Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings Fantasy Baseball: 5/19 & 5/20 | Pitcher List

Here are today and tomorrow’s daily SP Streamer rankings for fantasy baseball.

Every day of the 2024 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 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!

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 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. You can use the rankings to realize who those picks would be 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 by tier):

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 2024 Streamer Record: 31-21

My pick yesterday: Logan Allen vs MIN

PL Bot’s 2024 Streamer Record: 30-22

PL Bot’s Pick yesterday: Logan Allen vs MIN

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

My streaming pick of the day is Underlined and Italicized.

Today’s Starting Pitcher Rankings

Auto Starts

Corbin Burnes vs. SEA – Aces gonna ace.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto vs. CIN – Aces gonna ace.

Aaron Nola vs. WSN – Aces gonna ace.

George Kirby @ BAL – Aces gonna ace. Worst matchup here, sadly.

Probably Starts

Nick Pivetta @ STL – He looked far better in his second start back from the IL and it’s the Cardinals.

Carlos Rodón vs. CHW – He’s in a good place and gets the CrySox.

Jordan Hicks vs. COL – Enjoy Rockie Road, let’s hope the sweeper or splitter are earning all the strikes.

Reynaldo López vs. SDP – He’s been too good to sit.

Tanner Bibee vs. MIN – He’s a Cherry Bomb, though I want to believe he’s still more harmful than detrimental.

Jordan Montgomery vs. DET – He’s a Toby with a good matchup.

Jameson Taillon vs. PIT – He’s a Toby with a good matchup.

Brady Singer vs. OAK – Singer has returned to his normal Cherry Bomb self.

Sean Manaea @ MIA – He’s a Toby with a good matchup.

UPDATE: Yu Darvish @ ATL – I know it’s Atlanta, but Darvish just took down the Dodgers. He’s looking lovely.

Questionable Starts

Joe Musgrove @ ATL – It’s a difficult matchup and Musgrove has been a bit off this year, save for his most recent matchup. Let’s hope he’s all good.

Aaron Civale @ TOR – He was a bit better last time out, but I’d still be cautious here.

Michael Lorenzen vs. LAA – Our streaming pick of the day as Lorenzen could cruise to six innings and a Win.

UPDATE: Landon Knack vs. CIN – The Dodgers are giving an extra day of rest so Knack gets the call. It’s a decent Win chance against a mediocre offense and he’s stretched out.

Spencer Arrighetti vs. MIL – Not a bad streaming option either, though Arrighetti has yet to display consistency.

Hunter Greene @ LAD – It’s the Dodgers. At least Greene’s velocity was back up last start (though, it didn’t have the same vert on the heater).

Mitch Keller @ CHC – He’s a Cherry Bomb.

Alek Manoah vs. TBR – I’m not ready to buy back in.

José Soriano @ TEX – It’s a tough matchup, though Soriano can still overcome it as long as he hurls enough strikes.

Matt Manning @ ARI – Manning’s command has been off. The upside is still there making this a decent dart throw.

UPDATE: Bryce Elder vs. SDP – This is a Win chance play. I don’t like Elder a whole lot, but a manager’s gotta do what a manager’s gotta do.

Do Not Starts

JP Sears @ KCR – He’s a Cherry Bomb without the best upside.

Trevor Williams @ PHI – I know he’s been far better than expected, but it’s unsustainable + the Phillies.

Chris Paddack @ CLE – Paddack doesn’t have enough in the arsenal.

Dakota Hudson @ SFG – Sure, it could happen.

Colin Rea @ HOU – It’s the Astros.

Sixto Sánchez vs. NYM – Sánchez is not the man you remember from years ago.

Chris Flexen @ NYY – Noooope.

Matthew Liberatore vs. BOS – Is he even going to go deep enough into this one?

Enjoy these rankings? Support my work and Pitcher List by getting PL+ or PL Pro! You’ll get an Ad-Free website, access to our incredible non-toxic baseball Discord community, my weekly PL Pro exclusive SP FAAB Forecast podcast, a full suite of fantasy baseball tools, and much more. Get 10% off yearly with code SPSTREAMERS here.

Tomorrow’s Starting Pitcher Rankings

Auto Starts

Pablo López @ WSN – Aces gonna ace.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto vs. CIN – Aces gonna ace.

Chris Sale vs. SDP – Aces gonna ace.

Kyle Bradish @ STL – Aces gonna ace.

Framber Valdez vs. LAA – Another solid matchup for Framber.

Logan Gilbert @ NYY – The Yankees are scary, Gilbert has been to good, sav for some rare blips.

José Berríos vs. CHW – I was worried for a moment and he’s recalibrated + gets the White Sox here.

Tanner Houck @ TBR – How can you bench Houck with the season he’s had in a matchup against the Rays?

Probably Starts

Dylan Cease @ ATL – He’s nearing the AGA tag with a legit test here.

Sonny Gray vs. BAL – Sonny has stumbled lately, though I don’t buy a fall from grace, even with the Orioles on the docket.

Reynaldo López vs. SDP – He’s been too good to sit.

Reese Olson @ KCR – Reese is looking legit and the Royals aren’t a deterent.

Marcus Stroman vs. SEA – He brought himself out of his funk last time out and now gets what looks to be a quality start with a potential Win ahead.

Taj Bradley vs. BOS – I’m skeptical his command is good enough for a legit breakout, but Bradley has performed out of the gate.

Michael Wacha vs. DET – Wacha’s command has improved as of late and it’s the Tigers.

Joe Ross @ MIA – Ross just went BSB out of nowhere and now gets the Marlins.

Questionable Starts

Ben Lively vs. NYM – His fastballs are still working upstairs and it’s the Mets.

Erick Fedde @ TOR – Fedde has been decent and the Jays have not.

Mitchell Parker vs. MIN – Will his four pitch mix come through? Or will this be another game of “too many four-seamers”?

Ryan Weathers vs. MIL – Weathers looked great against the Tigers, sadly the Brewers are a stronger offense and will punish more of his fastballs down the pipe.

Reid Detmers @ HOU – We really can’t trust Detmers’ command these days + it’s the Astros.

Do Not Starts

Tylor Megill @ CLE – It’s a Still ILL as we hope he can locate his four-seamer upstairs and pair it with a legit secondary pitch.

Slade Cecconi @ LAD – Absolutely not, though there have been moments of bliss here and there.

Randy Vásquez @ ATL – Noooooooope.

Enjoy these rankings? Support my work and Pitcher List by getting PL+ or PL Pro! You’ll get an Ad-Free website, access to our incredible non-toxic baseball Discord community, my weekly PL Pro exclusive SP FAAB Forecast podcast, a full suite of fantasy baseball tools, and much more. Get 10% off yearly with code SPSTREAMERS here.

Photos Courtesy of IconSportswire | Adapted by Aaron Asbury (@aarongifs on Instagram)