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 – 11am 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.
(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. 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: 29-19
Today’s Starting Pitcher Rankings
- We have the fun names in the top tier, of course, though it comes with a few questionable matchups. If you have Brandon Woodruff or Alek Manoah on your squads, you are absolutely starting them. Don’t think about it, just do it.
- It’s tough to place Sean Manaea on this list. Should he rise higher given he gets an incredible matchup against the Pirates? I have him right under Manoah given Alek’s consistency regardless of opponent, but I understand those who want him higher.
- The second tier has a bunch of solid arms with good matchups. Let loose Tony Gonsolin against the Diamondbacks (please have your slider back!) and Jon Gray against the Athletics – both could soar with their breakers and return top tier value.
- I’m not exactly sure how I feel about the trajectory of Ian Anderson at the moment – I want to believe he’ll get into a rhythm by the summer, though he struggles to stay inside the zone with his pitches at the moment. Still, it’s worth the chance against the Marlins.
- In the third tier, I’m leading off with Garrett Whitlock and Alex Faedo. Whitlock’s stuff speaks to better days than we’ve seen recently and a date with the Orioles should make for a decent outing.
- As for Alex Faedo, his slider makes him the streaming pick of the day. He didn’t have it last time out against the Guardians, though I’m willing to wager it’ll return in this repeat matchup.
- I’m awfully torn where to place the likes of Trevor Rogers, Zach Eflin, and Jeffrey Springs for Friday. Rogers is a coin flip if he has his changeup and/or slider, Eflin’s curveball showed up last time out and I’m not sure if will again, and while Springs’ changeup is a filthy offering, is it enough to stave off the Yankees? Take your pick here.
- Don’t overlook Austin Gomber on the road in Washington. His breakers could be in full force and pull off a solid weekend stream if you need the help.
- In the bottom tier, there’s a chance Chase Silseth makes it work against the Jays. If his splitter is working at its peak, he can earn whiffs on top of a 95+ mph heater and survive 5+ frames.
- I’m excited to watch more of Graham Ashcraft who pounds upper 90s cutters and sinkers into the zone. If he’s able to get his strike rate up on his slider, he could be a hot pickup after this game…or it could be more of the same and get demolished by the Giants. Be aware.
Tomorrow’s Starting Pitcher Rankings
- We have a small top tier for Saturday’s games, with Joe Musgrove getting a wonderful matchup against the Pirates, elevating him to the #1 play of the day. Sorry, Gerrit Cole.
- Despite some recent turbulence, Nathan Eovaldi still has a spot in the top tier as he faces the Orioles. He found his splitter last time and should make your trust very worth your while.
- The second tier begins with Triston McKenzie, who just dispensed the Astros with ease. I still worry he doesn’t have the strongest command, though a date with the Tigers warrants a start in my book.
- Yes, I still have Alex Wood in the second tier despite his…rough season. The Reds are terrible against left-handers and Wood finally gets an easy matchup where his 92+ mph fastball and strong slider can properly run the gamut.
- After showcasing a tick of extra velocity last time out, I’m rolling with José Urquidy against the struggling Mariners offense. Let’s hope last start was a launching pad for a strong Urquidy stretch.
- Logan Gilbert follows, but is on the other side of the dividing line in Tier 3. I worry about his secondaries, even if he earned a fair amount of whiffs on his slider last time out. The Astros are tough and this could be a bit of a rough outing.
- The matchup between Michael Lorenzen and Yusei Kikuchi will be an interesting one. Lorenzen has been a solid arm for fantasy managers and facing an underperforming Jays offense, while Kikuchi is on a hot streak…that I don’t see lasting much longer. We’ll see how this one goes.
- The streaming pick of the day is the man I should have picked for his Monday outing and that’s Coffee Cakes himself, JT Brubaker. The Padres struggle against right-handers and Brubaker normally has a strong slider that is sure to mess up many of their hitters.
- The bottom half of this tier is certainly a step down from those at the top, starting around Zach Logue and Johnny Cueto. I recognize these players as coin flips and are generally not options I want to pursue in my leagues.
- Will Zach Eflin have his curveball again? Can Chad Kuhl find his slider? Will Taijuan Walker have his splitter and sit 94+? No idea.
- In the bottom tier, Corey Kluber and Merrill Kelly were dealt some rough opponents and it’s better safe than sorry in these cases.
- I see a world where Tucker Davidson and Elvin Rodriguez pull off productive outings against their weak opponents, but boy do I not want to rely on that.
- I don’t believe Chris Archer has it in him to go 5+ innings with any regularity, making his good matchup against the Royals go to waste.
- And maybe the debut of Matthew Liberatore was a poor indication of what’s to come, though I won’t bank on the fastball suddenly becoming a great offering against the Brewers.
Featured Image by Drew Wheeler (@drewisokay on Twitter)