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: 20-17
My pick yesterday: JP Sears vs NYY
PL Bot’s 2023 Streamer Record: 19-18
PL Bot’s Pick yesterday: Jake Irvin @ SFG
Want PL Bot’s pick today? Sign Up for PL Pro here.
Today’s Starting Pitcher Rankings
- Ayyy, (two) aces have returned! Shohei Ohtani gets the nod despite a start against the Astros with Max Scherzer’s laborious 2023 season hopefully getting righted by the Reds. I’m not as concerned as others about his shaky year thus far and given a normal routine, I’d expect the slider to return and excellence to follow.
- With the rest of the tier, none of these guys have the AGA label and yet, you’re starting them all regardless. I have some anxiety about Aaron Nola against the Jays and George Kirby against the Rangers, but it’s unwise to overthink this. Let them fly.
- In the second tier, Charlie Morton and Zach Eflin don’t have the easiest matchups but are still a step above those in tier three. You’re going to start them if you have them rostered.
- The streaming pick of the day may surprise some with a green light going to Brandon Pfaadt. His MLB had all the marks of why we don’t start pitchers in their MLB debuts and a date with the Marlins after dealing with the Rangers is destined to get his confidence back. Don’t write him off yet.
- The third tier begins with two underperformers in Alek Manoah and Andrew Heaney. After Heaney destroyed your ratios last week, it’s a risky proposition to allow this Cherry Bomb to get the keys to the car. The same goes for Manoah as his command has been wonky, to say the least. The Phillies could do some damage in a hurry.
- It hasn’t been the season we dreamed of for Clarke Schmidt, though the Athletics give him a great opportunity for a Win (Judge should be back) and decent ratios along the way.
- I was pretty down on Louie Varland’s last outing after he sat 1.5 ticks lower than expected, though the line was worse than the actual underlying ability. Sadly, the Padres are in the way of his redemption and it’s too risky for me to chase.
- We have no idea what we’re going to see from Jack Flaherty against the Cubs, Michael Wacha’s command shifts start-to-start, Noah Syndergaard may fail to strike out a single Brewer, and Michael Lorenzen has an outside shot to go six strong against the Guardians.
- You may be surprised at the Jameson Taillon and Luis Ortiz (the Pirates are calling him up, right?) rankings. Both arms have unclear pitch counts ahead – Taillon tossed just over 40 in his Still ILL outing and we don’t know how much he’ll go on Tuesday, while Ortiz would be pitching on three-days rest.
- The rest of the bottom tier isn’t too fun. Jordan Lyles could find a PQS against the ChiSox, Nick Pivetta’s new slider focus may keep his head above water against Atlanta, Grayson Rodriguez is a clear sit against the Rays, and Eric Lauer…sure whatever Lauer. Hang out with your 90/91 mph fastball all you want.
Tomorrow’s Starting Pitcher Rankings
- We have aces returning to the slate, but only Clayton Kershaw has a matchup you’re excited about. Kevin Gausman has oscillated his fastball velocity, Zack Wheeler hasn’t had his entire repertoire in conjunction, Luis Castillo get the Rangers, Justin Verlander was fine against the Tigers, and Cristian Javier hasn’t been incredibly consistent this year.
- And yet, we start them all. Start your studs.
- At the end of the tier are Justin Steele and Eduardo Rodriguez. I don’t believe either of them to be auto-starts come August this year, but with the way their seasons have started and matchups against the Cardinals and Guardians, respectively, you start them both.
- Sandwiching the second-tier divider are Pablo López and Hunter Greene, two pitchers we expect to be top-tier but are in a difficult situation. I’m still heavily starting López against the Padres, while Greene at home against the Mets gives me a little more hesitation with a possible HR onslaught.
- Lance Lynn has allowed at least 4 ER in five of his last six games and I’m still going to start him everywhere against the Royals. He’s held a 30% strikeout rate across his last five games and is starting to steer the ship in the right direction.
- It’s hard to deny Merrill Kelly against the Marlins, nor Josiah Gray and Jordan Montgomery on Wednesday…even if The Bear gets the tougher matchup of the crew.
- The end of the tier has our streaming pick of the day with Sean Manaea. I loved Manaea’s three-way repertoire split last time out and with his velocity holding in the rotation, there’s legit upside to be had here.
- In the third tier, we have a few streaming options that I’d rather avoid if possible. Peyton Battenfield could make it work against the Tigers, Rich Hill gets Rockie Road, and Jhnoy Brito could go five strong against the Athletics. All don’t come with enough of a ceiling with a creaky floor, but they are a step above the bottom tier.
- I still don’t trust Edward Cabrera’s command enough to lift him into the second tier and Seth Lugo has a chance to go six with a Win against the Twins, though it’s hard to make out if his stuff is good enough to rely on.
- Wade Miley has been proving himself as a Toby, but do we want to let it ride against the Dodgers? They’re struggling! It won’t last forever.
- Dane Dunning and Griffin Canning close out the third tier with starts against the Mariners and Astros. I’m skeptical of Dunning’s early success, while Canning can come through if he’s able to go 75% secondaries effectively.
- In the final tier, there’s very little to chase. I’d avoid Jared Shuster if he steps in to replace Max Fried, and Yonny Chirinos nor Kyle Muller bring a whole lot to the table. Brayan Bello and Dean Kremer get horrid matchups, and there’s no way I’m trusting Antonio Senzatela or Brad Keller. Nope, can’t do it.
Featured Image by Kurt Wasemiller (@KUWasemiller on Twitter / @kurt_player02 on Instagram)