Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings Fantasy Baseball – 5/5 & 5/6

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 (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: 18-15

My pick yesterday: Griffin Canning @ STL

PL Bot’s 2023 Streamer Record: 15-18

PL Bot’s Pick yesterday: Griffin Canning @ STL

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

 

Today’s Starting Pitcher Rankings

 

• The top tier is a standard affair. Don’t overthink any of this and just start the dang guy.
• Joe Musgrove longing looks above him, hoping to be with his friends. I want to wait until I see a strong outing from him before making him a clear start each time as the Dodgers are a rough hand to be dealt. He should come through, but I understand if some want to be cautious.

 

• With last game’s first inning behind him, Chris Bassitt is a relatively safe play moving forward, even against the shockingly good Pirates offense.
• Despite being a Cherry Bomb, taking on Rockie Road should return dividends for Kodai Senga managers.

 

• Then we have a trio of guys who should come through but have a bit of risk attached to them. Nathan Eovaldi has to endure the Angels, Lance Lynn is seemingly trending upward but has to survive Great American Ballpark, and it’s hard to feel confident in Chris Sale against the Phillies, however his fortune seems to be coming around. I’m starting them all, though I understand your anxiety.
• Conversely, the final three of Merrill Kelly, Josiah Gray, and Bailey Ober are seemingly high floor plays, but don’t carry the same ceilings as the veterans above.

 

• The third tier begins with Sean Manaea as he finally has a clear rotation spot and faces a weak offense. If there’s ever a time to begin an upward trend, this is the game.
• I don’t trust Edward Cabrera’s control, especially against the Cubs, though I recognize he could walk about with 8+ strikeouts in this matchup.

 

• The rest of the tier has a chance to make it work, but I’m staying away. Peyton Battenfield could be his best self against the Twins, Matthew Boyd could sit 92 mph with a good changeup (I don’t trust the slider to earn whiffs again, sadly), Brad Keller could flip stellar curves against the Athletics, and Tyler Anderson may be able to hold off the Texas firepower with his changeup.
• You may be tempted to start Kyle Muller against the Royals and I’ll beg you to please consider something else. He’s not nearly as polished as we want him to be.

 

• Closing out with the bottom tier, Rich Hill has had a nice run, but a start against the Jays isn’t a fun day at the park, and Dean Kremer has a chance against Atlanta and it’s not enough to put yourself in harm’s way.
• It’s been a better few starts for Jhony Brito, but the upside here is five innings of 2 or fewer ER with fewer than five strikeouts. That’s a terrible ceiling to chase when facing the Rays.

 

• Updates: The Padres pushed back Joe Musgrove to Sunday with a blister on his foot, making a wild Yu Darvish appear. He succeeds or fails regardless of opponent, and let him ride.
• The Rangers are going with Dane Dunning instead of Nathan Eovaldi, and despite looking great in relief of Jacob deGrom, I have no interest chasing this one.

 

Tomorrow’s Starting Pitcher Rankings

 

• Hooo boy, Saturday is a bit rough. Only five are defiantly in the top tier, with Logan Allen sneaking in at the end as he’s proven himself during his early career to take on a questionable Twins offense.
• The other four are easy choices, even Drew Rasmussen and Nick Lodolo as they’ve each been a Cherry Bomb as of late. They face weak offenses and are clear starts.

 

• In the second tier, Drew Smyly gets the Marlins and should perform well with his sinker/curve combo, while Brady Singer seems like a no-brainer against the Athletics…and yet, he’s displayed an uncomfortable floor as of late.
• Nathan Eovaldi was pushed back to Saturday and retains his Probable Start designation. He looks to be a solid play throughout the season.

 

• This is the time to start Alex Cobb, even if he hasn’t had his slider much at all this season. I still see a Cherry Bomb instead of this, but the Brewers widen the margin for error.
• In the third tier, Dustin May, Blake Snell, and Reid Detmers are struggling to find a rhythm that we can rely on. I believe in Detmers the most long term, but the Rangers are a dangerous offense that you may want to avoid.

 

• With Blake Snell, I loved watching his curveball be the pitch it’s meant to be last time out – now all that’s left is his slider to find strikes at a 55-60% rate. He’s close, y’all.
• I don’t trust Dustin May at the moment, but I recognize he could have one of his excellent outings against the Padres. Give me curve and cutter whiffs plz k thx.

 

• The streaming pick of the day (right at 20% rostered!) is Tylor Megill as he faces Rockie Road at home. It’s a solid Win chance, even if I don’t think he’s pumping fastballs like he used to.
• Closing out the tier is MacKenzie Gore who is doing a wonderful job of getting his curveball down and may have found a path to success. The Diamondbacks aren’t the biggest challenge, marking an outing that could reward trusting managers.

 

• We’re at #15 and we’re already at the DO NOT START tier. Hooooo boy. Nick, how can you tell me to not start half of the guys going on Saturday? Because it’s all super risky against tough opponents, Still ILL situations, MLB debuts, and downright blegh pitchers.
• Sorry Adam Wainwright, I know it’s the Tigers, but it’s your first start back and let’s be honest, your ceiling ain’t that great.

 

• We just saw José Berríos display he’s The Great Undulator once again, Johan Oviedo got trounced by the Nationals and it’ll be the same skill set against the Jays, Spencer Turnbull doesn’t pack enough of a punch, and Corey Kluber + Mike Clevinger are not convincing enough to chase despite not the worst matchups.

 

• There are a few that I do kinda like but don’t want to go after. Domingo Germán’s strikeout rate has soared lately, but it’s the Rays. You can’t do that.
• Marco Gonzales is showcasing stellar command and yet, he gets the Astros. Colin Rea has shown he can go 5+ frames of decency and maybe that works against the Giants, and finally Ken Waldichuk fanned seven last time out with a BSB approach and maybe that sticks against the Royals.

 

• One more for you – the Astros are likely calling up JP France to face the Mariners and there’s a small chance it works. Based on my quick analysis of his starts on Savant, he throws 94/95 mph four-seamers with solid cutters and not a whole lot else. I don’t love it – it’s not an elite four-seamer – but there could be some Houston magic here.

 

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