Every day of the 2022 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 9am – 12am ET. If you have questions to 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.
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 pitcher or a weak lineup for a volatile arm.
Questionable Start – There are situations where I’d take the chance, either with strong enough upside on the ability side, or a poor offense that a pitcher could take advantage of.
Do Not Start – The reward is not worth the risk. Don’t do it.
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 in the second tier and I’d roll with them everywhere. The most common are those in Yellow in the third tier and should be decent if you’re searching for something on a given day. 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.
As I do my rankings, I thought it would be helpful to showcase a table of how we’re ranking offenses. Dave Swan does an incredible job of showcasing future SP matchups every 2-3 weeks in this article, and I’ve elected to use his offense ranks to share with all of you here:
I’m sure it’ll change through the year + there are differences to be made about teams vs. LHP or RHP, but it’s a great general table that y’all should keep in mind.
Alright, let’s get to it.
2022 Streamer Record: 8-6
Today’s Starting Pitcher Rankings
- With fewer games on Thursday, we have a short auto-start tier. Kevin Gausman is dealt the tougher hand, but prevails against Dylan Cease as the #1 option for the day. His splitter is just too dang good, while Cease still has a touch of command concern.
- After Joe Ryan had a defiant start against the Red Sox, he’s earned his stripes to land at the bottom of the top tier with a date against the Royals. If you’re rostering Ryan, you’re absolutely starting him.
- In the second tier, Jordan Montgomery gets a lefty-heavy Detroit lineup and could soar with his changeup and curveball.
- Carlos Carrasco and Anthony DeSclafani square off in a duel where both arms could go six full frames. Start both if you have them – you’re hedging yourself for a Win.
- Yes, I’m still starting Tanner Houck despite looking up at the strong Blue Jays bats. His stuff is good enough that if he executes, it’ll be a lovely night. The reward is worth the risk.
- In the third tier, there’s veteran Zack Greinke and our streaming pick of the day – Paul Blackburn. He gets the Orioles in O.Co with a bevy of weapons that makes for an ideal evening for a Toby.
- In the bottom tier, there are a fair amount of arms who could go six frames, but I just don’t like their stuff enough to tell you it’ll happen. Zach Plesac, Taylor Hearn, Zach Davies, Tyler Wells, and even Josh Rogers could do it, but you don’t really want to lean on them for it.
- Marco Gonzales is fresh off a fantastic game against the Astros, but is it enough for you to slot him in your lineup against a strong Rangers offense? I think it’s best to sit this one out.
- Lastly, there’s Jordan Hicks, who looks to continue getting stretched out for the Cardinals. I’m not expecting more than four frames here as his pitch counts have been awfully low thus far, making even a start against the Marlins not something of interest.
Tomorrow’s Starting Pitcher Rankings
- The top tier isn’t as enticing as other days we’ve seen, but I’d still feel safe starting them all. The #1 play feels odd with Justin Verlander facing the Jays, but he’s looked great in his return from TJS and I’d keep starting him without question.
- I’m anticipating Freddy Peralta to get his rhythm back through the season and if you have him rostered, you have to keep starting him. Remember, it’s just two starts.
- In the second tier, we have plenty of young arms I’m already trusting. Trevor Rogers, like Peralta, hasn’t been as his peak early in the year, but he doesn’t have massive warning signs to indicate a large regression this year. I’m still rolling with him.
- The streaming pick of the day is Reid Detmers, who is still rostered in few leagues and could see a massive surge with this start against the Orioles. This may be your last chance to get on the train and heavily encourage you to do so.
- It’s been wonderful watching Kyle Wright take full advantage of his role in the Atlanta rotation and while we should anticipate some bumps in the future, there’s little reason to anticipate it coming against the Marlins.
- It hasn’t been the replication of 2021 that we’ve wanted to see from Ranger Suárez, though he should continue as a solid play each week when he doesn’t face the strongest of offenses.
- In the third tier, I wonder how David Peterson and Brad Keller will perform. Peterson looked sharp as he threw harder against the Sneks and could replicate it across more pitches on Friday – he’d be the streaming pick if it weren’t for Detmers.
- As for Keller, he’s been on a hot streak to start the year and if he avoids damage with his fastball once again, he’ll stroll through the Mariners lineup.
- After a disappointing outing against Atlanta, Nick Martinez has to pick himself up to survive against the Dodgers. Don’t write off this start completely – his stuff gives him a shot every night, while the Dodgers have their fair share of cold evenings as well.
- It’s a tough call with Bailey Ober on the hill against the White Sox. Chicago is a dangerous crew, while Ober hasn’t yet found the overwhelming rhythm we’ve hoped to see blossom this year.
- In the bottom tier, I can see many of these pulling it off, but it’s simply not worth it for you to roll the dice. Bruce Zimmermann has featured a strong changeup, but do we truly believe it’s here to stay? And is it enough to consistently produce? It’s not for me.
- It’ll be fun to see how well Ross Stripling performs over the next few weeks with Hyun Jin Ryu on the IL, though it’ll likely be a harsh time against Houston.
Featured Image by Drew Wheeler (@drewisokay on Twitter)