You should be grinding two-start pitchers to give you an advantage over your competition during the season.

These projected two-start pitchers are subject to change and will with the season just beginning. For whatever it’s worth, I’m a little more conservative earlier in the season as I don’t love getting my ratios trashed early on. Also reference our two-start pitcher planner to check who’s available in your league.

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Fantasy Baseball Two-Start Pitchers: Week 5

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

• Must Start: Pitchers you have to start because of their talent/matchups.
• Should Start: Pitchers rostered in most formats and who should probably be in your lineup.
• Here We Go: Pitchers you are probably starting in most formats but who come with some level of risk.
• 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 choice.

Must Start

• Pablo Lopez (SP – MIN) vs. CHW, at LAA
• Tarik Skubal (SP – DET) at TB, vs. KC
• Grayson Rodriguez (SP – BAL) at LAA, vs. OAK
• Tanner Houck (SP – BOS) at CLE, vs. CHC
• Logan Gilbert (SP – SEA) at TEX, vs. ARI
• Dylan Cease (SP – SD) at COL, vs. PHI
• Jared Jones (SP – PIT) vs. MIL, at SF
• Reynaldo Lopez (RP, SP – ATL) vs. MIA, vs. CLE
• Zack Littell (RP, SP – TB) vs. DET, at CHW
• Marcus Stroman (SP – NYY) vs. OAK, at MIL

Should Start

Yusei Kikuchi (SP – TOR) at KC, vs. LAD

If it wasn’t for the really difficult matchups here, Yusei Kikuchi would be in the “Must Start” tier. He has been fantastic in his last three starts and has built upon the changes he made in the second half of last season. There aren’t many formats where he should be on the bench.

Carlos Rodon (SP – NYY) vs. OAK, at MIL

Carlos Rodon hasn’t looked elite yet but he has pitched well enough to put up a decent enough line. He gets two good matchups here, so there is no reason not to roll with him.

Ranger Suarez (SP – PHI) at CIN, at SD

Ranger Suarez would be in the “Must Start” tier, but he has two tough matchups including one in Cincinnati, one of the toughest parks to pitch in. However, he has been excellent and getting a ton of ground balls.

Here We Go

Brady Singer (SP – KC) vs. TOR, at DET

Brady Singer has been really good this season, throwing 23.1 innings with a 1.54 ERA, .86 WHIP and 23 strikeouts. However, while he looked amazing in his first two starts, he was more pedestrian in his last two. He has one difficult start versus the Blue Jays and an easier one versus the Tigers. I am probably rolling with it, but this is a time to watch and see which pitcher Singer is.

Michael Wacha (SP – KC) vs. TOR, at DET

Michael Wacha is almost always a good pitcher when healthy, but he is unspectacular. Because you get the back half of this two-start week against a bad Tigers offense, I think you are using it, but there is limited upside with the Blue Jays on the front end.

Jon Gray (SP – TEX) vs. SEA, vs CIN

Jon Gray has been solid in his first two starts and probably deserves to be in the above tier, but these are two tough matchups versus offenses that can do damage. Gray is anything but a consistent producer. I would probably roll with him, but there is some risk.

Brandon Pfaadt (SP – ARI) at STL, at SEA

I love Brandon Pfaadt, but he is struggling with home runs again. There are two matchups in good parks for home run suppression, which is why he is even this high in the tiers. There is a lot of risk despite the fact he doesn’t walk guys because there is power sprinkled throughout these two lineups.

Reid Detmers (SP – LAA) vs. BAL, vs. MIN

Similar to Singer, Reid Detmers looked good in his first couple of starts and more average in his last two despite the overall good lines. I don’t quite yet know who Detmers is and that alone has me thinking about benching him in shallower formats.

Jose Quintana (SP – NYM) at SF, vs. STL

Jose Quintana has not looked sharp yet and is walking batters at a 12% clip, but he has survived most of his outings. The walks are concerning, but these are two good matchups versus a bad Giants offense and a Cardinals team struggling versus left-handed pitching.

Ryan Weathers (SP – MIA) at ATL, vs. WAS

Sometimes you have to risk it for the biscuit. Ryan Weathers has looked much better recently, but this is an extremely tough first half to the two-start week versus a dangerous Braves team. Luckily, he gets a nice back-end of the week versus a bad Washington squad. He’s a high-risk/high-reward play.

Feeling Lucky

Paul Blackburn (SP – OAK) at NYY, at BAL

Normally an Oakland pitcher with two tough matchups would be in the last tier, but Paul Blackburn has pitched well so far and made real changes to his profile. In his 24 starts since the beginning of last year, he has only had four outings in which he has allowed five runs or more, meaning he is much safer than you would expect. There is still risk and limited upside because he pitches for the worst team in baseball, but the floor is higher than you would expect.

Michael King (RP, SP – SD) at COL, vs. PHI

Michael King would normally be higher than this, but considering he is pitching in Colorado and then against a tough Phillies team, it is hard to use him. Factor in how he has struggled with his command and control this season, and I think I would avoid this.

Hunter Greene (SP – CIN) vs. PHI, at TEX

Hunter Greene has the upside to win you your week or your league and the downside to make you want to quit playing fantasy baseball. These are two tough matchups that scare the heck out of me, but the upside is so tantalizing that most people will gamble on him.

Andrew Abbott (SP – CIN) vs. PHI, at TEX

If you just looked at Andrew Abbott’s surface numbers, you might think he deserves to be much higher, but it is built on a house of straw that could easily be blown down. His batting average on balls in play (BABIP) is just .227 and his strand rate is pretty high. He is giving up a good amount of in-zone contact and not getting people to chase out of the zone. A lot of his contact is being put in the air which is a bad thing for a Reds pitcher. I would run away from this one.

Desperate Measures

• Chris Paddack (RP, SP – MIN) vs. CHW, at LAA
• Ben Lively (RP, SP – CLE) vs. BOS, at ATL
• Patrick Corbin (SP – WAS) vs. LAD, at MIA
• Jordan Wicks (SP – CHC) vs. HOU, at BOS
• JP Sears (SP – OAK) at NYY, at BAL
• Joe Ross (SP – MIL) at PIT, vs. NYY
• Wade Miley (SP – MIL) at PIT, vs. NYY
• Bailey Falter (SP – PIT) vs. MIL, at SF
• Lance Lynn (SP – STL) vs. ARI, at NYM
• Austin Gomber (SP – COL) vs. SD, vs. HOU
• Keaton Winn (SP – SF) vs. NYM, vs. PIT

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