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:
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: 80-63
Today’s Starting Pitcher Rankings
- The top tier is a bit murky for Monday, missing all AGA pitchers, allowing Kevin Gausman and Lance Lynn to snatch the top two spots. Just one of those days.
- The end of the tier includes Logan Webb and Brady Singer. Webb gets the tough challenge of the Dodgers, but you have to start him each time he tosses, while Singer is on too good of a run (even with last week’s stumble) to deny him the start.
- The second tier contains the return of Jack Flaherty, despite a Still ILL situation. He’s performed well in rehab and gets Natty Lite – I’m all for it.
- The other options are all over the place. Drew Rasmussen’s cutter has been fantastic, José Berríos is a Cherry Bomb, Michael Wacha struggled last time but has been amazing overall, and Jameson Taillon is good enough for the nod even against the Twins. It’s all shaky, I know, but if you have them, you’re likely starting them.
- In the third tier, I have no idea what to do with Freddy Peralta. His command has been off and Coors is as dangerous as it gets. Here’s to hoping he can replicate his MLB debut years ago.
- The streaming pick of the day is José Suarez against the Tigers. It’s the Tigers n all + Suarez has decent enough stuff to make it worthwhile. This isn’t a start I’d run to grab, though.
- The other three options are iffy, to say the least. Will Marco Gonzales have his changeup? Is the magic gone from Martín Pérez, especially against the Astros? And is Jordan Lyles actually good enough at home to endure the Jays?
- The bottom tier doesn’t add a whole lot, either. Please avoid all of these, but if you must, Tyler Alexander has the best chance against the Angels, even if he’ll likely be a bit limited.
- Quick note: We don’t know what the Astros are going to do on Monday, so it may be Hunter Brown, it could be someone completely different. Monitor it in case someone makes a surprise start.
- Updates: There are a lot of changes today, beginning with the Mets/Pirates game already postponed. There will be a double-header on Wednesday and make sure to replace your hitters now.
- Aníbal Sánchez is going for the Nationals, Adrian Houser gets the start instead of Freddy Peralta, and Luis Patiño gets the nod with Drew Rasmussen pushed to Tuesday. I don’t want to start any of this, so don’t worry about it.
Tomorrow’s Starting Pitcher Rankings
- It’s ace day for many clubs as the first half of the top tier is solely AGA arms. Throw in some Tyler Anderson and Merrill Kelly, with a sprinkle of Logan Gilbert, and you have yourself a full tier.
- In the bottom third are Taijuan Walker and Drew Rasmussen. Walker gets the lowly Pirates and should feast, while Rasmussen’s cutter has looked good enough that I believe managers will be tossing him against the Red Sox everywhere.
- Jesús Luzardo has had a premium changeup and gets a somewhat difficult matchup against the Phillies. I’m starting him everywhere, though, and I can’t imagine a 12-teamer manager resisting this outing given his success since his return from the IL.
- I know Joe Ryan hasn’t had the greatest secondaries, but the four-seamer is overpowering and the Yankee offense is…rough, to say the least. You’re starting him.
- The second tier begins with an ace in Brandon Woodruff heading to Coors, the worst place to pitch. Do what you want here, I’m leaning toward still starting the dang man, but I understand your hesitation.
- Johnny Cueto and José Quintana are far from the most exciting options at the moment, though I think you’re going to rely on their season-long resume to pull through here. I have a touch more worry for Quintana at the moment – he hasn’t had the feel for all his pitches across the last few starts – but the easy matchup against Natty Lite keeps him inside the second tier.
- The third kicks off with Eduardo Rodriguez, who stumbled against the Mariners as I don’t think his repertoire is nearly as good as we’ve seen in the past. Be careful here, even against the mediocre Angels lineup.
- The legend of Cole Irvin has skidded across the last few weeks, making a highly questionable decision ahead against the powerful Atlanta offense. This one is up to you as it could go either way (I’m benching).
- The streaming pick of the day is Kyle Bradish against the Jays and I don’t love it. Bradish has performed better across his last two starts, though his slider was a major player in just one of them (51% usage! ~30% in the other…). He survived with his four-seamer, but I question if that can be replicated against the Jays.
- The last three pitchers in the tier are also streaming options, but I’d avoid them in most situations. Rich Hill had an incredible start followed by a dud, Mike Mayers is only here because of Detroit (you’re hoping for five frames) and Wade Miley is a Still ILL despite one of the best matchups out there – facing the Reds away from Cincy.
- The bottom tier starts with a pair of young arms who may entice desperate managers. Justin Dunn heads to Chicago and has a wicked breaker, while Mitch White’s slider is a wonderful thing. The ceiling is five frames, though, and the chances of harm are far greater.
- Mitch Keller through Chad Kuhl all have a chance, but the risk outweighs the reward like a bottomed-out scale. These matchups are too difficult.
Featured Image by Drew Wheeler (@drewisokay on Twitter)