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: 84-66
My pick yesterday: Griffin Canning @ OAK
PL Bot’s 2023 Streamer Record: 76-74
PL Bot’s Pick yesterday: David Peterson vs. SEA
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
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.
UPDATE: Carson Spiers vs. CHC – Kyle Boddy did a great quick overview of him, outlining his solid fastball and slider stuff ratings in the minors. I’m curious what the command and approach we’ll get is and y’all know me – don’t risk players in their MLB debuts.
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.
UPDATE: Kyle Muller vs. LAA – Sure, it’s the Angels, but Muller hasn’t been worth your time all year.
Adam Wainwright vs. PIT – Waino should not be started.
Tomorrow’s Starting Pitcher Rankings
Auto-Starts
Pablo López @ CLE – Aces gonna ace.
Corbin Burnes @ PIT – Yeah, it was bad last time but it’s the Pirates. THE PIRATES.
Zach Eflin vs. BOS – He’s been so solid.
Cole Ragans vs. CHW – IT’S COLE RAGANS DAY – I’m hosting a live watch party of this start at 2:10pm ET – playback.tv/pitcherlist. It’s 100% free, y’all.
Grayson Rodriguez @ LAA – The Angels are a weak offense and Grayson has been gold.
Merrill Kelly vs. COL – Kelly gets Rockie Road and you have to start him.
Logan Webb @ CHC – It’s the toughest matchup of the top tier and yet we’re still doing this.
Justin Steele vs. SFG – Steele’s command has been off for about a month now, but fortunately he gets the Giants.
José Berríos @ OAK – Berríos has been granted the gift of Oakland. Don’t spoil it.
Lucas Giolito vs. MIN – It’s his debut for the Guardians against a squad he’s faced many times. Oh, and he’s at 94 mph and has a whiff-heavy changeup once again.
Probably Starts
Brayan Bello @ TBR – The sole member of the tier is a clear choice. I wonder if his new sweeper-esque breaker takes a step forward here.
Questionable Starts
Andrew Heaney vs. HOU – It’s the Astros, but Heaney is the Cherry Bomb poster boy. There’s a chance it work, especially if you’re chasing strikeouts.
Do Not Starts
Peter Lambert @ ARI – You really shouldn’t start anyone from this tier, but don’t completely rule out this Rockies staff on the road in Arizona. They have their moments.
Taijuan Walker @ SDP – I really don’t like starting Walker and the Padres still pack thump in their lineup.
José Urquidy @ TEX – It’s the Rangers and you can’t quite trust Urquidy here.
Jesse Scholtens @ KCR – The Royals make for a decent matchup for an arm who will be allowed to go six. That’s the best I can say.
Luis L. Ortiz vs. MIL – Ortiz just isn’t the same guy he was last September.
Kenny Rosenberg vs. BAL – I have zero interest in this young arm getting the start with his changeup/four-seamer focus.
Luke Weaver @ CIN – I wonder how long the Mariners will let him go.
Ken Waldichuk vs. TOR – His command is poor and the Jays can punish him quickly.
Brett Kennedy vs. SEA – Absolutely not.
Rich Hill vs. PHI – I doubt he’ll go five frames.
Featured Image by Kurt Wasemiller (@KUWasemiller on Twitter / @kurt_player02 on Instagram)
Looks like Taj Bradley is getting called up to make the start for the Rays today. Where would you slot him in?
he’s been bad in AAA can’t trust him even against CLE
It looks like B. Woo gets the @CIN today. Is this “probably start” territory?