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: 74-56
Today’s Starting Pitcher Rankings
- I’m going to slightly be adjusting how I treat the tiers moving forward, essentially moving more pitchers away from the bottom tier and pushing guys up into more tiers. The idea is I recognize how managers are going to start guys like Adam Wainwright and Corey Kluber in the heavy majority of leagues and there’s no point pushing them down.
- In the same way, the Probable Start tier should be exactly that – guys that are near a 50/50 but I’m favoring letting them fly. That opens the door for the Questionable Start tier to be truly Questionable, creating a tier that separates from the obvious “please don’t start these guys” in the bottom tier.
- With that out of the way, the auto-start tier is massive but would be in old circumstances as well with it being ace day n all. If you have worries about Pablo López against the Athletics, rid yourself of those negative thoughts. You deserve better than that and just start the man.
- In the second tier, Ranger Suárez and Mike Clevinger get the nod from me with their matchups. Ranger gets the lovely Reds team away from Cincy and could be on another late-season stretch of brilliance. Clevinger is a bit more contentious with his breakers failing to come through since his return from injury, and I’m still favoring a start against the middling Guardians offense.
- The streaming pick of the day can be found in the second tier with Nick Lodolo against the Phillies. He’s a Cherry Bomb, which may return anxiety for managers as there is a decent chance of this going poorly against the Phillies. That said, he’s throwing plenty of strikes and has the stuff to come through for trusting managers, making him similar to the other streaming options but with a much higher ceiling.
- The third tier begins with Aaron Civale and Ross Stripling. Civale has a monster curveball against the Tigers last week and while the Padres should be much more of a challenge, he’s still more considerable than the options below.
- As for Stripling, he’s fresh off a dominant 71-pitch performance against the Orioles and could carry it over against the Red Sox. I don’t love it – I’m not sure I buy the small sample and the Red Sox are dangerous – but I can see it working out & if it goes well, you have a strong option against the Angels after.
- Other arms to consider in the third tier are Austin Voth, José Suarez, and JT Brubaker. Voth is on a hot stretch including a takedown of the Jays last time out, though I don’t trust the stuff as a true force down the stretch. Suárez has had moments of bliss and against the Rays, there’s a chance it returns. As for Coffee Cakes, he had a brilliant outing last time on the bump, though Atlanta could mess him up quickly.
- The final name here is Frankie Montas as he faces the Mets. I heavily considered a slot in the bottom tier, but I won’t rule out things coming together for Montas as he wears a TIARA. Your call here completely, I’m leaning bench wherever I can.
- In the bottom tier, it’s truly names I’m avoiding everywhere these days. Zach Logue gets the horrid Marlins offense, but he’s been anything but stable recently and I’d hate to chance that.
Matthew Liberatore is getting a start in the Cards-Cubs doubleheader, but we can’t expect anything magical here as he has yet to put it together. I hope we see that new slider and increased velocity, though.
- Updates: The Mets are starting Taijuan Walker instead of Jacob deGrom. I’d be very cautious given the back issues, the possible momentum of the Yankee offense, and a possible shorter start.
- Josh Winckowsi is starting instead of Rich Hill and I want nothing to do with it.
- The same applies to Jake Woodford replacing Matthew Liberatore as Woodford hasn’t pitched two frames since returning to the Cardinals. I don’t expect this to be a long outing, and it’s possible Liberatore is part of the squad and follows Woodford for four innings or so.
- Caleb Kilian is no longer starting as Javier Assad is making his MLB debut. He’s a bit interesting and there’s a world where this works out as he apparently lives in the zone with mid-90s heat and decent secondaries. It’s an MLB debut and I inherently avoid those, but keep an eye on it.
Tomorrow’s Starting Pitcher Rankings
- With the larger embrace of the top tier, we have some fun names entering the tier on Wednesday. George Kirby and Jesús Luzardo have cushy matchups that put them a touch above the dependable Miles Mikolas as we could see similar ratios with a boatload more strikeouts from the former pair.
- Framber Valdez also lives at the bottom of the tier as you’re not going to deny the southpaw another opportunity for 6+ strong frames, even if it is against the Twins.
- In the second tier, the first three options are straightforward. Andrew Heaney isn’t quite a top tier option as he’s still limited and has yet to go five frames, while Cole Irvin and Brady Singer are strong plays against mediocre crews and are arguably top tier as well.
- The other two pitchers here are…contentious. Lucas Giolito has been on a poor stretch and the Orioles are as dangerous as ever these days. That said, if you have Giolito rostered, you know he’s wearing a TIARA and this could be that start you’ve been waiting for. I don’t see a whole lot of managers electing to keep Giolito on the bench here.
- There’s also the question of José Berríos against the Red Sox. Sure, he performed well last time out against the Yankees, but it was amidst their cold stretch and the Cherry Bomb life is a tough thing to embrace. If you have the man, I think you’re likely starting him and hoping for the best.
- In the third tier, Matt Manning leads the way as our streaming pick of the day. He’s increased his velocity to 94.5 mph across his last two starts and could take down the Giants with his four-seamer/slider combo.
- Other considerations are Graham Ashcraft and Spenser Watkins. Ashcraft’s array of hard cutters, sliders, and sinkers give him the ability to go 6+ frames…or get ousted by the fourth. It’s a risky play against a Philadelphia team that can swing a heavy bat.
- Spenser Watkins has been able to toss 5/6 productive innings lately and with the chance of a Win on his side (The Orioles are 63-58!), this may be a fruitful stream.
- I don’t want a whole lot to do with Cal Quantrill these days, but you may lean starting the man if you believe the Padres are still struggling or if you’re accepting of the mediocre, plodding self that is Quantrill’s 6.0 IP, 2-3 ER, and a few strikeouts.
- In the bottom tier, I felt wrong sitting Martín Pérez, but I’m worried about his changeup command & Coors is undefeated. Be careful here and maybe take a break for a day.
- The rest of the options are nothing to write home about. I don’t believe in Mitch Keller’s sinker renaissance to survive the mighty Atlanta offense, Rich Hill has a capped ceiling against a strong crew, Dylan Bundy against the Astros is an obvious NOPE, and who actually wants to trust José Ureña in Coors?
- As for the Cubs, it’s unclear who starts this game and we likely won’t know until Wednesday. Whoever it is, though, shouldn’t be trusted.
Featured Image by Drew Wheeler (@drewisokay on Twitter)