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: 14-17
My Pick yesterday: Loss – Walbert Ureña @ KCR (L): 3.2 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 5 BB, 3 K
My Pick today: Chase Dollander @ NYM
My Pick tomorrow: Connor Prielipp vs. SEA
PL Pro Members have access to my 14-Day Sit/Start SP Grid, which ranks all expected starters into four tiers over the next 14 days. Here is an example from last season.
PL Bot’s 2026 Streamer Record: 17-14
PL Bot’s Pick yesterday: Loss – Matthew Liberatore vs. SEA (ND): 3.1 IP, 5 ER, 8 H, 1 BB, 3 K
Sunday 4/26 Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings
Auto-Starts
Nolan McLean vs. COL – Aces gonna ace. It’s going to be a historic game. I can feel it.
Chris Sale vs. PHI – Aces gonna ace.
Shota Imanaga @ LAD – IM AN AGA. The definition of an ace is starting him regardless, which, unsurprisingly, includes the Dodgers.
Probably Starts
Emerson Hancock @ STL – I’m a believer and it’s in St. Louis.
Seth Lugo vs. LAA – How can you bench him now after his fantastic start to the season? Because it’s not meant to last. Hi, have you ever let the Vargas Rule into your heart?
Connelly Early @ BAL – I’ve seen a lot of questions about moving on from Early and I’m a bit surprised by it. He’s awesome.
Landen Roupp vs. MIA – He’s looking great + it’s Miami.
Chase Dollander @ NYM – I feel like I’m too low on this. Dollander is pitching so dang well, it’s out of Coors, and it’s the Mets.
Kyle Bradish vs. BOS – Bradish has been absurdly unlucky this far and despite the high WHIP totals, I firmly don’t believe his command is horrific. You haven’t watched his games! I have! These are humans who are not always the same exact guy. I’ve seen him pitch wild and great during the season thus far. Stick with this.
Reid Detmers @ KCR – He’s racking up the strikeouts and the move to the old changeup is encouraging. I hope this lasts.
Kyle Harrison vs. PIT – It was a “STILL ILL” for Harrison last time out and I expect the secondaries to be better with a longer, worthwhile leash. (sidenote: I probably should have said that about Christian Scott’s season debut instead of a PILOT rule. These are the things I think about)
Max Meyer @ SFG – Just throw the slider and sweeper 60% of the time and don’t have terrible fastballs. Please.
Foster Griffin @ CHW – He’s a Toby with a good matchup. Don’t overvalue Griffin.
Questionable Starts
Aaron Nola @ ATL – Nola’s fastball command isn’t great and Atlanta is a great offense.
J.T. Ginn @ TEX – I kinda like Ginn, but is the juice worth the squeeze?
Michael King @ ARI – This is in Mexico City. Oh no. Yeaaaaaaah. I kinda don’t want to risk it with King or Nelson.
Ryne Nelson vs. SDP – I mean, you saw last start and you’re terrified in Mexico City. That said, he didn’t allow a HR, just eight base hits in nine batters.
Justin Wrobleski vs. CHC – He’s had a hot start, but I’m worried about the Cubs’ offense + he’s not showing the same wide and high-quality arsenal of last year. Regression is coming.
Luis Gil @ HOU – He’s still chaotic, but it could be chaotic good.
Carmen Mlodzinski @ MIL – I’m heavily skeptical of his fastball performance. If he ends up with an opener, this can be good.
Rhett Lowder vs. DET – He’s a Toby in a meh matchup.
Sean Burke (Opener) vs. WSH – It’s the Nationals, sure, but Burke isn’t at 96 mph.
Do Not Starts
Jesse Scholtens (Opener) vs. MIN – He’s not so bad, and I’m glad there’s an opener. The Twins are kinda hot right now.
Keider Montero @ CIN – It’s a bad park and the ceiling is low.
Michael McGreevy vs. SEA – He won’t strike em out. It’s a desperate QS/3.00 ERA play.
Slade Cecconi @ TOR – Is anyone going to the weekly Slade Brigade meetings anymore?
Patrick Corbin vs. CLE – Corbin has the rotation spot over Lauer and if you’re desperate for a Win, Corbin could squeak one out.
Kumar Rocker vs. ATH – It’s a blegh sinker and an average slider. That’s it.
Spencer Arrighetti vs. NYY – He’s a coin flip for his arsenal and it’s the Yankees.
Simeon Woods Richardson @ TBR – Absolutely not.
Monday 4/27 Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings
Auto-Starts
Yoshinobu Yamamoto vs. MIA – Aces gonna ace.
Max Fried @ TEX – Aces gonna ace.
Dylan Cease vs. BOS – You know the drill
Probably Starts
Parker Messick vs. TBR – He’s been killing it, why would the Rays hold you back?
Connor Prielipp vs. SEA – I loved his debut and if the BSB returns with his fastball/slider, he doesn’t even need to have a better changeup.
Steven Matz @ CLE – Matz is still a Toby against a mediocre offense.
Matthew Boyd @ SDP – He’s Boyd, though I don’t love going against the Padres.
Randy Vásquez vs. CHC – I think he’s become a low-end Holly who can perform well against the Cubs.
Questionable Starts
Luis Castillo @ MIN – It’s away from @TEA and I’m not a big believer in Castillo.
Dustin May @ PIT – May has performed well outside of his first two starts and it’s in PNC Park. Strikeouts are still hard to come by, though.
Jack Kochanowicz @ CHW – Is this the start where we all start believing in Kochanowicz? His stuff is better than last year.
Ranger Suarez @ TOR – He’s in a better place than the start of the year, but not quite there.
Jack Leiter vs. NYY – The stuff is great, the execution is highly suspect, especially against the Yankees. I wouldn’t do this unless I were strikeout hunting.
Do Not Starts
Chris Paddack @ LAD – Paddack against the Dodgers ain’t it.
Anthony Kay vs. LAA – We haven’t seen Kay feature the control we want from him yet. The stuff is there, the execution is just slightly off.
Wilber Dotel vs. STL – With Ashcraft on the bereavement list, Dotel is expected to lead off a bullpen game for the Pirates.
Tuesday 4/28 Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings
PL Pro members get an extra day of full SP Streaming rankings for the day after tomorrow.
PL Pro Members have access to my 14-Day Sit/Start SP Grid, which ranks all expected starters into four tiers over the next 14 days. Here is an example from last season.
Photos Courtesy of IconSportswire | Adapted by Aaron Asbury (@aarongifs on Instagram)
