Author Archive

Five Early Schedule Streamers to Consider

Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images

Schedule is obviously one of the biggest drivers for picking up a streamer. You can’t plan too far out because things can change on a dime, especially in cold weather spots this early in the season. But let’s see if the first few weeks can offer some worthy pickups.

Brandon Williamson – PIT, at MIA, maybe LAA

Injuries cleared a path for Williamson to sneak into the rotation and he sets up beautifully against two of the worst teams versus lefties last year. Pittsburgh was 29th in wOBA and Miami was 23rd. Pittsburgh did lengthen their lineup, but two of the three big adds are lefties (Brandon Lowe, Ryan O’Hearn). The Angels outing is a maybe as Nick Lodolo could be back, but then Williamson might shift into Chase Burns’s follower which is still a great role. Burns is slated to be part of the LAA series and then will pitch at MIN/at TBR if things hold, but that’s looking way too far out to have any real confidence in it. Pick him up for PIT/at MIA and we’ll go from there. The dream is Ryan Yarbrough 2.0 and they let him follow Burns (or Lowder) all year.

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Paul Sporer’s Baseball Chat – March 25th, 2026


Thanks for coming out!!

1:04

Paul Sporer: Hey y’all!!

1:04

Carl: grabbing a couple SPs to fill my bench.  QS roto league. Could you rank Abel, Cavalli, Meyer, Eflin, Ashcraft?

1:05

Paul Sporer: Eflin, Abel, Meyer are my faves

1:05

BASEBALL SEASON: Happy baseball season!

1:05

Paul Sporer: We made it through the winter!!!! (Even if the weather hasn’t turned where you are, at least baseball is here!!)

1:05

Franklin: I just had my fantasy dynasty baseball draft…. I chose Junior Caminero over Tarik Skubal in the 2nd round (I took Corbin Carroll with the 8th pick)…. Did I screw up?

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The Sleeper and the Bust Episode: 1488 – 2026 Starting Pitcher Preview Pt. 6

3/20/26

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is live. Support the show by subscribing to our Patreon!!

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PATREON

2026 STARTER PREVIEW Pt. 3

GOOD LAST YEAR 2:22

Italics means the player was discussed in detail

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Starting Pitcher 2026 Fantasy Rankings

Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Changelog


Ranking Methodology

  • ADP is based on 30-day rolling NFBC Online Champions Leagues.
  • $ Values are based on standard 5×5 12-team league using the FanGraphs Depth Charts and these Auction Calculator settings. They default to a player’s most valuable position, so if the first base list includes a catcher, it will show that player’s value at catcher.
  • ADP and $ Values are updated as of the last update date on this post.
  • Change is the difference in rankings since the last update
  • 5-game eligibility was used for these lists to cast the widest net.

Here is the opening look at the top 150 pitchers for the 2026 season. I’ll have plenty of updates including some tier updates/changes as I dive deeper on players and figure out better fits for them. I will eventually expand the list, too. I cut it at 150 for now just to have an endpoint, but I have something like 264 ranked. Drop a comment if you have questions on anyone, even if I haven’t written them up yet, but check back regularly for more profile additions.

Jan. 6th: First big update brings an expansion, lots of ranking changes, and tons of new profiles. Starting from this update forward, I will track the guys who change but there were just so many with this update that I didn’t end up keeping track of everything.

Jan. 21st: Smaller update here refreshes the ADP & dollar values along with some of the recent moves plus a handful of new profiles. We’re supposed to get a bad ice storm here in Austin this weekend and anyyyy measure of inclement weather can eat up our garbage electrical grid so I’m reluctant to guarantee a weekend update because of that.

Feb. 5th: If you’re coming on the morning of the 5th looking for the update promised in my chat yesterday, it’s being moved to the afternoon.

Feb. 25th: Huge update with tons of news, Spring Training starting, a few more key signings, and many added profiles!

Mar. 5th: Several new profiles added of interesting mid-to-late round targets who could pop off this year, plus a lot of rankings movement as I continue to battle test them in drafts of various formats.

Mar. 14th: Just a quick update to get Hunter Greene updated. I’m headed to Houston for Italy-Puerto Rico today so I’ll get a more thorough update out early next week for the final big draft week!

Mar. 20th: Huge overhaul. Shortened the list back down to 170, but I didn’t track all the changes and new profiles. You can definitely do a Ctrl-F search for “Mar. 20th” to get the those updates and then there’s a bunch of new profiles, too.

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The Sleeper and the Bust Episode: 1487 – 2026 Starting Pitcher Preview Pt. 5

3/19/26

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is live. Support the show by subscribing to our Patreon!!

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PATREON

2026 STARTER PREVIEW Pt. 5

LEFTIES

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Paul Sporer Baseball Chat – March 18th, 2026

Thanks for coming out!

1:03

Paul Sporer: Hey y’all!! Thanks for coming out. Last big draft weekend coming up, I’ll have a sizable SP rankings update coming. Likely tomorrow, no later than Friday AM.

1:03

Bria: Do you have any long term health concerns about Crochet?

1:06

Paul Sporer: Not any more than every SP which is to say yes, I do, it’s just not actionable. Knowing that literally every pitcher can and at some point almost certainly WILL break leaves me focused way more on skills over health. Obviously, guys currently dealing with injuries, freshly back them, or with an extensive history of them carry extra risk, but there is no such thing as a safe pitcher, so gimme the best skills. (This doesn’t mean stacking Rodon, Snell, Cole on a team, but rather not eschewing a more talented but higher injury risk guy for a lesser talented guy and the myth of safety)

1:06

Matt: Joined a league with a FAB this year for the first time – I’m usually in Ottoneu/dynasty world. How do you recommend approaching FA? I’m usually VERY active on the wire, so will try as many $0 bids as possible, but how should I think about allocating my dollars? Is it mostly impact call-ups?

1:07

Paul Sporer: Yeah impact call-ups and injury replacements. Spamming the mid and lower tier bids is usually the better option v. the big budget players. Rarely do the triple-digits really deliver. Doesn’t mean you NEVER go for ’em, but be very smart about when to take that shot.

1:07

Chuck: How high would you go on Palencia in a 6×6 format with saves and holds separate cats?

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The Sleeper and the Bust Episode: 1486 – 2026 Starting Pitcher Preview Pt. 4 ft. Eric Samulski

3/17/26

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is live. Support the show by subscribing to our Patreon!!

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PATREON

INJURIES/TRANSACTION NEWS

2026 STARTER PREVIEW Pt. 4

As usual, don’t hesitate to tweet us or comment below with fantasy questions.

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Approximately 72 minutes of joyous analysis.


The Sleeper and the Bust Episode: 1485 – 2026 Starting Pitcher Preview Pt. 3

3/9/26

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is live. Support the show by subscribing to our Patreon!!

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PATREON

  • Join our Patreon for live video feeds of each show
  • Watch the video feed replay on YouTube

2026 STARTER PREVIEW Pt. 3

Juice Worth the Squeeze? Pt. 2

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The Sleeper and the Bust Episode: 1483 – 2026 Starting Pitcher Preview Pt. 2

3/5/26

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is live. Support the show by subscribing to our Patreon!!

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PATREON

2026 STARTER PREVIEW Pt. 2

Not Quite Aces

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Paul Sporer’s Baseball Chat – March 4th, 2026

Thanks for coming out!!!

1:08

Paul Sporer: Hello everyone, thanks for coming out!

1:08

Yo, Lertz: Seeing a couple of big bold predictions for Rafaela from your colleagues this season. Do you also think he takes another step forward with the bat?

1:09

Paul Sporer: Aww you only read their BPs? I even used his picture for mine!!! https://fantasy.fangraphs.com/paul-sporers-2026-bold-predictions/

1:10

First pick: 6×6 ops league. Judge or ohtani who ya got for pick 1?

1:10

Paul Sporer: I’m an Ohtani at 1 type of guy, but I don’t think it’s *wrong* to prefer Judge

1:10

Ceddanne’s Agent: You and Zimmerman both on the Ceddanne train!  Feels bankable — you’re a dreamer and Jeff’s stone cold, and you still arrive at the same spot.  Love it.

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