pick as he packs plenty of strikeout upside and gets as good of a matchup as you could hope for.
Tanner Houck @ KCR – Houck’s slider was fantastic last week and the Royals have cooled down a bit.
Yusei Kikuchi @ COL – Coors isn’t as scary as it used to be and Kikuchi has been in a phenomenal run.
Mike Clevinger vs. DET – He just dominated the Athletics, but we all know he can fall back down quickly. Likely worthwhile, but the floor is still blegh.
Logan Allen vs. TBR – He’s a Toby and I’m not sure what to make of the Rays offense at the moment.
Questionable Starts
Reese Olson @ CHW – He looked great against the Yankees, but is that enough for us to believe he’s hit a plateau?
Javier Assad @ CIN – I like the rhythm Assad is in, but Cincy is not a fun place to pitch.
Zack Littell @ CLE – There’s a possible cheap Win to steal here.
Paul Blackburn vs. LAA – Same goes for Blackburn as the Angels are roooough these days.
Drew Rom vs. PIT – Rom has a 90/91 mph heater that performs far better than you’d expect it to.
Bobby Miller vs. ATL – Atlanta is so dang scary these days.
Kyle Harrison @ SDP – Harrison has stupid good in his last outing, though I question if he’ll have the same command + the Padres destroy LHP, unlike the Reds on the road in a pitcher’s park.
Bailey Falter @ STL – He stumbled in his last outing, but still has thee skills to make it worthwhile against the Cardinals.
Alec Marsh vs. BOS – He’s fanned nine twice recently and maaaaybe it’s worth chasing it. I have my heavy suspicions, though.
Do Not Starts
Slade Cecconi vs. BAL – I just cant’ get behind Slade’s mediocre arsenal.
David Peterson vs. SEA – His slider is just so dang blegh these days. Peterson took down the Angels because their offense is terrible, not because of David’s development.
Trevor Williams vs. MIA – Williams can survive 5+ when he keeps his stuff at the bottom of the zone.
Bryce Elder @ LAD – Elder has done more ridiculous things in his day.
Luis Severino @ HOU – He’s a hint of life lately and maybe it blossoms against the Astros…? Yeah, fine. Likely not.
Ty Blach vs. TOR – It’s Coors + the Jays. Hooooo boy.
Bryan Hoeing @ WSN – If his sinkers find gloves, this could work.
TBD Brewers vs. PHI – I’m not sure who is slated to replace Houser in the rotation and I still prefer them to Keuchel.
Dallas Keuchel @ TEX – Seriously, don’t.
Featured Image by Kurt Wasemiller (@KUWasemiller on Twitter / @kurt_player02 on Instagram)
Killian’s not up or starting – he pitched yesterday in AAA. It looks like Shane Greene is getting called up to start. Obviously still a clear do not start.
To show you what a moron this guy is,
On August 4th, he said of James Paxton
“He’s one start away from being an AGA”.
Since then, Paxton has given up 23 runs
in his last 26 innings.
Maybe you could start your own blog so the rest of us could benefit from your wisdom?!?!