Week 5 is almost here! We are starting to see numbers stabilize across the league, and offenses are scoring fewer runs than ever.

Yay, baseball.

But as pitchers get more and more stretched out, it’s time to hone in on who can help us from a two-start perspective.

We’re going to try to find those gems for you for the upcoming week with some two-start pitching tiers.

Each week, you can find a breakdown of the two-start pitchers for the upcoming week, with who you should start and why.

Like I do every week, I’ll break the pitchers down the two-start pitchers into six categories:

• Don’t Think Twice – These are your aces that you start no matter what.
• Widely-Rostered Options – Players rostered in the majority of leagues who should provide a positive return.
• In the Danger Zone – It’s a dice roll to start them given matchups or other factors.
• Streamers Rostered in Under 50% of Leagues – These guys should live on the waiver wire, but you can start them this week.
• Streamers Rostered in Under 25% of Leagues – Same as above, but applied to deeper leagues.
• Not Unless You’re Desperate – I don’t recommend these guys unless you’re swinging for the fences.

Let’s take a look at those pitchers scheduled to make two starts for the upcoming week, as projected on CBS as of Friday afternoon.

Don’t Think Twice

• Zack Wheeler (5/10 @SEA, 5/15 @LAD)
• Kyle Wright (5/10 vs. BOS, 5/15 vs. SDP)
• Joe Ryan (5/10 vs. HOU, 5/15 vs. CLE)
• Julio Urias (5/9 @PIT, 5/14 vs. PHI)
• Lucas Giolito (5/10 vs. CLE, 5/15 vs. NYY)
• Frankie Montas (5/10 vs. DET, 5/14 vs. LAA)
• Noah Syndergaard (5/9 vs. TB, 5/14 @OAK)
• Tarik Skubal (5/10 @OAK, 5/15 vs. BAL)

Widely-Rostered Options

Michael Kopech (5/9 vs. CLE, 5/14 vs. NYY)
Kopech wasn’t able to get past four innings last week, but he still enters his two-start week on a high note with a 1.17 ERA and 1.04 WHIP. The command is still a concern, but the stuff is so good that we are trusting him this week – especially in the home tilt against the Guardians.

Carlos Carrasco (5/10 @WAS, 5/15 vs. SEA)
Cookie looked back in his last outing, which was a nice bounceback after he was lit up by the Cardinals (no thanks to Buck Showalter, FWIW). While I don’t love the Seattle matchup, it’s a winnable outcome for him, especially with the Nationals on the schedule. I much rather these matchups than him facing the Phillies the previous week.

Tony Gonsolin (@PIT, vs. PHI)
The workload is the only question for Gonsolin, who continued his great season in a one-run outing against the Giants. The Pirates are a plus matchup, and if he can work five innings against the Phillies, the Dodgers’ offense should do their part in positioning for a potential win.

Alex Wood (5/9 vs. COL, 5/15 @STL)
I love the Colorado matchup at home for Wood. They are off to a better-than-expected start, but it’s still a plus matchup for him. The Cardinals matchup I don’t love, but the entirety of their outfield is struggling to get anything going, and Wood should bounceback after two rough outings his last two times out.

In the Danger Zone

Corey Kluber (5/9 @LAA, 5/15 vs. TOR)
Kluber went pitch for pitch and toe to toe with Frankie Montas in his last outing. The only thing was, that was the A’s and he faces two top offenses this week. Tread lightly.

Cal Quantrill (5/10 @CHW, 5/15 @MIN)
His surface numbers look fine, but under the hood, there is a lot of smoke and mirrors. The White Sox aren’t at full strength, but these matchups are giving me extreme pause.

Paul Blackburn (5/9 @DET, 5/13 vs. LAA)
Do you believe in Blackburn? Well, it depends on who you ask. The Detroit matchup has me leaning toward starting him, but the Angels are red-hot right now. It depends on your approach to risk.

Marcus Stroman (5/9 @SDP, 5/15 @ARI)
Stroman finally had a good start his last time out, and I’d lean toward starting him. Arizona is hot right now, though, so I’m expecting more of a floor outcome for his weekly total.

Jameson Taillon (5/10 vs. TOR, 5/15 @CHW)
Taillon handled the Blue Jays well in his last outing against them, but now that they have Bo Bichette coming around the Teoscar Hernandez back in the lineup, I’m a little hesitant to start him in 10- or 12-team leagues.

Streamers Rostered in Under 50% of Leagues

Hunter Greene (5/10 vs. MIL, 5/15 @PIT)
I’ll preface this by saying that I’m benching Greene almost everywhere. He was the only pitcher with the rostership numbers that came close to being a streamer in my model. But a demotion seems likely sooner rather than later.

Streamers Rostered in Under 25% of Leagues

Kyle Bradish (5/10 @STL, 5/15 @DET)
There’s not a lot of hype around him, and the total numbers haven’t been that impressive, but watching him work, there’s something there. He’s not a lock of a pitching prospect, but there’s a nice floor there. These matchups work for me in 12-teamers.

Martin Perez (5/10 vs. KC, 5/15 vs. BOS)
I hate paying for production that has happened and not what will happen. I don’t trust Perez at all despite his numbers. I’d only start him in deep leagues where I’m desperate.

Michael Pineda (5/9 vs. OAK, 5/14 vs. BAL)
Pineda is boring but this streaming suggestion is all about the matchups. He’s sniffing 12-team territory for the upcoming week.

Not Unless You’re Desperate

• Zach Plesac (5/9 @CHW, 5/14 @MIN)
• Ranger Suarez (5/9 @SEA, 5/14 @LAD)
• Zach Logue (5/10 vs. DET, 5/14 vs. LAA)
• Bryse Wilson (5/9 vs. LAD, 5/15 vs. CIN)
• Humberto Castellanos (5/9 vs. MIA, 5/15 vs. CHC)
• Vladimir Gutierrez (5/9 vs. MIL, 5/15 @PIT)
• Patrick Corbin (5/10 vs. NYM, 5/15 vs. HOU)
• Reid Detmers (5/10 vs. TB, 5/15 @OAK)
• Elieser Hernandez (5/9 @ARI, 5/15 vs. MIL)
• Austin Gomber (5/9 @SF, 5/15 vs. KC)
• Brad Keller (5/10 @TEX, 5/15 @COL)

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If you like what you see here, you can get more of my thoughts on waiver wire pickups, buy-low/sell-high candidates, rest-of-season player values and more by subscribing to the Rest of Season Rankings podcast and going to ROSrankings.com. I’m also always happy to talk about anything fantasy-related on Twitter @andrew_seifter.

Michael Waterloo is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Michael, check out his archive and follow him @MichaelWaterloo.