SP Streamers for today’s, tomorrow’s and the day after tomorrow’s games for fantasy baseball.
Every day of the 2025 baseball season, I’ll be looking at today’s 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 and I’m starting them in the majority of situations.
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!
There is a second table (and now third for PL Pro members) 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.
And of course, there are my streaming picks of the day. Please keep in mind that for my streaming record, I am forced to pick a streamer every day even if they are in the bottom tier. 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 Do Not Start pitchers unless you are truly desperate. A streaming pick is defined as “rostered in 20% or fewer leagues” according to Fantasy Pros. This 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 and it applies to a smaller audience.
As I do my rankings, I thought it would be helpful to showcase a table of how we’re ranking offenses, granted by our PLV powered Projections (in alphabetical order by tier):
PLV Projections Team Offense Ranking (8/11 Update)
Remember, these offensive rankings are based on each offense’s Process+ so far this year and how we project their lineups moving forward. It means you’re going to see a little different offensive rankings than you may see elsewhere and there will always be some surprises. This is based on skills, not purely results! If you have questions about these offense rankings, reach out to Kyle Bland (@blandalytics).
To spice up these streaming recommendations, I’ve included our new daily fantasy baseball projections powered by PLV, and I’ll be competing against PL Bot to pick the best streaming option each day.
These projections are different from your typical projections as they incorporate our pitch quantifier PLV, assessing pitcher and hitter skills at a much more granular level than your standard box score.
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.
Note: If no pitcher under 20% rostered would have qualified for a “Streaming Win,” no loss is granted.
(Opener) – Outlines that a pitcher is being opened for that day & the pitcher listed will follow the opener.
Nick’s 2025 Streamer Record: 88-47
My Pick yesterday: Win – Michael McGreevy vs. COL
My Pick today: Tomoyuki Sugano vs. SEA
My Pick tomorrow: Colin Rea vs. PIT
My Pick day after tomorrow: Unlock with PL Pro
My picks for the day after tomorrow are located at the bottom of this article for PL Pro members.
In addition, PL Pro Members have access to my 14-Day Sit/Start SP Grid, ranking all expected starters into the four tiers across the next fourteen days. You can find it on the PL Pro Hub Page.
PL Bot’s 2025 Streamer Record: 89-46
PL Bot’s Pick yesterday: Win – Michael McGreevy vs. COL
PL Bot’s Pick today: Unlock with PL Pro
PL Bot’s Pick tomorrow: Unlock with PL Pro
PL Bot’s Pick day Sunday: Unlock with PL Pro
PL Bot’s Picks are located at the bottom of this article for PL Pro members.
Thursday 8/13 Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings
Auto-Starts
Tarik Skubal @ MIN – Aces gonna ace.
Probably Starts
Edward Cabrera @ CLE – He’s on a roll like branded bread.
Jesús Luzardo @ WSN – Luzardo is a “Cherry Bomb” who is fortunately going to face more LHB than usual.
Kodai Senga vs. ATL – Senga has been in a funk (like most of the Mets’ rotation) and he should come out of it here if not shortly after.
Matthew Boyd @ TOR – Boyd has been fantastic, but the Jays against a LHP at home is rough.
Questionable Starts
Max Scherzer vs. CHC – He’s been nothing but solid for you since returning from the IL and I’m all for Scherzer after this one. There’s a chance he still succeeds here, too.
Bailey Ober vs. DET – Ober was better in the return and Eric Samulski made a great point that we should expect him to improve down the stretch now that he’s not pitching hurt.
Tanner Bibee vs. MIA – I know it’s Miami, but Bibee has been all kinds of disastrous lately. Good luck.
Do Not Starts
Tomoyuki Sugano vs. SEA – He’s the streaming pick and I wouldn’t roll with it, even if Sugano had far better command in his last start.
Eduardo Rodriguez @ COL – It’s in Coors but if Erod can nail the outside corner with his changeup, he should take down their RHB well.
Logan Evans @ BAL – The Mariners are pushing Castillo an extra day, giving the pearl to Evans in Baltimore. If he can jam the sinker inside to RHB, he has a chance. This is a Hobbit Hole, though – the ceiling is low.
Brad Lord vs. PHI – He just had a magical start and I don’t have the faith.
Bryce Elder @ NYM – Elder is a quarterly “Werewolf”, so like a blue wolf?
Bradley Blalock vs. ARI – In Coors and with the initials B.B. It’s clear, y’all.
Thursday 8/14 Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings
Friday 8/14 Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings
Auto-Starts
Zack Wheeler @ WSN – Aces gonna ace.
Jacob deGrom @ TOR – Aces gonna ace.
Framber Valdez vs. BAL – Aces gonna ace.
Noah Cameron vs. CHW – He’s a “Holly” with a great matchup.
Probably Starts
MacKenzie Gore vs. PHI – He just destroyed the Giants, but they served him more LHB than usual and his problems against RHB are still present.
Lucas Giolito vs. MIA – Giolito is a “Holly” with a solid matchup. Stupid Fenway.
Sean Manaea vs. SEA – Manaea has been struggling but this has to be corrected, right? Just avoid the big inning.
Colin Rea vs. PIT – He’s been a reliable streamer and look at that, the Pirates!
Luis Gil @ STL – Gil is earning enough strikes for me to believe he can produce for a dub and strikeouts.
Joey Cantillo vs. ATL – Cantillo is landing his changeup effectively and gets a weakened Atlanta squad.
Luis Castillo @ NYM – I don’t like the matchup and I’m worried about Castillo’s fastballs getting beat more often. This may be the start where we begin to drop him…or maybe not. I’ve been doom and gloom about Castillo all year and he’s helped many fantasy teams.
Questionable Starts
Chris Bassitt vs. TEX – There’s a decent chance for a dub given his leash.
Charlie Morton @ MIN – Morton’s strikeout ability is still there and the Twins aren’t scary.
Yusei Kikuchi @ ATH – Kikuchi has strikeout upside, but it’s “Sacré Verde” and he’s a “HIPSTER”.
Jacob Misiorowski @ CIN – He’d be in the top tier if we had confidence he’d go at least five frames.
Michael King @ LAD – Same with King, mixed with the fact that he was a bit off in his “Still ILL” return last week. Maybe give him one more before slotting back into the lineup.
Do Not Starts
Clayton Kershaw vs. SDP – I know he just succeeded, but I can’t trust it.
Jack Perkins vs. LAA – He’s kinda cool with his cutter, but he isn’t going long and I’m not ready to jump in.
Landen Roupp vs. TBR – It’s a “Still ILL”. I’m excited for the start after though.
Nick Martinez vs. MIL – Maybe I’m too low
Joe Boyle @ SFG – He just looked terrible “@TEA”. No thanks.
Brandon Young @ HOU – Young can squeeze out production here and there. This ceiling is too low, sadly.
Brandon Pfaadt @ COL – It’s Coors + Pfaadt is not the guy you want him to be.
Sandy Alcantara @ BOS – He hasn’t found it yet and it’s Fenway.
Aaron Civale @ KCR – At least it’s a pitcher’s park. You just saw how rough this can be.
Andre Pallante vs. NYY – Oh dear.
Erick Fedde @ CLE – Don’t Trust The Feddes.
Braxton Ashcraft @ CHC – He’s not stretched out + the Cubs. Kinda interesting once he is, though.
José Ureña vs. DET – If you trust José, Ureña boatload of trouble.
Tanner Gordon vs. ARI – In Coors. Please be reasonable.
Friday 8/15 Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings
Saturday 8/15 Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings
New for PL Pro members – I am making the streaming table for an extra day out (no write-ups as these pitchers change often). I wanted to add a bonus for those who support us without taking anything away from everyone else, and I thought this was a good compromise.
In addition, PL Pro Members have access to my Sit/Start SP Grid, ranking all expected starters into the four tiers across the next fourteen days. You can find it on the PL Pro Hub Page.
Unlock the full article
with PL Pro
Source link
