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). UPDATE: We’ve added distinctions for Home/Away park factors and projected strength vL and vR handed pitchers:
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: 73-57
My Pick yesterday: Win – Dustin May vs. PIT (W): 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 3 Hits, 3 BB, 5 K
My Pick today: Tyler Mahle @ NYY
My Pick tomorrow: Robert Gasser vs. MIN
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: 70-60
PL Bot’s Pick yesterday: Win – Dustin May vs. PIT (W): 6.0 IP, 2 ER, 3 Hits, 3 BB, 5 K
Friday 8/7 Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings
Auto-Starts
Drew Rasmussen @ SEA – Aces gonna ace. @TEA is lovely.
Zack Wheeler vs. TOR – Aces gonna ace. It’s been two straight of fewer than four frames after the injury scare + a limited outing due to a rain delay.
Logan Gilbert vs. TBR – Aces gonna ace.
Payton Tolle vs. ATH – Throw strikes and we’re cool.
Parker Messick @ CHW – He’s still over 94 mph and that’s great.
Kevin Gausman @ KCR – It’s his debut with the Cubs and I don’t think we’ll see much change in the approach. The difference is the team behind him.
Max Fried vs. ATL – Fried is still stretching out, but should be above 80 pitches in this revenge game.
Cade Cavalli vs. CIN – He’s a better pitcher now and the Reds Carpet is still better than most.
Probably Starts
Nathan Eovaldi vs. BAL – Maybe this is too aggressive of a ranking, but I fail to believe that Eovaldi is just bad now.
Robbie Ray vs. HOU – Ray is debuting for the Padres and his fastball approach has improved over the last month. Now just figure out that slider…
Roki Sasaki @ ARI – Sasaki is still flirting with triple digits, but I worry that there isn’t a consistent approach across his arsenal that truly works. The four-seamer can’t do it on its own.
Shane Drohan vs. MIN – Drohan is looking like the favorite among the trio of young arms for the Brewers eying the SP #5 slot. If his slider can continue to get whiffs against RHB, he’ll get it.
Keider Montero @ SFG – Montero is a WHIP king in one of the best matchups you can hope for.
Kyle Leahy vs. COL – Leahy is striking out more batters lately, even if his command is a bit suspect. Rockie Road in cushy Busch Stadium is a gift.
Questionable Starts
José Soriano @ PHI – I feel like he should be in tier two, and yet, he’s still such a wild card.
Shane Baz @ TEX – Baz is a Toby without a strong third pitch.
Tyler Mahle @ NYY – Mahle is up to 94 mph and gets a Yankee offense that is still trying to find their groove.
Jack Perkins @ BOS – The Red Sox dislike RHP and hopefully the HRs are limited now that he’s out of Sacré Verde.
Zebby Matthews @ MIL – Zebby is back on the roster and fanned ten last time out. I’m still worried about his propensity for hits given his questionable command inside the zone, but the upside is obvious.
Do Not Starts
Noah Schultz vs. CLE – It’s a decent matchup for Schultz, though he hasn’t shown much upside thus far.
Zac Thornton @ PIT – We saw the expected regression for Thornton last time out and it’s not a good matchup against the Pirates.
George Klassen @ MIA – I’m kinda down to spec-add Klassen. Yes, he’s had so many control problems in the minors…until recently when he suddenly displayed 65%+ strike rates consistently. I’m not sure exactly what the tweak was, but he’s definitely a step up from earlier in the year, and remember, he throws ched.
Merrill Kelly vs. LAD – It’s the Dodgers and Kelly just got trounced. There is a chance his changeups work far better this time around, though.
Tyler Phillips vs. LAA – Phillips has been productive the last two and he may be a sneaky stream against a poor Angels squad. It’s too risky for not enough of a ceiling for 12-teamers.
Ronel Blanco @ SDP – Blanco is trying to pitch backward effectively and I’ll wait until I’m impressed by it.
Easton McGee (Opener) vs. CHC – The Royals are giving Daniel Lynch IV a chance in the rotation, but he’s not stretched out yet. McGee should be the bulk guy and that’s the only reason he’s not at the bottom.
Adrian Houser vs. DET – Houser is returning to the rotation after Mahle and Ray were shipped away and I wonder how long they’ll let him go, let alone if it’ll be of quality.
Carmen Mlodzinski vs. NYM – He tossed 47 pitches on August 1st and I imagine he’ll be limited to roughly 60 pitches here. Now if they give him an opener…he’d still be meh.
Ryan Feltner @ STL – It’s Feltner. I know, away from Coors, but still.
Chase Petty @ WSH – Petty has been pitching in relief for the Reds and now is getting stretched out to replace Greene. This shouldn’t be a long outing, let alone with any expectation of success.
Saturday 8/8 Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings
Auto-Starts
Chris Sale @ NYY – Aces gonna ace.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto @ ARI – Aces gonna ace.
Gavin Williams @ CHW – Aces gonna ace.
Chase Burns @ WSH – Aces gonna ace. Please have your velocity back, yeah?
Jacob deGrom vs. BAL – Aces gonna ace.
Griffin Jax @ SEA – He’s been such a lock and it’s @TEA.
Gerrit Cole vs. ATL – I gave him the AGA tag, but then didn’t have his secondaries helping last time out. You’re gonna fix this, right?
Sandy Alcantara vs. LAA – I dare you to bank on Sandy going fewer than six frames. I dare ya.
Probably Starts
Peter Lambert @ SDP – He’s been a sturdy Holly for a while now.
Walbert Ureña @ MIA – Ditto.
George Kirby vs. TBR – It’s a home start and despite all the frustration, he’s still very capable of producing.
Kyle Bradish @ TEX – It’s a good matchup and the breakers should do better than we’ve seen in the last two games.
Taj Bradley @ MIL – He just had a rough one, I’m hoping it’s not his poor command rearing its ugly head.
Landen Roupp vs. DET – It’s two straight rough outings for Roupp and I understand if you’d like to bench him here. It’s rare for him to feature this poor control.
Questionable Starts
Jake Bennett vs. ATH – He’s a solid Toby. Why? Because he hasn’t fanned more than four in any start across his last five.
Michael King vs. HOU – I’m still waiting for that single start where King showcases full command of his arsenal.
Clay Holmes @ KCR – It’s a Still ILL for The Adobe in his new, reinforced-with-steel home in Chicago. He was pushed to 73 pitches in his final rehab game for the Mets, so this could be business as usual, but with a better defense. Business as better.
Robert Gasser vs. MIN – Gasser doesn’t have quite the arsenal I’m looking for, but the Twins are blegh and he’s executed well enough to make this one work.
Anthony Kay vs. CLE – The Guardians will give him plenty of RHB and Kay has done well elevating his four-seamer while throwing the kitchen sink around the edge. It’s not the highest ceiling, though.
Matthew Liberatore vs. COL – As much as he’s pained us all year, he’s fresh off a high strikeout game and gets Rockie Road in a wonderful home park.
Do Not Starts
Bubba Chandler vs. NYM – I want to believe. Just throw those 93 mph slider/cutters for strikes and locate the four-seamer in the upper third of the zone. THAT’S IT.
Jackson Jobe @ SFG – I’m STOKED to see Jobe on the mound on Saturday. It’s a proper Still ILL for a young arm and while he’s worth the spec add, temper your expectations.
Brandon Pfaadt vs. LAD – He’s had a Vargas Rule and it’s the Dodgers. Yikes.
Gage Jump @ BOS – Jump simply hasn’t had it. Even away from Sacré Verde, I can’t trust it here.
Robert Stock @ PIT – Stock’s 96 four-seamer and 92 mph cutter is pretty cool, but I’m scared against a tough lineup against RHP.
Andrew Alvarez vs. CIN – Alvarez finally got pushed to 6+ frames, but it came without a change in pitch count. It may mean he’s still going to struggle to go at least five innings.
Aaron Nola vs. TOR – I don’t have any faith in Nola these days. I wish it weren’t so.
Max Scherzer @ PHI – It was a solid outing last time, and I don’t buy that Scherzer can do it again.
Seth Lugo vs. CHC – The decline is real.
Kyle Freeland @ STL – It was just a Birthday Party last time out, don’t go bonkers here.
Sunday 8/9 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)
