Here are today’s daily SP Streamer rankings.
Every day of the 2023 baseball season, I’ll be looking at today 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.
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!
Make sure to read the notes if you’re wondering why I’m favoring certain pitchers over others – I won’t get to everyone and hopefully I answer what questions you will have.
There is a second table 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.
Finally, there are my streaming picks of the day, and please keep in mind that I am forced to pick a streamer every day. Those highlighted in Green are in the second tier and I’d roll with them everywhere. Those in Yellow 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 these guys until you are truly desperate. A streaming pick is defined as “rostered in 20% or fewer leagues,” which 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. You can use the rankings to realize who would be those picks, instead.
(Opener) – Outlines that a pitcher is being opened for that day & the pitcher listed will follow the opener.
As I do my rankings, I thought it would be helpful to showcase a table of how we’re ranking offenses:
I’m sure it’ll change through the year + there are differences to be made about teams vs. LHP or RHP, but it works as a general table that y’all should keep in mind.
Alright, let’s get to it.
This year, with our new daily fantasy baseball projections powered by PLV, I’ll be competing against PL Bot to pick the best streaming option each day.
To get access to PL Bot’s picks each day, sign up for PL Pro here.
Nick’s 2023 Streamer Record: 8-3
My pick yesterday: Anthony DeSclafani vs. KCR
PL Bot’s 2023 Streamer Record: 4-7
PL Bot’s Pick yesterday: Ryne Nelson vs. LAD
Today’s Starting Pitcher Rankings
- It’s ace day on Monday and the only real arms of contention here when I shout start your studs are Max Scherzer (it’s too early to change direction), Logan Webb (it’s the Dodgers but you start Webb anyway), and Zac Gallen (slow start and slight velocity dip, it’s the Brewers).
- I’m also a touch concerned about Shane Bieber with his 90.3 mph heater last time out and we’ll see how he progresses against the Yankees, likely with 50%+ sliders once again.
- In the second tier, Kenta Maeda looked fantastic against the Marlins and should carry it over against the White Sox, hopefully with a better splitter as well.
- Andrew Heaney gave us nightmares after his first outing, but a start against the Royals and, you know, small sample, should get him back on track.
- The streaming pick of the day is Kyle Gibson and I’ve elected to slot him into the second tier with a matchup against the Athletics. If you have Gibson rostered, these are the starts you’re holding onto him for.
- Flirting with the second tier is José Suarez as he faces the Nationals. He didn’t perform well against the Mariners, but the Nationals’ offense with their fair amount of left-handed batters makes this a considerable start for Suarez.
- The only two others I remotely like to start on Monday are Domingo Germán and Bryce Elder. Germán’s curveball could carry him through a start against the Guardians while Elder was strong in his season debut and has a relatively good matchup hosting the Reds.
- Some may want to throw Graham Ashcraft out there with reckless abandon, I’m personally skeptical he’s figured out his arsenal by now and Atlanta can punish in a heartbeat.
- The bottom half of the tier is all kinds of rickety. Nick Pivetta is a decent play for strikeouts but not ratios, Wade Miley had a lovely first start but Arizona is heating up as an offense, Steven Matz pitched better than the line in his first outing and could survive Coors, and Zach Greinke is…Zach Greinke.
- I wonder if JP Sears can perform in Camden with his new slider. He didn’t get away with his fastball in his first outing and that could change in his second outing.
- I don’t expect great things from Matt Strahm in his second chance in the rotation – expect around 70 pitches or so – but hey, it’s the Marlins. Maybe it works?
- There’s still hope for Roansy Contreras and Drew Smyly, but it’s too risky at the moment (Roansy survived against the Astros, but I don’t trust the stuff right now). Let’s sit these out and see how this works out.
- Update: The Rays are opening with Jalen Beeks into Josh Fleming today. Keep that in mind if you’re trying to vulture a Win.
Tomorrow’s Starting Pitcher Rankings
- So. Many. Aces. I’m not going to bother nit-picking here, start them all. Yes, even Corbin Burnes after his rough start to the year.
- The second tier carries Grayson Rodriguez and Lance Lynn, each hoping to take a step forward from their previous outings. Grayson has a lovely matchup possibly deserving of the top tier, while I’m trusting Lynn to not be the guy we saw in his last start. He’s much better than that, y’all.
- The Questionable Start tier isn’t a whole lot of fun. I’m fine starting Merrill Kelly against the Brewers and Hayden Wesneski should be better as he faces the Mariners.
- Our streaming pick of the day can be found here with Chris Flexen against the Cubs. Yeah, it’s not a fun one and I’m not chasing it, but I have to choose someone. Flexen is stretched out to 90 pitches and Wrigley isn’t a terrible place to pitch.
- Kyle Wright is returning from the IL in what could be considered a Still ILL scenario. Considering it’s more of a “hey, we just wanted to delay your season a little longer”, I’m more accepting of starting him against a middling Reds offense on the road
- It’s similar for Garrett Whitlock, but he’s enduring the hot Rays offense and I’m going to play that Still ILL safe in the bottom tier.
- There’s some hope that the heavy breaking ball approach of Josiah Gray will come through against the Angels, while Kyle Muller has a solid breaker and a decent fastball that may be enough inside Camden Yards. I’d play it safe in the majority of situations for both, though.
- In the bottom tier, I’m not a fan of Jordan Lyles, Mitch Keller, or Hunter Gaddis, but I recognize the possibility of each surviving 5/6 frames despite their volatility and tough opponents.
- After witnessing a lack of slider whiffs and overall command from David Peterson, I have little interest in spinning the wheel against the Padres.
- The rest of the ranks are straightforward. Alex Wood isn’t looking great and gets the Dodgers, Miles Mikolas is in Coors, Kyle Freeland has done well but gets in the Cardinals also in Coors, and Ryan Weathers‘ changeup isn’t enough for me to trust him against the Mets.
Featured Image by Drew Wheeler (@drewisokay on Twitter)