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 9am – 11am ET. If you have questions to 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. Dave Swan does an incredible job of showcasing future SP matchups every 2-3 weeks in this article, and I’ve elected to use his offense ranks to share with all of you here:
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: 26-12
Today’s Starting Pitcher Rankings
- Sunday is going to be filled with last-minute starts to hopefully save your week. The top half is pretty, with the bottom half featuring Frankie Montas, Patrick Sandoval, and Kyle Wright, a trio of pitchers all looking to rebound and re-submit their application for an AGA label.
- Aaron Nola sits at the bottom of the tier as he faces the Dodgers. A tough lineup mixed with his incredibly bad fortune grants more hesitation than we’d like. Start him, though. It’s in your best interest to roll with him despite the circumstances.
- In the second tier, I can imagine some wanting Nestor Cortes Jr. and Joe Ryan in the first tier. The White Sox are strong against lefties and Ryan hasn’t found the fifth in either of his last two games. Still like em both, of course.
- Carlos Carrasco has been getting plenty of attention and while I am starting him against the Mariners, he’s not the auto-lock some may see him as. We still haven’t seen a day where it’s all clicked for him and I wonder if that should be framed as a positive or negative thing.
- I elected to put Adam Wainwright in the third tier as he returns from the COVID-IL to face the Giants. Waino hasn’t been on top of his game this year + we don’t know how he’ll be enduring the illness. Proceed with caution
- It’s a terrible day for streaming, which means Tyler Wells gets the call against the Tigers. Blegh, I don’t want to do this, but I recognize that his breakers + changeup + a 93/94 mph heater could go 5+ strong against the middling Tigers offense. Something to consider.
- I elected to stick Hunter Greene in the third tier as well given his strikeout upside and a return to 98 mph as he faces the lowly Pirates. It’s a coin-flip and not a lock for success.
- You could also consider Martín Pérez or José Quintana if you’re in dire need for starts on Sunday. Pérez is seemingly on a Vargas Rule as he upped his sinker velocity last time out, while Quintana just took down the dang Dodgers. Maybe these old vets can make it work one more time.
- The Dodgers will be starting Michael Grove today for his MLB debut and it’s unclear how much he’ll be used. He hasn’t gone longer than four frames this year in Double-A, and according to FanGraphs, he comes with a low-to-mid 90s heater with a plus slider and a big curveball. I’m curious what he can do, but given the question of both longevity and ability, he’s not someone to start in standard situations.
Tomorrow’s Starting Pitcher Rankings
- Look at Shane McClanahan and Sandy Alcantara each sitting at the top of the rankings today. Sigh. What studs they are.
- I’ve had Noah Syndergaard and Luis Severino inside the second tier a good amount this year, but with the Rangers and Orioles both poorly hitting baseballs, Thor and Sevy each jump up into the top tier. I remember when we debated over their ranking inside the Top 10 back in 2019. What times those were.
- In the second tier, even after his nightmarish start against the Nationals last week, I’m likely starting Tylor(d) Megill in my leagues. He still sat 96 mph in that outing, you know.
- Ian Anderson was a tough call to make here and I elected to lean toward starting him than tossing a coin. Anderson hasn’t found his groove quite yet, but he’s still performing better than what we saw in early April, making his floor high enough for me to roll the dice.
- In the third tier, I’m really not digging the options for Monday. It means Alex Wood leads the tier despite a horrendous matchup in Coors. Let’s hope his new velocity is enough to make it worthwhile and earn a Win.
- With the slim pickings, it means Wade Miley is my streaming pick of the day. Miley is just one start removed from the IL and only tossed 64 pitches last time out. That said, it’s the Pirates and Miley could wiggle around them for a Win.
- Other options to consider are Zach Logue and Yusei Kikuchi. Logue dominated last time out with breakers and his heater, but I wonder if it was just a blip and the Twins will expose him on Monday.
- As for Kikuchi, he cruised through a pair of outings against the Yankees despite not sitting above 95 mph on his heater. The Mariners should make for an easier time, but does he still have the same magic with his new breaker? I’m not sure.
- I want to raise Kyle Bradish more after he fanned 11, but the Yankees are too tough to feel confident.
- I love that Jon Gray is starting despite his knee injury, though he may be limited while the Angels are as dangerous as they come.
- In the bottom tier, Garrett Whitlock had a catastrophic outing and now get the Astros. Not the best combination for your Monday.
- While he has been on a roll, I do not want to start Jake Odorizzi against a Red Sox lineup that has finally woken up. It was a fun little run while it lasted.
Featured Image by Drew Wheeler (@drewisokay on Twitter)