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: 81-63
Today’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.
Tomorrow’s Starting Pitcher Rankings
- Lots of fun to be had in the top tier on Wednesday, with all of these arms being clear starts for your squads. Not much to do but lean back and enjoy.
- The second tier is a short one, but contains our streaming pick of the day in Bailey Falter. He’s been on a roll and gets the Marlins – this feels like shooting fish in a barrel.
- Also in the second tier is Jeffrey Springs, who has a tough line of opponents ahead, beginning with the Red Sox. He’s carried his elite changeup recently and should be able to handle Boston effectively.
- The third tier is a clear drop off on Wednesday, leading with Domingo Germán and Dean Kremer against a pair of strong lineups. Be careful – you may have better options over the weekend and you don’t need to over-extend yourself with this crop of arms.
- We have a pair of Still ILL pitchers in Michael Kopech and Zack Greinke. I have a little more faith in Kopech, but not much more and I’d prefer to have them both sit out as we plan for their next matchup instead.
- Trevor Rogers had a brilliant changeup in his previous start and could be moving in the right direction. Unfortunately, he gets the Phillies here, but it could be a launching pad for a pair of starts against the Nationals.
- I don’t have the guts to start Alex Cobb in my leagues, nor do I want to chance it with Drew Hutchison against the Angels. It’s really not a fun third tier on Wednesday.
- Maaaaybe Javier Assad has his best cutter as he gets one of the best matchups around as he hosts the Reds in Wrigley. It’s a desperate play, though.
- In the bottom tier, it’s a horrid crew of matchups + Mike Minor against the Cubs. Please, don’t chase these arms. There has to be better on the wire later in the week.
Featured Image by Drew Wheeler (@drewisokay on Twitter)