Rankings of the SP Streamers for today’s and 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: 105-75
My Pick yesterday: Loss – Brayan Bello vs. CHC (ND): 4.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 Hits, 1 BB, 2 K
My Pick today: Jonah Tong @ WSH
My Pick tomorrow: Keider Montero (Opener) vs. 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: 92-88
PL Bot’s Pick yesterday: Win – Robert Gasser vs. STL (ND): 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 1 Hits, 1 BB, 9 K
Saturday 9/26 Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings
Auto-Starts
Blake Snell @ SFG – Aces gonna ace. They said they wanted him to pitch a full outing to prep for the playoffs, so we let him fly.
Griffin Jax @ PHI – He’s been fantastic and I imagine they’ll want to keep him stretched out.
Probably Starts
Michael Wacha vs. CLE – One more to put a cap on Wacha’s magical season.
Kade Anderson vs. LAA – Kade was great in his PILOT Rule, then great in Coors. In other words, the two times he was least likely to succeed. However, seeing a rookie regain their skills after their moment of adversity usually starts a hot streak, and against the Angels, I’ll take my chances.
Questionable Starts
Ryan Johnson @ SEA – Ryan returned to 94/95 mph, but it didn’t go his way. Now it’s @TEA and he may still be worthwhile.
Jonah Tong @ WSH – The Vulcan change feel disappeared on us as we feared. But hey, it could come back!
Quinn Mathews @ MIL – Mathews has a trio of successful starts to his name, though the box score hides the questionable execution of his arsenal in that time. Just 1/20 whiffs on his slider against the Nationals isn’t the most inspiring results.
Hayden Wesneski @ ATH – He’s a command guy going into Sacré Verde and it’s super meeeeh.
Do Not Starts
José Urquidy vs. TBR – The Phillies have struck gold with Urquidy. He’s been incredibly helpful getting them to the finish line and they’ll use as much of him as they possibly can. Here’s to hoping he deserves it.
Jack Perkins vs. HOU – Perkins has had a pair of strong outings on the road, but back home in Sacré Verde has me spooked. But the Astros are poor against RHB sweepers! Maybe that’s enough. That’s too big-brain, right?
Tanner Bibee @ KCR – He has the leash, it’s the quality that is so dangerous.
Dustin May vs. STL – The stuff is far better than the results we’ve gotten over the past month, but how long will they let him go? He was allowed to go just two frames last time out and I get the feeling it’ll be the same here as they prep him to be a reliever and less of a starter for the playoffs.
Matt Wilkinson vs. LAD – Tugboat came through! And I still can’t bank on it working against the Dodgers.
Davis Martin vs. COL – Martin has the chance to pull it off against Rockie Road, but his spring command has been missing for months.
AJ Smith-Shawver @ MIA – He’s getting another start and even if he has the length, it’s still a guy hyper-reliant on his splitter.
Bailey Ober vs. TEX – We’ve seen a whole lot of 87 mph, but a whole lot of anything has some value in the final weekend.
Jake Irvin (Opener) vs. NYM – I’m stoked to watch Connelly Early make his debut for the Nationals (hopefully he gives us something interesting for next year!), and Irvin is sure to get a sizeable workload after Early tosses a few frames. He has the most expected volume of all the followers in this tier.
Rhett Lowder @ TOR – Lowder has some moments. Very brief ones, but they exist.
Antwone Kelly (Opener) @ DET – At least he has an opener, right? But who knows when he’ll come in and for how long and if it’ll be any good. RIGHT?!
Jack Flaherty (Opener) vs. PIT – This will be Justin Verlander opening the game, who I’m sure they’ll let go as long as he possibly can. Then we’ll see Jack Flaherty’s return from the IL, on a lovely Saturday at COMERICA park. There’s a chance Flaherty is there for a Win, but that assumes Verlander and Flaherty go long enough + the score is in their favor.
Jordan Montgomery (Opener) @ MIN – Oh hey! It’s The Bear! They may let him start proper once before the end of the year, but that doesn’t mean you should start him, too. This will be Nathan Eovaldi starting, who is not close to being stretched out, and I’m making the guess we see The Bear in relief.
Bradley Blalock (Opener) vs. ATL – The Marlins are making this a bullpen game and the best guess is for Blalock to be the follower for bulk innings. It’s a wild day.
Walker Buehler vs. ARI – Buehler doesn’t go long into games and his ratio boost is often insignificant + the Padres have clinched the postseason and they’ll likely rest Buehler.
Trey Yesavage vs. CIN – Yesavage tossed 40 pitches and the most ideal scenario is 60 pitches. That’s what, three innings for Trey? If we’re lucky. This may be Spencer Miles in relief after, and maybe you’ll strike gold with either him getting a Win or Yesavage finding strikeouts.
Ryne Nelson @ SDP – The Sneks are starting Nelson and following him with…someone? Nelson hasn’t gone deep enough yet to suggest he can get through five, sadly.
Jose Quintana @ CHW – How long will they let him go? Does it matter?
Sunday 9/27 Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings
Auto-Starts
Parker Messick @ KCR – The only way Messick doesn’t pitch this game is if the White Sox lose and the Guardians win on Saturday – the White Sox hold the tiebreaker for the division and are only one game back. If he goes, we go.
Jared Jones @ DET – He’s feeling his slider and the Tigers are not a scary crew.
Logan Gilbert vs. LAA – Aces gonna ace…but how long will they push him? It’s the only reason he’s lower than the other two.
Probably Starts
Nick Martinez @ PHI – One more start to cap off an unreal season.
Michael Soroka @ SDP – Soroka needs to get his reps in + the Padres may be resting for their playoff run. I dug his command last weekend and it could be there for a big game.
Keider Montero (Opener) vs. PIT – This should be a pairing of River Ryan to start and Montero after, and look how well that turned out for Montero on Monday. I see this is a cheap Win opportunity you can’t pass up, especially with Ryan’s expected high quality frames frames before Montero arrives. Montero should toss more pitches than Harrison, too.
Sean Manaea @ WSH – Will Manaea’s four-seamer be decent enough? It’s incredibly hard to tell.
Kyle Harrison (Opener) vs. STL – Jay Mis is set to open and we cannot expect more than three frames, opening the door for a Kyle Harrison dub. There’s a better Win chance than others with quality frames behind him, but Harrison’s own ability is still a little suspect, while he’ll surely be limited as well.
Questionable Starts
Yusei Kikuchi @ SEA – It’s a good park, he’ll still need to execute.
MacKenzie Gore @ MIN – He is a HIPSTER who will start this one unless the Rangers lose on Saturday and the Astros Win – Houston holds the tiebreaker and they are currently tied for the division. I imagine Texas would elect to limit Gore and not push his workload even further if they didn’t have to.
Dean Kremer vs. TEX – Kremer came through for trusting managers over the weekend, but the velocity dip has me a little scared.
Andre Pallante @ MIL – As long as he doesn’t have terrible command, his general Koufax love gives him a shot for a Quality Start on a day we rarely see any.
Javier Assad @ BOS – Assad is the innings eater the Cubs should use to give their pen as much of a rest as possible before they head to the postseason.
Do Not Starts
Shane Baz @ NYY – He’s really not looking great right now. I’d shut him down if I were Baltimore.
Anthony Kay vs. COL – It’s Rockie Road and I hope the White Sox are playing for something. If they aren’t, Kay may get a rest for the playoffs…or for next season.
DJ Herz vs. NYM – He wasn’t impressive in his Still ILL and I’d only consider this as a dart throw, hoping he can nail down the four-seamer and changeup BSB command + sliders away to LHB.
JR Ritchie @ MIA – The only good Ritchie outing was his first…which included a HR on his first pitch.
Max Scherzer vs. CIN – Is this the final start of Scherzer’s career? It may mean that he goes ALL OUT MAD MAX. It could also be an absolute disaster.
Janson Junk vs. ATL – They’re still going to limit him, aren’t they.
Anthony Molina vs. LAD – His four-seamer was great against the Twins and if it weren’t for a Careful, Icarus with a string of three hits, he’d have gone six shutout. The Dodgers may take it easy over the weekend, making this a decent dart throw.
Brandon Williamson @ TOR – I’m expecting the Reds to give him a full workload on Sunday, which is as much as you can hope for on this day.
Daniel Lynch IV vs. CLE – Lynch IV just got stretched out, and the Guardians may have clinched the division the day prior (or lost it?)
Elmer Rodríguez vs. BAL – Elmer is getting the pearl as the Yankees prepare for the playoffs. He’ll have as long of a leash as he earns, but outside of a huge peak of 97 mph velocity for one outing, Elmer hasn’t deserved to go five.
Ronel Blanco @ ATH – Maybe this is the moment Blanco looks vintage and heads into the off-season feeling great. Wouldn’t that be fun?
Patrick Sandoval vs. CHC – This never works.
Justin Wrobleski (Opener) @ SFG – I initially had this as Emmet Sheehan, but I’m now guessing he’ll be saved as long relief for the postseason, so why push him here? Who knows if this will be Landon Knack in time, if Wrobo Cop will actually start, etc. Definitely check this an hour before game time.
Kyle Freeland @ CHW – At least he’s out of Coors.
Brady Basso vs. HOU – LET HIM LOOSE!
TBD Padres vs. ARI – The Padres have their first game on Tuesday and Michael King is the clear starter, making him out of the question for Sunday. I have no idea who will go instead.
TBD Phillies vs. TBR – Just like with the Padres, Zack Wheeler is likely the Game 1 starter on Tuesday, and it’s anyone’s guess how this one will play out.
Photos Courtesy of IconSportswire | Adapted by Aaron Asbury (@aarongifs on Instagram)
