Fantasy Baseball Two-Start Pitchers: Rankings & Waiver Wire Pickups

You should be grinding the fantasy baseball 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 that are risky, but viable in deeper formats.
Desperate Measures: Pitchers you shouldn’t use unless you have no other 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.

Fantasy Baseball Two-Start Pitchers

Must Start

Max Fried (SP – NYY) vs. TB, at MIA
Luis Castillo (SP – SEA) at ATH, vs. TEX
Framber Valdez (SP – HOU) vs. WSH, at BOS
Casey Mize (SP – DET) vs. ARI, at PHI
Matthew Boyd (SP – CHC) at MIL, vs. BAL
Cristopher Sanchez (SP – PHI) at CWS, vs. DET

Should Start

Slade Cecconi (SP – CLE) vs. COL, vs. MIN

Slade Cecconi has quietly pitched well since being called up and is facing a terrible Rockies team, who struggle on the road and a Twins team that may sell pieces before their game against the Guardians.

Edward Cabrera (SP – MIA) at STL, vs. NYY

There is a good chance Edward Cabrera is traded before the second start, but that works in his favor a bit here, as the Yankees’ start is pretty risky. That said, he has been so good this year, you are using him until he regresses or gets hurt.

Mitch Keller (SP – PIT) at SF, at COL

Mitch Keller has quietly been really good this season. There is a chance he also gets moved at the deadline, but then he wouldn’t have to go to Colorado and pitch at altitude, plus he would be on a better team.

Dylan Cease (SP – SD) vs. MIN, vs. STL

Dylan Cease has struggled this year, if you look at the surface stats, but under the hood, he has been much better. He has a 3.49 xERA and a30% strikeout rate. It’s hard not to use him every time out when the underlying numbers are this good.

Here We Go

Chris Bassitt (SP – TOR) at BAL, vs. KC

Chris Bassitt is a high-floor/low-ceiling pitcher who has been decent this year. He has a tough matchup at Baltimore to start the week, but then faces a mediocre Royals offense at home, and the Blue Jays have been the hottest team in baseball, so he should have a shot at two wins this week.

Andre Pallante (SP, RP – STL) vs. MIA, at SD

Andre Pallante has struggled as of late, but these are two great matchups versus a bad Marlins offense and a struggling Padres offense. There is some risk because Pallante is a mediocre pitcher on a cold streak, but the matchups are worth streaming him.

Chase Burns (SP – CIN) vs. LAD, vs. ATL

The front half of the week is scary for Chase Burns, but the upside is immense. He has struck out 10 batters in each of his last two starts. While he can struggle with command and control, you know you will get both of these starts, and Atlanta has been terrible offensively.

Feeling Lucky

Drew Rasmussen (SP – TB) at NYY, vs. LAD

Drew Rasmussen has the skillset to be a must-start, but the Rays are limiting his innings, and these are two terrible matchups for him in bad parks. He is best left on your bench this week.

Joe Boyle (SP – TB) at NYY, vs. LAD

Joe Boyle has a ton of upside, but these are terrible matchups. He is more of a stash play for when that upside does start to materialize down the stretch.

Frankie Montas (SP – NYM) at SD, vs. SF

Frankie Montas’ overall line doesn’t look good, but his last two starts have been decent. He is facing two struggling offenses in good pitching parks, so this is a great time to use him.

Logan Evans (SP, RP – SEA) at ATH, vs. TEX

Logan Evans’ surface stats look great this season, but the underlying numbers are pretty scary with a 5.51 xERA and a terrible strikeout rate. He does have two good matchups, but one is in Sacramento, which is a terrible place to pitch. This one is risky.

Simeon Woods Richardson (SP – MIN) vs. BOS, at CLE

Simeon Woods Richardson is a low-ceiling pitcher who has been up and down this season. He has a tough matchup at the beginning of the week and then a good one in a bad park at the end of the week, making him a risky play here.

Zach Eflin (SP – BAL) vs. TOR, at CHC

Zach Eflin looked good in his last start, but he has struggled this year. He has two terrible matchups that I would most likely avoid.

Desperate Measures

Davis Martin (SP – CWS) vs. PHI, at LAA
Jack Kochanowicz (SP – LAA) vs. TEX, vs. CWS
Dane Dunning (SP, RP – ATL) at KC, at CIN
Brad Lord (SP, RP – WSH) at HOU, vs. MIL
Bradley Blalock (SP – COL) at CLE, vs. PIT
Eduardo Rodriguez (SP – ARI) at DET, at ATH
Justin Verlander (SP – SF) vs. PIT, at NYM
JP Sears (SP – ATH) vs. SEA, vs. ARI
Richard Fitts (SP – BOS) at MIN, vs. HOU

Articles MLB Streamers Two-Start Pitchers Waiver Wire MLB Weekly Advice Max Fried Luis Castillo Framber Valdez Casey Mize Matthew Boyd Cristopher Sanchez Slade Cecconi Edward Cabrera Mitch Keller Dylan Cease Chris Bassitt Andre Pallante Chase Burns Drew Rasmussen Joe Boyle Frankie Montas Logan Evans Simeon Woods Richardson Zach Eflin Davis Martin Jack Kochanowicz Dane Dunning Brad Lord Bradley Blalock Eduardo Rodriguez Justin Verlander JP Sears Richard Fitts

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About Author

Justin Mason

@JustinMasonFWFB

Justin Mason is the lead fantasy writer and analyst for Friendswithfantasybenefits.com. He is a writer at Fangraphs and Fantasy Pros. You can hear him on the Radio on the FWFB, TGFBI and the Sleeper and the Bust Podcasts. He also runs The Great Fantasy Baseball Invitational and the Bay Area Roto Fantasy (BARF) league.