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: 95-69
My Pick yesterday: Loss – Cody Bradford @ SEA (L): 4.0 IP, 3 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BB, 1 K
My Pick today: Cristian Javier @ PHI
My Pick tomorrow: Yusei Kikuchi @ WSH
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: 81-83
PL Bot’s Pick yesterday: Loss – Cody Bradford @ SEA (L): 4.0 IP, 3 ER, 4 Hits, 2 BB, 1 K
Thursday 9/10 Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings
Auto-Starts
Jacob deGrom @ SEA – Aces gonna ace.
Logan Gilbert vs. TEX – Aces gonna ace.
Max Fried vs. COL – He may be slightly limited still, but it’s Rockie Road.
Zack Wheeler vs. HOU – He’s been weird lately. The four-seamer command is typically peak and it hasn’t been at that level recently.
Probably Starts
Jared Jones @ CHW – Jones leaned into his slider to the Angels’ RHB-lineup as I hoped he would, and it was awesome. This is a little different with the White Sox favoring many LHB, but that heater should carve them up.
Questionable Starts
Nick Martinez @ ATL – We ride til sunset.
Cristian Javier @ PHI – Javier FINALLY gave us the game we’ve been waiting for. Now do it again.
Martín Pérez vs. TBR – This is a stream in hopes of a cheap dub.
Do Not Starts
Erick Fedde (Opener) vs. PIT – We’re going to see Hagen Smith get the pearl in the first and likely for a few innings before Fedde steps in. Not worth it.
Ryan Feltner @ NYY – Absolutely not.
Friday 9/11 Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings
Auto-Starts
Chris Sale vs. PHI – Aces gonna ace.
Blake Snell @ MIA – Aces gonna #HotSnellSummer
Drew Rasmussen vs. HOU – Aces gonna ace.
Parker Messick @ MIN – The sturdiest Holly of them all. He sat 95 mph in his last game. In September!
Cade Cavalli vs. LAA – Aces gonna ace. YUP. Just keep that velocity going.
Sonny Gray vs. KCR – He’s more Sonny than Gray.
Carlos Rodón vs. NYM – Rodón hasn’t quite found his groove yet, though I expect better than 50% strikes on changeups and sliders.
Nolan McLean @ NYY – It’s a proper test for McLean now that Judge is back in the lineup. Hard to hold him back from this one.
Braxton Ashcraft @ CHC – Hey Ashcraft, can you please find the whiffs on your breakers again? K thx.
Probably Starts
Robbie Ray @ SFG – It’s a revenge game as I sure hope Ray finds his slider to RHB.
Shota Imanaga vs. PIT – Yes, the HRs. I know! The whiffs are still there.
Taj Bradley vs. CLE – He’s a Cherry Bomb. We’re all hoping for the best.
Yusei Kikuchi @ WSH – His slider is looking great and he’s fresh off a strong outing against the Pirates, now in an even better matchup.
Dustin May vs. CIN – It hasn’t been fun rostering May across the last month, but hot dang has he been unfortunate. Rain delays, comebacker on the first pitch of the game, some cruelty from Koufax…he’s pitching great, y’all.
Questionable Starts
Merrill Kelly vs. TEX – He’s looking better with his changeup these days. The floor is still too low to push him into the next tier.
Matthew Liberatore vs. CHW – The slider to RHB has created a huge strikeout boon for Libby, though the ratios are still at risk.
Framber Valdez vs. COL – Who knows. Seriously. He never came around this year.
George Kirby @ ATH – SPEAKING OF NOT KNOWING. Hard to be confident inside Sacré Verde, too.
Aaron Nola @ ATL – Nola just went back-to-back games without allowing a HR for the first time all season. Sure feels like a third would be pushing it, no?
Do Not Starts
Anthony Molina vs. SDP – Molina almost made it to the third tier, but it’s a little risky against a dangerous Padres offense, even if it’s in Oracle Park. The lack of data on Molina may work to his benefit.
Andrew Abbott @ MIL – Abbott does what Abbott does. Which is generally blegh these days.
Kumar Rocker @ ARI – There is some strikeout upside if you can stomach the short leash and questionable ratios.
Max Scherzer vs. BAL – We saw that one awesome outing and we’re highly unlikely to get an encore.
Chris Bassitt @ TOR – Bassitt has the long leash, but it’s attached to a tree. A tree of disappointment.
Luis Castillo @ STL – Speaking of disappointment…I truly miss the days when I was infatuated with Castillo.
Seth Lugo @ BOS – Lugo has his kitchen sink, but it’s sputtering. WHERE IS THAT PLUMBER?!
Ethan Pecko @ TBR – Pecko doesn’t have enough in his back pocket to get him out of jams when the Shag Rug appears.
Jeffrey Springs vs. SEA – Seattle is bringing their clouds into Sacré Verde to prevent sunshine and rainbows.
Ryan Gusto vs. LAD – The ceiling isn’t there, especially against the Dodgers, even if Ohtani is on the IL.
Mason Adams @ DET – Adams is fortunate to get plenty of starts outside of Coors to kick off his tenure. He needs a lot more luck to make this work.
Saturday 9/12 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)
