You should be grinding 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: Pitchers you have to start because of their talent and/or matchups.
- Should Start: Pitchers 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.
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- MLB Prop Bet Cheat Sheet
Fantasy Baseball Two-Start Pitchers: Week 4
Let’s explore this week’s fantasy baseball two-start pitchers, ranging from must-start options to those you should probably avoid.
Must Start
- Sonny Gray (SP – BOS) vs. DET, at BAL
- Dylan Cease (SP – TOR) at LAA, vs. CLE
- Reynaldo Lopez (SP – ATL) at WSH, vs. PHI
- Nolan McLean (SP – NYM) vs. MIN, vs. COL
Should Start
Kyle Bradish (SP – BAL) at KC, vs. BOS
Kyle Bradish has struggled this season, but was much better in his last start and looked more like the pitcher we saw at the end of last season. This gives me the confidence to roll him out against two offenses that have not gotten it going as of yet.
Connelly Early (SP – BOS) vs. NYY, at BAL
Connelly Early has been great so far, throwing 19.2 innings over four starts with a 2.29 ERA and 20 strikeouts. The walks have been an issue, and if he doesn’t rein in the control, he will have some bad outings soon. However, until he does, you are using him.
Seth Lugo (SP – KCR) vs. BAL, vs. LAA
Seth Lugo has been fantastic so far this season, throwing 24.1 innings over four starts with a 1.48 ERA and a 0.99 WHIP. He will obviously regress, and the Angels are hitting the ball well, so that start is a bit scary.
However, the Angels are better versus lefties than righties. Until Lugo falters, you have to keep using him.
Mick Abel (SP – MIN) at NYM, at TB
Over his last two starts, Mick Abel has thrown 13 scoreless innings with 16 strikeouts and just three walks. The former top prospect looks fantastic. As long as he can limit the free passes, he has ace-type potential. You are using him everywhere.
Emerson Hancock (SP, RP – SEA) vs. ATH, at STL
Emerson Hancock has been amazing so far, throwing 23.2 innings with a 2.28 ERA and 25 strikeouts. The fastball has been dramatically better, going from a 90 stuff+ to a 104 stuff+.
Hancock is attacking the zone more and earlier in counts, and it has cut his walk rate by almost half. He won’t be this good all season, but these are two good matchups, so you are using him everywhere.
Here We Go
Max Meyer (SP – MIA) vs. STL, at SFG
Max Meyer has been up and down this season, throwing 19.2 innings with a 4.12 ERA and 20 strikeouts. The command has been good, but the control has been off and on.
However, these are two really good matchups against offenses you aren’t super afraid of, so he should be used in most formats.
Aaron Nola (SP – PHI) at CHC, vs. ATL
Aaron Nola has been fairly mediocre this season, throwing 22.1 innings with a 4.03 ERA and 24 strikeouts. However, in spite of the surface numbers, Nola’s last start was the first time in about two years where he looked like the vintage version of himself.
Nola’s stuff was great, and he was locating the ball fantastically. These are tough matchups, but that outing made me enough of a believer to risk him in a lot of formats.
Kyle Harrison (SP, RP – MIL) at DET, vs. PIT
Kyle Harrison has been really good this season, throwing 14.2 innings over three starts with a 3.07 ERA and 15 strikeouts.
However, Harrison left his last start after hurting his knee trying to cover first base and had his start last week pushed back. If healthy, he is a must-start, but with the potential injury issue, he is risky.
Carmen Mlodzinski (SP – PIT) at TEX, at MIL
Carmen Mlodzinski doesn’t have amazing stuff, but what he does have is a complete arsenal of five pitches that he can command and use at any time to keep hitters off balance. So far, it is working well.
Mlodzinski has a good matchup in a great park to start the week and then a tough one at the end of the week, so there is some risk.
Colin Rea (SP, RP – CHC) vs. PHI, at LAD
Colin Rea has been fantastic since entering the Cubs’ rotation to take Cade Horton‘s spot. However, he is overperforming his skills and has two very tough matchups against strong Phillies and Dodgers lineups. This one is probably too risky outside of deeper formats.
Feeling Lucky
Sean Burke (SP – CWS) at ARI, vs. WSH
Sean Burke has been up and down so far this season, throwing 20.1 innings over four starts with a 4.43 ERA and 17 strikeouts.
Burke has two decent matchups versus an Arizona offense that has struggled against righties and a Nationals offense that has been mediocre against righties.
Justin Wrobleski (RP – LAD) at COL, vs. CHC
Justin Wrobleski has a fantastic ERA and WHIP, but barely any strikeouts to go along with the great ratios. He is allowing a ton of contact and getting super lucky in terms of batting average on balls in play (BABIP).
That is a tightrope that will be risky for him to walk, but with the Dodgers’ offense supporting him, there is a lot of win upside.
Chase Dollander (SP, RP – COL) vs. SDP, at NYM
Chase Dollander looked amazing in his last appearance, and it reminded us exactly why he was a top prospect at some point.
Dollander heads back to Coors Field for a tough matchup at the beginning of the week before heading to Queens, New York, to face a reeling Mets team. If you can survive the first start, streaming him is a nice gamble to take.
Desperate Measures
- Luis Gil (SP – NYY) at BOS, at HOU
- Slade Cecconi (SP – CLE) vs. HOU, at TOR
- Jack Flaherty (SP – DET) at BOS, at CIN
- J.T. Ginn (SP, RP – ATH) at SEA, at TEX
- Colton Gordon (SP, RP – HOU) at CLE, vs. NYY
- Jack Kochanowicz (SP – LAA) vs. TOR, at KCR
- Kumar Rocker (SP – TEX) vs. PIT, vs. ATH
- Jake Irvin (SP – WSH) vs. ATL, at CWS
- Rhett Lowder (SP – CIN) at TBR, vs. DET
- Michael McGreevy (SP – STL) at MIA, vs. SEA
- Jose Quintana (SP – COL) vs. LAD, at NYM
- Tyler Mahle (SP – SFG) vs. LAD, vs. MIA
- Jesse Scholtens (SP, RP – TBR) vs. CIN, vs. MIN
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