Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings Fantasy Baseball – 4/24 & 4/25

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: 13-10

My pick yesterday: Bailey Ober vs MIN

PL Bot’s 2023 Streamer Record: 11-12

PL Bot’s Pick yesterday: Kyle Muller @ TEX

Want PL Bot’s pick today? Sign Up for PL Pro here.

 

Today’s Starting Pitcher Rankings

 

• Outside of Spencer Strider, it’s a bit difficult to navigate the top tier. Sonny Gray gets the #2 spot given his early season success. I’m going with Nick Lodolo after as I believe his last outing was an outlier. Chris Bassitt has settled down after his first outing, and Chris Sale just fanned eleven. I can’t see myself benching him now.
• In the second tier, Jordan Montgomery should be fine against the Giants, while Nathan Eovaldi and Alex Cobb are pitching well enough to start them despite questionable matchups.

 

• I’m all in on Taj Bradley and even with a bout with the Astros on the docket, I’m still rolling with him.
• I’d stream Cal Quantrill wherever I could as he could cruise to six frames with ease against the Tigers.

 

• With Quantrill at 25% rostered, that forces Dean Kremer as the streaming pick of the day (1% rostered!) as he leads the third tier. He increased his velocity in his last start and the Red Sox offense isn’t as threatening as they once were.
• I sure don’t know what to do with Lance Lynn. He could excel against the Jays or fall flat on his face and starting a week with such volatility isn’t what I’d go for. It’s okay to take it safe here.

 

• Some are going to be curious about starting Colin Rea or José Suarez against weak lineups. If you want to chance it, go ahead, but I don’t trust either one to have the skill set to truly take advantage of it. It’s more like a Sunday stream instead of a kick-off to the week.
• Despite succeeding last time out, Edward Cabrera is still a Cherry Bomb in my eye and an evening in Atlanta makes me too anxious.

 

• I want to like Matthew Boyd more, but seeing his velocity go from 92/93 to 91 to 89/90 in his last three outings has me terrified. I wouldn’t go for Boyd until he has a statement outing.
• Brad Keller dropped the ball in his last start, slowing any hype we had for him. Jhony Brito could survive 5-6 frames with his pitch-to-contact approach (yay great changeups!), and José Urquidy has to deal with the blazing hot Rays. I’d love to sit all of these arms.

 

• The bottom tier has little excitement per usual. Ken Waldichuk is a Frozen Banana, so why not, maybe this is the start…
• Tommy Henry is getting the start instead of Brandon Pfaadt and against the Royals, anything could happen. Sure don’t want to chase it, though.

 

Tomorrow’s Starting Pitcher Rankings

 

• The top tier doesn’t carry any AGA types on Tuesday, but still features good plays. Is Joe Ryan actually the best play against the Yankees tomorrow? I’m not entirely sure, but there really isn’t a standout to overtake it.
• I wanted to put Blake Snell in there as well as he gets the Cubs, but he simply hasn’t put it together with his breakers yet. In due time.

 

• Carrying on in the second tier, Justin Steele has impressed me with his four-seamer command, but the Padres hold him back from raising higher up the ranks.
• Mason Miller is making his second career start and you gotta let him loose.

 

• With Brady Singer disappointing managers this season, I implore you to keep the faith and start him against the Diamondbacks. He’s not destined for failure.
• Our streaming pick of the day was a tough call between Griffin Canning vs OAK and Peyton Battenfield vs COL, ultimately landing on Canning’s new breaker-heavy approach to grant him a higher chance of success. Still love 22 cutter whiffs in two games from Battenfield against Rockie Road, though.

 

• Ryne Nelson struggled last time out, but the Royals make for a much easier time at the park. You should be fine there.
• I really don’t buy longterm success from Eric Lauer as he hovers 90 mph on his heater, but the Tigers are a team that would allow this Vargas Rule to continue a little longer.

 

• In the third tier, Luis Garcia is still a tough arm to start despite demolition with his cutters last time out. The Rays are just that scary right now + I don’t know if Garcia has a sticky skill or if it was just a one-night show.
• José Berríos fared far better than expected last time out, but I still have my doubts that he can string together a healthy stretch of production.

 

• I like Sean Manaea and his new velocity over the full season, but he still hasn’t found a good rhythm yet. I’d play it safe to wait until we see it first.
• Will Kyle Bradish have his curveball and slider cooking a second straight game against the Red Sox? That’s a coin flip to me.

 

• In the bottom tier, I know there’s a lot of hype around Johan Oviedo, but I don’t trust his command quite yet and the Dodgers are a team that can punish mistakes. Avoid this one.
• Mike Clevinger against the Jays is asking for trouble as a two-pitch pitcher who doesn’t have an elite offering.

 

• Corey Kluber hasn’t done a whole lot to gain our trust, even if he gets the easiest matchup across the early part of the tier.

 

Featured Image by Kurt Wasemiller (@KUWasemiller on Twitter / @kurt_player02 on Instagram)