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:
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: 69-53
Today’s Starting Pitcher Rankings
- It may come as a shock to see Sandy Alcantara as the #5 play for Monday, but the four above him have far better matchups + Sandy isn’t quite at his prime at the moment. Ah, the luxuries of the top tier.
- Congrats to Julio Urías earning his AGA label recently, he sits firmly at #6 as I hope he’s tossing 94+ mph heaters again.
- The second tier begins with Spencer Strider, who should finally start after being expected to for three straight days now. He tossed just eight outs last week when he faced the Mets, but the ceiling is far too high to deny him the start again. Hopefully he’ll command his heaters better to not allow so many deep counts.
- I’m digging Alex Cobb’s splitter at the moment, pushing him up the ranks with his start against the Diamondbacks, right behind Strider.
- The likes of Carlos Carrasco, Marcus Stroman, and José Urquidy have been sturdy enough that you’re going to let them fly against middling matchups (Atlanta and Chicago are worse against right-handers).
- Joe Ryan and Aaron Civale have been blessed with cushy AL Central matchups and even if both of them have work to do inside their arsenals – Ryan with his slider, Civale with finding a curve + cutter groove – they deserve a lock in your lineups.
- The third tier begins with Josiah Gray’s ceiling against the Cubs and Noah Syndergaard’s Toby skills in a slightly uncomfortable date in Cincy. I think I’m fine with both, but there is a floor we don’t want to speak of.
- James Kaprielian is my streaming pick of the day once again, though I’m not thrilled about it. He has a weird history with the Rangers and he was rather unimpressive against the Angels last time out. His opponent is also of consideration – Glenn Otto who was able to survive against the Astros last time out – but he also has his own warts. These are coin flips.
- I’m not sure if I want to start Freddy Peralta against the Dodgers as he still figures out his command and is on a slightly limited pitch count. The ceiling is obvious, but the Dodgers have been roughing up many as of late.
- In the bottom tier, Madison Bumgarner may be able to provide 5+ frames of production against the Giants, but I wouldn’t go chasing after it.
- I like the recent trend of Kris Bubic as he sat 93 mph last time out, but I’d rather not chance it against the Twins. Just sit back, watch it, and see if there’s something to go after later.
- Konnor Pilkington isn’t someone I’d normally start, but the Tigers have been doing magical things to pitching lines and Pilkington could be the latest benefactor.
Tomorrow’s Starting Pitcher Rankings
- We have your standard aces in the top tier, mixed with some Nestor Cortes as he faces the Rays. He seems back on track and the Rays aren’t a terrifying crew to stop us from starting him.
- Brandon Woodruff and Dylan Cease are faced with the toughest challenges on Tuesday, though their ceilings are too high for us to reconsider, especially the roll Cease has been on for the last two months.
- The second tier is a tough one to wrangle. I’m leading with Charlie Morton as he faces the Mets, though he has been a bit more volatile than we’d like across the last six weeks.
- There’s a grouping of Zach Plesac, Sean Manaea, Merrill Kelly, José Quintana, and Justin Steele who could arguably be interchanged as they all face weak opponents. The Tigers are just that poor on the road and against right-handers that Plesac leads the way, though I’m starting all five of them wherever – including today’s streamer Justin Steele against Natty Lite.
- I wonder if the San Diego Padres aren’t quite as talented of an offense as I’ve been giving them credit with the additions of Soto and Bell. It makes me consider Edward Cabrera more favorably than I expected as he’s produced in both of his starts since returning from the IL.
- Sonny Gray and Taijuan Walker round out the tier, each coming in with questions. Gray’s breakers aren’t the pitches we want them to be and Taijuan Walker’s first-half magic may be dwindling, but I think managers with them on their squads will let them start regardless.
- The third tier begins with Jeffrey Springs against the Yankees. I’ve dug Springs command lately + the Yankee offense is sputtering and it may dictate a strong outing on Tuesday.
- Despite facing off against the Pirates, I don’t have a whole lot of faith in Nick Pivetta, making it a coin flip in my mind, similar to Kyle Gibson on the road in Cincinnati.
- In the bottom tier, some will be tempted to start José Suarez or JP Sears against decent offenses. I don’t think either one has enough of a ceiling to encourage risking their floors.
- The rest of the tier is awfully underwhelming, even Jakob Junis against the Diamondbacks. He’s not replicating the elite slider & changeup we saw earlier this year and has too high of a chance of lasting fewer than five frames.
Featured Image by Drew Wheeler (@drewisokay on Twitter)