Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings Fantasy Baseball – 5/7 & 5/8

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: 19-16

My pick yesterday: Tylor Megill vs COL

PL Bot’s 2023 Streamer Record: 17-18

PL Bot’s Pick yesterday: Mike Clevinger @ CIN

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

 

Today’s Starting Pitcher Rankings

 

• Another short top tier for Sunday’s games, including Sandy Alcantara despite his shaky start to the 2023 season. He’s not at the top of his game but we’re not at the point of sitting him on the bench quite yet.
• Mason Miller also enters the top tier after his dominance last time out. He now gets the Royals and I can’t see a reason not to start Mason here.

 

• His counterpart Bryce Miller has the misfortune of facing the Astros on Sunday as I teetered between a second and third tier placement. In the end, I think I’m starting Bryce with his stellar four-seamer, but I understand benching on a Sunday for those who want to be conservative with a young arm.
• The other options are clear in the second tier. Joe Musgrove was pushed back with a foot blister as we wait for him to make his first stellar outing of the year, Graham Ashcraft has been a ratio darling and gets the poor White Sox crew, and Hayden Wesneski is the clear streaming option against the Marlins.

 

• The third tier is a big boi. Ross Stripling is in heavy consideration for me against the lowly Brewers as Stripling looked like a better version of himself last time out.
• Martín Pérez, Bryce Elder, Cal Quantrill, and Tyler Wells are all Toby arms who could defy their rough matchups to pull out a Quality Start on Sunday if you’re in need.

 

• If you’re chasing strikeout upside, Yusei Kikuchi and Michael Kopech are the guys to consider, though their volatile natures makes me avoid them in any situation where you need to protect your ratios.
• I’m not sure how to rank Ryne Nelson as he’s allowed 15 ER across his last three starts…with two against Coors and the Padres. The Nationals make for a higher probability of production, but he hasn’t found a groove with his breakers yet. We’ll see.

 

• There are two deep options at the end. Joey Lucchesi is not an arm I’d traditionally chase, but it is Rockie Road and despite failing against the Tigers early in the week, I won’t rule out a cheap Win here.
• I’m not sure if the Cardinals will even let Steven Matz pitch (it could be Matthew Liberatore making his 2023 debut), but if they do, it’s the clearest chance of him coming through for managers with a date against Detroit. If it is Liberatore going, I’d place him above Ryne Nelson in these ranks (don’t do debuts, but Liberatore has been killing it in the minors).

 

• In the bottom tier, there are arms here who could come through for you, even I’m not encouraged by them. Trevor Williams has some dark magic, Tanner Houck’s best self would take down the Phillies, and if Roansy Contreras can prevent his four-seamer from punishment, he could survive the Jays.
• I love José Suarez’s new changeup, but it’s far too risky against the Rangers.

 

• The rest of the tier is far from interesting, but all of them have an outside shot of working. Not the worst situation of desperate dart throws for a Sunday, though make sure your reserve them just for that – a Hail Mary with nothing to lose.

 

Tomorrow’s Starting Pitcher Rankings

 

• All familiar names in the top tier with many facing weak opponents on Monday. Freddy Peralta gets the toughest challenge against the Dodgers, but like Darvish, Peralta performs regardless of opponent. Let it ride.
• With the season Marcus Stroman is having and the inconsistencies of the St. Louis Cardinals, Stroman is a clear play to kick off your weeks.

 

• In the second tier, Mitch Keller and Anthony DeSclafani are obvious plays against Rockie Road and the Nationals.
• Logan Gilbert is giving me fits lately and while I’d normally place him in the top tier, the Rangers are too dang good against right-handers.

 

• I don’t believe that Hunter Brown is destined for disappointment after last week’s game, while Tony Gonsolin should get better with more starts as he faces the Brewers. Still don’t love him, though.
• Our streaming pick of the day is JP Sears as he faces the Judge-less Yankees. I’m digging Sears’ new fastball and slider and I’m all for stealing an early stream this week.

 

• In the third tier, Miles Mikolas is a basic Toby facing a tough Cubs squad. I’d pass on that one, while Patrick Sandoval has to endure the mighty Astros and Jon Gray’s middling repertoire faces the Mariners. All of these are too dangerous for me to endorse.
• The final tier carries little excitement. I can see ways for each of these starters to find 5+ innings of production on Monday, but their ceilings are far too low to put yourself in harm’s way.

 

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