Justin Mason | Sat, Aug 3rd 2024, 6:58am EDT

Fantasy Baseball Two-Start Pitchers: Rankings & Waiver Pickups (Week 19)

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

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.

These projected two-start pitchers are subject to change and will throughout the season.

Fantasy Baseball Two-Start Pitchers: Week 19

Must Start

Aaron Nola (SP – PHI) at LAD, at ARI
Zac Gallen (SP – ARI) at CLE, vs. PHI
Tyler Glasnow (SP – LAD) vs. PHI, vs. PIT
Logan Webb (SP – SF) at WAS, vs. DET
Grayson Rodriguez (SP – BAL) at TOR, at TB
Luis Gil (SP – NYY) vs LAA, vs. TEX
Tanner Bibee (SP – CLE) vs. ARI, at MIN
Luis Castillo (SP – SEA) vs. DET, vs. NYM
Chris Sale (SP – ATL) vs. MIL, at COL

Should Start

Nick Lodolo (SP – CIN) at MIA, at MIL

Nick Lodolo has been a bit bumpier as of late and coming off of one of the worst starts of his career. However, he has been terrific on the road this season, allowing a 2.82 ERA with 51 strikeouts in 44.2 innings. With Miami as the first game on the docket, I don’t think there are many places you aren’t starting him.

Sean Manaea (SP, RP – NYM) at STL, at SEA

Sean Manaea has quietly been good this season, allowing a 3.50 ERA with 112 strikeouts in 113 innings pitched. He has a tougher matchup versus a Cardinals team that has been better offensively, but a great one against a still struggling Mariners lineup.

Colin Rea (SP – MIL) at ATL, vs. CIN

This is crazy because I don’t think Colin Rea is a very talented pitcher, but he keeps making it work. While these seem like tough matchups, Atlanta has been struggling over the last month offensively and the Reds are away from home where they can tend to struggle as well.

Here We Go

Andre Pallante (RP, SP – STL) vs. NYM, at KC

Andre Pallante has quite been very good recently, allowing a 3.12 ERA with 38 strikeouts in 43.1 innings over his last eight starts. He doesn’t have a ton of strikeout upside, but his floor is pretty safe as well.

Matt Waldron (SP – SD) at PIT, at MIA

Matt Waldron has started to struggle a bit more as of late, but even in his bad starts, he isn’t terrible. He has two fantastic matchups here versus two bad offenses in good home parks.

David Festa (SP – MIN) at CHC, vs. CLE

David Festa has looked much better in this stint with the Twins than he did in his first cup of coffee at the Major League level. There are questions about his command, but the stuff is really good. The matchups here are pretty good against a Cubs offense that has struggled most of the season and a Guardians lineup that has struggled as of late.

Hunter Brown (SP – HOU) at TEX, at BOS

Hunter Brown has been up and down all season, which is frustrating, but the ups are so good it is hard not to use him. These aren’t great matchups but not ones you are running from.

Feeling Lucky

Robbie Ray (SP – SF) at WAS, vs. DET

Robbie Ray’s first two starts are indicative of what you can get with him moving forward; a volatile profile. Pitchers coming off of Tommy John struggle with command and control and are more prone to blow innings. What sets Ray apart from others is his high strikeout rate, which makes him usable in matchups like these.

Kyle Freeland (SP – COL) vs. NYM, vs. ATL

I know it is crazy to use a Rockies pitcher in Coors, but Kyle Freeland has been fantastic at home, sporting a 1.88 ERA over his 24 innings there. Do I buy this? No. Are there formats you might risk this? Maybe.

JP Sears (SP – OAK) vs. CWS, at TOR

I love JP Sears, but his command can be very spotty, which leads to home run problems. However, when the command is on point, he is a really good fantasy pitcher in a good home park. He has two nice matchups here, so I am willing to risk the blowups in deeper formats.

Chris Bassitt (SP – TOR) vs. BAL, vs. OAK

Chris Bassitt has struggled as of late by allowing too many hits. He is closer to a desperate measures play, but he has been so reliable in the past I have a hard time not using him in deeper formats.

Desperate Measures

Max Meyer (SP – MIA) vs. CIN, vs. SD
MacKenzie Gore (SP – WAS) vs. SF, vs. LAA
Jeffrey Springs (SP – TB) at STL, vs. BAL
Eduardo Rodriguez (SP – ARI) at CLE, vs. PHI
Bailey Falter (SP – PIT) vs. SD, at LAD
Nick Martinez (SP, RP – CIN) at MIA, at MIL
Luis Severino (SP – NYM) at STL, at SEA
Roddery Munoz (RP, SP – MIA) vs. CIN, vs. SD
James Paxton (SP – BOS) at KC, vs. HOU
Patrick Corbin (SP – WAS) vs. SF, vs. LAA
Tyler Mahle (SP – TEX) vs. HOU, at NYY
Davis Daniel (SP, RP – LAA) at NYY, at WAS
Alex Faedo (RP, SP – DET) at SEA, at SF

NFL

MLB

NBA

NHL