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: 90-66
My Pick yesterday: Loss – Eric Lauer vs. STL (L): 3.0 IP, 7 ER, 8 Hits, 1 BB, 2 K
My Pick today: Andrew Painter @ ARI
My Pick tomorrow: Blade Tidwell @ PIT
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: 80-76
PL Bot’s Pick yesterday: Loss – Sean Manaea @ TBR (L): 5.2 IP, 5 ER, 11 Hits, 1 BB, 2 K
Wednesday 9/2 Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings
Auto-Starts
Jacob Misiorowski @ CHC – Aces gonna ace.
Cam Schlittler @ LAA – Aces gonna ace.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto vs. STL – Aces gonna ace.
Dylan Cease @ CLE – Aces gonna ace.
Eury Pérez @ KCR – Would you just look at that matchup.
Probably Starts
Jacob Lopez @ TEX – This ride is STILL GOING BAYBEEE.
Andrew Painter @ ARI – We’re down to 96 mph on the heater with an inch less ride, which is the same heater he returned to the majors with, not the fun one of the last two week. That’s alright, the changeup and breaking ball command is awesome.
Noah Cameron vs. MIA – Cameron’s velocity is falling and I’m a little worried about him moving forward, but it’s a Vargas Rule at this point and I won’t big-brain this.
Reid Detmers vs. NYY – Detmers is still Detmers. We roll with this until his slider goes away.
Questionable Starts
Joey Cantillo vs. TOR – I’m still tempted to put Cantillo in the tier above, but that changeup command was horrendous in his last start.
Trevor Rogers @ COL – I’m a big fan of Rogers. I’m not a big fan of Coors.
Cody Bradford vs. ATH – Bradford needs to get the pitch separation of old back on track. Fortunately, it’s a weak offense in a good matchup.
Landen Roupp @ PIT – This looks like a clear Tier 2 start, and yet Roupp isn’t reliable these days. There is a good man in there, I hope it comes out.
Hayden Wesneski vs. CHW – Wesneski doesn’t have incredible stuff, but it’s a great sweeper and he has solid intent around the strikezone.
David Peterson vs. MIL – I was impressed by Peterson’s overall command last game, including a sudden appreciation for his changeup to RHB. He’s a Toby on a good team.
Griffin Jax vs. NYM – He made a rehab start on August 23rd for 42 pitches and it’s unclear how long they’ll let him go here. Consider it a proper Still ILL.
Dean Kremer vs. DET – Kremer’s feel for his cutter, splitter, and four-seamer are better than what you’ve seen lately. This can still work.
Bryce Miller @ BOS – He’s no longer in the bullpen now that Hancock is on the IL. It’s so difficult to have any faith in him, yet we know the skills are there.
Do Not Starts
Bubba Chandler vs. SFG – Oh Bubba. This should be a great potential outing for you, yet you haven’t put together the right approach you can consistently execute. It should be gyro sliders and 92+ mph cutters galore with surprise high heaters, though you’d have to land the breakers for strikes and actually get the heater upstairs and not over the plate or wasted. A man can dream…
Grant Holmes @ WSH – We’ve seen some success from REB, but it’s not meant to last.
Casey Mize @ CIN – Mize was down to 92 mph in the start following his ankle injury, slipping on the dugout steps. He could be a Toby with that slider, but I’m worried this is too risky for a meh reward.
Davis Martin @ HOU – Martin will have a long enough leash to try for a Win or Quality Start, and maybe there’s a touch of magic left.
Justin Hagenman @ TBR – Hagenman is back! He just threw four frames in Triple-A and I’m not expecting this one to go super well.
Drew Anderson @ MIN – Anderson didn’t go a full five frames last game, but he’s flrting with five frames and has some whiff potential in the split-change. Not a ringing endorsement. Sure isn’t.
Patrick Sandoval vs. SEA – Sandoval has strikeout potential at a heavy cost of your ratios.
Jose Cabrera vs. PHI – It’s likely the last start for Cabrera in Arizona and he hasn’t looked sharp.
Brandon Williamson vs. SDP – Williamson is returning with Chase Burns shut down/limited heavily for the rest of the season. Yes, that’s a major bummer. Williamson can be interesting, but you must wait and see first.
Brad Lord vs. ATL – He’s actually getting the pearl in the first as a true starter, but that may just mean there isn’t a true follower.
Brycen Mautz @ LAD – We thought we’d see Andre Pallante return here, but it looks like he won’t return until another turn of the rotation. Mautz threw three relief innings over the weekend and I wouldn’t expect much here. He’s a southpaw with a decent set of breakers, but nothing special.
Tomoyuki Sugano vs. BAL – Come on, lucky Win number thirteen…In Coors…against the Orioles…
Thursday 9/3 Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings
Auto-Starts
Tarik Skubal vs. STL – Aces gonna ace.
Logan Henderson @ CHC – Aces gonna ace.
Sandy Alcantara @ KCR – This looks too easy.
Probably Starts
Michael Wacha vs. MIA – Wacha is fresh off ten strikeouts after taking full advantage of a LHB-heavy lineup. What a lovely, consistent arm he’s been all season.
Hunter Brown vs. CHW – We saw the strikeouts last game and all I hope for is good fastballs to carry him through the outing. Also, maybe throw that legit hard slider more…?
Kade Anderson vs. ATH – His second outing came with worse four-seamer command and I imagine that won’t be his future. This is too good of a draw to pass up.
Shane McClanahan @ TEX – He’s not at his peak, but at least it’s @TEX.
Kevin Gausman vs. MIL – You can slot him into the third tier if you like. Personally, I think the risk/reward balance is in your favor.
Questionable Starts
José Soriano @ CLE – He’s been a HIPSTER since May.
Cal Quantrill vs. TBR – I was tempted to push him into the third tier, but I think we all agree this is unlikely to continue for that long. Vargas Rule all you want.
J.T. Ginn @ SEA – Same goes for Ginn, except I have less faith he can keep it going than The UnQuantrillfiable.
Jake Bennett @ BAL – Bennett did a great job with pitch separation against the Yankees after failing to do so for a while. Hopefully this is his success after his moment of adversity that sticks through the end of the year.
Brandon Young vs. BOS – Does he belong here or in the bottom tier? I’m going to favor Young’s four-seamer against a team that favors worse against RHP.
Tanner Bibee vs. TOR – Flip, flip, flip-a-delph—coin. Flip a coin.
Do Not Starts
Luis Castillo @ HOU – I simply cannot trust him. Like a baby trying to take its first steps, the floor is so often hit.
Blade Tidwell @ PIT – Even against Pittsburgh, y’all. Tidwell ain’t the goods.
Quinn Mathews @ LAD – I like Quinn, but I really dislike the matchup.
Carmen Mlodzinski vs. SFG – He doesn’t go long enough to justify this, let alone give us confidence it’ll come with quality.
Friday 9/4 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)
