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: 94-69
Today’s Starting Pitcher Rankings
- The top tier gains Cristian Javier as it looks like the Astros are letting him fly Sunday. Make sure he’s in your lineup.
- I’ve elevated Nick Lodolo to the top tier since Monday’s rank as I have all the faith in Lodolo’s strikeout ability moving forward. Start him.
- I demoted Shane McClanahan to the second tier after he left his last start with neck spasms. He may be limited or not at his peak with the hindrance.
- You have two legit streaming options on Sunday – Luis Ortiz and Drey Jameson. Start. Them. BOTH. Ortiz sports upper 90s + a wicked slider and Jameson…has the same. They face two weak offenses and could be week winners. Note: There’s a chance it’s Zach Davies instead of Jameson and rain could be a factor for Ortiz.
- The third tier features Aaron Civale in his second start back from the IL against the Rangers. I’m cool with it as he should be good for 80+ pitches, and I hope the curve shows up more than 20% of the time.
- The final three arms here could be of interest. Adrian Sampson may coast through six frames against a weak Pirates crew, Aníbal Sánchez gets the Marlins a second time and it could be more of the same, and Brayan Bello has strikeout upside with his slider & changeup if you’re in dire need.
- Ohhhh the bottom tier. Adam Wainwright has looked fatigued and gets the Dodgers – avoid that one.
- His opponent looks to be Michael Grove, a starter I didn’t expect to see again for the Dodgers. He has a shot to go five strong, but it’s too risky.
- Don’t go after Freddy Peralta in his return from the IL as he’ll go two innings – three max. There’s a chance Aaron Ashby cleans up after and that may be a sneaky play for a Win against the Reds.
- The other options about Peralta are dart throws – José Suarez and Kyle Gibson are volatile arms against strong lineups, while I heavily question the chance Dylan Bundy or Jakob Junis take full advantage of their matchups.
Tomorrow’s Starting Pitcher Rankings
- Just four games on Monday, which normally makes for a lack of interesting options. However, that is not the case here.
- Sure, you have your Kevin Gausman, Luis Severino, and Michael Wacha, who are all rostered and don’t make for any interesting decisions on Monday.
- But then there’s Roansy Contreras, who is still rostered in fewer than 20% of leagues as he brings his massive strikeout upside into Pittsburgh for a start against the Reds and I’m all for it. Go get him.
- I’d also heavily consider Bryce Elder as he takes over for Spencer Strider in the Atlanta rotation. He continues his path of facing weak offenses and I’d trust him against the Nationals.
- I know Jordan Lyles just tossed a complete game against the Astros and limited his heater, but I’m not totally buying it against the Red Sox.
- The final two arms of Chase Anderson and Cory Abbott are not the pitchers you should be starting on Monday. Or any day, really.
Featured Image by Drew Wheeler (@drewisokay on Twitter)