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

Now that the season is ending, you should be 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 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

Kevin Gausman (SP – TOR) vs BOS, vs TB
Gavin Williams (SP – CLE) vs DET, vs TEX
Chris Sale (SP – ATL) vs WAS, vs PIT
Freddy Peralta (SP – MIL) at SD, vs CIN
Nick Pivetta (SP – SD) vs MIL, vs ARI
Justin Verlander (SP – SF) vs STL, vs COL

Should Start

Ian Seymour (SP, RP – TB) at BAL, at TOR

Seymour has been fantastic for the Rays since his call-up. There really isn’t much reason not to start him other than the risk that the Rays could shorten his starts with the season wrapping up. You can still get strikeouts and good ratio help, but if they don’t let him go five in these starts, it wouldn’t be surprising.

Merrill Kelly (SP – TEX) vs MIN, at CLE

Kelly has struggled a bit since being traded to Texas, but he has been great overall, and he has two pretty good matchups here versus an offense that has struggled in the Twins and one that should know if they are in the playoffs or not come Sunday in the Guardians.

MacKenzie Gore (SP – WAS) at ATL, vs CHW

Gore has been up and down in the second half, but has been good in his last two starts. He has two good matchups here, and there really isn’t a reason for the Nationals to limit him.

Brady Singer (SP – CIN) vs PIT, at MIL

Singer has quietly been pretty great this year, improving his walk rate and not allowing too many home runs despite being in a tough home park. He has a great matchup to start the week, and while the one at the end looks tough, the Brewers should be locked into their playoff seeding and could rest guys for the playoffs.

Cristian Javier (SP – HOU) at ATH, LAA

Javier has pitched decently in his return from Tommy John and has finally built up enough to go deep into games. The Astros are in a horse race for the division, so he should be relied upon to go deep enough in the game to qualify for a win.

Here We Go

Lucas Giolito (SP – BOS) at TOR, vs DET

Giolito has been quietly really good this season, and the Red Sox have been in the thick of the Wild Card race, so they will let him go deep enough to win games. These are two tough matchups, but there is a chance that the Tigers are locked into their seeding at the end of the week.

Luis Gil (SP – NYY) vs CHW, vs BAL

Gil has been pretty good despite a really bad walk rate since coming off the IL. He will have shots to win these games because they are good matchups and the Yankees are fighting for playoff seeding, but if your WHIP is in trouble, you may want to steer clear.

Bryce Miller (SP – SEA) vs COL, vs LAD

Miller has struggled since returning from the IL, but he has a great matchup to start the week versus a Rockies team that really struggles in their first few games of a road trip, and then he faces the Dodgers, who should have everything wrapped up by the end of the week. There is a chance he misses the Dodgers game entirely if the Mariners are locked into their playoff spot by then.

Feeling Lucky

Jack Flaherty (SP – DET) at CLE, at BOS

Flaherty has struggled this season, but the stuff is fantastic. He has two tough matchups here, but the Tigers are in a dogfight in the division and for the playoffs so they will give him the shot to go deep into the games. This is better if you are win or strikeout seeking, as he could have a blowup start that would be tough on your ratios.

David Peterson (SP – NYM) at PHI, at MIA

Peterson has struggled down the stretch, but has also been pretty unlucky in terms of his BABIP during the rough patch. He has a tough matchup to start the week in Philly, but ends the week with a good one in Miami. If the Mets clinch the last playoff spot before the second one, he could get scratched to rest for the playoffs, so this one is a bit risky.

Cole Ragans (SP – KC) at LAA, at ATH

Ragans is back from the IL, but it seems likely the Royals will be really careful with him in his last two starts. This limits his upside because it is unlikely he does not go deep enough to qualify for a win.

Ryan Weathers (SP – MIA) at PHI, vs NYM

Weathers has two really tough matchups here versus playoff teams, and that gives him a lot of risk. The Marlins could be careful with him too, or they could push him to get him meaningful innings before the end of the year. This one is risky, but has some upside.

Shane Smith (SP, RP – NYM) at NYY, at WAS

Smith has been up and down in the second half, but overall, he has been a fairly reliable starter. The problem here is he has a tough matchup versus the Yankees to start the week, and that might be enough to try and avoid him, even with a good second matchup.

Desperate Measure

Mason Barnett (SP – ATH) vs HOU, vs KC
Caden Dana (SP – LAA) vs KC, vs HOU
Michael McGreevy (SP – STL) at SF, at CHC
Brandon Pfaadt (SP – AZ) vs LAD, at SD
McCade Brown (SP – COL) at SEA, at SF

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