Here are today and tomorrow's daily SP Streamer rankings for fantasy baseball.
Every day of the 2024 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 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.
Alright, let's get to it.
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: 61-44
My pick yesterday: Christian Scott vs. COL -L
PL Bot's 2024 Streamer Record: 62-43
PL Bot's Pick yesterday: Zack Littell vs. CLE - W
Want PL Bot's pick today? Sign up for PL Pro here.
My streaming pick of the day is Underlined and Italicized.
Today's Starting Pitcher Rankings
NONE - I'm doing this article a day early to help everyone for Friday. IT'S GOOD TO BE BACK.
Tomorrow's Starting Pitcher Rankings
Auto Starts
Tarik Skubal @ TOR - Aces gonna ace.
Corbin Burnes @ TEX - Aces gonna ace.
Max Fried vs. STL - Aces gonna ace.
Gerrit Cole vs. TBR - Aces gonna ace.
Aaron Nola @ PIT - Aces gonna ace.
Justin Steele vs. ARI - Aces gonna ace.
Luis Castillo vs. HOU - Aces gonna ace.
Sonny Gray @ ATL - Aces gonna ace.
Zac Gallen @ CHC - He's slowed down in his last two games. I believe the break helped him reset.
Kevin Gausman vs. DET - The splitter needs to come back for Gausman to become the man we want him to be...but this is the Tigers. Well worth the risk.
Hunter Greene @ WSN - It's the Nationals, away from Cincinnati.
Framber Valdez @ SEA - It's the Mariners, even if I'm worried Valdez struggles with his curve and change constantly.
Logan Webb @ COL - I know it's Coors, but you're starting Webb.
Tanner Bibee vs. SDP - Bibee's command is a little weird, but if you have him, you're starting him.
MacKenzie Gore vs. CIN - Gore is looking like a "Cherry Bomb" lately...and yet I believe in the stuff. Hopefully losing Senzel at third will help him escape his horrid .363 BABIP of the first half.
Probably Starts
Sean Manaea @ MIA - Manaea's slider has worked well and it's the Marlins.
Griffin Canning @ OAK - I dig the breaker/change-first approach and it's Oakland.
Michael Wacha vs. CHW - Wacha isn't at his peak, but surely the change is enough for the CrySox.
Edward Cabrera vs. NYM - A little risky, but his stuff is absurd right now. Four solo shots in Cin City messed up his last game.
Nick Pivetta @ LAD - It's the Dodgers, though I want to believe Pivetta's sweeper is back on point.
Zach Eflin @ NYY - I trust Eflin less than Pivetta, but the Yankees are a little easier to wrangle than the Dodgers. Tough call between the two.
Questionable Starts
Mitch Keller vs. PHI - He had a great first half, but this is the Phillies. I'd prefer not to chance this.
James Paxton vs. BOS - If you're chasing a Win, you do you. We all know the ghastly floor.
Matt Waldron @ CLE - Will his knuckler be there? The other offerings haven't been great over the last month.
JP Sears vs. LAA - He's a high-risk/high-reward arm to the most extreme degree, even against the Angels.
Do Not Starts
Cal Quantrill vs. SFG - The splitter has been worse and he's in Coors. Not worth it.
Jon Gray vs. BAL - The slider isn't peaking and I'd hate to face Baltimore.
Chris Flexen @ KCR - Flexen isn't the worst option out there, but you're chasing an awfully low ceiling.
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Photos Courtesy of IconSportswire | Adapted by Aaron Asbury (@aarongifs on Instagram)
