Here are today’s and tomorrow’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: 84-69
My pick yesterday: Caden Dana vs. SEA – W
PL Bot’s 2024 Streamer Record: 85-68
PL Bot’s Pick yesterday: Alex Cobb vs. PIT – W
Want PL Bot’s pick today? Sign up for PL Pro here.
My streaming pick of the day is Underlined and Italicized.
Monday’s Starting Pitcher Rankings
Auto Starts
Corbin Burnes vs. CHW – He added five inches of drop on his cutter last start and went 10/41 whiffs on the pitch as a result. And it’s the White Sox.
Logan Gilbert @ OAK – Aces gonna ace.
Jack Flaherty @ ARI – Aces gonna ace.
Gerrit Cole @ TEX – Cole, this is it. Do the thing.
Joe Musgrove vs. DET – Musgrove’s breakers weren’t solid in his last outing and I’d expect them to recover against the Tigers.
Freddy Peralta vs. STL – He’s staved off Professor Chaos well as of late.
Probably Starts
Jared Jones @ CHC – I know it was a terrible start last week, I’m keeping the faith as the stuff is still so dang good.
Gavin Williams @ KCR – The four-seamer is elite and as long as the secondaries earn enough strikes, he’s solid.
Luis Severino vs. BOS – It’s a great matchup and Severino’s fastball + sweeper is working well.
Osvaldo Bido vs. SEA – He’s a Vargas Rule with a lovely matchup.
Brayan Bello @ NYM – Bello rebounded in a huge way in his last outing and I’m banking he’s getting into rhythm with all three of his ptiches.
Justin Verlander @ CIN – It’s a tough call in Cin City, but Verlander is a Holly and the Win chance is too good.
Simeon Woods Richardson @ TBR – Not the best arm out there and a little inconsistent, but it’s the Rays as a RHP.
Questionable Starts
UPDATE: Andre Pallante @ MIL – He’s on a better run than the two options below with cut-fastballs over the plate finding gloves.
Michael Wacha vs. CLE – Wacha hosting Cleveland is digestible, but his we don’t know if the changeup will be there.
Jameson Taillon vs. PIT – He’s a solid Quality Start play, but the rest is a bit too mid to raise into the second tier.
Andrew Heaney vs. NYY – It’s the Yankees. If you need strikeout upside, it could work.
Do Not Starts
Zack Littell vs. MIN – Littell doesn’t do enough for me to chase him.
Eduardo Rodriguez vs. LAD – I hate this, but at least he’s a Quality Start threat.
UPDATE: Julian Aguiar vs. HOU – The matchup ain’t it, but as a sinkerballer, there’s always a small chance it works.
UPDATE: Jack Leiter vs. NYY – The stuff is fun, the command isn’t + the Yankees. But hey, maybe this is the start it clicks.
UPDATE: Ty Madden @ SDP – Madden doesn’t have exciting strikeout upside, but it’s possible he finds five frames.
Brant Hurter @ SDP – Maybe the ways of the Toby make for 5+ innings of decency.
Connor Phillips vs. HOU – Oh snap! Welcome back Connor. Please don’t throw 12 balls in a row to start this one.
Steven Matz @ MIL – Another return, here as a Still ILL.
Chris Flexen @ BAL – You really don’t want to go to the beaches of Baltimore, Flexen. Nick, they have beautiful beaches! Welp, Flexen doesn’t know that.
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 SP FAAB Forecast podcast, a full suite of fantasy baseball tools, and much more. Get 10% off yearly with code SPSTREAMERS here.
Tuesday’s Starting Pitcher Rankings
Auto Starts
Chris Sale vs. COL – Aces gonna ace.
Paul Skenes @ CHC – Aces gonna ace.
Luis Castillo @ OAK – Aces gonna ace.
Justin Steele vs. PIT – Obiviously.
Sonny Gray @ MIL – Gray strikeouts out too many to deny this.
Probably Starts
Jeffrey Springs vs. MIN – I’m all for it, though I understand hesitation if Springs’ changeup isn’t there.
Ryne Nelson @ SFG – The four-seamer is elite and Nelson has cutters or sliders working just enough each time out to complement it. In addition, the Giants do little to instill fear.
Carlos Rodón @ TEX – Rodón hasn’t been as consistent as we want. It’s frustration and we’re still rolling him out there.
Tanner Bibee @ KCR – He has Cherry Bomb tendencies and they could appear in this one against a decent offense.
Kutter Crawford @ NYM – Kutter has been leaning on his namesake and this matchup should work out.
David Festa @ TBR – I love his slider affinity in his last outing and the Rays are a lovely stream.
David Peterson vs. BOS – He’s rolling despite many signs that it’ll end at some point. Vargas Rule all day.
Cade Povich vs. CHW – Povich gets the White Sox in a lovely Win chance.
Questionable Starts
Chris Bassitt vs. PHI – You generally just lock in Bassitt and this is no different. I get those who want to sit out this early in the week, though.
Walker Buehler @ LAA – It’s the Angels and I don’t actually dislike Buehler’s approach last time – he actually had a gameplan! It can work and I want to believe all he needs is more time.
Patrick Corbin @ MIA – It’s the one time I’ve had Corbin in the Third Tier this year and it’s after two starts of harder cutters that returned success. Now it’s a deliocus matchup and what the h*ck, LET’S DO THIS.
Brady Singer vs. CLE – He’s a Cherry Bomb. Always has been.
Aaron Civale vs. STL – Civale’s breakers aren’t there yet and I’m worried he’ll stumble even after his great line in his last outing.
Andrew Heaney vs. NYY – It’s the Yankees and Heaney is more volatile than we want him to be.
Do Not Starts
J.T. Ginn vs. SEA – There’s some hope here for Ginn who is able to go sinker/slider, but he was limited to just 67 pitches last time and the ceiling isn’t high enough.
Kyle Harrison vs. ARI – There’s always some chance with Harrison for strikeouts, but it’s just not worth it.
Max Meyer vs. WSN – Meyer’s slider was better last time and it’s still not enough.
Tyler Phillips @ TOR – Phillips has had moments of six quality frames. The Shag Rug is far too scary.
Reid Detmers vs. LAD – Oh snap! He’s back! And is being handed the Dodgers as a cruel, cruel curl of the monkey paw.
Nick Nastrini @ BAL – Nastrini was able to throw more four-seamer strikes in his last start, but it’s the Orioles and it’s too early to chase one single game.
Kyle Freeland @ ATL – 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 SP FAAB Forecast podcast, 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)