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: 86-69
My pick yesterday: Cal Quantrill @ LAA
PL Bot’s 2023 Streamer Record: 79-76
PL Bot’s Pick yesterday: Ryne Nelson @ CHC
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 @ CHC – Aces gonna ace.
Blake Snell @ HOU – Aces gonna ace. You aren’t an ace if you’re benching them for a start.
George Kirby @ TBR – As long as Kirby has his breakers and keeps the heater up, he’s golden.
Kodai Senga @ MIN – The dude has been stupid.
Kyle Bradish @ BOS – So has he.
Yusei Kikuchi vs. KCR – And him…? Save for one weird game, the slider command is still phenomenal.
Jordan Montgomery vs. OAK – It’s Oakland.
Andrew Abbott vs. STL – Abbott is teetering between Tier 1 and 2 and ultimately, you’re starting him if you have him.
Probably Starts
Kyle Harrison vs. COL – This is an interesting one. He’s a Cherry Bomb but it’s Rockie Road. We just saw him dominate the Reds and stumble against the mighty Atlanta offense. I feel good about this one – just throw enough strikes.
Logan Allen @ LAA – It’s the Angels and he’s a Toby.
Eury Pérez @ PHI – It’s hard not to be enamored with Pérez, though the Phillies are an elite offense.
Cristopher Sánchez vs. MIA – He’s our streaming pick as the Marlins are middling and Sánchez has been consistent.
Bryce Elder vs. PIT – It’s a Toby for a winning club.
Emmet Sheehan @ WSN – I dig the situation for Sheehan, I just want the Dodgers to let him throw 80 pitches.
Griffin Canning vs. CLE – Is this Canning? There’s a chance he starts Thursday instead of Friday, which would mean Tyler Anderson instead, who would be in the third tier. If it’s Canning, he’s in a good place with his repertoire to tally the strikeouts. The ratios are a little suspect, though.
Questionable Starts
Reese Olson vs. CHW – Olson has his moments and could be finding his groove now. The White Sox make for a lovely canvas to sweep us off our feet.
Taj Bradley vs. SEA – He’s a Cherry Bomb.
Hunter Brown vs. SDP – He’s also a Cherry Bomb against a tough crew.
Ty Blach @ SFG – Here’s your sneaky stream, heading to Oracle Park. The Win chance is higher than you think, especially if Harrison’s control is wonky.
Luis Severino vs. MIL – The rest of this tier is borderline Tier 4, though I’m more generous these days. Severino has a shot here if he doesn’t chuck a ton of pitches down the heart of the plate. Don’t do that.
Mike Clevinger @ DET – Clevinger was fantastic, then horrendous. At least the matchup is good enough if he can get it together.
Colin Rea @ NYY – Colin just took down the Phillies and the Yankees aren’t as scary against RHP.
Tanner Houck vs. BAL – If he has more than his slider, there’s a shot.
Mitch Keller @ ATL – It’s Atlanta. It’s also a super hot Keller. It’s a solid Hail Mary, but if ratios are close I’m running away.
Do Not Starts
Jameson Taillon vs. ARI – You’re hoping for a PQS here and that’s not my jam.
MacKenzie Gore vs. LAD – He’s a Cherry Bomb in the kindest terms against an elite offense.
UPDATE: Paul Blackburn @ TEX – Even without Adolis in the Texas lineup, I’d avoid Blackburn here. The reward isn’t high enough for the obvious risk.
Alec Marsh @ TOR – We’ve seen some rare Marsh magic. Very rare.
Drew Rom @ CIN – The 90/91 mph heater just isn’t it + pitching in Cincy ain’t great.
Dallas Keuchel vs. NYM – Maybe he gets fortunate again…? Nah.
Kyle Muller @ TEX – Absolutely not. Muller needs two more legit pitches + it’s Texas.
Tomorrow’s Starting Pitcher Rankings
Auto-Starts
Kevin Gausman vs. KCR – Aces gonna ace.
Logan Webb vs. COL – Webb hosting Rockie Road is glorious.
Justin Steele vs. ARI – He’s competing for the Cy Young, after all.
Merrill Kelly @ CHC – With his recent strikeout dominance, he gets a boost, even against the Cubs.
Bobby Miller @ WSN – Hard not to love this matchup against the Nats.
Tarik Skubal vs. CHW – His heater is still so good.
Probably Starts
Aaron Nola vs. MIA – If you have Nola, you’re riding out this storm. You have to do it and I wish you luck.
Chris Sale vs. BAL – His velocity has been weird and to see a sub 4.00 PLV on his four-seamer last start (despite chucking 96 in his last two pitches) is anxiety-inducing.
Jon Gray vs. OAK – His fastball is good enough to allow the slider to soar against the Athletics.
Michael King vs. MIL – King is our streaming pick of the day as he’s getting stretched out and the Brewers aren’t scary enough to hold back.
Lucas Giolito @ LAA – Nick, he just allowed 9 ER! Yep, and you rarely see a pitcher do that twice. The Angels are an atrocity of an offense and Giolito is better than the results have been.
Aaron Civale vs. SEA – I was shocked to see Civale fan 12 batters and against a hot Seattle offense, we could see a vastly different result.
Kenta Maeda vs. NYM – His splitter and slider were better against the Rangers, making me believe he’s on the right track against the Mets.
Questionable Starts
Bryan Woo @ TBR – Velocity was down across the board + the four-seamer isn’t dominating as it should.
Jack Flaherty @ BOS – Y’all are probably sick of Flaherty on your teams by now, but he’s been pitching better than the lines. That said, the Red Sox offense fares far better in Fenway and you may still want to avoid this one.
Zack Thompson @ CIN – I dig what Thompson does with his curveball, cutter, fastball mix, though there is still some polish left to add. Facing the Reds in GABP is not nearly as dangerous as we once thought, too.
Cristian Javier vs. SDP – We finally saw Javier have both his slider and four-seamer cooking in his last outing and if that returns, he can get through the Padres. However, it was just one outing and the floor is made of lava.
Seth Lugo @ HOU – It’s the Astros. Lugo has been great n all, but that’s not a good time.
Wade Miley @ NYY – Miley is generally a decent streamer, but the Yankees are an elite offense against LHP.
Tyler Anderson vs. CLE – The changeup is solid, the question is if the rest of his repertoire does enough to get through it.
Jared Shuster vs. PIT – This is your Win chance stream. Good luck.
Chase Anderson @ SFG – Hear me out. Anderson has been productive as a starting pitcher in 43% of the starts he’s made this year. Throw in a higher floor facing the Giants in Oracle Park, and this is a better dart throw than it may seem.
Carson Spiers vs. STL – Spiers has a solid breaking ball and if he’s able to command it with his 93/94 mph heater in the zone, then things could work out here. He carries the Shag Carpet, though, and that’s not a fun thing to deal with at this point in the year.
Do Not Starts
Johnny Cueto @ PHI – Maybe there’s some Cueto magic…?
Michael Kopech @ DET – It’s Kopech. You don’t do this.
David Peterson @ MIN – Peterson doesn’t have the slider we want him to have, leaving him without firepower in his arsenal.
Jake Irvin vs. LAD – We’ve seen some games where Irvin can spot his two heaters at 95/96 mph and land pretty curveballs, but this is the Dodgers and the ceiling is far too low to justify this.
Johan Oviedo @ ATL – It’s Atlanta and a Cherry Bomb.
Zack Greinke @ TOR – Greinke does what Greinke does.
Kyle Muller @ TEX – Muller doesn’t bring enough to the table.
Featured Image by Kurt Wasemiller (@KUWasemiller on Twitter / @kurt_player02 on Instagram)