Starting Pitcher Streamer Rankings – 8/13 & 8/14

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 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: 68-52

 

Today’s Starting Pitcher Rankings

 

• Updates: Two intriguing prospects are pitching today – DL Hall and Kyle Muller. Both are great spec adds to make in 12-teamers, but I have a rule for debuts (well, it’s Hall’s MLB debut and Muller’s 2022 debut) that I stick them in the DNS tier. That said, both are stretched out enough to go five frames and they are of consideration. It’s up to you, there’s just too much unknown in my book.
• Also, Mitch White is starting for Kevin Gausman, slotting in the final tier, but before all the really bad options.

 

• It’s ace day on Saturday, with three of my top four starters all toeing the rubber. I can’t wait until we see 90+ pitches from Jacob deGrom…
• At the bottom of the tier, it’s weird to see Aaron Nola this far down, but we have too many good matchups ahead of him. The elephant in the room is Lucas Giolito, but a date with the Tigers is a clear “obviously I’m doing this” start, even with his recent struggles.

 

• The probable start tier is pretty straightforward as well. Adam Wainwright faces a middling offense and he has been a rock for managers over the last two months when not facing the toughest of offenses.
• Despite likely being limited to 75-80 pitches, I’d still start Andrew Heaney everywhere. The Royals may be performing better than usual as of late, but without Merrifield and Benintendi, I imagine Heaney should produce in the limited frames he gets – he could very well squeeze out five frames and a Win here.

 

• The third tier is a chonker (as Fast would say), leading off with five starters who would be in the second tier if not for a difficult matchup. Yes, that’s all of Triston McKenzie, Frankie Montas, Reid Detmers, Jesús Luzardo, and Zac Gallen. Luck of the draw can be rough at times.
• As for Luzardo, I know he’s performed well in his two starts back from the IL, but Atlanta is strong against lefties + I’m worried about his dip in velocity.

 

• The back half of the third tier is focusing on lower rostered arms facing weak teams. Lance McCullers Jr. is a touch different, making his return from the IL to face Oakland, though despite being stretched out in his rehab (5.0 IP, 24 batters faced), he allowed 10 baserunners and 5 ER in the final start, suggesting his command is still a work in progress. It could go either way, and he very well may be a “Still Ill”. Don’t activate him unless you need to.
• The streaming pick of the day can be found here with Graham Ashcraft facing the Cubs. I’m not heavily infatuated with Ashcraft as he can’t find a proper groove, but there seems to be a decent floor here as Graham could shove through six frames.

 

• Atlanta demoted Ian Anderson, but has him back on schedule for this doubleheader against the Marlins. He’s a Cherry Bomb, and the Marlins could tip the scales in his favor.
• Spenser Watkins and Marco Gonzales are a pair of arms who can go 5+ frames without destroying your ratios. Watkins faces the meager Rays offense, while Gonzo has shown the ability to earn Quality Starts for those in need.

 

• At the top of the fourth tier, Adrian Sampson and Dylan Bundy have more intrigue than usual. Sampson has his moments of bliss and the Reds aren’t the scariest of foes, while Bundy increased his slider usage to 40% in his last start and thrived with it. It may have been the beginning of a major trend.
• I can also see some favoring Dane Dunning, though I’m a bit more worried about the Mariners lately. Coming off a series win against the Yankees, I fear they are carrying more momentum that may break down Dunning’s defenses.

 

• Lastly, I have to mention y’all to keep an eye on Tyler Beede. He’s still getting stretched out, but he pumps 96 mph with a strong breaker. He could be taking the steps forward to be a 12-teamer add in the next few weeks.

 

Tomorrow’s Starting Pitcher Rankings

 

• The top tier is a bit stranger than usual. We have guys like Tyler Anderson and Lance Lynn above the likes of Shane Bieber and Chris Bassitt, but the former matchups are tougher while Lynn gets the Tigers and Anderson has been a stud.
• Spencer Strider, Cristian Javier, and Blake Snell are all high upside/more risk arms, but they all face poor offenses and are obvious plays for Sunday.

 

• The second tier begins with Alex Wood as he faces one of the weakest offenses out there with his 92+ mph heater and solid slider. Let him fly.
• I know Miles Mikolas just had his nightmare start, but he won’t allow near 14 hits against the Brewers. I’m starting him wherever.

 

• In the battle of Logan Gilbert vs. Martín Pérez, you could go either way. I’ll lean on Gilbert’s ceiling a bit more than Pérez needing to rebound from a tough day against the Astros.
• The third tier begins with Aaron Ashby, a Cherry Bomb against the Cardinals. We’ve seen what he can do, it’s a matter of having good enough command on a given day.

 

• The legend of Cole Irvin has grown massively over the last month, can he pull off another successful game against the Astros? It’s hard to believe but he’s done it before.
• The final three are all highly contentious but are decent chases on a desperate Sunday. Drew Rasmussen has been able to pull magic against anyone, Jordan Lyles has kept the ERA down since July 1st (streaming pick of the day against a mediocre Rays offense!), and Keegan Thompson has flashes of brilliance.

 

• In the bottom tier, I’m not confident in Jameson Taillon surviving against Boston. He can, but is the juice worth the squeeze?
• Brady Singer can do wonders for a fantasy team, but a date with the Dodgers seems like too much of a challenge.

 

• The bottom half of the final tier is nothing to look at, leaving just three more names as capable dart throws on Sunday. Braxton Garrett didn’t have his slider against a formidable opponent last time out (the Phils), but maybe it’s back against Atlanta.
• Chris Archer could give you five strong innings against the Angels, and Justin Dunn may have enough to survive against the Cubs in his second 2022 start.

 

Featured Image by Drew Wheeler (@drewisokay on Twitter)