Each day of the 2022 baseball season, I will look at today’s and tomorrow’s list of scheduled pitchers and rank their matchups for your fantasy baseball streams.
There’s a lot that goes into it and you can hang out with me on Twitch.tv/pitcherlist to talk about the specific pitches I do every weekday morning from 9am to 11am ET. If you have any questions about these ranks, please ask them during the morning Twitch AMA. These are my office hours as I generally do not respond to comments on the site.
There are four tiers to this ranking for 12 teamers:
Auto start – Just do it. Don’t think about it, start with the man.
Probably beginning – I’ll probably start with these weapons, although I recognize the risk is greater than we would like. It’s either a tough matchup for a good pitcher or a weak lineup for a fugitive arm.
Questionable start – There are situations where I would take the risk, either with a strong enough advantage on the skill side or a bad offense for a pitcher to exploit.
Don’t start – The reward is not worth the risk. Do not do it.
Obviously, there will be circumstances where pitchers should rotate between teams specific to your situation, and these new tiers should provide a little more help than last year’s straight table.
Please keep in mind that streaming is far from a perfect game. In fact, if they exercise more than half the time, I would call it a success. These matchup rankings and streamer picks will vary wildly from actual results throughout the year, so please excuse the scathing comments and tweets. I’m just trying to help!
Be sure to read the notes if you’re wondering why I choose certain pitchers over others – I won’t go into all of them and hopefully answer any questions you may have.
There is a second table for tomorrow is Also, start pitcher matchups and help everyone use their nightly pickups. Please note, however, these matchups are subject to change will let’s be where I’ve got the wrong pitcher running. Thank you for your future understanding.
Finally, there are my streaming picks of the day, and please keep that in mind I am forced to choose a streamer every day. Those highlighted in it Green are in the second row and I would roll with them anywhere. The most common are those in Yellow in the third tier and should be decent if you’re looking some on a specific day. After all, these are Red is that me Yes, really don’t want to start (after all, they’re marked “Do Not Start”) but have no choice. Don’t stream these guys until you’re really desperate. A streaming pick is defined as “listed in 20% or fewer leagues,” meaning Yes, really stresses that I would be happy if over 50% of these worked. I could do the whole sub 30/40% lineup, but it’s no fun. You can instead use the rankings to see who those picks would be.
(NC contact) – Outlines that a pitcher will be opened for the day and the listed pitcher follows the opener.
As I do my rankings, I thought it would be helpful to present a table showing how we rank offenses. Dave Swan makes one unbelievable Task to feature future SP matches every 2-3 weeks in this article and I decided to use his offensive ranks to share them with all of you here:
Nick’s Loose Team Offense Rankings (Updated 06/16)
I’m sure it will change throughout the year + there are differences between teams and LHP or RHP but it’s a great general chart to keep in mind for all of you.
Alright, let’s get to that.
Streamer Record 2022: 43-31
Today’s Starting Pitcher Rankings
- The premier class is as clear as day on Thursday Joe Musgrove return of COVID, Clayton Kershaw go to cincy, and Robbie Ray fresh from two stellar outings and ready to flaunt his sinker against a poor Oakland lineup.
- Both Frankie Montas and Kyle Wright have shown some signs of volatility, but it’s pretty clear you’re starting them indefinitely at this point.
- The second stage is… a little wobbly. I can see some wanting to place this matchup by Framber Valdez vs. Jameson Taillon in the Questionable starting tier, although both have shown the ability to survive against strong opponents. They also don’t want to miss out on the chance of winning, so they’ll probably start in my book.
- There’s also a hint of temptation to get stuck Johnny Cueto into the second row as he faces the Orioles. He’s our streaming pick of the day (PLEASE, LET ME HAVE ONE) due to his shocking consistency in digging deep into games, though I won’t ignore his disastrous bottom, which could rear its ugly head even against Baltimore.
- Next in the third row is devin smelter, who let us down as a stream last time out but was able to bounce back against Cleveland. He’s trying to be one Tobi and can pull through here.
- we have a couple cherry bomb jars in Hunter Greene and Dakota Hudson in the questionable starting stage. Remember, Greene prevailed against the Dodgers earlier this year and I’m not ruling out the possibility of a repeat in Cincinnati. Hudson…well, he’s always been a coin toss. Your call.
- The final two arms of the third stage are interesting, but not something I would typically pursue. Alex Wood struggled against the Pirates and is now facing a tougher matchup against an Atlanta team that does well against southpaw. He has the ability to succeed, but is it worth it in the end?
- And then there is Justin Steele, whose fastball/breaker combo is mind-blowing…maybe once or twice this year. Even against the pirates there is a significant risk that I’d rather avoid.
- in the bottom row, Jose Quintana mastered his pitches well and still carried bad conditions in his starts. That stuff is super important, y’all.
- There is a Rockie Street vs. Marlin’s matchup that could yield dividends for both sides Braxton Garret or Kyle Freeland, and it’s incredibly difficult to see who will come out on top – if either one Will. There are better games to be made but I understand those in NL only leagues taking the dive.
Today’s starting pitcher streamers
Tomorrow’s pitcher rankings
- We have the usual premier league suspects for Friday, including a phenomenal matchup by Justin Verlander vs. Luis Severino. That’s a must, and if you have both, it’s in your best interest to start both.
- The bottom two of the tier are a bit more competitive. Julio Urías flirts with an AGA label, which allows me to start him despite being a southpaw against Atlanta offense. In the meantime, Nick Pivetta is on one of those Vargas rule that he earned Tier 1 status against the Guardians. What a world.
- The second stage has some exciting starts as well. Jeffrey Springs against Pittsburgh, Michael Kopech overlooking the Orioles, and Taijuan Walker Getting the Pearl in Miami are all great solid weapon matchups. Easy decisions are welcome.
- The last two start for MacKenzie Gore wasn’t nice playing the Rockies at home and away, but I still knock him out against the Phils. We’ve seen some volatility from Gore over the year, and I expect a rebound in this launch or the next. let him fly
- in the third stage, Michael Lorenz wasn’t such a clear start all year, but a start against the Mariners should be seriously considered. He has the ability to play 6+ frames against mediocre offense and that’s enough for me.
- I normally would have Alex Cobb in the second division with a start against the Reds, but he only threw 60 pitches over the weekend and probably topped his ceiling here. I know it doesn’t matter Sonny Gray or Mike Clevinger on Wednesday (both throwing more than 80 pitches!), but then neither of them reached five frames. Cobb has yet to develop the stamina.
- Our streaming pick of the day is Cole Irvin against the Royals and marks the third straight start where Irvin is our man. I can’t say I am eager to start him here, but he has a decent chance of driving through a Kansas City pedestrian lineup.
- I can also see that some want to stream Mitch Keller, believe it or not He’s made four straight starts with 2 ER or less and faces a Rays team that doesn’t intimidate.
- Let’s get started Ian Anderson against the Dodgers? I’m incredibly conflicted about this as Anderson seems to be acting like one cherry bomb Regardless of his opponent. Do whatever you see fit – he could be worth the game.
- At the top of the Do Not Start stage are Andre Pallante, Zack Greinke, and Dane reminder, everyone against weak teams. Pallante could to make that work, although I question if his stuff is really good enough to warrant a stream. Greinke is likely to be low on court count and his value comes from getting deep into games while Dunning’s command is everywhere.
- Other considerations are Graham Ashcraft, Rony Garcia, and even Paulo Espino. Ashcraft hasn’t had a Sinker Command lately, making him far too vulnerable. Garcia has a strong advantage and maybe he’ll express it against the Sneks, while Espino had moments as a reliable streamer last year and could make it work against Rangers.
- And then there is Cal Quantrill, who has been terribly reliable this year. However, his circumstances are highly questionable and a date with the Red Sox is a clear seat for me.
Tomorrow’s pitcher rankings
Featured image by Drew Wheeler (@drewisokay on Twitter)