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: 60-49
My Pick yesterday: NONE (Forced pick of Christian Scott)
My Pick today: Mason Englert @ BOS
My Pick tomorrow: Sean Manaea @ PHI
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: 57-52
PL Bot’s Pick yesterday: NONE (Forced pick of Christian Scott)
Friday 7/17 Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings
Auto-Starts
Chris Sale vs. TEX – Aces gonna ace.
Gavin Williams vs. PIT – Williams has figured out the correct approach and I wish it weren’t the Pirates. I’m still letting it ride. Sidenote: The air quality is dangerous in Cleveland today and this game really shouldn’t happen. Take note.
Bryce Miller vs. SFG – Aces gonna ace. I know, his velocity has declined rapidly, but if he’s starting it means the Mariners are not concerned about it.
Probably Starts
Logan Henderson vs. MIA – It’s the Marlins and even with a possible limitation, this looks super safe.
Troy Melton @ LAA – Melton is looking HOT. Kinda hard to deny him at this point.
Griffin Jax @ BOS – Like Melton, Jax is cruising, even if the Rays are not letting him go deep into games regularly. That’s alright, production is production.
Jake Bennett vs. TBR – The SWATCH life is paradise for Bennett. Here’s to keeping it going in the second-half, even if the full arsenal isn’t quite as rock solid as we’d like.
Jared Jones @ CLE – Jones just gave us the start we’ve been waiting for and now gets the Guardians. Please do it again and be good forever.
Reid Detmers vs. DET – Detmers’ slider is back and the Tigers don’t scare me.
Landen Roupp @ SEA – Roupp is well-versed in locating his arsenal on the edges and shifting his pitch mix to adapt to hitters across a game.
Gerrit Cole vs. LAD – Cole’s four-seamer command is lacking and it’s the Dodgers. Arguably too low, but I’m not as confident as I’d like to be.
Sandy Alcantara @ MIL – Alcantara is going deep into games at the perfect time to get off the Marlins.
Michael King @ KCR – The overall season looks good for King, but he’s currently without his crown, even if the changeup was much imporved last start. He’s a cross-body pitcher who simply needs to click into place before going on a hot stretch, and last time out may have been the gears spinning in the right direction. Throw in a good matchup in Kauffman and it’s a fine play.
Peter Lambert vs. BAL – He’s a solid Toby in a decent matchup.
Questionable Starts
Gage Jump vs. WSH – I’m a fan of Jump, but not so much in Sacré Verde opposite a top-tier offense against LHP.
Merrill Kelly vs. STL – Kelly is fine. Not a strong enough Toby to head into the second tier.
Mason Englert @ BOS – I was impressed by his changeup last start and it’s nice to be a RHP against the Sawx.
Colin Rea vs. MIN – He’s been a quiet success story as a streamer against mid offenses for the second straight season.
Cade Cavalli @ ATH – It’s not a fun time in Sacré Verde, but at least Cavalli is throwing more cutters these days. I wonder if he’ll get the velo boost back, even just a little.
Michael McGreevy @ ARI – He’s a ratio/QS play if you need one. Don’t expect many strikeouts, if any – his command is stellar and generates a ton of early contact for outs.
Anthony Kay @ TOR – Kay is…fine. He’s shown legit ability at times during his successful run over the last six weeks or so, but I question how sustainable it is.
Dean Kremer @ HOU – He didn’t pitch as poorly as the line suggests last time out and it could be a beneficial outing against many RHB. More of a deep league play.
Do Not Starts
Roki Sasaki @ NYY – I don’t trust that Roki has made all the right tweaks to consistently produce and it’s the Yankees.
Seth Lugo vs. SDP – Lugo could spin his curveball over the plate and have success against a mediocre offense, but the ceiling is too low to risk it.
Bailey Ober @ CHC – It’s Ober. I don’t like starting Ober.
Brady Singer @ COL – Singer has been much better lately…but Coors is undefeated.
Cal Quantrill @ ATL – deGrom will not be starting this one and it’s possible he hits the IL. Maybe he starts on Sunday, who knows. As for Quantrill, please. Do not do this.
Spencer Miles vs. CHW – Miles has a chance to be opened for and vulture a Win. That’s the hope here.
Eduardo Rivera vs. TBR – If this is truly Rivera, I don’t want it – he’s failed to go a full four frames in his two games this year. HOWEVER, it’s possible Brayan Bello follows after pitching in relief on July 12th, which would make him a Vulture Win candidate, especially with more movement on his breaker since returning from the minors. If this were confirmed, I’d have him above Kremer in the Questionable Start tier.
Gabriel Hughes vs. CIN – It’s the Colorado pitcher. Noooope.
Saturday 7/18 Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings
Auto-Starts
Tarik Skubal @ LAA – Aces gonna ace.
Bryan Woo vs. SFG – He’s home + Woo is so much better than the home/road splits suggest.
Jesús Luzardo vs. NYM – Luzardo is cooking. Hopefully the air isn’t.
Braxton Ashcraft @ CLE – Like Friday, I worry about the air quality on Saturday and if this game will be played. If it is, it’s set up to be a dope outing.
Max Meyer @ MIL – Aces gonna ace. Get your breakers back to 60% strikes, yeah?
Logan Webb @ SEA – It’s @TEA for a pitcher who you should rely upon across the second half.
Probably Starts
Trevor Rogers @ HOU – Rogers is cruising with high 94/95 mph four-seamers. Go for it.
Joey Cantillo vs. PIT – Remember, this is in Cleveland = Could be postponed due to air quality. If he does go, Cantillo’s affinity for curveballs is dope and he should be started.
Ian Seymour @ BOS – Seymour gave us 12 punchouts then struggled last time. I’m not scared of Boston.
Matthew Boyd vs. MIN – He’s fine. I hope we see a major upside game here.
Dustin May @ ARI – I know things have been off for a moment with May, but they seem like anomalies, not a sign of major regression. Love this start against a meh lineup.
Questionable Starts
Taj Bradley @ CHC – He’s on a hot stretch, but I hate summer Wrigley.
Shane Drohan vs. MIA – It’s the Marlins, but I haven’t seen Drohan excite me to suggest he can go a dominant six frames.
MacKenzie Gore @ ATL – Gore is a PEAS against a tough offense.
Davis Martin @ TOR – Martin is trying to settle in as a Toby, though he needs to not throw so many pitches over the plate to get there. Love the cutter last time out to RHB, though.
Emmet Sheehan @ NYY – Sheehan is beginning his second half redemption tour with one of his toughest challenges out of the gate. Yikes.
Ryan Weathers vs. LAD – I dig Weathers moving forward, but it’s the Dodgers.
Brandon Pfaadt vs. STL – I dig Pfaadt’s feel last time out with a little extra curveball movement and I wonder if this will be a start that gets us talking about him again.
Sean Manaea @ PHI – Manaea isn’t the streaming pick I want it to be, but the Phillies aren’t a major threat save for a few hitters. This could be fine.
Do Not Starts
Patrick Sandoval vs. TBR – Sandoval looked surprisingly decent in his Still ILL. I want to see another.
Spencer Arrighetti vs. BAL – He hasn’t found his groove yet.
Owen Murphy vs. TEX – I’m so curious about this start. He pitched last Saturday and didn’t go terribly long, making me highly skeptical he can go five full frames, but the 94+ mph four-seamer with 18/19″ vert and 1.8 HAVAA is HOT. Now let’s get that changeup cooking and find a breaker to rely on for strikes/whiffs. That would be so cool.
Stephen Kolek vs. SDP – This looks solid on paper, but Kolek has been put on personal leave a bit lately and I wager he’s a little out of rhythm because of it. I’m waiting for one great game to put him back on the menu.
Shane Bieber vs. CHW – Bieber hasn’t done it yet. I need more.
Griffin Canning @ KCR – Canning is getting limited and isn’t showing the fun of last year.
J.T. Ginn vs. WSH – The Nationals are a strong offense and Ginn’s velocity is down + Sacré Verde.
Grayson Rodriguez vs. DET – Rodriguez failed to earn a strikeout last time out as he’s trying to find a way to make his arsenal work.
Zack Littell @ ATH – It’s a terrible matchup for a pitcher who rarely goes deep.
Rhett Lowder @ COL – It’s Coors and Lowder isn’t at his peak.
Tomoyuki Sugano vs. CIN – It’s Coors. Maybe there’s a sneaky Win in there…? Yeah, probably not.
Sunday 7/19 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)
