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: 74-57
Today’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.
- Updates: A few arms were replaced. Yu Darvish is on Paternity leave, but Blake Snell fits in nicely in the same spot. You don’t need me for that. The NL Central swapped around many of their starters as well – Graham Ashcraft is on the IL, making T.J. Zeuch the starter, Luke Farrell is the actual starter for the Cubs, and Adrian Houser will start instead of Jason Alexander. You want to start none of this.
- Oh, and Brayan Bello is starting instead of Rich Hill as once again, the vet is pushed back from an expected start.
Tomorrow’s Starting Pitcher Rankings
- It’s a larger top tier that’s effectively split in two. The likes of Jacob deGrom, Aaron Nola, Triston McKenzie, Kevin Gausman, and Lance Lynn are very clearly going into your lineups. We debated Gausman vs. Lynn a bit, but they are all defacto top-tier plays.
- The bottom three are your traditional “Probably Start” arms who have been elevated since the change I made earlier this week. You’re starting both sides of Patrick Sandoval vs. Drew Rasmussen given their hot stretches and poor lineups, while Jameson Taillon has a delightful matchup against the Athletics.
- In the second tier, Marcus Stroman has to endure the hottest offense in baseball and it makes for a difficult decision. If I have Stroman rostered, I’d lean starting Stroman, but for those who can be conservative, you may want to sit this one out.
- His opponent is the streaming pick of the day – Dakota Hudson. I don’t love relying on Dakota (who ironically doesn’t have a north-south approach) but he can carve up a Cubs lineup that struggles with fastballs.
- The third tier begins with Marco Gonzales facing the Guardians. He’s capable of six strong frames on a given night, but his days as a “lock and forget” Toby are behind him.
- I find it hard to depend on Jordan Lyles or even Luis Garcia these days. Garcia has struggled for a month, while Lyles has WHIP questions that may hurt any managers willing to roll the dice.
- I added James Kaprielian to the third tier as well, as he is working his way to Toby status. This third tier is essentially “guys I don’t want to start, but they are better than the bottom tier” and Jimmy Hat could survive against a struggling offense with his four-seamer and slider.
- Speaking of the bottom tier, there’s always a chance Kutter Crawford endures the Jays or Chris Archer goes five productive frames against the Astros, but you really don’t want to chance that.
Featured Image by Drew Wheeler (@drewisokay on Twitter)