With less than two weeks left in the fantasy baseball season, every streaming decision counts — one misstep could tank your ratios and send you tumbling down the standings. Which is where our daily starting pitcher rankings come in, with a full breakdown of each slate and recommendations on who to start, who to sit and who to snag off the waiver wire. The schedule on Friday, September 21 is tricky one — over a third of the scheduled starters today fall into the “do not start” tier of our daily starting pitcher rankings, and there aren’t a ton of marquee names, but there are still some under-the-radar options who could come through in a big way.
Starting pitcher rankings for Friday, September 22
Pitchers to stream
Sawyer Gipson-Long, Detroit Tigers — Gipson-Long was intriguing in his MLB debut against the White Sox, but he was a lot more than that in his second start against the Angels: The righty whiffed a whopping 10 batters while allowing three hits and two walks over five innings of work. The schedule remains friendly, with the Athletics at the pitcher-friendly Coliseum up next, and Gipson-Long could cruise once again if he has his sinker, slider and changeup working a la Logan Webb.
Brandon Pfaadt, Arizona Diamondbacks — Say it with me: Always stream righties with a pulse against the 2023 Yankees. This time it’s Pfaadt’s turn, and it helps that the rookie’s coming off arguably the best start of his career, striking out six over 5.1 shutout innings against the Cubs last weekend. The rookie still has some kinks to work out in his repertoire, but his sweeper is very good, and New York’s righty-heavy lineup has been terribly susceptible to that pitch of late (26.8% K rate, .639 OPS against righty pitching since September 1).
Jameson Taillon, Chicago Cubs — Taillon got Coors’d a bit in Colorado his last time out, but he was great in his most recent start at Wrigley, striking out nine while allowing just three baserunners over six shutout innings against the D-backs. Now he gets a return engagement against the Rockies, this time at the Friendly Confines, and Colorado is always a cushy streaming matchup when they’re on the road. The skills are there, and he should come through against a poor lineup.
And now, without further ado, here are your full starting pitcher rankings for fantasy baseball on Friday, September 22.