You should be grinding two-start pitchers to give you an advantage over your competition during the season.
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 fewer than 25% of leagues that are risky, but viable in deeper formats.
- Desperate Measures: Pitchers you shouldn’t use unless you have no choice.
Make sure you are aware that when making fantasy baseball start or sit decisions that these projected two-start pitchers are subject to change.
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Fantasy Baseball Two-Start Pitchers
Must Start
- Zach Eflin (SP – BAL) at ARI, vs. TOR
- Garrett Crochet (SP – BOS) vs. TOR, at CWS
- Cole Ragans (SP – KC) vs. MIN, at CLE
- Logan Gilbert (SP – SEA) vs. HOU, vs. TEX
- Chris Sale (SP – ATL) vs. PHI, at TB
- Zack Wheeler (SP – PHI) at ATL, at STL
- Justin Steele (SP – CHC) vs. TEX, at LAD
- Hunter Greene (SP – CIN) at SF, vs. PIT
- Zac Gallen (SP – ARI) vs. BAL, vs. MIL
- Michael King (SP – SD) at ATH, vs. COL
- Logan Webb (SP – SF) vs. CIN, at NYY
Should Start
Freddy Peralta (SP – MIL) at COL, at ARI
Most weeks, Freddy Peralta is a set-it-and-forget-it option, and this is not that different, but the matchups are a bit tough with him heading to Coors Field and facing the great Diamondbacks offense. You should still roll with him because he looks great to start the season, but there is a little risk.
Nathan Eovaldi (SP – TEX) at CHC, at SEA
Nathan Eovaldi looked fantastic in his first start. Similarly to Peralta, you should probably use him in every format, but the Cubs have been the best offense in baseball, so there is some risk on the front half. At worst, he should dominate the Mariners in the back half of the two-step.
Kodai Senga (SP – NYM) vs. MIA, at ATH
Kodai Senga is pretty much a must-start while healthy, but the A’s new park in Sacramento is a bit scary. You are still starting him because both of these offenses he is going against are bad, but there is a little risk here.
Shane Baz (SP – TB) vs. LAA, vs. ATL
Shane Baz was fantastic in his first start. Now he gets a bad Angels team and a struggling Braves offense. He won’t go deep into games, but he should be started just about everywhere.
Here We Go
Tanner Houck (SP – BOS) vs. TOR, at CWS
Tanner Houck looked rough in his first start, but the Red Sox will support him with runs, and the White Sox and Blue Jays are teams to target for streaming. There is a lot of risk here because of how rough Houck looks early on. If you can’t use Houck against the White Sox, he shouldn’t be on your roster.
Hayden Wesneski (SP, RP – HOU) at SEA, vs. LAA
Hayden Wesneski looked pretty good in his first start, but did struggle a bit with control. These are two nice matchups versus two bad offenses in the Mariners and Angels, so you probably should roll with him in most formats.
Jose Berrios (SP – TOR) at BOS, at BAL
Jose Berrios is a boring option who has two tough matchups this week. However, he does go deep into games and looked much better in his second start after struggling in his first one. He is better suited for deeper formats, but there are going to be 10- and 12-team leagues where you don’t want to miss out on a two-start opportunity.
Logan Allen (SP – CLE) vs. CWS, vs. KC
Logan Allen did not look great in his first start, but nothing can cure those woes like starting a two-step week versus the worst team in baseball. Allen was great in spring training, so I am willing to take the gamble he bounces back here in a big way against a terrible and mediocre tandem of offenses.
Casey Mize (SP – DET) vs. NYY, at MIN
Casey Mize looked fantastic in his first start. In most leagues, he will be starting this week, but there is a ton of risk with how amazing the Yankees’ offense looks with these new torpedo bats. You aren’t afraid of the Twins, and at least the Yankees game is in Detroit, but there is a really big risk here that he gets blown up in the first half.
Feeling Lucky
Dustin May (SP – LAD) at WAS, vs. CHC
Dustin May was fantastic in his first start, but he was only allowed to throw 81 pitches before he was pulled. That was good enough for him to get through five innings. I do have some worries that if he is on a limited pitch count in these two games that he won’t be able to go deep enough for a win.
He should still be good, but the Cubs have been the best offense in baseball so far, so there is a lot of risk in the back half of this two-start week.
Simeon Woods Richardson (SP – MIN) at KC, vs. DET
Simeon Woods Richardson was pretty good in his first start, but was only able to go four innings before he was pulled. These are pretty decent matchups, but the lack of volume could be a problem on top of the fact that the Twins have struggled to support their pitchers in the early going.
Shane Smith (SP, RP – CWS) at CLE, vs. BOS
Don’t let the stat line in Shane Smith’s first start trick you because he looked nasty. This is a tough set of matchups because Cleveland is a tough park for right-handed pitchers and Boston’s lineup is loaded. If you are looking for a high-risk gamble, bet on Smith this week.
Desperate Measures
Carmen Mlodzinski (SP, RP – PIT) vs. STL, at CIN
I don’t usually do blurbs for this tier, and I am not too interested in Carmen Mlodzinski this week, but there is a good chance this two-start week belongs to recent call-up Thomas Harrington.
Harrington was shaky in his debut, but he is known for good stuff and great control in the Minors. I am willing to give Harrington a shot if he is the Monday starter. While the Cardinals have been good offensively early on, I am not afraid of their lineup, and the Reds have been putrid offensively early on if he gets that second start as well.
- Kyle Hendricks (SP, RP – LAA) at TB, at HOU
- Luis Severino (SP – ATH) vs SD, vs NYM
- Trevor Williams (SP – WSH) vs LAD, at MIA
- Kyle Freeland (SP – COL) vs MIL, at SD
- Connor Gillispie (SP, RP – MIA) at NYM, vs WAS
- Easton Lucas (RP – TOR) at BOS, at BAL
- Michael Lorenzen (SP, RP – KC) vs MIN, at CLE
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