Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings Fantasy Baseball – 9/6 & 9/7

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: 84-69

My pick yesterday: Brandon Pfaadt vs. COL

PL Bot’s 2023 Streamer Record: 77-76

PL Bot’s Pick yesterday: Brandon Pfaadt vs. COL

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

 

Spencer Strider vs. STL – Aces gonna ace.

Tyler Glasnow vs. BOS – Aces gonna ace.

Freddy Peralta @ PIT – Aces gonna ace.

Joe Ryan @ CLE – I know you’re not an ace, but no, you’re not lost His four-seamer is stupid right now and it’s not a tough matchup. Just get that slider over the plate…

Zack Wheeler @ SDP – Aces gonna ace but it’s San Diego.

Max Scherzer vs. HOU – Aces gonna ace but it’s Houston.

 

Probably Starts

 

Mitch Keller vs. MIL – He’s on a fantastic run and we ain’t stopping now. UPDATE: There is a possibility he’s opened for by Colin Selby. I sure hope not.

Lance Lynn @ MIA – This is a pretty clear one even if he hasn’t been at his peak.

Hyun Jin Ryu @ OAK – It’s a Toby against Oakland, y’all.

Clarke Schmidt vs. DET – He’s barely the streamer at 20% rostered and against the Tigers, this is relatively safe.

Jordan Wicks vs. SFG – His changeup is filthy, the Giants are terrible, and the cutter + sinker should do the rest.

Logan Gilbert @ CIN – It’s Cincy, but they haven’t been as strong as you’d expect and Gilbert had his four-seamer back last time out.

Gavin Williams vs. MIN – As long as his knee is okay, we’re going with this. The Twins did just score 20 (as if they’d do it again), but I think we’re still good here.

Justin Verlander @ TEX – It’s the Rangers and that’s all kinds of annoying.

Michael Wacha vs. PHI – It’s a difficult matchup and he’s had some issues with his command. I’m still doing it, but the floor is worse than ideal.

Matt Manning @ NYY – Manning is doing a Michael Lorenzen version of the Vargas Rule with a lovely schedule the rest of the way, chucking sliders casually over the plate with a decent fastball

James Paxton @ TBR – His four-seamer has been declining and I’m scared of this one against the Rays. That said, the Rays aren’t that intimidating these days and he can still pull it off. I’m worried.

 

Questionable Starts

 

Kyle Gibson @ LAA – He’s a Cherry Bomb, even against the Angels. He finds a way to fail against the poor offenses…

Zach Davies vs. COL – It’s Rockie Road, which is such a gift these days. Davies will be allowed to take advantage if he has decent enough stuff.

UPDATE: Nick Pivetta @ TBR – It looks like the Red Sox are pushing back Paxton for some extra rest (smart) and Pivetta is getting a chance to log some innings. I worry he won’t get a ton of frames and I question if his slider is still good enough.

Chris Flexen @ ARI – Hey, I think there’s a decent chance for Flexen here. I know, it seems wild but it could happen. His cutter is looking great.

Patrick Sandoval vs. BAL – I hate how Sandoval seemingly can’t figure out how to have both his changeup and slider working on the same day.

 

Do Not Starts

 

Touki Toussaint @ KCR – He’s a deep strikeout play against a weak team, but I haven’t seen him truly embrace the curveball quite yet. Just 25% in his last start needs to be 40%+ in my view.

JP Sears vs. TOR – Sears has his moments, it’s unlikely this is one of them.

Jordan Lyles vs. CHW – Lyles just tossed eight innings for his one start of the month (he’s a Werewolf, after all). Don’t expect it.

Carlos Carrasco @ WSN – I know it’s the Nats, but Carrasco ain’t it.

UPDATE: José Butto @ WSN – Carrasco was placed on the IL and Butto has a chance to go five against a mediocre Nationals crew.

Joan Adon vs. NYM – He just doesn’t have enough in the tank to trust.

Edward Cabrera vs. LAD – It’s a clear Still ILL for a guy with a history of command issues.

Dakota Hudson @ ATL – It’s Atlanta but at least Hudson has a chance to squeak by if the grounders find gloves.

Lyon Richardson vs. SEA – Is he going to go five?

Tristan Beck @ CHC – Is he going to go five?

 

 

Tomorrow’s Starting Pitcher Rankings

 

Auto-Starts

 

Luis Castillo @ TBR – Aces gonna ace.

Max Fried vs. STL – This should be the AGA start for Fried.

Carlos Rodón vs. DET – #HotRodónSeptember. His schedule is incredible the rest of the way and I have a good feeling about this.

 

Probably Starts

 

Eduardo Rodriguez @ NYY – He’s in a good rhythm, but the Yankees are top tier in Hitter Performance this year against left-handers.

Javier Assad vs. ARI – He won’t be on this incredible run throughout all of September and yet, you can’t big brain this. Let him fly.

Cal Quantrill @ LAA – Quantrill did his thing last time out and the Angels are as good of a stream as any.

Ryan Pepiot @ MIA – He hasn’t gone more than five frames, though this still has a solid Win chance and who knows, maybe this is the one where Pepiot is pushed a little further. He’ll have to regularly start moving forward now, after all.

 

Questionable Starts

 

NONE – That’s just how it is sometimes. Your will to make it happen can take you far, but life still needs to agree.

 

Do Not Starts

 

Ryne Nelson @ CHC – Nelson is expected to return from the minors to face the Cubs and has apparently refined his slider in the minors (Upon look of last two Triple-A starts, it is a new “cutter” [it’s 84mph. It’s a slider] that returned a ton of strikes and a solid whiff rate). I want to see it first, especially against the Cubs, but there is promise here. He’d get the Mets, Cubs, Yankees after this start and that’s a decent flier.

Zack Littell vs. SEA – At least Littell will be given the chance to get a Win. Seattle has been too hot to consider this as a sneaky Win chance, though.

Braxton Garrett vs. LAD – The Dodgers are too dangerous. Garrett has a possible a sprinkle of magic with sliders and cutters. Just don’t allow hits off the sinker please.

Jaime Barría? vs. CLE – I don’t expect Barría to go long here if he does start given a one-inning relief appearance on Monday. That could be considered his bullpen, though, and you may get five innings out of this. Seems unlikely, though.

Adam Wainwright @ ATL – Come on Waino, two more Wins…Sigh.

 

Featured Image by Kurt Wasemiller (@KUWasemiller on Twitter / @kurt_player02 on Instagram)