Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings Fantasy Baseball – 4/26 & 4/27

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: 14-11

My pick yesterday: Griffin Canning vs OAK

PL Bot’s 2023 Streamer Record: 11-14

PL Bot’s Pick yesterday: Mike Clevinger @ TOR

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

 

Today’s Starting Pitcher Rankings

 

• Another day of few auto-starts and past Zac Gallen and Freddy Peralta, we do have a few slightly questionable top tier arms. Sandy Alcantara is dealing with a biceps injury but has been cleared for this start against Atlanta. You’d imagine he’ll be a little more limited than usual.
• As for Kodai Senga, he’d normally be obvious against the Nationals, but he’s shown his floor when his Ghost Fork isn’t on point. Still starting him, but I’m a little more anxious than I want to be.

 

• The second tier begins with Patrick Sandoval as he looks for redemption against a weak Athletics crew. Bryce Elder surprised me with his last performance against the Astros and should be fine against the Marlins, even if I don’t fully buy his 2023 campaign.
• Jon Gray heads to Cincy and isn’t ideal, but should be okay. Domingo Germán gets an easier matchup against the Twins and may still have his curveball working.

 

• Kenta Maeda is getting the green light against the Yankees and we’re all hoping he can get into a comfortable groove moving forward. The Yankee offense is in the bottom third of many offensive stats this year and Maeda could produce over 5-6 innings.
• Tyler Wells has been performing well and I’m inclined to let him ride against the Red Sox. Not my favorite, but I’m leaning toward starting him.

 

• The same goes for both Steven Matz and Graham Ashcraft. Matz’s skills have been far better than the results and the Giants don’t scare me enough to sit him today.
• As for Graham Ashcraft, he’s the opposite as I think he’s been overperforming and now has to deal with a strong Rangers offense inside Great American Ballpark.

 

• The questionable start tier is long today (it often is) and begins with a Drew Smyly vs Michael Wacha matchup. Smyly destroyed the Dodgers with his BSB but the Padres are another tough challenge and it’s tough to fully buy in.
• With Michael Wacha, the Cubs are shockingly one of the better offenses thus far in the season and we don’t know if Wacha’s command will be there on Wednesday. He’s a Cherry Bomb, after all.

 

• I don’t buy into Yusei Kikuchi’s recent success, while Anthony DeSclafani performed well against weak clubs and struggled against a worthy opponent last week. The Cardinals are going to be a challenge.
• I want to start Hunter Brown, but the Rays are just too dang good right now. Similarly, I like what MacKenzie Gore has done thus far, but the Mets are a bit too risky for me.

 

• We have two rules that I don’t want to break on Wednesday. Tony Gonsolin is a Still ILL against the Pirates, while Tanner Bibee is expected to make his MLB debut against Rockie Road. Both face middling lineups, but I don’t like starting pitchers in MLB debuts (Bibee has also recently struggled in Triple-A) and there’s a reason Still ILL exists.
• At the bottom of the tier, Michael Kopech’s skills were better last time but he still failed to produce + the Jays are in his way. Michael Lorenzen and Marco Gonzales aren’t the worst QS plays, and Tanner Houck can’t be relied upon to have his entire repertoire working against a dangerous Baltimore lineup.

 

• The final tier is easy, save for Roansy Contreras, who just had his best start of the year. It’s far too risky to chase here as I still believe his four-seamer is susceptible to a boatload of damage. It’s not worth it.
• You don’t need me for the other four. There isn’t someone exciting for the Athletics to start in the place of Shintaro Fujinami as Mason Miller is already here. We’re already celebrating.

 

• Updates: The Mariners swapped Marco and Logan Gilbert, with the latter being at the end of the top tier on Wednesday.
• The Athletics called up Luis Medina, a hard-throwing arm with a great curveball to start against the Angels. Be careful – he’s consistently held horrible walk rates throughout the minors. There will be some fun moments though, I’m sure.

 

Tomorrow’s Starting Pitcher Rankings

 

• The aces hath returned on Thursday with Shane McClanahan, Shohei Ohtani, Gerrit Cole, Julio Urías, and Dylan Cease all hitting the bump. I know, Cease gets the Rays but you do it anyway.
• The rest of tier isn’t as rock solid. George Kirby should be fine without a stellar breaker against the Phillies, Andrew Heaney has been sharp and gets a stumbling Yankee offense, and Logan Webb’s Cherry Bomb tendencies could come to fruition against the Cardinals…but we’re starting him regardless. This should be fine.

 

• The second tier is filled with good matchups. Kyle Wright isn’t my favorite arm but you can’t deny a start against the Marlins. Kyle Gibson has come through against his weak opponents, and I’d still start Tyler Mahle against the Royals even with his depreciated velocity.
• The biggest question is Seth Lugo against the Cubs. I’m not completely sold that Lugo is primed and ready, but I’m encouraged for the rest of the season while the Cubs have been surprisingly powerful as an offense thus far. I don’t buy that the Cubs are this good and I’m willing to throw Lugo out there.

 

• At the start of the Questionable Start tier is JP Sears as he squares up against the Angels. His fastball has improved this year and the addition of a slider has made him an intriguing streaming option when not facing the top clubs. It’s not the sexiest of options, but this could work well for you.
• I’m not buying Joey Lucchesi’s return to the majors last week, but it is the Nationals and there could be some residual magic.

 

• Miles Mikolas against the Giants is…fine. I’m kinda over chasing Mikolas at this point.
• I really liked what Hayden Wesneski did two starts ago and last time out he was toyed with by the Chicago weather. The chance for a breakout is here, just maybe don’t chase it now as he faces the Padres.

 

• There’s some hope that Mitch Keller can hit his peak this season, but let’s wait until he gets this start against the Dodgers out of the way.
• After Matt Strahm fanned eleven in his last outing, some picked him up in their leagues. Thing is, the Mariners should fare much better than Rockie Road. Be careful here.

 

• In the bottom tier, I’m not going to chase Braxton Garrett against Atlanta, even if he’s featuring the best version of his slider these days.

 

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