Danny Duffy has passed into a group of the most reliable pitchers in baseball

This week features a lot of household names in the fantasy landscape and that should be exploited. It may not be an easy week to use the waiver wire to pick up two-start pitchers, but there are some hidden gems that are widely available.

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Must Start

• Jose Quintana (8/16 @CLE, 8/21 OAK)
• Corey Kluber (8/16 BOS, 8/21 TOR)
• Justin Verlander (8/16 KC, 8/21 BOS)
• Dallas Keuchel (8/16 STL, 8/21 @BAL)
• Danny Duffy (8/16 @DET, 8/21 MIN)
• Max Scherzer (8/15 @COL, 8/20 @ATL)

Corey Kluber, Justin Verlander, and Max Scherzer are about as sure as you can be of high-end fantasy production on an every start basis. Jose Quintana, Danny Duffy, and Dallas Keuchel have all become trustworthy with their recent performances.

 High-End

• Drew Pomeranz (8/15 @CLE, 8/20 @DET)
• Steven Wright (8/16 @CLE, 8/21 @DET)
• Jason Hammel (8/16 MIL, 8/21 @COL)
• Anthony DeSclafani (8/15 MIA, 8/21 LAD)
• Ian Kennedy (8/15 @DET, 8/20 MIN)
• Kenta Maeda (8/16 @PHI, 8/21 @CIN)
• Ervin Santana (8/16 @ATL, 8/21 @KC)
• Noah Syndergaard 8/16 @ARI, 8/21 @SF)
• Vincent Velasquez (8/16 LAD, 8/21 STL)
• Matt Moore (8/15 PIT, 8/20 NYM)
• Jeff Samardzija (8/16 PIT, 8/21 NYM)
• Felix Hernandez (8/15 @LAA, 8/20 MIL)
• Drew Smyly (8/15 SD, 8/21 TEX)

 Pomeranz has settled in with the Red Sox but will face some stiff matchups this week. Wright has been incredible this season but watch his injury status for next week. Hammel has fallen apart in the second half of the past few seasons but that hasn’t happened yet, just beware the Coors start. Anthony DeSclafani has been impressive and is available for this two-start week in 40% of ESPN leagues. Kennedy deserves a lot more attention for the season he has had, and he’s been in good form of late. However, these two matchups are tough. Maeda is unspectacular but consistent, and there is something to be said for that. Santana is a “sleeper” two-start pitcher that could make a real difference in your ratio stats this week. Putting Syndergaard out of the “Must Start” category is somewhat blasphemous but he has two road starts and he has not pitched over six innings in a start since July 3^rd. Velasquez has been a tale of two pitchers when pitching at home versus on the road this season, and he gets two home starts this week. Moore has been excellent and neither of the lineups that he faces this week are daunting. Samardzija has not been great this year but the matchups are favorable, just as they are for Moore. Hernandez was dismissed by many fantasy analysts but he’s pitched eight and seven innings respectively in his past two starts. Smyly has been on a great stretch of late but the strikeouts have been inconsistent.

 Low-End

• Robbie Ray (8/15 NYM, 8/20 @SD)
• Braden Shipley (8/16 NYM, 8/21 @SD)
• Brandon Finnegan (8/15 MIA, 8/20 LAD)
• Daniel Norris (8/15 KC, 8/20 BOS)
• Ricky Nolasco (8/15 SEA, 8/20 NYY)
• Bartolo Colon (8/15 @ARI, 8/20 @SF)
• Martin Perez (8/15 OAK, 8/21 @TB)
• Gio Gonzalez (8/16 @COL, 8/21 @ATL)

I don’t like Robbie Ray and the Padres hit lefties shockingly well, but the strikeout upside is worth noting. I will admit to being slow to warm up to young pitchers with little sample size but Shipley has been impressive. Finnegan has been pretty good of late but the lack of K’s leaves me a bit underwhelmed. He is still a solid deep league option. Finally healthy, Norris may be worth a lottery ticket against KC this week depending on the depth of your league. It’s got to be a pretty deep league to even consider Nolasco, but surprisingly you could do worse. Colon has very low upside and has allowed five or more earned runs in three of his past 10 starts. Perez has the capability of being a fantasy asset but is very inconsistent. This week’s matchups lend themselves to him being an asset. Gonzalez should be used for the Atlanta start, but try to avoid him at Colorado.

Stay Away

• Joel de la Cruz (8/16 MIN, 8/21 WAS)
• Yovani Gallardo (8/16 BOS, 8/21 HOU)
• Josh Tomlin (8/15 BOS, 8/20 TOR)
• Jorge de la Rosa (8/15 WAS, 8/21 CHC)
• Jhoulys Chacin (8/16 SEA, 8/21 NYY)
• Chase Anderson (8/16 @CHC, 8/21 @SEA)
• Ross Detwiler (8/15 @TEX, 8/21 @ CHW)
• Ryan Vogelsong (8/15 @SF, 8/21 MIA)
• Edwin Jackson (8/16 @TB, 8/21 ARI)
• Luis Perdomo (8/15 @TB, 8/20 ARI)

 *MIA will have two pitchers making two starts this week but they are shuffling their rotation so it is unclear which pitchers will make two starts. NYY will have one two-start pitcher and it was scheduled to be Nate Eovaldi but he was just placed on the DL. SEA has one two-start pitcher that has not yet been announced.

Daniel Marcus is a correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from Daniel, check out his archive, visit fantasy-phenoms.com, or follow him @danmarcus3.

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