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: 71-56
My Pick yesterday: Win – Brandon Pfaadt vs. SDP (W): 6.2 IP, 0 ER, 5 Hits, 1 BB, 3 K
My Pick today: Sean Manaea @ CLE
My Pick tomorrow: Eric Lauer @ CHC
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: 68-59
PL Bot’s Pick yesterday: Loss – Brandon Sproat vs. PIT (L): 3.0 IP, 4 ER, 5 Hits, 2 BB, 4 K
Tuesday 8/4 Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings
Auto-Starts
Tarik Skubal @ CHC – Aces gonna ace. This is the worst timeline.
Joe Ryan @ KCR – Aces gonna ace. His velocity came back to 93 mph last time out, but is he going to still be on the Twins?
Jesús Luzardo vs. WSH – Aces gonna prove that last start was a jinx I put on him and he still deserves the coveted label.
Troy Melton @ SEA – Melton gets a date in @TEA and that’s fantastic.
Logan Henderson vs. PIT – Henderson gets a tough draw. He’s also been incredible.
Probably Starts
Joey Cantillo vs. NYM – You know the drill. We like this new version of Cantillo.
Ryan Weathers vs. STL – Weathers is cruising.
Eduardo Rodriguez vs. SDP – Erod is on one beautiful Vargas Rule.
Jared Jones @ MIL – I’m still waiting for Jones to give us one of his absurd whiff games with high heaters and low sliders.
Emerson Hancock vs. DET – Hancock stayed put and gets a home start.
Trey Yesavage @ HOU – He doesn’t know where it’s going and that’s worked out for him more times than not.
Questionable Starts
MacKenzie Gore vs. SFG – I truly hope Gore gets dealt at the deadline. He has the stuff, but he hasn’t squeezed enough out of it. If not, he gets the Giants in his lovely home park and that can work out well.
Sean Manaea @ CLE – Manaea gets a lowly Guardians lineup and even if I’m skeptical that his four-seamer should perform the way it has, it’s not a bad gamble here.
Brady Singer vs. ATH – Singer has been executing his sinker/slider approach of old, with a few extra cutters. If he sticks around past the deadline, this could work against a hampered Athletics crew.
Randy Dobnak vs. MIN – He just made it work against the Twins, why not twice? Because they were adjusting better to his sinker/change combo in the latter frames. Yeaaaah, this isn’t the highest chance of success, but who knows.
Do Not Starts
Davis Martin @ BOS – Martin hasn’t come through for a while, even if this is a lineup that hates RHP.
Freddy Peralta @ COL – Peralta is debuting with his new Rays squad and we shouldn’t see any shifts to his approach out of the gate. Throw in Coors, and I think it’s best just to wait one more.
Zack Littell @ PHI – Littell has had some success by Dancing With The Disco via splitters and sliders, but it’s just so meh.
Hunter Dobbins @ NYY – The Yankee offense has improved, but maybe not enough to be out of the dregs.
Blade Tidwell @ TEX – Tidwell is an interesting prospect for the Giants. I’m curious how this plays out. PILOT Rule this one, even though it’s not his MLB debut.
J.T. Ginn @ CIN – I’m not a fan of what Ginn has given us lately + it’s a terrible park to pitch in.
Hayden Wesneski vs. TOR – I wonder what we’ll see from Wesneski during his runway in the rotation the rest of the year. I didn’t see a whole lot to get excited about last time, sadly.
Cade Povich vs. LAA – He’s entering the rotation with Kremer sent to Minnesota and I hope he can turn into the reliable kitchen-sink SWATCH.
Grayson Rodriguez @ BAL – GrayRod may be figuring out his secondaries, but a date against the Orioles isn’t the time to test it.
Patrick Sandoval vs. CHW – The Irish Panda has earned whiffs with his slider and changeup in his return from TJS (far from 32 whiffs, of course), and I’m not confident his fastballs can avoid damage routinely. I also wonder how much we see of him moving forward (including this start).
Gabriel Hughes vs. TBR – I have a soft spot for Hughes and his cut-fastball. We’ve seen him have a strong outing in Coors against the Nationals, but the floor is lower than those above.
Javier Assad vs. LAD – We’ve seen Assad survive five for a Win in the past, but it’s the Dodgers. In addition, they could acquire another arm and push him out of the rotation, including this start.
Grant Holmes vs. MIA – Despite holding a sub 4.00 ERA this year (HOW?!), that WHIP hurts oh so much, and the strikeouts aren’t there.
Ryan Gusto @ ATL – He doesn’t have the sauce. I hope he finds it soon.
Randy Vásquez @ ARI – I imagine this is another bullpen game with the Padres.
Wednesday 8/5 Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings
Auto-Starts
Paul Skenes @ MIL – Aces gonna ace yes, even with the recent struggles
Dylan Cease @ HOU – Aces gonna ace.
Nolan McLean @ CLE – I want this to be his “Coronation Day”. They’ll serve him all their LHB, and he’ll have to show he can handle them with ease.
Sean Burke @ BOS – I don’t see why you wouldn’t start him with the run he’s on.
Bryan Woo vs. DET – He’s home and pitching better than the results suggest.
Eury Pérez @ ATL – Eury’s mix of sinkers and four-seamers is a little strange, but they’re working. If they keep earning strikes while the breakers are proper complements, we’re golden.
Probably Starts
Nathan Eovaldi vs. SFG – He stayed put after all and the Giants make for a good matchup for a bounce back start.
Trevor Rogers vs. LAA – His last outing was a step back without the same command and 93 mph instead of 94, but I’m sure he’ll bounce back.
Reid Detmers @ BAL – Detmers is still here and his slider is too good to pass up.
Hunter Brown vs. TOR – He got his vert back last start and I would love to see it again.
Sonny Gray vs. CHW – The sweeper returned as it appears there are Sonny skies ahead.
Robbie Ray @ ARI – It’s his first turn with his new squad and I hope the Padres encourage him to lean into sliders against RHB again. He really needs to find it again.
Shota Imanaga vs. LAD – This doesn’t seem like a start to make on paper, but Imanaga did get over 91 mph last time and I’m inclined to let start him. He’s been far more helpful than harmful.
Questionable Starts
Will Warren vs. STL – Warren had an impressive outing last game and
Eric Lauer @ CHC – Lauer has been a Win magnet since joining the Dodgers.
Noah Cameron vs. MIN – We’ve seen two fantastic starts from Cameron since bumping his velo 1-2 ticks. He just took down the Twins by leaning into his ole ways of pitching backward, and he could very well do it again.
Jacob Lopez @ CIN – It’s been fun watching JLo command his arsenal exactly like he did last summer with four-seamers up and away to RHB, cutters coming back over the plate, and sweepers underneath. If he’s truly in that groove, the matchup rarely matters.
Nick Martinez @ COL – It’s Coors, obviously. Martinez has been unbelievably good on his “Vargas Rule”, and it could continue here, regardless.
Do Not Starts
Andre Pallante @ NYY – The Yankees have been a bottom tier offense during Judge’s absence, but their recent acquisitions could make it tough on Pallante.
Dean Kremer @ KCR – It’s Kremer’a debut for his new team and he’s fortunate tor get such a good matchup. He still has to execute his splitter and cutter better than what we’ve seen.
Kyle Harrison vs. PIT – This is a clear “Still ILL” for Harrison, and I hope he gets us hyped again.
Ty Madden @ SEA – With Skubal and Mize gone, Madden is sure to get some frames across the next two months. I’ll let you know if he’s doing anything worth our attention.
Slade Cecconi vs. NYM – I wonder how much more we see of Slade now that Foster is with the team. He hasn’t been the productive six inning arm you want.
Bryce Elder vs. MIA – I fail to believe Elder has any magic left for the second half.
Andrew Painter vs. WSH – Painter is doing the right thing by limiting fastballs and favoring secondaries aplenty. The Nationals are too good of a squad to risk it as he figures himself out.
Carson Whisenhunt @ TEX – I see the potential “SWATCH” here, but the command needs polish and I wish for his old 95+ mph velocity.
Jake Irvin @ PHI – The bumped velo before he got hurt was cool. If that comes back, maybe we have something for the second half.
Mitch Bratt vs. SDP – He’s not the guy you’re looking for.
Rhett Lowder vs. ATH – I kinda dig Lowder and maybe he deserves an extra spot or two higher in 15-teamers, but I hate the home park.
Germán Márquez @ ARI – Absolutely not I wonder how long he even goes.
Tomoyuki Sugano vs. TBR – I still can’t believe he has double-digit wins.
Thursday 8/6 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)
