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
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: 29-18
Today’s Starting Pitcher Rankings
- It’s unusual to see a third of starts in the top division, but here we are. Difficult to order them as none are in the top 20 on the list, but you have plenty of reliable weapons to take on weak teams. Start them all.
- Despite all bad luck Aaron Nola will face Atlanta if they fight right-handers this season. This is the beginning, I can feel it.
- in the second stage, Martin Perez secures the top spot as he was arguably the best Vargas rule of all starters this season. He’s getting his easiest matchup of the past month in athletics and should be able to continue chugging forward. It probably won’t last much longer, but ride it while you can.
- Our streaming pick of the day is Justin Steele in a great matchup against the Reds. He’s fanned out 19 batters in his last two starts and this looks like a safe play with some fun on the upside.
- You can think too Hunter Greene to Steele after changing his approach to be slider first and fastball second. Not a bad idea when you can “surprise” batter with a 100-mile heater. As long as he can throw the slider for strikes further, he’ll be able to produce against the Cubs.
in the third stage, Aaron Civale could continue his heavy cutter/curveball use and perform against the Tigers. I’m a fan of this one, although I recognize the low ground when not feeling either pitch.To update: Civale was put on the IL and made Konnor Pilkington the starter for the keepers. Do not do it.
Dakota Hudson is a coin toss and if those grounders become outs he can go six frames against the Brewers. Up to you if you want to hunt it down.To update: Hudson will now call on Friday Adam Wainwright Start today. let him fly- Me, Hyun Jin Ryu is a Tobi for a winning team. That means you should approach your start against the Angels with caution.
- At the top is the last step Michael Wacha who gets a chisox team fighting right-handers. His transition looks good and gives a chance of success on Thursday.
- I don’t care what the matchup is for German Marquez, I don’t. Do yourself a favor and ignore it completely.
Today’s Starting Pitcher Ranking
Tomorrow’s pitcher rankings
- We’ve got the fun names in the top tier, of course, although there are a few questionable matchups. If you have Brandon Woodruff or Alex Manoah On your squads, absolutely launch them. Don’t think about it, just do it.
- It’s hard to place Sean Manaea on this list. Should he climb higher as he gets an incredible matchup against the pirates? I put it right under Manoah regardless of opponent, but I understand those who want it higher.
- The second tier has some solid weapons with good matchups. Let go Tony Gonsolin against the Diamondbacks (please slide back!) and Jon Gray against the Athletics – both able to step up with their breakers and return top stats.
- I’m not quite sure what I think of the trajectory of Ian Anderson right now – I want to think he’ll get into a rhythm by summer, although right now he’s struggling with his pitches to stay in the zone. Still, it’s worth the chance against the Marlins.
- I lead in the third row Garret Whitlock and Alex Faedo. Whitlock’s stuff bodes well for better days than we’ve seen lately, and a date with the Orioles should make for a decent outing.
- As for Alex Faedo, its slider makes it the streaming pick of the day. He didn’t have it last time out against the Guardians, although I’d bet it will return in this repeat matchup.
- I’m terribly torn as to where to put something like this Trevor Rogers, Zach Eflin, and Jeffrey Springs for Friday. Rogers is a coinflip if he has his changeup and/or slider, Eflin’s curveball came up last time around and I’m not sure he’ll do it again, and while Springs’ changeup is a dirty offer, it’s enough to fend off the Yankees? Make your choice here.
- Do not overlook Austin Gomber on the road in Washington. Its breakers could be in full force and pulling off a solid weekend stream if you need help.
- There is a chance in the bottom row Hunt Silseth makes it work against the jays. With his splitter running at full blast he can gain a touch of air on a heater at over 95mph and survive 5+ frames.
- I look forward to seeing more of this Graham Ashcraft the upper 90’s routers and boards are pounding into the zone. If he manages to get his batting average on his slider, he could be a hot pick-up after this game…or it could be more of the same and get destroyed by the Giants. Be careful.
Tomorrow’s pitcher rankings
Featured image by Drew Wheeler (@drewisokay on Twitter)