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: 34-28
My Pick yesterday: Win – Cade Cavalli @ CLE (W): 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 7 K
My Pick today: Connor Prielipp @ CHW
My Pick tomorrow: Colin Rea @ PIT
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: 33-29
PL Bot’s Pick yesterday: Loss – David Peterson vs. CIN (L): 5.0 IP, 6 ER, 11 H, 3 BB, 4 K
Wednesday 5/27 Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings
Auto-Starts
Cristopher Sánchez @ SDP – Aces gonna ace. They hate LHP.
Shohei Ohtani vs. COL – Aces gonna ace.
Jacob deGrom vs. HOU – Aces gonna not allow another clunker, right?
Kevin Gausman vs. MIA – This is an easy call.
Gerrit Cole @ KCR – Not AGA yet, but he’s back on the bump with one start of rust removal.
Gavin Williams vs. WSH – Williams’ high strike rates are tantalizing.
José Soriano @ DET – Soriano’s improved four-seamer strike rate is sticking around. That’s all I want from him.
Logan Gilbert @ ATH – Gilbert is a premium Cherry Bomb you hold your nose and start regularly, even in Sacré Verde.
Probably Starts
Bryce Elder @ BOS – Elder is kinda an auto-start at this point, but let’s be real, you’re not benching him.
Michael Soroka @ SFG – Soroka’s command is too good to pass up.
Connor Prielipp @ CHW – I’m worried about Prielipp’s inability to find his changeup consistently this year, and his slider command has taken a step back. I’m still throwing him out there against the White Sox, but I’m a little concerned he won’t get the sinker inside and slider down-and-away to LHB.
Questionable Starts
Connelly Early vs. ATL – It’s Hotlanta, even if I’m a fan of Early’s all-around ability.
Andrew Abbott @ NYM – Abbott had his most convincing start of the year last time out and now gets the Mets. This is the most encouraged I’ve been all season.
Eury Pérez @ TOR – Pérez now has two starts of good command to RHB, and I’ll take that even if he’s still figuring out LHB. This may be the buy-low window closing.
Bubba Chandler vs. CHC – Chandler just fanned 11 but he still has kinks to work out. I hope it was a proper stepping stone, though my instinct is a Dennis. He still has to showcase consistency across his arsenal
Trevor McDonald vs. ARI – It was three strong frames, then a rough frame that ruined everything. His breaker wasn’t the destroyer of worlds, the sinker wasn’t down, and it looked like a hiccup, not a new norm.
Casey Mize vs. LAA – Is the slider going to be the reliable strike pitch we want it to be? I’m encouraged by Mize lately, but not sold.
Steven Matz @ BAL – Matz threw four productive frames last time out, though his sinker/change tandem wasn’t as polished as pre-injury. I’m hoping he has the leash to go five and display a rust-less arm.
Do Not Starts
Chad Patrick vs. STL – He’s starting in Henderson’s place and I question how long he’ll go and the quality of his ceiling.
David Sandlin vs. MIN – It’s the MLB debut of Sandlin and y’all know the PILOT Rule. Sandlin has recently bumped his velocity up to 96/97 mph from 94 and this is a spec add in your AL-Only leagues. There could be something fun here.
Trey Gibson vs. TBR – Gibson is back in the rotation and there may be something here if the command is on point.
Dustin May @ MIL – May is looking better, but there’s still work to be done with his sweeper.
Mike Burrows @ TEX – Burrows’ command is not to be trusted. At least it’s in Arlington.
Jameson Taillon @ PIT – Taillon has room for improvement with his approach and I imagine he’ll make an adjustment against the Pirates. Not the highest ceiling to chase, though.
Jeffrey Springs vs. SEA – Springs was Sunshine and Rainbows last time out, but he was too HR prone and it ruined the outing. Great fastball/change separation.
Noah Cameron vs. NYY – Two starts of Cameron’s command returning to 2025 form (yes, including the low strike four-seamer! It’s by design), but you can’t go for this against the Yankees.
Jonah Tong (Opener) vs. CIN – I wish Tong threw more than one cutter last time out, but I dig the harder curveball (only three thrown, but 5 ticks harder!) and he had good feel for the Vulcan change last time. There’s a chance he makes it worthwhile, even if I don’t believe this long-term. There’s a lot left to develop.
Walker Buehler vs. PHI – Buehler ain’t it.
Tomoyuki Sugano @ LAD – At least he’s on the road?
Miles Mikolas @ CLE – Uh huh.
Thursday 5/28 Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings
Auto-Starts
Paul Skenes vs. CHC – Aces gonna ace.
Chris Sale @ BOS – Aces gonna ace.
Nathan Eovaldi vs. HOU – I wonder if Eovaldi will force another AGA tag this year.
Probably Starts
Davis Martin vs. MIN – The Vargas Rule is all about avoiding the heart of the plate and Martin failed to do that last time out, with a big inning messing him up. He deserves a mulligan after nearly two months of excellence, no?
Taj Bradley @ CHW – His return from the IL was incredibly impressive, making me more convinced than ever that his refined strike-throwing ability is here to stay.
Spencer Arrighetti @ TEX – The Pasta Pirate is really close to being the captain of the Astros rotation and Arlington is a wonderful place to plunder strikeouts. I hope he isn’t super erratic.
Payton Tolle vs. ATL – Tolle’s four-seamer is elite and I’d have a little more comfort if his secondaries were reliable companions he could trust with batters sitting heater so often. Hotlanta has me scared and this will be a proper test.
Questionable Starts
Colin Rea @ PIT – Rea has been a consistent streaming option against mid teams and the Pirates are…mid. I think.
Do Not Starts
Jack Flaherty vs. LAA – Flaherty is a dire strikeout play. Terrible floor, sadly.
Grayson Rodriguez @ DET – Rodriguez’s stuff is not what it used to be.
Chris Bassitt vs. TOR – He has a long leash, but you may not want him to keep going.
Patrick Corbin @ BAL – Corbin can shock with surprise value here and there, but the ceiling is too low to justify the floor.
Friday 5/29 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)
