SP Streamers for today's, tomorrow's and the day after tomorrow's games for fantasy baseball.
Every day of the 2025 baseball season, I'll be looking at today's 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 and I'm starting them in the majority of situations.
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!
There is a second table (and now third for PL Pro members) 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.
And of course, there are my streaming picks of the day. Please keep in mind that for my streaming record, I am forced to pick a streamer every day even if they are in the bottom tier. 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 Do Not Start pitchers unless you are truly desperate. A streaming pick is defined as "rostered in 20% or fewer leagues" according to Fantasy Pros. This 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 and it applies to a smaller audience.
As I do my rankings, I thought it would be helpful to showcase a table of how we're ranking offenses, granted by our PLV powered Projections (in alphabetical order by tier):
Remember, these offensive rankings are based on each offense's Process+ so far this year and how we project their lineups moving forward. It means you're going to see a little different offensive rankings than you may see elsewhere and there will always be some surprises. This is based on skills, not purely results! If you have questions about these offense rankings, reach out to Kyle Bland (@blandalytics).
To spice up these streaming recommendations, I've included our new daily fantasy baseball projections powered by PLV, and I'll be competing against PL Bot to pick the best streaming option each day.
These projections are different from your typical projections as they incorporate our pitch quantifier PLV, assessing pitcher and hitter skills at a much more granular level than your standard box score.
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.
Note: If no pitcher under 20% rostered would have qualified for a "Streaming Win," no loss is granted.
(Opener) - Outlines that a pitcher is being opened for that day & the pitcher listed will follow the opener.
Nick's 2025 Streamer Record: 105-57
My Pick yesterday: Win - Emmet Sheehan vs. COL
My Pick today: Tyler Wells vs. PIT
My Pick tomorrow: Cade Povich vs. PIT
My Pick day after tomorrow: Unlock with PL Pro
My picks for the day after tomorrow are located at the bottom of this article for PL Pro members.
In addition, PL Pro Members have access to my 14-Day Sit/Start SP Grid, ranking all expected starters into the four tiers across the next fourteen days. You can find it on the PL Pro Hub Page.
PL Bot's 2025 Streamer Record: 106-56
PL Bot's Pick yesterday: Win - Emmet Sheehan vs. COL
PL Bot's Pick today: Unlock with PL Pro
PL Bot's Pick tomorrow: Unlock with PL Pro
PL Bot's Pick day Sunday: Unlock with PL Pro
PL Bot's Picks are located at the bottom of this article for PL Pro members.
Wednesday 9/10 Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings
Auto-Starts
Paul Skenes @ BAL - Aces gonna ace.
Blake Snell vs. COL - Aces gonna ace.
Logan Gilbert vs. STL - Aces gonna ace.
Freddy Peralta @ TEX - Aces gonna ace.
Nick Pivetta vs. CIN - Aces gonna ace.
Chris Sale vs. CHC - Aces gonna ace. IT'S ACE DAY Y'ALL, ALRIGHT?!
Carlos Rodón vs. DET - He's been solid and you're running him out there.
Merrill Kelly vs. MIL - Kelly hasn't let you down in ages.
Cristopher Sánchez vs. NYM - Aces gonna ace with arguably the toughest matchup.
Probably Starts
Eury Pérez vs. WSN - I know you're scared. Pérez has had two terrible innings across two starts. He's not that man.
Andrew Abbott @ SDP - Alright Abbott, this is your start. Get that heater and changeup in check.
Tyler Wells vs. PIT - Wells tossed over 80 pitches in his return from UCL surgery and now has a lovely set of matchups. The skills are where you want them to be.
Jameson Taillon @ ATL - Taillon is a "Toby" against a decent offense. I think you're still safe to chase the QS and Win here.
Questionable Starts
Eduardo Rodriguez @ SFG - The Giants are heating up and as a "Toby", this could go either way.
José Soriano vs. MIN - He's a "HIPSTER". Good luck.
Payton Tolle (Opener) @ ATH - Tolle would be in the second tier, but the Red Sox announced on Monday that he wouldn't be starting this game, but could pitch out of the pen. That may be a bulk inning situation or just a few frames. I think his heater is absurd and if he does show up here, it should help your squads. That said, the haze has me disinterested.
Clay Holmes @ PHI - I don't trust "The Adobe" with a lower ceiling than the blueprints outlined. But at least the Philles are a weak crew at the moment.
Jack Flaherty @ NYY - It's the Yankees and Flaherty has been a massive "HIPSTER".
Michael McGreevy @ SEA - It's a great park to pitch in, even if the Mariners pack a ton of thump. Hopefully McGreevy can continue to keep the ball on the ground and get through 5+, if not six.
José Berríos vs. HOU - He is "The Great Undulator". He needs a few great outings to get back into his normal range, though.
Logan Allen vs. KCR - It's not a good matchup and I'm generally against this. If you need to find volume, Allen has a little more potential than those in the bottom tier.
Do Not Starts
Taj Bradley @ LAA - He doesn't know where his pitches are going. No thanks.
Carson Seymour vs. ARI - Maybe there's five innings in there. I wish I liked his stuff more.
Jason Alexander @ TOR - It's a terrible matchup. If Alexander can execute the "Neckbeard" approach perfectly, he'll get through it. That's a slim chance, sadly.
Sean Burke vs. TBR - Is this the start that Burke puts all the pieces together? It's a rare occurrence that you can't lean into.
Mason Barnett vs. BOS - He's fresh off 18 whiffs and I don't buy it. Throw in "Sacré Verde" and I'm out.
Jake Irvin @ MIA - Uh huh. Even against Miami, don't do it.
Kyle Freeland @ LAD - Freeland had the game of his season in Coors last time he took the pearl. Unfortunately, that peak looks nothing like a plateau and the floor is still lava.
KCR Bullpen @ CLE - It's a proper bullpen game with Wacha dealing with a concussion. Poor guy, I hope he's okay.
TBR Bullpen @ CHW - They're giving Pepiot extra rest and I wish they told us earlier...
Thursday 9/11 Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings
Auto-Starts
NONE - The pitcher tier matters, not that tiers have at least one arm. I got you.
Probably Starts
Cam Schlittler vs. DET - Schlitter was absurdly unfortunate in his last outing and the skills are still very legit.
Bryce Miller vs. LAA - He's home and the Angels aren't scary these days.
Cade Povich vs. PIT - Don't overlook this stream. Povich is a "Toby" capable of six frames and a Win against a weak offense.
Gavin Williams vs. KCR - He's a "HIPSTER" who has been able to make it work more often than not over the last month and change.
Ian Seymour @ CHW - He's away from Tampa Bay and it seems like a good matchup, though the SlySox have been tougher than expected.
Kevin Gausman vs. HOU - Gausman is still a "HIPSTER", but I get it. The splitter/heater has been there as of late. Good luck.
Questionable Starts
Shane Smith vs. TBR - Smith may be limited a bit and the ceiling isn't overwhelming. He's a decent play and I wish I had more faith he'd have all his arsenal working.
Ryan Weathers vs. WSN - He's back! I was tempted to place him in the second tier for this potential "Still ILL", but he tossed just 68 pitches in his final rehab start, shortening his potential leash, and forcing efficiency out of the gate to be worthwhile. Hey, it could happen.
Jesús Luzardo vs. NYM - He's a "Cherry Bomb" going against a tough squad. The command was on point last time out and he could pull this one out.
Johan Oviedo @ BAL - I love Oviedo's under-the-hood metrics with elite extension and "HAVAA". Can he locate the heaters and slider to take full advantage?
Yusei Kikuchi @ SEA - Kikuchi has strikeout upside in "@TEA". Unfortunately, the arsenal has been erratic for a while.
David Peterson @ PHI - It's hard to trust Peterson these days, even if the Philadelphia lineup is enduring major losses of Trea and Bohm.
Cristian Javier @ TOR - This has disaster potential, though if Javier is able to locate well, his stuff can pull out a productive outing.
Sawyer Gipson-Long @ NYY - Why does it have to be the Yankees? SGL's extension + sinker drop make for a "Neckbeard" approach that could cruise through 5+, even against the thump of the Bronx.
Randy Vásquez vs. COL - It's "Rockie Road", so fine. Can Randy exploit it?
Brad Lord @ MIA - Lord just had a dazzling outing and now gets the Marlins. His success isn't sustainable, but it's the Marlins.
Do Not Starts
Stephen Kolek @ CLE - I know he just had a solid outing and the Guardians are meh, but he's going to have to deal with LHB and he's really not a strong option in general.
McCade Brown @ SDP - It's the Colorado SP.
Friday 9/12 Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings
New for PL Pro members - I am making the streaming table for an extra day out (no write-ups as these pitchers change often). I wanted to add a bonus for those who support us without taking anything away from everyone else, and I thought this was a good compromise.
In addition, PL Pro Members have access to my Sit/Start SP Grid, ranking all expected starters into the four tiers across the next fourteen days. You can find it on the PL Pro Hub Page.
