Here are Saturday’s and Sunday’s daily SP Streamer rankings for fantasy baseball.
Every day of the 2024 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!
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 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. You can use the rankings to realize who those picks would be 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 by tier):
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.
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, 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.
Nick’s 2024 Streamer Record: 86-76
My pick yesterday: Zebby Matthews vs. LAA – L
PL Bot’s 2024 Streamer Record: 91-71
PL Bot’s Pick yesterday: Bailey Falter vs. MIA – W
Want PL Bot’s pick today? Sign up for PL Pro here.
My streaming pick of the day is Underlined and Italicized.
Thursday’s Starting Pitcher Rankings
Auto Starts
Tarik Skubal vs. COL – Aces gonna ace.
Framber Valdez vs. OAK – He’s been an ace in the second half.
Sonny Gray vs. CIN – The strikeouts are very much alive.
Bryce Miller vs. TEX – It’s in Seattle.
Probably Starts
Gavin Williams vs. TBR – Ignore the start against the Dodgers. He was pushed up a day early and out of his expected routine and it was the Dodgers. This is a RHP against the Rays, sporting an elite four-seamer and solid secondaries. Go for it.
Clarke Schmidt vs. BOS – The matchup is too favorable to deny.
Frankie Montas @ SFG – It’s a great matchup and Montas is throwing harder at 96/97, fresh off ten punchouts against Rockie Road. Oddly safe…?
Questionable Starts
UPDATE: Nestor Cortes vs. BOS – I’ve been uneasy about Cortes and I think he’s relatively safe given how poorly the Red Sox perform on the road.
Ryan Pepiot @ CLE – It’s a poor matchup and Pepiot overly relied on his heater last time out. He still has some Cherry Bomb tendencies.
UPDATE: Mitchell Parker vs. MIA – He didn’t fare well against the Pirates, but he should be better and it’s the Marlins
Kumar Rocker @ SEA – I’m going for it, breaking my “Don’t start in MLB debuts” rule that has destroyed me this year (Skenes, Leiter, etc.) BUT I CAN’T RESIST. It’s a great situation in Seattle, he’s on a heater, and his four-seamer + slider are truly elite. The fact that he’s on a roll in the minors makes me encouraged he’ll have the confidence to remove those jitters we see so often.
DJ Herz vs. MIA – The question is if the changeup will be there or not. I wonder if he can provide enough value if it’s just four-seamers leading the charge.
Do Not Starts
Mitch Spence @ HOU – It’s the Astros. Sadly that’s too much risk for me as Spence rarely hits his peak.
Darren McCaughan @ WSN – At least he has a decent matchup and a long enough leash for five frames?
Cooper Criswell @ NYY – It’s the Yankees and how long does he even go?
Ryan Feltner @ DET – Even outside Coors, Feltner is not the guy to chase.
Jakob Junis @ STL – He made it to five last time and I doubt he’ll do it again, unless his sinker is blessed by Koufax and finds gloves.
Hayden Birdsong vs. MIL – He can’t throw strikes, but if you’re desperate for strikeouts, you can slot him higher than others on the off-chance he finds a groove with his curveball.
Enjoy these rankings? Support my work and Pitcher List by getting PL+ or PL Pro! You’ll get an Ad-Free website, access to our incredible non-toxic baseball Discord community, my weekly PL Pro exclusive Sit/Start Grid, a full suite of fantasy baseball tools, and much more. Get 10% off yearly with code SPSTREAMERS here.
Friday’s Starting Pitcher Rankings
Auto Starts
Bailey Ober vs. CIN – Aces gonna ace.
Aaron Nola vs. NYM – Aces gonna ace.
Yusei Kikuchi @ LAA – This is going to be so good.
Logan Gilbert vs. TEX – Aces gonna ace.
Zach Eflin @ DET – He didn’t have his best last time out, but it’s the Tigers.
Dylan Cease @ SFG – He’s back to his volatile ways. The ceiling is too high to deny, of course.
Tanner Bibee vs. TBR – Cobb looks to need more time, which places Bibee against the Rays in a cushy time at the park.
Jacob deGrom @ SEA – I’m breaking all the laws of Still ILL, but it’s the best pitch on the planet IN SEATTLE. You have to.
Probably Starts
Logan Webb vs. SDP – He wasn’t great last time against them and Webb’s ceiling is as electric as others. The Padres are legit.
Kevin Gausman vs. STL – Gausman finally got legit splitter whiffs in his last start. Let’s hope it sticks.
Clarke Schmidt vs. BOS – The matchup is too favorable to deny.
Questionable Starts
J.T. Ginn @ CHW – The CrySox are that poor and only have four LHB when platooning for a RHB. This should be fine.
Tanner Houck @ NYY – It’s a tough call against the Yankees as Houck’s splitter isn’t as strong as it was in the spring.
Spencer Schwellenbach vs. LAD – I want to keep the faith, though Mr. Crescendo hasn’t returned whiffs on his slider in his last two games. It’ll be a difficult time at the park if that pitch isn’t there.\
Edward Cabrera @ WSN – He’s a Cherry Bomb, even against the Nationals.
DJ Herz vs. MIA – The question is if the changeup will be there or not. I wonder if he can provide enough value if it’s just four-seamers leading the charge.
Landon Knack @ ATL – Knack has a solid heater and slider, though I wonder how far the Dodgers allow him to go. We’ve seen him pushed before, but we never know and the skills aren’t so overwhelming that we expected production in whatever time he gets.
Luis L. Ortiz vs. KCR – He’s a Toby against a middling offense.
Tobias Myers @ ARI – The Sneks are really scary right now.
Eduardo Rodriguez vs. MIL – Maybe he has it in him to return a QS and a Win?
Alec Marsh @ PIT – How long does he go? Will his breakers be on point? At least it’s the Pirates.
Garrett Crochet vs. OAK – This is only a strikeout play as he’s still being limited at 60 pitches.
Do Not Starts
Jose Quintana @ PHI – His command was far better last time out, but it’s the Phillies. Not enough of a ceiling here.
Erick Fedde @ TOR – His four-seamer has gotten him into a lot of trouble and the top half of the Jays offense could punish him.
Brant Hurter vs. BAL – If Hurter is opened for, I won’t rule out a possible vultured Win. It won’t be easy, of course.
Javier Assad @ COL – It’s Coors and I still can’t get behind what Assad is putting down. It ain’t enough.
Zack Littell @ CLE – He’s had his rare moments. This is riskier one than most.
Samuel Aldegheri vs. HOU – It’s the Astros and Aldegheri isn’t exciting enough.
Julian Aguiar @ MIN – Aguiar is a sinkerballer who could go at least five…if he even has that long of a leash. The Reds are kind weird.
Austin Gomber vs. CHC – COL story, Bro.
Enjoy these rankings? Support my work and Pitcher List by getting PL+ or PL Pro! You’ll get an Ad-Free website, access to our incredible non-toxic baseball Discord community, my weekly PL Pro exclusive Sit/Start Grid, a full suite of fantasy baseball tools, and much more. Get 10% off yearly with code SPSTREAMERS here.
Photos Courtesy of IconSportswire | Adapted by Aaron Asbury (@aarongifs on Instagram)
Brandon Pfaadt is slated against MIL Friday, not E. Rod. Where do you see Pfaadt at as an option?