We are in the home stretch of the fantasy regular season, and we are going to be a little bit picky with who we are just throwing into our lineups for two starts. It’s a short week as it is, with fewer options — especially viable ones — that we have on a week-to-week basis.

Let’s get right into it as we look ahead at Week 21 of the fantasy season.

Like I do every week, I’ll break the pitchers down the two-start pitchers into six categories:

• Don’t Think Twice: These are the aces that you start no matter what.
• Widely-Rostered Options: Players rostered in the majority of leagues who should provide a positive return.
• In the Danger Zone: It’s a dice roll to start them given matchups or other factors.
• Streamers Rostered in Under 50% of Leagues: These guys should live on the waiver wire, but you can start them this week.
• Streamers Rostered in Under 25% of Leagues: Same as above but applied to deeper leagues.
• Not Unless You’re Desperate: I don’t recommend these guys unless you’re swinging for the fences.

Let’s take a look at those pitchers scheduled to make two starts for the upcoming week, as projected on CBS as of Friday afternoon.

Don’t Think Twice

• Jacob deGrom (9/5 @PIT, 9/11 @MIA)
• Gerrit Cole (9/6 vs. MIN, 9/11 vs. TBR)
• Framber Valdez (9/5 vs. TEX, 9/11 vs. LAA)
• Aaron Nola (9/6 vs. MIA, 9/11 vs. WAS)
• Kevin Gausman (9/5 @KCR, 9/11 @MIN)
• Triston McKenzie (9/5 @KCR, 9/11 @MIN)

Widely-Rostered Options

Brandon Woodruff (9/6 @COL, 9/10 vs. CIN)

Sometimes, fantasy can just be brutal. That’s the case this week when many teams are in their fantasy playoffs and have Woodruff in Colorado. Not great, Bob. You’re still starting him in a weekly league, but you’re just hoping that he can limit the damage in Coors.

Freddy Peralta (9/5 @COL, 9/9 vs. CIN)

The same goes for Peralta as Woodruff. Despite his struggles lately, those who drafted Corbin Burnes have to be happy they missed Coors Week.

Tyler Anderson (9/5 vs. SFG, 9/11 @SDP)

Anderson is going to be really hard to rank next year, but the profile is one that I still can’t fully buy into. That said, I’m fine starting him this week against the Giants and Padres.

Logan Webb (9/5 @LAD, 9/10 @CHC)

The Dodgers have a +284 run differential. Atlanta and the Mets — second and third in the NL — +270 run differential combined. I’d love to skip that start for Webb, but I’ll start him if needed to get the Cubs start.

Drew Rasmussen (9/5 vs. BOS, 9/11 @NYY)

Rasmussen has been really good of late, and it’s not just the results. We’re seeing higher innings and actual strikeouts from him. It’s a tough matchup for him this week against the divisional foes, but I’m leaning toward starting him.

Blake Snell (9/5 vs. ARI, 9/11 vs. LAD)

Snell bounced back in a big way after back-to-back sub-optimal outings. You hate to see the Dodgers matchup on here for him, but I’m starting him for the Arizona outing and hoping for the best with the Dodgers.

Lance Lynn (9/5 @SEA, 9/10 @OAK)

Seattle isn’t an easy out, but Lynn looked good his last time out against the Royals and now owns a 2.45 ERA over his last month. Fire him up.

Johnny Cueto (9/6 @SEA, 9/11 @OAK)

I don’t understand how Cueto is doing it, but at this point, I’m not going to ask questions. I’m OK using him in 12-teamers this week given the Oakland matchup.

In the Danger Zone

Martin Perez (9/5 @HOU, 9/11 vs. TOR)

I feel like the fantasy gods are rewarding me with these matchups. I’ve been out on Perez all year and refused to buy in despite the results. He’s an easy fade this week against two tough offenses.

Joe Ryan (9/6 @NYY, 9/11 vs. CLE)

There is such little room for error with Ryan’s profile that I’m not going to jeopardize my playoffs against the Yankees and Guardians with him. I’m fine if he goes off on my bench.

Streamers Rostered in Under 50% of Leagues

Jose Quintana (9/6 vs. WAS, 9/11 @PIT)

Quintana has been … fine for the Cardinals, but nothing special. But against the Nationals and the Pirates — which is two-step heaven — you don’t need to be special. He’s our starter of the week.

Justin Steele (9/6 vs. CIN, 9/11 vs. SFG)

Steele is back off the restricted list after doing his own research and with our research here, we feel comfy firing him up against the Reds and Giants. Both teams are in the bottom eight in the league in strikeout percentage against lefties this season.

Streamers Rostered in Under 25% of Leagues

Dakota Hudson (9/5 vs. WAS, 9/10 @PIT)

Hudson also isn’t a sexy name, but the groundball specialist gets the Nationals (45.9 GB%) and the Pirates (43.9 GB%) in two matchups that he should absolutely thrive on. Start him in deeper leagues if you don’t care about strikeouts.

Not Unless You’re Desperate

• Cole Irvin (9/6 vs. ATL, 9/11 vs. CHW)
• Jesus Luzardo (9/6 @PHI, 9/11 vs. NYM)
• Michael Wacha (9/5 @TBR, 9/11 @BAL)
• Marco Gonzales (9/5 vs. CHW, 9/11 vs. ATL)
• Alex Wood (9/6 @LAD, 9/11 @CHC)
• Jordan Lyles (9/5 vs. TOR, 9/10 vs. BOS
• Kyle Bradish (9/5 vs. TOR, 9/11 vs. BOS)
• Tommy Henry (9/5 @SDP, 9/11 @COL)
• Kris Bubic (9/5 vs. CLE, 9/11 vs. DET)
• Chris Archer (9/5 @NYY, 9/10 vs. CLE)
• Mitch White (9/5 @BAL, 9/11 @TEX)
• Ryan Feltner (9/5 vs. MIL, 9/11 vs. ARI)
• Tyler Alexander (9/5 @LAA, 9/11 @KCR)
• Bryse Wilson (9/5 vs. NYM, 9/11 vs. STL)
• Justin Dunn (9/6 @CHC, 9/11 @MIL)
• Paolo Espino (9/6 @STL, 9/11 @PHI)
• Anibal Sanchez (9/5 @STL, 9/10 @PHI)

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Michael Waterloo is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Michael, check out his archive and follow him @MichaelWaterloo.