Rankings of the SP Streamers for today’s, tomorrow’s and the day after tomorrow’s games for fantasy baseball.
Every day of the 2026 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 twitch.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 Twitch 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!
There is a second table (and now third for PL Pro members) 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.
And of course, there are my streaming picks of the day. Please keep in mind that for my streaming record, I am forced to pick a streamer every day even if they are in the bottom tier. 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 Do Not Start pitchers unless 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, and it applies to a smaller audience.
As I do my rankings, I thought it would be helpful to showcase a table of how we’re ranking offenses, granted by our PLV-powered Projections (in alphabetical order by tier):
Remember, these offensive rankings are based on each offense’s Process+ so far this year and how we project their lineups moving forward. It means you’re going to see a little different offensive rankings than you may see elsewhere, and there will always be some surprises. This is based on skills, not purely results! If you have questions about these offense rankings, reach out to Kyle Bland (@blandalytics).
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 PLV, 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 Twitch chat.
Note: If no pitcher under 20% rostered would have qualified for a “Streaming Win,” no loss is granted.
(Opener) – Outlines that a pitcher is being opened for that day & the pitcher listed will follow the opener.
Nick’s 2026 Streamer Record: 2-4
My Pick yesterday: Win – Max Scherzer vs. COL
My Pick today: Shane Smith @ MIA
My Pick tomorrow: Taj Bradley @ KCR
In addition, PL Pro Members have access to my 14-Day Sit/Start SP Grid, ranking all expected starters into the four tiers across the next fourteen days. Take a look at an example from last year. You can find it on the PL Pro Hub Page when logged into PL Pro.
PL Bot’s 2026 Streamer Record: 4-2
PL Bot’s Pick yesterday: Win – Max Scherzer vs. COL
Wednesday 4/1 Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings
Auto-Starts
Garrett Crochet @ HOU – Aces gonna ace.
Tarik Skubal @ ARI – Aces gonna ace.
Paul Skenes @ CIN – – Aces gonna ace.
Cristopher Sánchez vs. WSN – Aces gonna ace.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto vs. CLE – Aces gonna ace.
Chris Sale vs. ATH – Aces gonna ace.
Cam Schlittler @ SEA – It sure seems like he’s going to get his AGA tag with another start or two, and here’s a date @TEA. So fun.
Freddy Peralta @ STL – Aces gonna ace.
Kevin Gausman vs. COL – It’s Rockie Road. Nice.
Joe Ryan @ KCR – Aces gonna ace.
Jacob Misiorowski vs. TBR – He allowed a leadoff HR, then fanned eleven. His reduced extension may be a blessing that helps him locate his fastball. I wonder if we see it again.
Trevor Rogers vs. TEX – He’s on the SWATCH executive board.
Sandy Alcantara vs. CHW – I’m surprised the changeup didn’t play the biggest role last time out, but who cares. He did his job and he should once again vs. the White Sox.
Nathan Eovaldi @ BAL – The first outing wasn’t great and you know better than to take him out of your lineup.
Nick Pivetta vs. SFG – Pivetta had a rough first frame and never got settled in. This should be different.
Andrew Abbott vs. PIT – Abbott is up for re-election to the SWATCH board. Rogers, stay out of this. It’s the Pirates and Abbott has done nothing to suggest he can’t handle them.
Drew Rasmussen @ MIL – It’s the same guy who was fantastic for 150 IP last year.
Matthew Boyd vs. LAA – Don’t let the final frame of Boyd’s opening day hold you back. He earned 20 whiffs, you know.
George Kirby vs. NYY – It’s a tough matchup, but @TEA and you’re letting it fly.
Probably Starts
Noah Cameron vs. MIN – Alright Cameron, show them you still have great command. Also, the Twins are not a good lineup.
Zac Gallen vs. DET – The Tigers had their claws filed. Gallen has a good chance for a QS here.
Shane Smith @ MIA – I’m not in love with Smith, but the Marlins are pretty meh.
Mike Burrows vs. BOS – Yeah, that first start wasn’t what we thought we’d get. The new slider is still a great offering and the Sawx are away from Fenway.
Questionable Starts
Luis Severino @ ATL – The velocity jump from the WBC wasn’t quite as high, but still higher than before. That’s cool, and maybe it means he can be worthwhile on the road.
Matthew Liberatore vs. NYM – I like Liberatore as a Toby who has a long leash to go six. Nothing overwhelming, though, and I’d prefer to skip a date with a good offense like the Mets.
Gavin Williams @ LAD – His lower half mechanics were off last time, will they be fixed? Against the Dodgers?!
Cade Cavalli @ PHI – I simply don’t love his mix. It’s a great curveball, with Empty Velocity that makes it difficult to trust his 96+ mph fastball foundation.
Do Not Starts
Yusei Kikuchi @ CHC – Kikuchi is too volatile and it’s the Cubs.
Adrian Houser @ SDP – Houser is kinda interesting as a deep streamer, but not against the Padres.
Kyle Freeland @ TOR – Maybe it’s okay considering it’s not Coors. He didn’t come through @ MIA though…
Thursday 4/2 Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings
Auto-Starts
Cole Ragans vs. MIN – PEW PEW PEW. Please get your command back.
Dylan Cease @ CHW – That first start was so good. Please do that again. How cool would it be if Cease was actually an ace for the full year?
Probably Starts
Robbie Ray vs. NYM – He does what he does well. I wish it weren’t the Mets, though.
Ryne Nelson vs. ATL – I could put Nelson and Peterson down a tier, but Nelson’s heater is legit and it seems like he’s starting to invest more in the slider. Here’s to hoping it’s a good two pitch mix in time.
David Peterson @ SFG – This could be an easy QS, but that would require Peterson to throw a ton of strikes. He won’t have the ridiculous wind of his previous start that caused four extra inches of glove-side movement on everything, which makes it unclear exactly what we’ll get.
Questionable Starts
Taj Bradley @ KCR – I can’t believe I’m streaming Bradley, but that first start was the best he’s looked in a while. I’m going to regret this, aren’t I. If only he didn’t pitch on a day with only seven other arms.
Reynaldo López @ ARI – He sat 94 mph last time out after giving us a huge scare in the spring, and maybe that’s good enough for him to produce. I still dislike that he throws a questionable heater without a reliable secondary he can throw for strikes. Is that slider really enough?
Do Not Starts
Sean Burke vs. TOR – I can squint and see Burke kill it, but he’ll need to sit 96+ mph, not the 94 and change we saw in his first start.
Friday 4/3 Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings
PL Pro members get an extra day of full SP Streaming rankings for the day after tomorrow.
In addition, PL Pro Members have access to my Sit/Start SP Grid, ranking all expected starters into the four tiers across the next fourteen days. You can find it on the PL Pro Hub Page.
Photos Courtesy of IconSportswire | Adapted by Aaron Asbury (@aarongifs on Instagram)
