Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings – 9/21 & 9/22

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: 91-68

 

Today’s Starting Pitcher Rankings

 

• Take note – the Padres have pushed back Sean Manaea, pushing Blake Snell into the first tier facing the Cardinals. Make sure he’s in your lineup.
• Today marks what may be the very first Auto-Start streaming pick of the day in Drew Smyly against the Marlins. He’s been on a tear since the All-Star break, executing the BSB to perfection, and now he gets the lowly Marlins. Take advantage of this one.

 

• The second tier also has streaming options as I’d be pushing these starters instead of waiting later in the week. Jordan Lyles is a right-hander facing the Tigers who has gone 6+ frames multiple times. Bailey Ober is looking like himself and can take advantage of the Royals. Start these men.
• Logan Webb can also be found in the second tier as he heads to Coors. It’s a tough call, I know, and I’m leaning start as he’s been able to handle tough matchups previously.

 

• I had a tough time figuring out what to do with Roansy Contreras and elected Tuesday morning to move him from the second tier to the third as he faces the Yankees. I love the slider and velocity, though the Yankees are volatile + we don’t know how long the Pirates will let Roansy go in this one after getting an early hook last time out.
• It’s weird seeing Luis Severino and Zack Wheeler down here, but it’s a pair of Still ILL situations where we don’t know how long they’ll go or if they’ll have any rust. Wheeler has it particularly tough against the Jays, as well.

 

• I can see some wanting to favor Matt Manning against the Orioles and I still have my hesitations. I’m sure you’re sick of hearing it, but I don’t think Manning’s fastball + slider combo is all that great. It opens the door for a whole lot of disappointment here.
• Don’t rule out Dane Dunning having one of his great nights against a middling Angels offense, but don’t resort to this start if you don’t need to.

 

• The bottom tier doesn’t hold much at all, per usual. Josiah Gray always has a chance to explode with his breakers, James Kaprielian can always go 5-6 frames, and Connor Seabold may have a decent shot at production against the Reds, though the chances are slim for all of them.

 

• Updates: The dreams of an auto-start streamer are dead – Drew Smyly was pushed back with shoulder fatigue, with Marcus Stroman slotting into the same place against Miami.
• It makes Jordan Lyles our new streaming pick of the day against the Tigers. Let’s do this.

 

• Atlanta is giving extra rest to Max Fried and company as they’ve called up Bryce Elder to start today against Natty Lite. I kinda dig it as Elder has done well in the minors and against the Marlins during his time in the majors this year. If you’re looking for a start to replace Corey Kluber, this would be it.
• Speaking of the Nationals, they’ve pushed Josiah Gray to Friday against the Marlins, starting Paolo Espino today in his place. Avoid that one.

 

Tomorrow’s Starting Pitcher Rankings

 

• After just one start back from the IL, Justin Verlander slots at the top of Thursday’s ranks as he faces Baltimore. He’s been such a lock this season and looked like his normal self in his return.
• The end of the tier features Zac Gallen as he faces the Dodgers. Gallen’s second half has been historic and despite the tough matchup, you should trust his skills to come through.

 

• The second tier is awfully precarious, much moreso than usual. José Berríos is a cherry bomb, Johnny Cueto is a “shrug, it’s magic” pitcher, Jack Flaherty has been erratic lately, Martín Pérez’s command has been here-and-there, and Michael Wacha gets the Yankees. Their ceilings all make me lean starting them, though if your gut says sit, by all Johns means, sit them.
• I almost put Hayden Wesneski in the second tier as I’m digging this matchup against the Pirates. I pulled it back as rookies are more volatile than we like to think and despite all signs pointing toward an excellent day at the park, we simply don’t have a large enough sample to be that confident in him.

 

• And yet, I prefer Wesneski over Mitch Keller for the streaming pick of the day. With Keller, I simply don’t like his arsenal, but he’s still the second-best option of the third tier. I’m okay trusting him during his little hot stretch, though I’ll do so putting up a fuss along the way.
• There isn’t much else to get excited about here. Jameson Taillon is a Toby, Michael Lorenzen is doing his best to look like a Toby, and the final two options of Kyle Bradish and Ryan Yarbrough are desperate dart throws.

 

• In the bottom tier, there’s an outside chance Adrian Martinez or Josh Winder come through for 5+ productive frames if you’re hoping for something.
• Ranger Suárez and José Ureña have a longer history of going deeper into games for those in QS leagues, becoming the meat of this bottom-tier “if you absolutely need to” sandwich.

 

Featured Image by Drew Wheeler (@drewisokay on Twitter)