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: 32-28
My Pick yesterday: Win – Christian Scott @ MIA (ND): 5.2 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 5 K
My Pick today: Janson Junk @ TOR
My Pick tomorrow: Cade Cavalli @ CLE
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: 32-28
PL Bot’s Pick yesterday: Win – Christian Scott @ MIA (ND): 5.2 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 5 K
Monday 5/25 Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings
Auto-Starts
Jacob Misiorowski vs. STL – Aces gonna ace. He is just so dang good.
Nolan McLean vs. CIN – Aces gonna ace. Will this be the first start of 6+ IP and 0 ER of the season?
Jesús Luzardo @ SDP – The Friars are terrible against LHP and Luzardo is a premium Cherry Bomb.
Probably Starts
Trey Yesavage vs. MIA – Yesavage still has a little work to do on the splitter, and fortunately, it’s the Marlins.
Shane McClanahan @ BAL – The Orioles are not a team to fear.
Emmet Sheehan vs. COL – He’s going today instead of tomorrow and it’s Rockie Road.
Landen Roupp vs. ARI – Roupp’s command is where we want it to be. It’s a breakout season.
Will Warren @ KCR – Even without extreme whiffs, Warren is a solid play each time.
Nick Lodolo @ NYM – Lodolo’s curve is the missing piece and the Mets will likely help him find it.
Merrill Kelly @ SFG – Kelly is a low-end Holly in a good matchup.
Kyle Bradish vs. TBR – Bradish has gone three straight starts without a hiccup.
Bryce Miller (Opener) @ ATH – The stuff is far better than we’ve seen before. I’m rolling him out there even in Sacré Verde.
Questionable Starts
Zebby Matthews @ CHW – I’m not as confident in others that Zebby is suddenly a far better pitcher. I’d argue his arsenal has taken a step back, in fact.
Michael Wacha vs. NYY – Wacha is on a heater and I’m inclined to let it ride against the Yankees – he took them down in April, after all.
Randy Vásquez vs. PHI – He’s a Toby who could be more if the velocity and whiffs return.
Janson Junk @ TOR – The stuff is A+. The execution is not. He was unlucky against Hotlanta, though he made mistakes pitches at unfortunate times. This could swing the other way.
Ben Brown @ PIT – He breaks the Huascar Rule and I don’t see a pitcher with the depth of arsenal to go six productive.
Tanner Bibee vs. WSH – Flip a coin. Or buy into his 19″+ inches of four-seamer vert from his last start and tell yourself the coin landed tails. It never fails.
Matthew Liberatore @ MIL – Libby’s curveball has been much improved lately and with his long leash, this could be a QS.
Do Not Starts
Tatsuya Imai @ TEX – His last outing came with the best slider he’s had all year, without the splitter at all and a middling four-seamer. I cannot latch onto that after just one game.
Kumar Rocker vs. HOU – 7.2 innings of dominance in Coors was a ridiculous night. The slider + cutter approach is the way to go, and I still question if he can pull it off consistently.
Carmen Mlodzinski vs. CHC – It’s a low ceiling against a strong offense.
Aaron Civale vs. SEA – Civale is a 15-teamer’s HIPSTER.
Anthony Kay vs. MIN – Kay isn’t quite doing enough with the full arsenal to convince me he can always go 5+ frames of production in 12-teamers.
Zack Littell @ CLE – He did fine against the Mets and it’s possible the LHB-crew in Cleveland is a good fit for his slider/splitter. However, the slider is the breadwinner and works better against RHB.
Tanner Gordon @ LAD – It’s the Colorado pitcher against the Dodgers. Yikes.
Tuesday 5/26 Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings
Auto-Starts
Cam Schlittler @ KCR – Aces gonna ace.
Chase Burns @ NYM – Aces gonna ace.
Joe Ryan @ CHW – Aces gonna ace.
Kyle Harrison vs. STL – He’s one more dominant start away from AGA.
Braxton Ashcraft vs. CHC – Ashcraft’s embrace of his breakers + improved fastball control is making a huge difference.
Probably Starts
Spencer Strider @ BOS – The Sawx are terrible against RHP, making Fenway less of a test than usual.
Emerson Hancock @ ATH – His four-seamer is getting worse and it’s Sacré Verde, but Hancock has staved off regression so far.
Griffin Jax @ BAL – He hasn’t gone over 70 pitches yet, but last start displayed the incredible arsenal depth that gets me excited.
Questionable Starts
Sandy Alcantara @ TOR – He’s a HIPSTER and the Jays pack thump.
Cade Cavalli @ CLE – Two of Cavalli’s four strikeout explosions have come against the Mets – the team with the worst wRC+ against RHP. I worry a bit that Cavalli’s fastballs will struggle more than usual against the LHB-heavy Guardians.
Jason Alexander @ TEX – He’s a sinker/change arm heading into Arlington, fresh off a solid six-inning performance. The Rangers are much better against RHP, sadly, and this could be one of his sub-five-inning outings.
Eduardo Rodriguez @ SFG – It’s Oracle Park for a 15-team Toby.
Eric Lauer vs. COL – The Dodgers are letting him start and it’s Rockie Road. We haven’t seen him look great since his first start of the season and yet…this feels different.
Spencer Miles vs. MIA – Miles may have an opener again, and it’s the Marlins. I don’t dig his overall arsenal, but there is a decent Win chance.
Michael McGreevy @ MIL – He’s not a strikeout arm despite the random spikes, and he just displayed the WHIP floor we want to avoid.
Jack Leiter vs. HOU – He’s a HIPSTER. At least he’s at home.
Shane Baz vs. TBR – Last outing was his first this season with six frames and fewer than 2 ER.
Joey Cantillo vs. WSH – We just saw the changeup churn strikeouts, but the Nationals are surprisingly much better against LHP.
Keider Montero vs. LAA – He’s been a decent WHIP arm, though the ceiling is limited.
Ranger Suarez vs. ATL – I talk plenty about Suarez’s rhythm being the key to his success, and he fell out of it last time on the bump. This could be rough.
Do Not Starts
Aaron Nola @ SDP – Nola hasn’t been worthwhile for a long time + the Friars love RHP.
Griffin Canning vs. PHI – I see the potential in Canning and it’s best to wait until he blossoms in full.
Luis Severino vs. SEA – Sevy is far worse at home and the Mariners love RHP.
Jordan Wicks @ PIT – It’s Wicks! He’s getting the call to replace Cabrera and I’m curious what he’ll display.
Tyler Mahle vs. ARI – Mahle hasn’t been the arm I was hoping we’d see.
David Peterson vs. CIN – He just had his best outing, and there’s no way I can trust it. The Reds Carpet is not much of a thing right now.
Sean Burke vs. MIN – It’s too risky to hope for Burke to be his best self.
Jack Kochanowicz @ DET – Jackie K. is not pitching at the level we need him to.
Kyle Freeland @ LAD – Absolutely not.
Royals Bullpen vs. NYY – We’ll see Luinder Avila likely, but not for long. Maybe Bailey Falter around the fifth, but it’s the Yankees, too.
Wednesday 5/27 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)
