Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings – 7/2 & 7/3

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 about 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: 45-38

 

Today’s Starting Pitcher Rankings

 

• The top tier is a fun one on Saturday, where all four could be seen in just two games. These pitching duels are set to be a wonderful day at the park, leading with Shane McClanahan versus Kevin Gausman. As always, start them both.
• The same goes for Dylan Cease against Logan Webb, where I’m favoring Cease’s recent slider surge over Webb, despite the AGA label for the latter. If you’re looking for more volume, Webb could be the choice instead.

 

• Update: The Cleveland v New York game was postponed last night and will be played as a doubleheader today, making Gerrit Cole the #1 play and Aaron Civale getting sent to the bottom tier, and pushing Triston McKenzie to the Sunday.

 

• In the second tier, I’m a little cautious about what we’ve seen from Nestor Cortes recently, though the Guardians don’t give me enough pause to pull him from my lineups.
• Of all pitchers, there’s an argument to be made that Yu Darvish is the most independent of his opponent – he’ll succeed or fail based on his own ability and less of the quality of the lineup. It means I’m starting him against the Dodgers in most cases.

 

• We’re still rolling with Martín Pérez even against the Mets. It could be time to jump ship after this one, but we’re not at that point yet.
• Even after his disappointing start against the Orioles, I’d confidently start George Kirby against the Athletics. He’s not going to allow four homeruns again.

 

• I wish I could tell you that Spencer Strider will have high strike rates on both his four-seamer and slider against the Rays, but it’s unclear what we’ll get in Cincinnati. The reward outweighs the risk here, so I’m slotting him in and taking the gamble.
• While Sonny Gray hasn’t quite been the guy we’ve wanted him to be (too reliant on heaters vs. his breakers taking the lead), the Orioles aren’t the most intimidating offense around. They’ve been dangerous at times, though, so have some caution here.

 

• In the third tier, Patrick Sandoval leads the way as the Astros are missing key members of their lineup. Let’s hope the changeup is at the top of its game.
• It’s not the easiest matchup for Tyler Mahle, as we all know his rough times pitching at home. Still, his four-seamer was legit last time out and could carry over against Atlanta.

 

• Our streaming pick of the day is David Peterson, who has flexed a legit slider across his last few outings. The Rangers make for another decent chance of success and I’d spin the wheel where I could. Update: Peterson pitched Friday and it’s not Trevor Williams on Saturday and I have zero interest there.
• We have a fair share of Tobys here with Paul Blackburn, Tyler Anderson, and Kyle Gibson making appearances. Blackburn is favored against the Mariners, Anderson is the best arm but faces a Padres crew that swats southpaws, and Gibson can make it work against the Cardinals.

 

• The bottom trio of the tier contains low-ceiling coin flips if you’re looking for it. Jackson Tetreault has been able to go surprisingly deep into games and now gets the Marlins in what could return another Win. Update: With Peterson not pitching Saturday anymore, it makes Tetreault the streaming pick of the day. Oh dear.
• Another decent Win chance comes from Josh Winckowski against the Cubs, while Brady Singer hasn’t been legit for about a month…but gets the Tigers. Something to consider. Update: It’s Kris Bubic today, Singer tomorrow. Don’t start Bubic.

 

• In the bottom tier, I wish I could place Aaron Ashby higher, but we simply don’t know what we’re going to get, even against the Pirates. How many pitches will he throw? Will his command be fixed? How much is his forearm injury affecting him? I’d play it safe as it seems like his ceiling is capped at five innings.
• It seems like Alex Faedoshould be higher, but he hasn’t had his best slider for a while. It’s too risky here. Update: It’s Beau Briekse now with Faedo heading to the minors. Beau has allowed at least 4 ER in his last two games, so that’s a pass.

 

• Two barely known pitchers are getting a shot on Saturday and I won’t rule out Daniel Castano or Max Castillo returning value. Castillo has a great changeup and just tossed four frames as he starts in a doubleheader against the Rays, while there’s a chance Castano keeps everything low and powers through the Nationals’ offense. Update: It’s Thomas Hatch now. Y’all don’t want that.
• Nah, I’m not going after Drew Rasmussen against the Jays. Far too risky, especially in a Still ILL scenario. …and watch him go five frames of 0 ER, just 2 strikeouts, and one baserunner now in standard Rasmussen fashion.

 

Tomorrow’s Starting Pitcher Rankings

 

• Once again, a pretty straightforward top tier for Sunday. These are your aces + Luis Castillo, who has earned your trust on a Sunday against an Atlanta team that struggles against right-handers.
• The first three of the second tier could earn their way into the top tier moving forward. Lucas Giolito has performed well for one game, but isn’t out of the woods yet. Charlie Morton took a step back last start, and sadly Shane Baz has to deal with the Jays in his fourth outing of the year. They’ll be in the top tier plenty down the road, I’m sure.

 

• The rest of the second tier has the usual suspects of solid-but-not-elite arms. Framber Valdez, Jordan Montgomery, Adam Wainwright, and Carlos Carrasco all get decent matchups and have a good chance of 6+ frames.
• At the end of the tier carries Jon Gray and Tarik Skubal, two pitches at opposite moments of their seasons. Gray is cruising, but has to deal with the Mets, while Skubal is at his nadir and isn’t a confident play despite facing the Royals.

 

• Kicking off the third tier is Devin Smeltzer marking our streaming pick of the day as he faces the Orioles. He’s rewarded trusting managers across his last two outings, but the Orioles are capable of ruining days at the park quickly. Let’s hope Smeltzer has it in him.
• Ross Stripling could also be a solid option as he’s rostered in about 30% of leagues. The Rays aren’t as tough as the Yankees, White Sox, or Red Sox, the three teams Stripling just produced against.

 

• Update: It looks like Brady Singer is going on Sunday, with Kris Bubic going on Saturday. I’ve added Singer to the table, below Smeltzer and Stripling as Singer is a coin flip, even against the Tigers.

 

• The bottom trio of the tier are sure to make managers sweat. Triston McKenzie is coming off his roughest outing of the year as he faces the Yankees, MacKenzie Gore has lost his footing across the last three weeks and has to deal with the Dodgers, and Zac Gallen just got blown up before this matchup inside Coors. Terrible timing for terrible matchups.
• The final tier hosts many desperate dart throws for your Sunday. José Quintana has had excellent command and survived his last two starts, while Tyler Wells was all the rage in June but may struggle against the mighty Twins offense.

 

• I know, we Don’t Trust The Feddes, but the one exception over the years has been the Marlins. They are a bit better offensively this year, but there may be something to consider there.
• And hey, Connor Seabold just earned a Gallows Pole despite allowing 7 ER against the Jays. Maybe he can keep those whiffs while limiting the Cubs from scoring.

 

Featured Image by Drew Wheeler (@drewisokay on Twitter)