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 that day’s streaming pick in the second tier and I’d roll with them everywhere. Those in Yellow are 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 (in Alphabetical order):
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: 22-20
My pick yesterday: JP Sears (moved to Sunday) –> Roansy Contreras @ BAL
PL Bot’s 2023 Streamer Record: 20-22
PL Bot’s Pick yesterday: Zack Greinke @ MIL
Want PL Bot’s pick today? Sign Up for PL Pro here.
Today’s Starting Pitcher Rankings
Auto-Starts
Freddy Peralta vs. KCR – Easy matchup.
Logan Gilbert @ DET – Easy matchup.
Max Scherzer @ WSN – He’s been rough, but it’s the Nationals. You have to believe.
Logan Webb @ ARI – High QS chance against a middling offense.
Probable Starts
Marcus Stroman @ MIN – High QS chance and how good are the Twins?
Aaron Nola @ COL – It’s Coors and that’s all kinds of annoying. Looking better recently, though.
Lucas Giolito vs. HOU – Velo was back and so was the changeup, but was it just for one start? And it’s the Astros. Ugh.
Hunter Brown @ CHW – He’s been a bit off as of late (no whiffs on breakers). The White Sox are a good enough floor to still go for it.
Mitch Keller @ BAL – It’s been a marvelous season thus far and you have to roll with it. Hopefully the hard contact stays low.
Zach Eflin @ NYY – The Yankees are heating up a little and Eflin isn’t destined for dominance each start with a repertoire that needs to be precise.
Andrew Heaney @ OAK – High risk/reward, but it’s the Athletics. Rooker can’t do everything.
Patrick Sandoval @ CLE – I haven’t seen Sandoval truly locked in this season, but the Guardians don’t scare me.
Tony Gonsolin vs. SDP – The splitter was worse last time, though velocity was up and the slider was excellent. Could be questionable given the matchup.
Tanner Bibee vs. LAA – The Angels are rough and so was Bibee last time out. However, the arsenal is great and he should be better.
Questionable Starts
Louie Varland vs. CHC – I’m kinda falling for the fastball/slider approach, though the Cubs are good and I’m not sure what to believe from the small sample thus far.
Kyle Gibson vs. PIT – He’s kinda a Cherry Bomb as you don’t know what he’ll have working on a given night.
Miles Mikolas @ BOS – Always a QS chance, but outside of QS leagues, I’m not interested.
Braxton Garrett vs. CIN – Yes, we know about the terrible outing. The slider was great last time and the Reds aren’t scary.
Brandon Pfaadt vs. SFG – It has been rough thus far…but it’s the Giants and Pfaadt is better than what we’ve seen. Or maybe his fastball just isn’t good anymore.
Do Not Starts
JP Sears vs. TEX – UPDATE. Takes Drew Rucinski’s spot. His fastball and slider are much better than their 2022 iterations, but the Rangers are scary.
Colin Rea vs. KCR – UPDATE. Takes Freddy Peralta’s spot. We’ve seen him go 5+ before and do you believe in the Royals’ offense?
Yusei Kikuchi vs. ATL – He’s highly volatile, didn’t have his command last time, and it’s Atlanta. Don’t you dare use Chris Bassitt’s start to justify this.
Clarke Schmidt vs. TBR – The Rays aren’t as scary as they once were, but I really don’t trust Schmidt going deep save for extreme situations.
Jake Irvin vs. NYM – You know, I have a small feeling this works given the Mets being the Mets and Irvin having solid control. Too low of a ceiling, though.
Corey Kluber vs. STL – Sure, whatever Kluber.
Kyle Freeland vs. PHI – I won’t buy it.
Joey Wentz vs. SEA – His velocity has come up, but there isn’t enough here.
Jordan Lyles @ MIL – Deep league stream for QS, but he’s more often bad than good.
Luke Weaver @ MIA – Naaaaah, not polished enough.
Drew Rucinski vs. TEX – No way.
Ryan Weathers @ LAD – Not a chance.
Braves Bullpen @ TOR – I wouldn’t touch this game.
Tomorrow’s Starting Pitcher Rankings
Auto-Starts
Shohei Ohtani @ BAL – AGA.
Freddy Peralta @ STL – Great matchup and he’s a stud.
Pablo López @ LAD – Not the best matchup. I believe in the heater + change + breakers these days.
Framber Valdez vs. CHC – Is the heavy cutter usage real?
George Kirby @ BOS – Destroyed the Rangers, likely not the same success, but still great.
Probable Starts
Merrill Kelly @ OAK – He’s a Toby with a great matchup.
Questionable Starts
Charlie Morton @ TEX – Can Morton have his best curveball and sneak in fastballs against on fo the best offenses against RHB?
Hunter Greene @ COL – It’s Coors…and yet Greene could still fan 10.
Michael Wacha vs. KCR – The streaming pick of the day. Wacha could have his best command and earn a Win here.
Bailey Falter @ SFG – There’s a chance at a Win with the Phils on his side. I really don’t love the stuff enough to lean harder into it, sadly.
Grayson Rodriguez vs. LAA – We have yet to see peak Grayson with low secondaries and high heaters, but he did just battle through the Rays. Be careful against the Angels.
Alek Manoah vs. NYY – I may be ranking this a little too high based on Manoah digging deep against the Yankees. It’s really hard to buy in right now.
Jack Flaherty vs. MIL – What will the velocity be? Will he get whiffs? It’s so volatile right now.
Dane Dunning vs. ATL – I’m not buying the surge after taking a rotation spot and Atlanta is a team to avoid.
Tanner Houck vs. SEA – He didn’t have the cutters that got me excited before, but there’s a chance the slider, four-seamer, and splitter make this work.
Do Not Starts
David Peterson @ WSN – I don’t care that it’s Washington, Peterson isn’t who we want him to be.
Jameson Taillon @ HOU – He’s still getting stretched out and the Astros are too tough.
Noah Syndergaard vs. MIN – Is his finger actually okay? Will they limit hit? Is he worth it even when healthy?
Brad Keller @ SDP – He’s been more Bad Keller than Rad Keller and it’s the Padres.
Jhony Brito @ TOR – Capped ceiling given his low IPS + it’s the Jays.
Alex Wood vs. PHI – It’s a Still ILL against a strong offense.
Patrick Corbin vs. NYM – Never.
Connor Seabold vs. CIN – There isn’t enough here & it’s Coors.
Drew Rucinski vs. ARI – No thanks.
Featured Image by Kurt Wasemiller (@KUWasemiller on Twitter / @kurt_player02 on Instagram)