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: 106-75
My Pick yesterday: Win – Jonah Tong @ WSH (ND): 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 1 BB, 9 K
My Pick today: Zack Wheeler vs. TBR
My Pick tomorrow: Zack Wheeler vs. TBR
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: 93-88
PL Bot’s Pick yesterday: Win – Jonah Tong @ WSH (ND): 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 1 BB, 9 K
Sunday 9/27 Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings
Auto-Starts
Zack Wheeler vs. TBR – The Phillies haven’t clinched a playoff spot after all, preventing them from saving Wheeler and forcing them to play their ace without saving it for a potential Wild Card series.
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
Michael Soroka @ SDP – Soroka needs to get his reps in + the Padres may be resting for their playoff run + the Sneks are still in this. I dug his command last weekend and it could be there for a big game.
Nick Martinez @ PHI – One more start to cap off an unreal season.
Sean Manaea @ WSH – Will Manaea’s four-seamer be decent enough? It’s incredibly hard to tell.
Peter Lambert @ ATH – The Astros are in a battle with the Rangers for the division and need a studly outing from Lambert to get there.
Jacob Misiorowski vs. STL – We’re only going to see roughly three innings from Misiorowski in this one, and now that Kyle Harrison followed yesterday’s game, it could be DL Hall or someone else stepping in after.
Parker Messick @ KCR – Welp, this game has no value for the Guardians, making this start for Messick up in the air. I’ve moved him to the second tier as I’m guessing the Guardians throw him for a few frames than move to a bullpen game day. Even with their bye in the first round, he’s already had a massive workload this year that will get extended further in October.
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.
River Ryan vs. PIT – This was an easy play for Keider Montero to swoop in after River’s 3-4 innings, but with Justin Verlander pulling a heroic effort in his final career start, Jack Flaherty didn’t have a chance to step in as a follower. That means he could get the pearl after River instead of Montero, and with the haze, I’ve reverted to ranking River instead. I’d consider starting both Montero and Flaherty here if you’re chasing a Win.
Shota Imanaga @ BOS – The Cubs are heading to the Wild Card Series on Tuesday and I’m still surprised Shota is the listed starter – why not sit him and start him Game 1 instead of Boyd and Gausman Game 1/2?
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. Spencer Miles may be the follower here and it’s possible he steals a dub.
Janson Junk vs. ATL – They’re still going to limit him, aren’t they.
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.
Brady Basso (Opener) vs. HOU – LET HIM LOOSE! He’ll have Seth Johnson opening for him, so it elevates the Win chance.
Carson Seymour vs. LAD – This looks like a bullpen game…but it could also be Anthony Molina making a final appearance as the follower. Don’t rule it out – it was supposed to be Molina in the first place, after all.
Kyle Freeland @ CHW – At least he’s out of Coors.
Randy Vásquez vs. ARI – The Padres are locked for the playoffs and I don’t see why they’d push Vásquez at all here.
Justin Wrobleski @ 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.
Patrick Sandoval vs. CHC – This never works.
GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!
Photos Courtesy of IconSportswire | Adapted by Aaron Asbury (@aarongifs on Instagram)
