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: 11-7
My pick yesterday: Alex Wood vs MIA
PL Bot’s 2023 Streamer Record: 8-10
PL Bot’s Pick yesterday: Matthew Boyd vs CLE
Want PL Bot’s pick today? Sign Up for PL Pro here.
Today’s Starting Pitcher Rankings
- The top tier isn’t your normal crew, but you can’t deny the early dominance of Joe Ryan with Max Scherzer’s back pulling him away from a definitive #1 spot. Drew Rasmussen should recover against the Reds, Alex Cobb is a strong play against the Marlins, and Justin Steele’s fastball has looked far better this year, earning him a clear start against the Athletics.
- The second tier doesn’t hold a whole lot either. Brady Singer and Charlie Morton are both potential Cherry Bomb types with managers leaning on a start, while Martín Pérez has been gifted a date with the Royals. You’re letting them all fly.
- The third tier is where we’ve got the meat and potatoes today, per usual. Our streaming pick of the day is Trevor Rogers against the Giants as we hope to see more of the BSB he exhibited last time on the bump. Still risky, but there’s a decent shot here.
- Cal Quantrill, Taijuan Walker, Marco Gonzales, and Kyle Bradish are all here because of their weak opponents. I’m a little worried about a possible Still ILL situation for Bradish, even if it is the Nationals.
- It’s the third tier, which means I’m avoiding all of this if I can, and Noah Syndergaard against the Mets scares me. I don’t trust the nine strikeout performance and the Mets are still a solid set of bats.
- MacKenzie Gore has shown promise in the early weeks, though Baltimore is a dangerous bunch. Don’t do this if you don’t have to.
- The bottom three of the tier all have had their moments and despite that, are desperate options only. Eric Lauer’s success is unsustainable as it has come with a horrific 90/91 mph fastball, Spencer Turnbull’s four-seamer/slider combo isn’t as electric as we want it to be, and Nick Martinez has to endure the Braves while still trying to piece it all together.
- In the final tier, James Kaprielian and Griffin Canning each have a bit of upside, though you’re putting yourself far too much in harm’s way to throw them out there.
- Luis Garcia, Corey Kluber, and José Berríos would be considered for the third tier if they faced weak opponents, but it wasn’t meant to be on Wednesday – yes, even the Twins.
- Just because Jhony Brito failed to escape the first frame doesn’t mean he’s unable to provide fantasy value in the future. That said, without a strikeout pedigree, it’s not worth it until we see it.
- I know there’s a lot of love for Johan Oviedo these days, but it’s Coors. He’s already a risky play and now it’s Coors.
- Updates: The Athletics actually did the thing and called up Mason Miller to start against the Cubs. He is a MUST add and I’m okay starting him today, even if he’ll likely be limited to about 70 pitches. He could easily rack up 6+ strikeouts in that time.
- The Miller news overshadows the Reds calling up Levi Stoudt, though that’s a clear wait-and-see as Stoudt hasn’t been tearing up the minors.
Tomorrow’s Starting Pitcher Rankings
- Hey Nestor Cortes, I hope you’re not feeling lonely in the top tier. I’ll bring snacks.
- In the second tier, Kodai Senga, Kenta Maeda, and Patrick Sandoval are the plays that feel definitively “yeah, I’m gonna start them,” but there are still concerns. Senga showcased his Cherry Bomb nature last time out when he didn’t have his splitter, Kenta Maeda hasn’t had that clean six inning start yet, and Patrick Sandoval gets the Yankees without a start of dominant changeups & sliders under his belt.
- At the bottom of the second tier is hard-throwing Sean Manaea as he gets the Mets. It’s a bit contentious to put him in this tier, but if I have Manaea, I’m letting him fly. His stuff outlines more success than his last outing and I expect this to work in your favor.
- The third tier kicks off with our streaming pick of the day in Ryne Nelson against the Padres. I’m not in love with this stream, but Nelson’s fastball is solid and we haven’t even seen him get locked in with the breakers yet. The Padres are a bit cold offensively as well, making this a decent shot for production.
- Going against Nelson is Michael Wacha as he hopes to rebound from a disastrous outing. It’s a toss up if his command will show up or not, though the Diamondbacks aren’t the scariest team around.
- I see Roansy Contreras as a volatile arm given his slider is the only pitch working well for him (the fastball is around 94 mph, not 96/97!) and despite hosting the Reds, it’s still a highly suspect option.
- The final arm in the third tier is Jameson Taillon, who I do believe gets better as the season goes on. He survived against the Dodgers last week and could do so again, though there’s still improvements to be made on his breakers.
- In the Do Not Start tier, Michael Grove is Taillon’s nemesis and I don’t have faith he can go 5-6 frames, nor command his heater up in the zone properly.
- Some may want to go for Matt Strahm against Rockie Road, but I’m passing given Strahm’s inability to toss more than 75 pitches. Too much risk for the limited ceiling.
- At the end of the tier are Tanner Houck, Ryan Feltner, and Luke Weaver. Houck hasn’t done enough to warrant a start, Feltner is…Feltner, and Weaver is a Still ILL in a case where you’d not want to chase him even if he were 100% healthy.
Featured Image by Kurt Wasemiller (@KUWasemiller on Twitter / @kurt_player02 on Instagram)