Justin Mason | Sat, Apr 1st 2023, 7:24am EDT

Two-Start SP Rankings, Tiers & Targets: Week 1 (2023 Fantasy Baseball)

The season is finally here!

Now that the season has finally begun, it is time to start grinding the two-start pitchers to give you an advantage over your competition.

Each week, I will be giving you a breakdown of the two-start options for your fantasy leagues broken up into the following tiers:

Must Start: The guys that you have to start because of their talent and/or matchups.
Should Start: These are the guys that are rostered in most formats and probably should be in your lineup.
Here We Go: Pitchers that you are probably starting in most formats but have some level of risk to them.
Feeling Lucky: Pitchers available in less than 25% of leagues that are risky, but viable in deeper formats.
Desperate Measures: Pitchers you shouldn’t use unless you have no other choice.

Check out our two-start pitcher rankings to identify two-start options available in your leagues

These are projected two-start pitchers and are subject to change.

Must Start

Nestor Cortes Jr, (SP – NYY) (vs PHI, at BAL)
Zach Eflin (SP – TB) (at WAS, vs OAK)
George Kirby (SP – SEA) (vs LAA, at CLE)

Should Start

Reid Detmers (SP – LAA) (at SEA, vs TOR)

I was not the biggest fan of Detmers during draft season, but he looked fantastic during Spring Training and I do have fears that I missed out. If you drafted him, you likely paid a pretty good price which means in spite of a tough two-step, you should be starting him in most formats.

Michael Kopech (SP – CWS) (vs SF, at PIT)

Kopech had a really nice Spring and has two fantastic matchups including one here in a fantastic park in Pittsburgh. He isn’t quite a must-start, but it is hard to envision a place where you are passing on these two starts. If you can’t use him here, he shouldn’t be on your roster.

Brady Singer (SP – KC) (vs TOR, at SF)

The Toronto part of this two-step is a bit scary, but at least it is at home. You at least can bank on a fantastic opportunity in San Francisco versus a bad Giants offense.

Jon Gray (SP – TEX) (vs BAL, at CHC)

I felt pretty ambivalent about Gray all draft season. I love the skills generally, but he makes mistakes at times which can cost him. I am not overly worried about the matchups here, but these are teams that can put up runs at times as well. I feel like this is the iffiest of the pitchers in this tier.

Charlie Morton (SP – ATL) (at STL, vs SD)

This is a tough two-step against two very good offenses, but Morton is a fantastic pitcher and it is really hard to not use him in a two-start week. This could end up poorly just because of the competition level, so I understand feeling like this has a bit more risk than most “should start” pitchers.

Here We Go

Carlos Carrasco (SP – NYM) (at MIL, vs MIA)

Carrasco could easily be in the above tier because of a good Spring and the level of competition for this two-start weeks`, but I am just a little wary of this being a trap of a week for him. The Miami start is too good to pass up in most formats though.

Hunter Brown (SP – HOU) (vs DET, at MIN)

I love these matchups for Brown and that is the main reason I am entertaining this one here. Detroit’s offense is bad and Minnesota’s is banged up. I do worry that Houston will have Brown on a pitch count though which makes it unlikely he can qualify for a win, much less a quality start.

Sean Manaea (SP – SF) (at CHW, vs KC)

The White Sox start is a bit scary here, but the Kansas City one is tantalizing enough that it puts Manaea in play here. He had added velocity in Spring Training making Manaea very interesting here which is why I am willing to gamble.

Feeling Lucky

Kyle Bradish (SP – BAL) (at TEX, vs NYY)

I love Bradish’s pitch mix change at the end of last season and he looked good in Spring Training. However, this is a really tough matchup against potent offenses in the Yankees and Rangers, but at least he is at home and in Texas which are both good places to pitch. There is some blowup risk here, but in deeper leagues, I am willing to do it.

Kutter Crawford (SP – BOS) (vs PIT, at DET)

Crawford is a very interesting pitcher and will need to pitch well in order to keep his rotation spot. He gets a good opportunity against two of the worst offenses in baseball. There is some risk he is just bad, but you don’t really get better matchups than this.

Desperate Measure

Jose Berrios (SP – TOR) (at KC, at LAA)
Yusei Kikuchi (SP – TOR) (at KC, at LAA)
Tyler Mahle (SP – MIN) (at MIA, vs HOU)
Matt Boyd (SP – DET) (at HOU, vs BOS)

Whether you’re new to fantasy baseball or a seasoned pro, our Fantasy Baseball 101: Strategy Tips & Advice page is for you. You can get started with our Sabermetrics Glossary or head to a more advanced strategy – like Maximizing Your Potential in Multi-Lineup Contests – to learn more.

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