Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings – 8/29 & 8/30

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: 78-58

 

Today’s Starting Pitcher Rankings

 

• We have half the schedule on Monday and I can see many getting ahead of their opponents quickly with some of these auto-start arms. José Berríos and Frankie Montas are the questionable additions today, but their easy matchups make for easy decisions for fantasy managers.

 

• The second tier is pretty clear as well. Pablo López is often beneficial, though you will be hesitant to trust him against the Dodgers. This one is up to you, I imagine most managers are starting Pablo and his excellent changeup.
• Mike Clevinger and Ranger Suárez are both facing weak teams, but have their questions. Clevinger hasn’t found his secondaries, creating more havoc than usual, while Suárez isn’t quite matching the 2021 groove yet. Let’s hope both can take advantage of their luscious schedules.

 

• The rest of these rankings are rough. JT Brubaker is my streaming pick of the day simply because I have to choose someone. I wouldn’t recommend risking this one on a Monday, though there’s a chance his sinker finds the zone and sliders can earn whiffs.
• Brayan Bello is the only one joining Coffee Cakes in the third tier after he looked more like the Bello who was promised in his last outing. You can ask Alex Wood about the danger the Twins offense still possesses, though there’s a chance Bello continues taking a step forward here.

 

• In the bottom tier, I have no interest in chasing any of these difficult matchups, including Madison Bumgarner or Dylan Bundy. Leave me out of this.
• Chase Anderson is making a start for the first time in a while…and it’s against the Cardinals, as if we were interested in the first place. That seems to be a rough date.

 

• I’m sure there’s some intrigue about Javier Assad after surviving in his MLB debut, but this is the Jays and his stuff isn’t demanding your attention. If he finds himself against a weak team in the near future (the Cardinals are next so it may be some time), we’ll revisit this.

 

• Updates: With JT Brubaker on the Paternity list, Jerad Eickhoff may be slotting in and that’s a no-go, of course. It also means Brayan Bello is our streaming pick of the day and I don’t want to do that. Good luck y’all.

 

Tomorrow’s Starting Pitcher Rankings

 

• We have a bevy of top tier options on Tuesday and I doubt we’ll see many complaints across the Top 10 ranks here, though things haven’t gone Logan Webb’s way for a moment. Let’s hope he rebounds against the Padres.
• At the bottom we have Cole Irvin and Andrew Heaney. Irvin should continue his legacy against Natty Lite, while Andrew Heaney tossed six frames and more than 90 pitches in his last start. I know the Mets can put up a fight, though I think it’s well worth the gamble with Heaney’s stuff.

 

• In the second tier, Lucas Giolito squares off against Brady Singer and it’s difficult to choose the victor. On one hand, Giolito has the better matchup and a good enough handle on his repertoire to perform against the Royals (though he’s still a bit underwhelming), while Singer has been on a tear…except for a previous outing against the very same White Sox. Either way, you should be starting both.
• The other name here is Jameson Taillon as he faces the Angels on the west coast. Taillon’s stuff isn’t elite and he’s struggled against weak lineups before, though it’s a spin of the wheel weighted in your favor.

 

• The third tier begins with a trio of streaming options, leading with Dakota Hudson against the Reds. Do I love any of these? Not really, but Hudson does have 6+ inning upside with a wonderful defense and offense behind him.
• Spenser Watkins and Matt Manning are the other two names of consideration. Watkins has had Orioles magic on his side and spun more gems than duds as of late, while Manning is making it work with four-seamers and sliders. It’s a bit risky with both, though, so be careful.

 

• The bottom pair of the third tier have a tough challenge ahead and I’d sit them in most situations – Marcus Stroman faces the Jays & Taijuan Walker gets the Dodgers. This can go well, but it could destroy your week quickly, too.
• As always, hold yourself from diving into the bottom tier. I don’t trust Mitch Keller in the slightest, Adrian Houser is a clear Still ILL, we don’t trust Erick Fedde even against Oakland, and while I want Trevor Rogers to suddenly be fixed (worth a spec add if you have an empty spot), I’m not starting him in his first game back.

 

Featured Image by Drew Wheeler (@drewisokay on Twitter)