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: 38-31
My pick yesterday: Garrett Whitlock @ NYY
PL Bot’s 2023 Streamer Record: 35-34
PL Bot’s Pick yesterday: AJ Smith-Shawver vs WSH
Want PL Bot’s pick today? Sign Up for PL Pro here.
With the new formatting for the notes, I’ve made the streaming pick of the day Underlined and Italicized.
Today’s Starting Pitcher Rankings
Auto-Starts
Sandy Alcantara @ CHW – Weird to see him at #1 given the struggles, but it’s the best matchup among the studs.
Nathan Eovaldi @ TBR – Can you really deny Eovaldi at this point?
Joe Ryan @ TOR – The secondaries haven’t been there and the Jays are rough, but you still have to do this.
Aaron Nola vs. LAD – He was much better last time out and I wonder if the focus on the four-seamer is a continuing trend.
Bobby Miller @ PHI – The park isn’t fun, but Miller has shown elite stuff with fantastic command.
Probable Starts
Andrew Abbott @ STL – I think the skills are there to make this work against a struggling Cardinals offense.
J.P. France @ CLE – It’s an easy stream of the day with France against the Guardians. He brings enough to the table to take advantage of the poor Guardians crew. Just don’t hit 3 HRs, okay JoRam?
Triston McKenzie vs. HOU – He returned from the IL looking as good as I’ve ever seen him. It’s not wise to imagine he’s at his peak and staying there moving forward, but with the Astros missing Yordan from their lineup, this makes for a calmer decision to start Triston.
Taj Bradley vs. TEX – The Rangers are terrifying against right-handers and yet I trust Bradley’s elite four-seamer to make this work.
Michael Kopech vs. MIA – He’s been on a tear with his four-seamer and the Marlins should allow him to earn at least a strikeout per inning once again.
Domingo Germán vs. BOS – His SwStr rates are still there with the curve as the four-seamer and changeup have been good enough to keep him afloat.
Questionable Starts
Brady Singer @ BAL – He’s still a Cherry Bomb, no matter how you look at it.
Miles Mikolas vs. CIN – Hey, it’s a Toby and let’s hope it’s not a 2.00 WHIP.
Kodai Senga @ PIT – If he has the forkball, this can be amazing. If he doesn’t, it may be a disaster, even against the Pirates.
Jared Shuster vs. WSN – The slider has been decently located since coming back up and the Nationals could make this work out.
Julio Teheran vs. OAK – Sigh. I guess it’s worked? And it’s the Athletics?
MacKenzie Gore @ ATL – I don’t have faith that Gore will keep his four-seamer elevated and without that pitch dominating upstairs, his whole approach looks befuddled. Be careful against Atlanta.
Patrick Sandoval vs. SEA – Despite having a whiff-heavy change and slider, Sandoval has turned into a Toby this year as he can’t reliably have both on a given night.
Kyle Hendricks @ SFG – The changeup has looked good and he’s hyper-reliant on the sinker getting called strikes, though the curve’s absence is apparent. The Giants are a solid crew as well, making me hesitant to throw Hendricks out there.
Johan Oviedo vs. NYM – It comes down to command and we don’t know what we’ll get from Oviedo. The Mets missing Alonso helps Oviedo’s cause, though.
Matthew Boyd vs. ARI – Boyd earned his nine strikeouts via precise four-seamers upstairs, not with his slider. I worry that it’s not a sustainable approach.
Tanner Houck @ NYY – Without Judge in the lineup, there is hope Houck can come through and feature his peak command for a productive outing. Not a whole lot of hope, just some.
Paul Blackburn @ MIL – The Brewers have done damage against Orioles pitchers, though if Blackburn gets both his slider and curve over the plate, he could find six frames.
Ryne Nelson @ DET – I can’t trust Nelson even against the Tigers until he has more than his four-seamer on his side. The cutter isn’t enough.
Do Not Starts
Bryan Woo @ LAA – I want to throw his MLB debut out the window, making this still a wait-and-see start. Not a bad spec add, though, as a great start from Woo will make him the hottest ticket in town.
Bowden Francis vs. MIN – The Jays are replacing Manoah with Bowden, kinda fitting given their proximity to Maine. ANYWAY, He’s sported a 17% SwStr rate in his limited Triple-A sample this year with curves/sliders for strikes and success with his four-seamer upstairs when he executes it. There’s some upside here, but we can’t trust he’ll have the command.
Cole Irvin vs. KCR – Hey, it’s Irvin! I hope he comes through in this one, don’t rule it out for a desperate stream as the Orioles shouldn’t be limiting his pitch-count.
Kyle Freeland vs. SDP – Okay, now we’re really getting desperate.
Ryan Weathers @ COL – Not a chance. Four-seamer is so much worse than it was in the spring.
Jakob Junis? vs. CHC – This is likely a bullpen game.
Tomorrow’s Starting Pitcher Rankings
Auto-Starts
Shane McClanahan vs. TEX – Aces gonna ace, even against Texas.
Kevin Gausman vs. MIN – Aces gonna ace. Almost put hit at #1.
Zac Gallen @ DET – Aces gonna ace, though Gallen hasn’t had his best command for a bit.
Freddy Peralta vs. OAK – Peralta got his heater back and this is Oakland. Sign me up.
Hunter Greene @ STL – He’s on the hot stretch and the Cardinals are ice cold.
Lucas Giolito vs. MIA – He brought 94 mph against the Yankees with his best slider.
Bryce Elder vs. WSN – You’re not benching Elder during his Vargas Rule and it’s the Nationals.
Probable Starts
Bryce Miller @ LAA – The buy-low window on Bryce may be closing as the four-seamer is still an elite pitch.
Braxton Garrett @ CHW – I’m surprised he’s still sub-20 % rostered with a full repertoire of cutters, changeups, and sliders with many great matchups ahead.
Mitch Keller vs. NYM – His last start was the one that got me concerned, though I have to believe the skills are still present with the new cutter.
JP Sears @ MIL – He didn’t make it five frames last time, but the whiffs are there and the Brewers aren’t scary (even with their hot week).
Questionable Starts
Carlos Carrasco @ PIT – I want to believe Carrasco can sit 93 mph every start now, but I need to see more before leaning into the matchup.
Brandon Bielak @ CLE – The changeup was great against the Jays and he could go 5-6 frames of Toby ball.
Kyle Gibson vs. KCR – It’s a great matchup, but it’s also Gibson, the new king of volatility.
Shane Bieber vs. HOU – The Astros aren’t as scary without Alvarez, but Bieber hasn’t had his slider for a bit and holds a 16.3% strikeout rate. Yikes.
Brayan Bello @ NYY – He has flashes of dominance and then loses the command. Without Judge, this may be worthwhile.
Blake Snell @ COL – It’s Coors and Snell hasn’t harnessed the potential of his arsenal yet.
Louie Varland @ TOR – He was demolished by the Rays last time out and yet I still like his skills. There’s a shot he comes through despite the Jays’ lineup.
Griffin Canning vs. SEA – If Canning is able to go fewer than 30% fastballs, he’ll be worthwhile against the Mariners.
Clarke Schmidt vs. BOS – He came through last time and I still question if his arsenal packs enough punch to chase.
Mike Mayers @ BAL – Mayers failed to produce last time, but has shown the ability to keep his secondaries down and take advantage of a good park.
Martín Pérez @ TBR – It’s Pérez. You know the risks but he could also cruise for six.
Do Not Starts
Hayden Wesneski @ SFG – I’m waiting for the breaker to become a legit pitch once again before diving in.
Taijuan Walker vs. LAD – The splitter came through in his last start and I hate banking on that happening again, especially against the Dodgers.
Adam Wainwright vs. CIN – Waino isn’t fantasy relevant, but hey, if you’re in dire need of a QS then maaaaybe.
Sean Manaea vs. CHC – Give us a legit start and we’ll talk.
Trevor Williams @ ATL – Nah.
Dinelson Lamet vs. SDP – It’s Coors and Lamet isn’t the guy you remember.
Joey Wentz vs. ARI – Not a chance.
Dodgers Bullpen? @ PHI – No idea what the plan is here for the Dodgers. Maybe we get a surprise call up?
Featured Image by Kurt Wasemiller (@KUWasemiller on Twitter / @kurt_player02 on Instagram)