Now that the season is over halfway finished, it is time to start 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 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.
Fantasy Baseball Two-Start Pitchers: July 24 – July 31
Must Start
- Tyler Glasnow vs MIA, at HOU
- Pablo Lopez vs SEA at KC
- Luis Castillo at MIN, at ARI
- Nathan Eovaldi at HOU, at SD
- Justin Verlander at NYY, vs WAS
- Yu Darvish vs PIT, vs TEX
Should Start
Aaron Civale (CLE) vs KC, at CHW
Civale doesn’t have huge upside, but he does have a pretty safe floor. These are two pretty great matchups on the docket for him, so in spite of the lack of strikeouts, there aren’t many formats I wouldn’t start him for.
Eduardo Rodriguez (DET) vs SF, at MIA
Rodriguez has been fantastic this season, throwing 83.3 innings of a 2.69 ERA and a .97 WHIP with a 27% strikeout rate. These aren’t the best of matchups, but the Giants especially have not been great versus lefties this season.
Jose Berrios at LAD, vs LAA
Berrios has had a nice bounceback season and probably should be in the Must Start tier, but I just don’t love these matchups. The Dodgers and the Angels have both been top five teams in baseball versus right handed pitchers this season, so while I think most people are rolling with it, there is a level of risk here.
Cristopher Sanchez vs BAL, at PIT
Sanchez has quietly had a really nice season since getting called up to the rotation, throwing 35.1 innings of a 3.06 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP with 30 strikeouts. He has the Orioles who are mediocre versus lefties and the Pirates who are bad against them. In spite of being somewhat unknown, he is the perfect two-start streamer in a lot of leagues.
Here We Go
Michael Lorenzen (DET) vs LAA, at MIA
So people are going to ask me “why do you have Lorenzen so low?” The reason is because he has dominated against bad teams and struggled versus good ones. He has a 2.02 ERA in 62.1 innings versus teams with a winning record and a 5.87 ERA versus teams with a losing record. As of writing this both the Marlins and Angels have winning records, so there is a bunch of risk here.
Graham Ashcraft (CIN) at MIL, at LAD
Ashcraft has pitched very well recently, but it is so hard to believe he can keep it up long term. He is an extreme ground ball guy that depends on his defense behind him and when the ball does get elevated, he gives up too many home runs. With the Dodgers on the two step, I would be very careful with how I use him.
Brayan Bello (BOS) vs ATL, at SF
Bello has struggled recently so I am moving him down a tier from where he would have been a week or two ago. The stuff is still very good, but he has given up six home runs in his last three starts and I wonder if he is starting to get fatigued a bit.
Feeling Lucky
Dean Kremer (BAL) at PHI, vs NYY
Kremer has pitched really well lately, but I am terrified of him going to Philly. The Yankees at home are a nice consolation prize, so I think this is a risk reward play that I am probably skipping.
Kyle Hendricks (CHC) at CHW, at STL
Hendricks has actually pitched really well since returning from the IL, but I am pretty scared that it will all come crashing down at some point. These aren’t bad matchups, so if you are feeling lucky, he could keep it going another week.
Kenta Maeda (MIN) vs SEA, at KC
I know Maeda has been bad, but he has also been unlucky. He has a good walk rate and good home run rate as well as getting a lot of strikeouts. These are two pretty nice matchups, so while I am not a believer necessarily, this is a good spot for a stream.
Desperate Measure
- Michael Grove vs TOR, vs CIN
- Patrick Corbin vs COL, at NYM
- Ryan Yarbrough at CLE, vs MIN
- Brandon Bielak vs TEX, vs TB,
- Colin Rea vs CIN, at ATL
- Quinn Priester at SD, vs PHI
- Dakota Hudson at ARI, vs CHC
- Ryne Nelson vs STL, vs SEA
- Chris Flexen at WAS, vs OAK
- Ross Stripling at DET, vs BOS
- Trevor Williams vs COL, at NYM
- Touki Toussaint vs CHC, vs CLE
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