Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings – 9/14 & 9/15

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 10am – 12pm 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 (Updated 9/10):

Auto-Start – Just do it. Don’t overthink this, start the man. This includes “if I have them rostered, I’m starting them” pitchers.

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-not-elite pitcher or a weak lineup for a volatile arm. These pitchers have a 50% or greater chance of performing well in my view.

Questionable Start – Think of this tier as “I don’t want to start these pitchers in a vacuum, but you could do worse.” Streamers found in this tier are not pitchers I’m targeting and are only if you are in dire need of one. To play it safe with streaming, just start the Probably Start streamers.

Do Not Start – The reward is not worth the risk. Don’t do it. Seriously, these pitchers have a very slim chance of success or sometimes none at all.

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. Those in Yellow in the third tier and should be okay if you’re searching for something on a given day, but I don’t recommend streaming unless you’re in need. 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: 86-66

 

Today’s Starting Pitcher Rankings

 

• The top half is your straightforward “duh” starts, the bottom is a little more questionable. It’s hard to deny Nick Lodolo with his fantastic run against the Pirates, and the bottom three have been solid enough to start against middling opponents. Sidenote: Did you realize Patrick Sandoval has a sub 2.00 ERA and a 1.02 WHIP across his last seven games?
• Yes, that includes Adam Wainwright despite his recent disappointments. If you have him, you’re doing this.

 

• Note there’s a chance Dustin May pitches for the Dodgers on Wednesday. If so, he’d be placed between Patrick Sandoval and Adam Wainwright in the Auto-Start tier.

 

• The second tier begins with Ross Stripling as he’s carried a lovely changeup this year. He’s arguably in the top tier, though Tampa’s offense has improved with the return of Franco.
• Roansy Contreras is our streaming pick of the day as he heads into Cincinnati. The slider is legit and he does enough with his heater to make this worthwhile.

 

• I have my concerns with Nestor Cortes against the Red Sox. He’ll likely hover 75 pitches in this one, capping his ceiling, and we’ll likely still some rust, meaning his stellar command is likely to be missing. That said, it’s still worthwhile to toss him out there and produce for roughly five frames.
• It’s hard to deny Drew Rasmussen a chance to dominate after killing it with his cutter as of late, even if it’s the Jays. I’m still tossing him against the strong offense.

 

• The bottom tier arms are heavily in question. David Peterson hasn’t been as sharp recently and there’s even a chance the Mets go with Trevor Williams instead. If Peterson does start, he’ll rack up the Ks against the Cubs and should be slotted into your lineups.
• Kyle Gibson hasn’t taken advantage of his easy schedule as we hoped, but it’s the Marlins. I think you have to do this.

 

• The top two of the third tier could be pushed up and out of the tier. Mike Clevinger hasn’t had his breakers, but he may still have enough to give you 5-6 quality frames against the Mariners.
• And Cal Quantrill, despite his lack of electricity, could come through like the good ole days against Ohtani + Trout & Friends.

 

• I wish Drew Smyly were facing an easier squad, but a start against the Mets makes me want to be conservative on Wednesday. He gets a great schedule after, so hold through it.
• Dane Dunning is an interesting option as he faces a weak Oakland lineup, but I’d rather not chance it. I don’t think Dunning does enough to make the reward worth the risk.

 

• If you’re in dire need of something, I can see Zack Greinke or JP Sears coming through for 5/6 frames. It’s a low chance, though, and I’d avoid unless you’re searching for innings.
• In the bottom tier, I wish I could start Tyler Wells, but we don’t know how stretched out he is, nor do I buy that he’s back to his prime self after just one game off the IL.

 

• As for Brayan Bello, he’s the last legitimate option in these ranks as we’ve seen moments of legitimate upside. That said, the Yankee offense is heating up and this is too dangerous of a start to chase.

 

• Update: For those holding out on Dustin May starting Wednesday, he’s starting on Friday with Michael Grove going for the Dodgers. That’s not the start for you.

 

Tomorrow’s Starting Pitcher Rankings

 

• It’s a half slate for Thursday and you don’t need me for the top tier, per usual. You’re starting all of them.
• The second tier is a bit more interesting. I demoted Pablo López a touch with his recent struggles, though I’m letting him fly in most cases. The changeup will be better.

 

• If you have Noah Syndergaard rostered, he’s a very clear play against the Marlins. Our faith in Thor has dwindled plenty as the year has gone on, but he’s a Toby and you start Tobys against Miami.
• You could arguably place Shane McClanahan ahead of Syndergaard, removing him from the third tier. I have him down here for a few reasons: 1) It’s a Still ILL. 2) The Rays notoriously limit their starters, which caps the ceiling. 3) It’s the Blue Jays. 4) We don’t know how healthy he is (the last rehab start we have was 3.1 IP of 7 ER and 13 baserunners). I’d play it safe where I could.

 

• The rest is all in the bottom tier, which means Dylan Bundy is our “streaming pick of the day.” Yes, that gets air quotes because I very clearly do not want to do this. There’s a chance he goes five frames of production against a weak Royals lineup, but still. Don’t.
• The only other of actual consideration would be JT Brubaker after putting up a PQS against the Cardinals. The Mets are too good to do this.

 

• I want to note Hunter Gaddis for those desperate for some ceiling. Gaddis has an atrocious MLB debut in August, but will get the start for the Guardians on Thursday after tearing it up in Triple-A – three of his last four starts have come with at least seven strikeouts. His changeup has upwards of a 20 mph difference from his 94 mph heater and is destined to miss bats. There could be something here.

 

Featured Image by Drew Wheeler (@drewisokay on Twitter)