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: 83-66
My pick yesterday: JP Sears vs LAA
PL Bot’s 2023 Streamer Record: 76-73
PL Bot’s Pick yesterday: JP Sears vs LAA
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
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 was 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 (Opener) @ 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.
UPDATE: Johnny Cueto @ WSN – It’s a tough ask to find Cueto magic these days.
Trevor Williams vs. MIA – Williams can survive 5+ when he keeps his stuff at the bottom of the zone.
UPDATE: Colin Rea vs. PHI – Rea has his moments and with the terrible matchups below, he’s slightly a better option in some cases.
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.
UPDATE: Emmet Sheehan vs. ATL – Don’t mess with Atlanta.
Dallas Keuchel @ TEX – Seriously, don’t.
Tomorrow’s Starting Pitcher Rankings
Auto-Starts
Zac Gallen vs. BAL – Aces gonna ace.
Kevin Gausman @ COL – Aces gonna ace even in Coors.
Sandy Alcantara @ WSN – It’s a lovely matchup and Sandy should prosper.
George Kirby @ NYM – The Mets aren’t enough to deter this.
Tarik Skubal @ CHW – His four-seamer is so good.
Chris Sale @ KCR – Sale should be solid now that he doesn’t need to face the Astros.
Probably Starts
Seth Lugo vs. SFG – That’s a Toby.
Jon Gray vs. MIN – His four-seamer is doing what we want to amplify the slider.
Aaron Civale @ CLE – That’s another good ‘ole Toby.
Jack Flaherty @ ARI – I think he pitched better than the results showed last week with a solid Win chance.
Tyler Anderson @ OAK – It’s Oakland and Anderson has his good changeup these days.
Questionable Starts
Brandon Williamson vs. CHC – Williamson has been making it work with his new changeup and velocity, though the Cubs will make this a tough affair.
Alex Cobb @ SDP – The splitter was obviously on point last start (and in his previous one!), is it enough for the strong Padres offense?
Charlie Morton @ LAD – He’s in a groove, yet it’s the Dodgers. Yikes.
Kenta Maeda @ TEX – Maeda hasn’t had his slider and splitter working properly for a few starts + it’s Texas.
Tylor Megill vs. SEA – His four-seamer is lively and the slider is looking solid. A start against the Mariners feels like the right mix of getting in at the ground floor + decent floor.
Wade Miley vs. PHI – He’s a Toby with a tough offense ahead.
Johan Oviedo @ STL – He’s a prototypical Cherry Bomb.
Cristian Javier vs. NYY – Uggggggggh.
Bobby Miller vs. ATL – Atlanta is nothing to mess with.
Ken Waldichuk vs. LAA – The Angels are rough and Waldichuk has strikeout upside. He’s so terribly inefficient, though.
Josiah Gray vs. MIA – Even against Miami, I struggle to excited about this.
Jameson Taillon @ CIN – He’s been squeezing everything he has out of his repertoire and pitching in Cincy is not fun.
Do Not Starts
Michael Kopech vs. DET – I know it’s Detroit, but Kopech is so far from his best self.
Xzavion Curry vs. TBR – We’ve seen him have some moments with the slider, but hot dang I don’t want to chase this.
Michael King @ HOU – There’s some intrigue here, but he’s not fully stretched out and it’s the Astros.
Ranger Suárez @ MIL – It’s a Still ILL + Suarez wasn’t locked in before the injury.
Zack Greinke vs. BOS – Greinke does what Greinke does.
Chase Anderson vs. TOR – In Coors + the Jays? Nope.
Adam Wainwright vs. PIT – Waino should not be started.
Featured Image by Kurt Wasemiller (@KUWasemiller on Twitter / @kurt_player02 on Instagram)