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: 55-42
My Pick yesterday: Win – Cade Cavalli @ BOS (W): 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 Hits, 0 BB, 13 K
My Pick today: Colin Rea vs. SDP
My Pick tomorrow: Stephen Kolek vs. TBR
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: 51-46
PL Bot’s Pick yesterday: Win – Cade Cavalli @ BOS (W): 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 Hits, 0 BB, 13 K
Wednesday 7/1 Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings
Auto-Starts
Paul Skenes @ PHI – Aces gonna ace.
Zack Wheeler vs. PIT – Aces gonna ace.
Probably Starts
MacKenzie Gore @ CLE – It’s the Guardians for a pitcher finding his groove.
Shane McClanahan @ KCR – You want to start in Kansas City and McShane’s velocity is still up.
Payton Tolle vs. WSH – Tolle gets one of the toughest matchups for LHP. I hope he proves himself highly capable.
Max Meyer @ COL – It’s Coors in Meyer’s potential Coronation Day. YOU GOT THIS.
Questionable Starts
Joey Cantillo vs. TEX – Cantillo may deserve a spot in the second tier after two nine-strikeout games with awesome feel for his curveball and extra life on the heater. I want to see it a third time before believing it’s real after an extended period of turmoil.
Freddy Peralta @ TOR – It’s rough rostering Peralta these days. The good news? The stuff isn’t so far from when he’s producing. It should be better, y’all.
Andrew Abbott @ MIL – Abbott has continued to come through, even if we’re back to “I don’t quite understand why.” Doesn’t matter how, just that he is, yeah?
Will Warren vs. DET – Warren gets a tough draw against the Tigers and I’m not in love with his overall schtick. If his four-seamer and sinker can do their job, he’ll be fine with a solid Win chance.
Colin Rea vs. SDP – Rea has proven himself a strong option against mediocre offenses and look at that! It’s the Friars!
Troy Melton @ NYY – We’re seeing more whiffs from Melton, and it’s possible I’m underrating the cold NYY bats.
Shane Drohan vs. CIN – Drohan isn’t overwhelming batters, but the Reds have been more susceptible to high heaters as of late, and it’s away from their bandbox of a home.
Tatsuya Imai vs. MIN – If you’re chasing strikeouts, you should do it. Otherwise, Imai is a huge ratio risk and I feel like it’s a coin flip each time he pitches.
Taj Bradley @ HOU – Did someone say coin flip? Bradley was much better against LHB last time out and now he’s sure to get a whole bunch of RHB…
Do Not Starts
Walker Buehler @ CHC – Buehler has had a ridiculous Vargas Rule run with few HRs as he’s wisely leaned heavily on secondaries over heaters. It’s summer Wrigley and it doesn’t make for a strong play. The ceiling is too low.
Dean Kremer vs. CHW – It’s a Still ILL for Kremer and I’m not sure what we’ll get. There’s some upside here if the command is at its peak for his wide arsenal, but history tells us the chances are low.
Michael McGreevy @ ATL – If you’re looking for ERA/WHIP, despite all my skepticism, there’s a better chance than most in this tier for six productive innings.
J.T. Ginn vs. LAD – It’s Sacré Verde and the Dodgers.
Trevor McDonald @ ARI – I miss the days when he’d incessantly hurl breakers and batters didn’t know what to do with them. Maybe it’s still in there. Maybe.
Seth Lugo vs. TBR – Lugo is not looking like his best these days. Why risk it?
Reynaldo López vs. STL – ReyLó just returned to the rotation and I don’t believe he’s stretched out enough to justify a spin of the wheel for what has been a low ceiling.
Andrew Alvarez @ BOS – The Nationals haven’t let Alvarez complete five frames yet. His breakers can be cool, but until we see the length and quality, I’m out.
Noah Schultz @ BAL – It’s a Still ILL for Schultz and I don’t want to go after this until I see he’s comfortably pitching 80+ pitches with worthwhile ability.
Zac Gallen vs. SFG – This hasn’t worked in such a long time.
Spencer Miles (Opener) vs. NYM – I’m not sure how much we’ll actually see of Miles and it’s generally not high quality for the limited frames we get.
Kyle Freeland vs. MIA – Absolutely not.
Bullpen Dodgers @ ATH – The Dodgers pushed back everyone for a bullpen game. Sorry Lauer, no two-step for you.
Thursday 7/2 Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings
Auto-Starts
Jacob Misiorowski vs. CIN – Aces gonna ace.
Chase Burns @ MIL – Aces gonna ace.
Bryce Miller vs. LAA – He really feels like a budding ace.
Nathan Eovaldi vs. DET – Eovaldi’s weird 2026 should smooth out in the final three months.
Probably Starts
Davis Martin @ CLE – Martin is a Toby in a solid matchup. We like these.
Framber Valdez @ TEX – It’s a probable start but…ugh. Valdez. PLEASE.
Roki Sasaki vs. SDP – Sasaki is also a weird one. I’m not confident he’s found a sustainable approach, but the skills are better than what we saw in April.
Questionable Starts
Stephen Kolek vs. TBR – Kolek is a little shaky at the moment and the Rays can surprise teams. Still decent for a stream.
Walbert Ureña @ SEA – Ureña just had a rough outing, but his changeup strikes returned and it’s @TEA.
Jared Jones @ PHI – Jones’ stuff is still so dang good. I don’t believe he’s as wild as he has been.
Dustin May @ ATL – Yes, he stumbled and now it’s Atlanta. He’s not elite, nor the terrible arm of last time.
Ian Seymour @ KCR – Seymour just had his great outing, though I need more evidence he can replicate the execution.
Slade Cecconi vs. CHW – It’s been a lovely run for those in the Slade Brigade, but the sinker effectiveness doesn’t seem long for this world.
Do Not Starts
Alan Rangel vs. PIT – There’s a screwball and fun fastball/change mix, but it’s too underwhelming and likely on a pitch count.
Grant Holmes vs. STL – Holmes hasn’t proven himself worth your time in a while. I can see someone depserate for strikeouts interested, but even that’s a leap.
Randy Vásquez @ LAD – Vásquez is not the guy we saw early in the year + it’s the Dodgers.
Ryan Gusto @ COL – Uhhh Coors.
Michael Lorenzen vs. MIA – It’s the Colorado pitcher.
Friday 7/3 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)
