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: 90-66
Today’s Starting Pitcher Rankings
- Another big day for the auto-starts, ranging to lower rostered arms like Jeffrey Springs, Joe Ryan, and Jordan Montgomery. Good matchups, great pitchers, Papa Johns.
- Michael Kopech also gets a spot in the tier as he faces the Tigers. I really don’t see a reason not to start Kopech here, even if he hasn’t been at the top of his game since returning from the IL. You start the man.
- The second tier has just one name – Marco Gonzales. He’s a proper Toby getting a good matchup against the Angels and I’d likely throw him out there. Feel free to hold back if you’re in a tight ratios race – it’s in your favor, but could be a case where he doesn’t quite give you enough.
- The third tier is a bit of a mess. The first half has more intriguing options while the second half is your dart throws if you’re chasing something.
- It starts with our streaming pick of the day in Javier Assad as he gets the best matchup of the tier – Rockie Road. I dig the cutter and I think he has a better shot than others to coast through at least five frames.
- A few other options are here. Glenn Otto had iffy command against the Marlins, but he could tweak it a touch against a decent Rays offense to come through. Reid Detmers wasn’t at his best with his curve last time, but the four-seamer and slider showed promise that could propel him back to legit status.
- Nick Pivetta and Ryne Nelson could pull it off as well. Pivetta gets the Royals and has a chance at six frames, while Nelson’s heat performed against the Dodgers.
- I don’t want to trust Bailey Falter against Atlanta – he took advantage of the Marlins, but Atlanta is far tougher – nor Alex Cobb or Dean Kremer against their difficult matchups.
- Aníbal Sánchez could be a sneaky start against the Marlins…or this could be 3.2 frames of disappointment. I think the ceiling is generally too low for the risk.
- In the bottom tier, there’s a chance Kris Bubic is his best self against Boston or Drew Hutchison squeaks through 5-6 frames, but you really don’t want to go after it.
- Ryan Feltner has the Cubs, but that doesn’t matter. Truly.
- The last desperate play I’d consider is Johan Oviedo against the Mets. He has mid-to-upper 90s velocity with a solid breaker and if he’s able to keep the ball in the zone, it may put enough pressure on the Mets to survive 5+ innings.
- Updates: The White Sox placed Michael Kopech on the IL, pushing Vince Velasquez into the rotation against the Tigers today. He’s not stretched out and would be a highly questionable play if he were (yes, even against the Tigers), making him a clear sit.
Tomorrow’s Starting Pitcher Rankings
- At the top sits TATIAGA, as Corbin Burnes has been a little shaky over the last month and Max Scherzer may be limited in his first start back from the IL.
- It’s unclear if Cristian Javier is starting on Monday for the Astros – it seems Luis Garcia may be heading to the bullpen for Houston with Hunter Brown, though Garcia would be in line for the start otherwise. He would be at the top of the QS tier given his recent escapades.
- The bottom of the top tier features Kyle Wright, who hasn’t been sharp over his last two (I wasn’t impressed by his stuff last time out). He’s still a start against Natty Lite, but it may not carry the same ceiling we’ve seen.
- Sonny Gray is also here as he’s earned 15 strikeouts over his last two games. I don’t love this outing against the Guardians, though he’s a clear start.
- The streaming pick of the day is Wade Miley after getting slotted to face the Marlins. He’s proven to be a strong Toby and we start Tobys against Miami.
- Miley is alone in the second tier with Merrill Kelly residing in the third as he gets the Dodgers. I’d be awfully cautious here – the Dodgers are no joke and Kelly isn’t an elite arm.
- I wonder how long the Orioles will allow Tyler Wells to go in his start against the Tigers. There’s a chance he goes five strong, but then again, he doesn’t carry a massive ceiling even when he’s stretched out.
- I don’t like the other options as well, with the volatile José Suarez, mediocre Cal Quantrill, and the Astros-facing Drew Rasmussen.
- The bottom tier brings no respite. Don’t trust Chad Kuhl for a moment inside Coors, while Jakob Junis has an awfully hard challenge ahead of him in Colorado.
Featured Image by Drew Wheeler (@drewisokay on Twitter)