Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings Fantasy Baseball – 4/27 & 4/28

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: 15-11

My pick yesterday: Tyler Wells vs BOS

PL Bot’s 2023 Streamer Record: 12-14

PL Bot’s Pick yesterday: Michael Wacha vs CHC

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

 

Today’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 the 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 11 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.

 

Tomorrow’s Starting Pitcher Rankings

 

• The clear #1 is Jacob deGrom and after that it is…difficult to discern. Luis Castillo and Max Fried are the aces that follow, but get a pair of tough matchups. I could place Pablo López higher against the Royals, but his velocity dropped 1.5 ticks in his last outing and his sweeper did little work. Here’s to hoping he rebounds here.
• Marcus Stroman is a high floor play against a poor lineup, while Jesús Luzardo has struggled in his last two outings but I expect better moving forward.

 

• The likes of Shane Bieber and Aaron Nola are both in the top tier as well, but I’m not super confident in them. Bieber hasn’t had his slider lately and Aaron Nola hasn’t had that dominant start yet this season. With Yordan Alvarez out of the lineup, Nola’s matchup does get a little easier.
• At the bottom of the tier is Grayson Rodriguez against the Tigers. I still attest that once he earns at least 50% loLoc on his changeups and sliders, Rodriguez will become an ace. With the Tigers in front of him, it creates a good floor to go for this in all leagues.

 

• The second tier starts with Alek Manoah fresh off an excellent outing against the Yankees. He’s still failing to get four-seamer whiffs, though, and I’m not sold he’s ready to fully rebound quite yet.
• Zach Eflin gets the White Sox and as a proper Toby on a winning club against a struggling White Sox lineup, you should go for it wherever you can.

 

• After two phenomenal starts, are we buying Eduardo Rodriguez to soar once again against the Orioles? I’m a little hesitant to do so, but feel like you need to at this point.
• I still have some uneasiness about Dustin May – will he develop the command he needs and will his cutter + curve return consistent whiffs? – but the Cardinals have been struggling and this start seems worth it.

 

• In the third tier, I trust in Lucas Giolito to continue trending upward throughout the season…but maybe after starting against the #1 offense in baseball.
• Our streaming pick of the day is Rich Hill against the Nationals. I don’t like it (Tier 3!) but Hill has made it work lately and the Nats are as good of a team to stream against as any.

 

• I don’t like the matchup for Jack Flaherty, but last time out he was sitting 93/94 with 10 slider whiffs for the second time in three starts. This may be the time to pounce.
• I see Wade Miley and Tyler Anderson as low-level Toby arms at this point, while Nick Pivetta as a Cherry Bomb. Do what you want.

 

• In the bottom tier, Clarke Schmidt had more success with his sweeper last time out, yet it came with a ton of pitches over the heart of the plate. I worry the Rangers will punish him plenty here without a ton of upside to chase.
• The rest of the tier is pretty easy to deny a start. David Peterson doesn’t have the slider you want, Jordan Lyles is too volatile, Merrill Kelly gets Coors, and the rest are never starts.

 

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