Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings – 5/9 & 5/10

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: 23-9

 

Today’s Starting Pitcher Rankings

 

• The top tier is short and sweet on Monday. Carlos Rodón leads the way in a luscious start against Rockie Road and Brandon Woodruff is hot off a double-digit start that could repeat against the lowly Reds.
• I know we’re unhappy with Julio Urías‘ diminished velocity, but he’s still a strong arm, especially against the Pirates

 

• In the second tier, we’re still rolling out both Noah Syndergaard and Nestor Cortes Jr. despite solid opponents in the Rays and the Rangers. Hard to deny them a start at the moment.
• I’m excited to watch the season debut of Luis Castillo and given he’s had three rehab starts with his final game at 4.1 frames, I imagine he can comfortably go at least five against the Brewers. I’d start him instead of treating this as a Still ILL. 

 

• It wasn’t the return we wanted to see from Mike Clevinger, but with his first outing of the way I’d anticipate a step in the right direction against the middling Cubs lineup.
• Michael Kopech hasn’t impressed me as much as I hoped he would, but the Guardians don’t pose enough of a threat to question a spot in my lineups.

 

• In the third tier, Chris Flexen, Paul Blackburn, and Corey Kluber are decent Toby options who could make it work. Kluber is the largest question mark there, with Flexen and Blackburn as stronger options if in need.
• Our streaming pick of the day is Elieser Hernandez as he faces the Diamondbacks a second time. It didn’t go his way last week, but I believe in Hernandez’s slider and the lack of strength in the Sneks bats to give a good chance at success for Monday’s stream.

 

• I wish I could be thrilled about a Michael Pineda start against Oakland, but he’s running on fumes at the moment. We’re hoping he can make it five frames without damaging your ratios, but it’s a toss up right now.
• We were excited about Austin Gomber heading into San Francisco last year and got completely burned by the play. Now faced with the same decision, it may be smart to be cautious, even if Gomber had his slider working last time out.

 

• In the bottom tier…there isn’t much to celebrate. Humberto Castellanos did succeed in his previous start against the Marlins, but I’d rather not roll that die a second time.
• There’s an outside chance Carlos Hernández and Tyler Wells make it happen against weak lineups, but they are both highly susceptible to disaster. I’d prefer to avoid these entirely as you begin your week.

 

Tomorrow’s Starting Pitcher Rankings

 

• The top tier is the top tier for obvious reasons. I find myself saying the same line each day about the top tier and in full honesty, you don’t need me most of the time to tell you these guys are great.
• At the bottom of the tier are two younger arms against arguably good offenses – Kyle Wright and Joe Ryan. Wright hasn’t looked quite as sharp in his last two outings but the Sawx are struggling and you can’t deny his string of success. Additionally, Ryan has performed well and you’re tossing him out there for each start at this point, even if it’s the Astros.

 

• In the second tier, I believe in Luis Severino’s ability and would still be starting him against the tough Jays offense. The secondaires haven’t been as sharp in the last two starts and I think they turn it around.
• It’s Tony Gonsolin against the Pirates and that seems like a slam dunk. I still have some small concerns about the consistency of his slider, but Gonsolin has done enough this year to become a clear play against Pittsburgh.

 

• In the third tier, Garrett Whitlock leads as he looked phenomenal last time out. That said, we haven’t seen him go deep into a start yet, it’s a small sample, and Atlanta is a strong offense. Feel free to start if you like, I have to be a little conservative given the risks.
• Our streaming pick of the day is a reluctant Reid Detmers as he faces the Rays. I’m not too thrilled given the slider’s inability to earn whiffs this year, but there’s certainly a chance he does well with his excellent hook & heaters at the top of the zone.

 

• It’s Toby city in the third tier with Cal Quantrill, Madison Bumgarner, Brad Keller, and Corey Kluber. Take your pick as to your favorite.
• I could even see youngin’ Kyle Bradish get thrown in with the same Toby label as the others, despite only two starts under his belt. He had a horrid fourth frame in his last start but could rebound in a major way against the Cardinals.

 

• In the bottom tier, I was tempted to toss Martín Pérez behind Corey Kluber as he’s been on a roll lately and could be a Vargas Rule. It’s still Pérez, though, and all he’s doing is commanding along the edges effectively at the moment. That can disappear in a flash.
• It doesn’t feel right to see Hunter Greene in the bottom tier, but with his recent struggles and a hot Brewers offense, it doesn’t seem like the right time to let Greene fly.

 

Featured Image by Drew Wheeler (@drewisokay on Twitter)