Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings Fantasy Baseball – 8/19 & 8/20

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 Playback.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 Playback 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.

The streaming record is determined by “Was this a productive game for 12-teamers if I started them?” Roughly a PQS with a Win and a strikeout per inning with a sub 1.20 WHIP, with a minimum of 5 IP. Close calls are decided by Playback chat.

 

Nick’s 2023 Streamer Record: 74-61

My pick yesterday: Cole Ragans @ CHC

PL Bot’s 2023 Streamer Record: 70-65

PL Bot’s Pick yesterday: Brandon Pfaadt @ SDP

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

 

Gerrit Cole vs. BOS – Aces gonna ace.

UPDATE: Tyler Glasnow @ LAA – California games are hosting doubleheaders on Saturday to get ahead of Hurricane Hilary. Obviously start Glasnow.

Julio Urías vs. MIA – The Dodgers just let him go over 90 pitches and his changeup was as good as we’ve seen.

Yu Darvish vs. ARI – He’s sliders/fastballs focused and it’s working well for him. The four-seamer approach is fantastic, the sinker…it’s working?

Framber Valdez vs. SEA – Valdez has been rough lately and yet I still believe in him. The curve will return + the cutter shouldn’t be on the shelf for much longer.

Sonny Gray vs. PIT – Sonny is on one of his patented hot stretches and the Pirates give us no pause.

Kodai Senga @ STL – Senga just survived Atlanta and the strikeouts should be there.

 

Probably Starts

 

Zach Eflin @ LAA – Arguably in the top tier, Eflin just had a rough game despite a solid Neckbeard approach. The skills are still there.

Merrill Kelly @ SDP – He just took down Coors, though the Padres aren’t the easiest of lineups.

Logan Webb @ ATL – It’s Atlanta. It’s also Webb, who has been far steadier than most. Good luck.

Tanner Bibee vs. DET – I watched all of his last start and talked about my skepticism of his success and yet this is Detroit. Obviously you’re starting him.

Brady Singer @ CHC – His slider command has been absolutely incredible for the last month.

Justin Steele vs. KCR – The Royals are kinda good now? Steele hasn’t been as precise in the second half, either.

Cristopher Sánchez @ WSN – Sánchez has been on a lovely stretch and the Nationals shouldn’t be a major obstacle.

Freddy Peralta @ TEX – It’s the Rangers. It’s also the best version of Peralta we’ve seen in such a long time.

Dane Dunning vs. MIL – Dunning’s slider & cutter focus has turned him into a strikeout machine out of nowhere. It’s not going to last forever, but you start him when he’s in the groove.

Eduardo Rodriguez @ CLE – Eduardo had terrible command against the Red Sox, an abnormality from him this season. Expect a rebound here.

Chris Bassitt @ CIN – It’s Bassitt. He’s opponent agnostic. But it’s Cincy! OPPONENT. AGNOSTIC.

 

Questionable Starts

 

Chase Silseth vs. TBR – You’re going to do it after surviving the Astros, but be warned: his splitter and slider were far worse in that one vs. his previous outings. I’m worried the magic is fading.

Kutter Crawford @ NYY – It’s a solid matchup and Crawford has been generally productive. Not one of those starts I circle, but it’s fine.

Logan Gilbert @ HOU – Gilbert didn’t get whiffs on his slider against the Royals, but it was still effective as the four-seamer is still struggling to return to its former self. Let’s hope he finds it soon.

Cole Irvin @ OAK – Here’s your sneaky stream for the weekend (it’s a dry streaming weekend). Irvin has a solid Win chance here, pitched well against the Mariners, and gets the Athletics. It likely won’t come with a ton of strikeouts and he’s no lock on the ratio side, but it’s the best throw of the dice you’ll find.

Mitch Keller @ MIN – He’s a Cherry Bomb and that’s just how it is.

Eury Pérez @ LAD – I dig Eury, I hate the matchup and the likelihood of sub-90 pitches. (Probably close to 80)

Miles Mikolas vs. NYM – Sure, it could work. He’s a coin flip without a worthwhile ceiling in most cases.

Yonny Chirinos vs. SFG – Is he actually starting? Why not Michael Soroka or Allan Winans? If Chirinos actually gets the pearl, there is a decent Win chance if he can go five frames of 3 ER or fewer, which isn’t a horrible shot given how poor the Giants lineup is these days.

UPDATE: Patrick Sandoval vs. TBR – The Rays are struggling, which can open the door for Sandoval being decently effective, but I really don’t want to do this.

UPDATE: Matt Manning @ CLE – Manning will be allowed to go six if he’s surviving, but will it be productive even if he does?

UPDATE: Brandon Williamson vs. TOR – Williamson has improved his changeup in his last two starts, though I’m not confident it’s enough to survive the Jays. We may be more in on him after that one. I elected to move Williamson into the third tier as he’s a step above the other options.

 

Do Not Starts

 

UPDATE: Braxton Garrett @ LAD – I don’t think his repertoire has improved a whole lot lately and the Dodgers are terrifying to face, even if Garrett survived against the Astros last time out.

Jake Irvin vs. PHI – If Irvin can find a good third pitch, there is some potential. Sadly, the four-seamer – even at 95+ – isn’t that great of a pitch.

Jesse Scholtens @ COL – It’s Coors and Scholtens isn’t that bad and maybe this is okay…?

Ken Waldichuk vs. BAL – He’s a Young Gun and the Orioles are cookin’.

Kyle Freeland vs. CHW – It’s Coors and it’s Freeland.

UPDATE: Ryan Pepiot vs. MIA – He’s getting a chance to start for the Dodgers and I have little faith this will work out.

UPDATE: Matt Waldron vs. ARI – The knuckleballer has returned! We don’t trust them.

UPDATE: Bryce Jarvis @ SDP – This looks mostly like a bullpen game.

 

 

Tomorrow’s Starting Pitcher Rankings

 

Auto-Starts

 

Zack Wheeler @ WSN – Aces gonna ace.

Max Scherzer vs. MIL – Aces gonna ace.

Max Fried vs. SFG – He’s been a touch worse since the first game, I have faith he’ll get back to the man we know and love.

 

Probably Starts

 

Kyle Bradish @ OAK – He’s been too dang good with his breakers and the Athletics aren’t a threat.

Hunter Brown vs. SEA – Brown has been back-and-forth and he’s good enough to start.

Eduardo Rodriguez @ CLE – Eduardo had terrible command against the Red Sox, an abnormality from him this season. Expect a rebound here.

Logan Allen vs. DET – I can’t say I adore Allen, but he’s a strong Toby with a great matchup.

Clarke Schmidt vs. BOS – Keep in mind, the chance of a Win is harder than it used to be pitching for the Yankees. Still, block out the game against Atlanta. That was dumb.

Nick Pivetta @ NYY – His slider command fell through last time and out and I’m not sure if it’s the start of a trend or a single blip. I think it’s too soon to abandon ship.

Kyle Hendricks vs. KCR – The Royals are messing up pitchers everywhere these days, and I was tempted to slot Hendricks into the third just for that.

 

Questionable Starts

 

Dylan Cease @ COL – Coors isn’t as tough as it used to be, but it’s still not a fun time with Cherry Bomb Cease on the bump.

JP Sears vs. BAL – If he has his four-seamer and sweeper spotted, he can come through. It’s a low Win chance, though.

Hunter Greene vs. TOR – It’s a Still ILL, especially against the Jays. Super excited to see him start again, though.

Hyun Jin Ryu @ CIN – He’s a Toby, but could be more with every outing. It’s awfully risky in Cincy.

Emerson Hancock @ HOU – The fifth inning against the Royals ruined four shutout frames and I was most upset seeing the cutter and changeup fade from the potential they showcased in his debut.

 

Do Not Starts

 

Dakota Hudson vs. NYM – There’s a case to be made that this is too low given Hudson’s success finding the seventh frame. On the other hand, he’s ultra BABIP-reliant with a track record of poor control, without strikeout upside.

Adrian Houser @ TEX – It’s the Rangers and yet Houser took down the Dodgers. It’s weird.

Chris Flexen vs. CHW – Flexen showed some promise last time out with his cutter, but pitching in Coors doesn’t help things.

Trevor Williams vs. PHI – Williams can keep the ball down effectively. That’s it? That’s it.

Jordan Lyles @ CHC – At least he’ll be allowed to go 90+ pitches.

Carlos Carrasco @ STL – Carrasco isn’t the man we want him to be.

Dallas Keuchel vs. PIT – Dallas Not Worth.

Alex Wood @ ATL – It may be Junis opening, which could mean a sneaky Win…but it’s Atlanta. No thank you.

Osvaldo Bido @ MIN – He doesn’t go long enough and doesn’t have the arsenal to chase.

 

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