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: 96-70
My Pick yesterday: Loss – Yusei Kikuchi @ WSH (ND): 4.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 4 BB, 5 K
My Pick today: Andrew Alvarez vs. LAA
My Pick tomorrow: Michael McGreevy vs. CHW
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: 83-83
PL Bot’s Pick yesterday: Win – Dustin May vs. CIN (W): 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 Hits, 1 BB, 6 K
Saturday 9/12 Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings
Auto-Starts
Tyler Glasnow @ MIA – Aces gonna ace.
Gavin Williams @ MIN – Aces gonna ace.
Gerrit Cole vs. NYM – Aces gonna please give us lots of strikeouts and not the eight total across his previous two.
Probably Starts
Bryan Woo @ ATH – I know it’s Sacré Verde, Woo is also looking much more like the ace of old.
Walbert Ureña @ WSH – Debatably auto-start as well, with the changeup looking gorgeous and holding the velocity boost.
Michael King @ SFG -Even if I’m not super confident in his ability to execute his arsenal to its fullest, we’re going with this in Oracle Park.
Peter Lambert @ TBR – He’s been a solid Holly all year.
Paul Skenes @ CHC – What do we do with you?! You have to still start him, right?
Ranger Suarez vs. KCR – Ranger finally gave us a lovely outing and that’s enough to put him back on the menu for Kansas City.
Ian Seymour vs. HOU – Our confidence is waning after last week’s struggles, though Seymour is at home and one outing doesn’t rule out a great performance.
Brandon Pfaadt vs. TEX – Pfaadt has been the victim of Careful, Icarus a fair amount. Hopefully he can avoid the late diaster while continue to pitch with the best command of his career.
Clay Holmes vs. PIT – Are you capable of brushing off the last outing you saw from The Adobe? I sure hope so – this matchup provides the perfect platform for redemption.
Tyler Mahle vs. PHI -Mahle isn’t quite as precise as we saw a few weeks ago, yet there aren’t enough red flags to put a stop to this Vargas Rule.
Questionable Starts
Kyle Bradish @ TOR – Got a coin?
Andrew Alvarez vs. LAA – Alvarez has been more efficient as of late, but the floor of returning fewer than five frames is still very much present.
Kyle Harrison vs. CIN – Who knows how long he’ll go. I have to imagine the Brewers would play it safe here.
Connor Prielipp vs. CLE – Prielipp has the potential, it’s a question of his consistency.
Gage Jump vs. SEA – WHERE IS THAT COIN?!
Zac Thornton @ NYY – Thornton has been able to induce weak contact and find six boring innings often with his four-seamer and cutter. It’s a tough draw against the Yankees and I’d generally put it in the Do Not Start bucket, though I recognize Thornton’s ability to surprise so far in his career.
Do Not Starts
Cesar Perdomo vs. SDP – I kinda dig this. Perdomo is a SWATCH who nailed his changeup command to RHB with legit intent to go high with his low-velocity heater. It was just one start, though, and it’s too risky.
Andrew Sears vs. COL – It’s hard to deny the benefits of Rockie Road, but Sears hasn’t proven to us that he’s capable of going deep into games efficiently yet.
Randy Dobnak @ BOS – Y’all know he can sling 5+ innings of decency on a given day, but if you’re banking on it, you’re likely be disappointed.
Luis Castillo (Opener) @ STL – Speaking of disappointment…I truly miss the days when I was infatuated with Castillo.
Kumar Rocker @ ARI – There is some strikeout upside if you can stomach the short leash and questionable ratios.
Cooper Hjerpe (Leahy Opener) vs. CHW – You’re going to see Kyle Leahy come out first, then the side-armer show up after, with a decent Win chance against the White Sox. Not terrible.
Spencer Arrighetti (Opener) vs. BAL – You’ll see Spencer Miles open, which gives Arrighetti a better Win chance, yet it’s still the undercooked Pasta Pirate.
Tyler Phillips vs. LAD – Phillips is kinda interesting, but it’s the Dodgers.
Brady Singer @ MIL – Singer is not getting it done. At all.
Tanner Gordon @ DET – Absolutely not.
Tim Mayza @ ATL – The Phillies are playing it safe with Jesús Luzardo and turning this into a bullpen game.
Sunday 9/13 Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings
Auto-Starts
Cam Schlittler vs. NYM – Aces gonna ace.
Payton Tolle vs. KCR – Give him the AGA already! Maybe.
Joe Ryan vs. CLE – He looked back to normal in his Still ILL.
Logan Webb vs. SDP – Webb has been cruising.
Probably Starts
Trevor Rogers @ TOR – Rogers is doing everything you want him to.
Eduardo Rodriguez vs. TEX – Erod is on a MISSION.
Noah Cameron @ BOS – Cameron started calling his own pitches and has been great since.
Dylan Cease vs. BAL – Cease is in Probably Start?! He’s down two ticks in velocity and the results are falling with it. He used to sit 97+ mph and now routinely sits 95/96 mph. Yikes.
Cal Quantrill @ ARI – The UnQuantrillfiable is being quantified as worthy of your attention.
Jacob Lopez vs. SEA – He’s fresh off a two-whiff outing with 4 ER, but he was burned for 3 ER in the seventh in a Careful, Icarus. Not quite the same. I am a touch worried about the lack of whiffs, yet he’s deserved the mulligan at this point.
Andrew Painter @ ATL – The four-seamer vert returned last game, but the velocity did not. Meanwhile, the changeup and both breakers are looking fantastic.
Questionable Starts
Freddy Peralta vs. HOU – Peralta axed the changeup last game for whatever reason. I expect it to return here, but who really knows.
Michael McGreevy vs. CHW – McGreevy is doing enough to make me feel decently confident in a stream against the lowly White Sox offense.
Jackson Jobe vs. COL – It’s Rockie Road and yet, I’m not sure how Jobe will perform. His secondaries aren’t doing enough thus far.
Matthew Boyd vs. PIT – The HRs have found him and the whiffs are not as plentiful as we saw in April.
Hayden Wesneski @ TBR – Wesneski is a Toby without the whiffability I want for a day in the Trop.
Sean Burke @ STL – WHAT DO WE DO WITH YOU?! Please, just find your secondary feel.
Christian Scott @ NYY – It’s a tougher lineup with Judge back from the IL.
Shane Drohan vs. CIN – Drohan is decent. Not excellent, but there are flashes of whiffabiltiy that could blossom here.
Nick Pivetta @ SFG – Pivetta returned just one whiff in his 60+ pitch Still ILL without good command. At least he’ll be stretched out to 70+ and gets the pitch in Oracle Park.
Eury Pérez vs. LAD – It’s been three straight rough outings for Pérez and now he has to deal with the Dodgers. Ugh.
Chase Burns @ MIL – We’re going to see Brandon Williamson appear after three or four frames, and I wouldn’t touch that, even with the higher Win chance. As for Burns, he’s still very capable, making even a shorter start possibly return more strikeouts than any in the bottom tier.
Do Not Starts
Grant Holmes vs. PHI – I know he’s been better than expected as of late, but I still don’t think the ceiling is worth the lava floor.
Tanner Bibee @ MIN – You can flip a coin if you must, but make sure you didn’t receive it from Mr. Dent.
Bubba Chandler @ CHC – The White Sox granted Chandler a day of four-seamer bliss. I don’t believe the Cubs are so magnanimous.
Grayson Rodriguez @ WSH – GrayRod just got rocked and even if he gets to use his changeup heavily against a LHB-platoon lineup, it’s not worth it.
Roki Sasaki @ MIA – It’s a Still ILL and I wonder if we’ll see Justin Wrobleski appear for bulk innings after. Who knows how long Sasaki will go. If Wrobleski is confirmed as a follower, fire him up everywhere.
Bryce Miller @ ATH – This hasn’t worked and it’s Sacré Verde?!
Jake Irvin vs. LAA – I fail to see why you’d do this. Because it’s the Angels! IT’S IRVIN.
Gabriel Hughes @ DET – Even with the fun start against the Yankees, I wouldn’t do this.
Monday 9/14 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)
