Now that the season is halfway done, you should be 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 are 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.
These are projected two-start pitchers and are subject to change and will as the season wears down.
Fantasy Baseball Two-Start Pitchers
Must Start
- Yoshinobu Yamamoto at ATL, vs COL
- Luis Gil at SEA, at OAK
- Shane Baz vs BOS, vs TOR
- Seth Lugo vs DET, vs SF
- Pablo Lopez at CLE, at BOS,
- Bryan Woo vs NYY, at TEX
- Max Fried vs LAD, at MIA
- Sean Manaea vs WAS, vs PHI
- Nathan Eovaldi vs TOR, vs SEA
- Zack Wheeler at MIL, at NYM
- Shota Imanaga vs OAK, vs WAS
- Ranger Suarez at MIL, at NYM
- Paul Skenes at STL, at CIN
Should Start
Albert Suarez (BAL) vs SF, vs DET
Suarez has been really good in the rotation this season and faces two lackluster offenses at home in a great pitcher’s park.
Spencer Arrighetti (HOU) at SD, vs LAA
Yes, Arrighetti had a massive hiccup recently, but he bounced back decently and having the Angels on the docket is worth taking a bit of risk versus San Diego.
Matthew Boyd (CLE) vs MIN, at STL
Boyd isn’t the dominant pitcher he once was, but he has been almost flawless since being put into the Cleveland rotation. He has two pretty nice matchups versus struggling offenses, so he should be fired up in almost every format.
Here We Go
Nick Pivetta (BOS) at TB, vs MIN
Pivetta is unpredictable, but there is a good amount of upside in his arm. What makes him playable this week is the matchups are pretty good. Tampa Bay’s offense has been poor since the trade deadline and Minnesota has been in a rut in the second half.
Tylor Megill (NYM) vs WAS, vs PHI
Megill has been great since getting back up to the big leagues, and the stuff still is dominant at times. This is a decent fronthalf of the matchup with Washington and a tougher one at the back end with Philly, but there are a lot of strikeouts to be had and the potential for one or two wins.
Reid Detmers (LAA) vs CWS, at HOU
Detmers has looked fantastic since returning from the minors and has a really nice start to the week with the lowly White Sox on the docket. However, Detmers long history of command problems can always recur which makes him a bit risky in any matchup. I would probably still roll with him, but this is one you may end up regretting.
Feeling Lucky
Yu Darvish (SD) vs HOU, vs CWS
I love Darvish as a pitcher, but he hasn’t been sharp since returning to the Padres. The stuff is still good, but it is hard to know how many innings he will throw and how effective he will be. That being said, the White Sox are a good enough matchup to risk it.
Robbie Ray (SF) at BAL, at KC
Ray has been up and down since returning from Tommy John surgery, struggling with his command and control. These are two really tough matchups as well. You will get strikeouts, but the ratios are the harder thing to predict and the wins aren’t likely.
Colin Rea (MIL) and Aaron Civale (MIL) vs PHI, vs ARI
I don’t love the matchups here, but Civale has pitched pretty well recently. Rea on the other hand, has struggled more recently after a hot first four months of the season. There is a bunch of risk as Arizona has been one of the hottest teams in baseball and Philly is a loaded lineup, but I would risk it in deeper formats.
Desperate Measure
- Chris Bassitt at TEX, at TB
- Sean Burke at LAA, at SD
- Gavin Williams vs MIN, at STL
- Reese Olson at KC, at BAL
- Casey Mize at KC, at BAL
- Zebby Matthews at CLE, at BOS
- Joey Estes at CHC, vs NYY
- Ian Anderson at CIN, at MIA
- Darren McCaughan vs LAD, vs ATL
- Jordan Wicks vs OAK, vs WAS
- Andre Pallante vs PIT, vs CLE
- Merrill Kelly at COL, at MIL
- Antonio Senzatela vs ARI, at LAD
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