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: 15-17
My Pick yesterday: Win – Chase Dollander @ NYM (W): 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 7 K
My Pick today: Connor Prielipp vs. SEA
My Pick tomorrow: Peter Lambert @ BAL
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: 18-14
PL Bot’s Pick yesterday: Win – Foster Griffin @ CHW (ND): 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 8 K
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 (Opener) vs. STL – With Ashcraft on the bereavement list, Dotel is expected to be a part of a bullpen game for the Pirates. He’ll be the bulk arm if you’re trying to vulture a Win.
Tuesday 4/28 Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings
Auto-Starts
Shohei Ohtani vs. MIA – Aces gonna ace.
Cam Schlittler @ TEX – Aces gonna ace.
Jacob deGrom vs. NYY – Aces gonna ace.
Chase Burns vs. COL – He better dominate this one.
Logan Gilbert @ MIN – Aces gonna ace.
Joe Ryan vs. SEA – Aces gonna ace. Yes, even after that Mets game.
José Soriano @ CHW – He’s been such a stud, even if the regression is apparent.
Jesús Luzardo vs. SFG – Luzardo is the other side of the coin vs. Soriano. He’s been super unlucky and should be far better.
Probably Starts
Braxton Ashcraft vs. STL – This is a clear play given how well Ashcraft has performed thus far, even if I have some doubts about its longevity.
Payton Tolle @ TOR – Gotta have fun, right?
Davis Martin vs. LAA – He’s a Vargas Rule and the Angels are a terrifying club.
Edward Cabrera @ SDP – Cabrera moved on from his four-seamer in favor of more sinkers (yes!) and I hope that sticks.
Clay Holmes vs. WSH – He’s a sinkerballer going up against a lot of LHB. That doesn’t sound great on paper, but there’s enough sink that it could mean a ton of groundball outs.
Kris Bubic @ ATH – It’s in Sacré Verde and I could see myself holding back. At the same time, he’s doing most of the things we expect him to do.
Merrill Kelly @ MIL – Kelly hasn’t been smooth yet, but he’s generally the same guy we know. I expect it to turn around.
Questionable Starts
Tyler Mahle @ PHI – Alright y’all, this feels like the time we start leaning into Mahle. I’m tempted to push him up in the other tier, but the Phillies are better than the W-L would tell you. He’s up to 93+ mph now.
Shane Baz vs. HOU – I’m waiting for Baz to display consistency with something more than the curveball before I buy back in.
Tanner Bibee vs. TBR – You never know what you’ll get from Bibee. The leash is long, fortunately.
Nick Martinez @ CLE – If Martinez has his changeup working, it should steer him to the finish line against a heavy LHB-lineup.
Casey Mize @ ATL – Mize has been better than expected lately, but I hate facing Atlanta.
Chad Patrick vs. ARI – Patrick’s workload is difficult to predict and the quality often doesn’t make up for it.
Do Not Starts
Aaron Civale vs. KCR – At least he could go six?
Martín Pérez vs. DET – We just saw Pérez go six shutout, somehow. It’s possible.
Kyle Leahy @ PIT – Leahy hasn’t done the thing yet, but it’s a good matchup.
Tomoyuki Sugano @ CIN – Sugano isn’t in Coors! It’s Cincy. STILL BETTER.
Janson Junk @ LAD – Junk isn’t locating well and the Dodgers are the Dodgers.
Zack Littell @ NYM – An immovable object meets an unstoppable force.
Walker Buehler vs. CHC – I don’t have faith in Buehler.
Trey Yesavage vs. BOS – He’s back in a very clear Still ILL.
Kai-Wei Teng @ BAL – It’s likely a bullpen game for the Astros with Ryan Weiss appearing at some point. Possibly.
Wednesday 4/29 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)
