Two-Start Pitchers Lookahead: Week 22 (2026 Fantasy Baseball)

Each week during the fantasy baseball season, I take a look at two-start pitchers for the week ahead. This week, we’ll focus on pitchers tentatively lined up to make multiple starts for the week of August 24-August 30.

Fantasy Baseball Two-Start Pitchers Lookahead: Week 22

Scheduling Notes

Teams With Six Games: BAL, BOS, NYY, TBR, TOR, CWS, CLE, DET, KCR, MIN, ATH, HOU, LAA, SEA, TEX, ATL, MIA, NYM, PHI, CHC, CIN, MIL, PIT, STL, LAD, SDP
Teams With Seven Games: WSH, ARI, COL, SFG

Targeting pitchers who face teams with high strikeout rates and who don’t generate much quality contact can be valuable. Here are the current bottom-five teams in strikeout rate against right- and left-handed pitchers:

Bottom 5	K% vs. RHP
Reds	25.3%
Angels	25.1%
Yankees	24.3%
White Sox	23.7%
Orioles	23.6%

Bottom 5	K% vs. LHP
Orioles	25.7%
Pirates	25.6%
Angels	25.6%
Rockies	24.9%
Athletics	24.9%

The current bottom-five teams in wOBA against right- and left-handed pitchers:

Bottom 5	wOBA vs. RHP
Diamondbacks	.303
Angels	.304
Mets	.304
Reds	.305
Cardinals	.306

Bottom 5	wOBA vs. LHP
Blue Jays	.277
Mariners	.288
Giants	.292
Guardians	.296
Rays	.302
Padres	.302

Two-Start Pitchers

These are the pitchers lined up for two starts and their roster rates:

Chris Sale (SP – ATL): 99% | vs. LAD; vs. COL
Zack Wheeler (SP – PHI): 99% | @ SEA; @ LAA
Logan Gilbert (SP – SEA): 99% | vs. PHI; @ TOR
Chase Burns (SP – CIN): 98% | @ SFG; @ CHC
Max Fried (SP – NYY): 98% | vs. HOU; vs. BOS
Jacob deGrom (SP – TEX): 96% | @ CWS; @ MIL
Parker Messick (SP – CLE): 94% | @ LAA; vs. KCR
Kevin Gausman (SP – CHC): 86% | @ ARI; vs. CIN
Braxton Ashcraft (SP – PIT): 85% | @ SDP; @ STL
Payton Tolle (SP – BOS): 70% | @ MIA; @ NYY
Robbie Ray (SP – SDP): 67% | vs. PIT; @ TBR
Shane McClanahan (SP – TBR): 45% | @ DET; vs. SDP
Cade Cavalli (SP – WSH): 43% | vs. COL; vs. MIA
Landen Roupp (SP – SFG): 27% | vs. CIN; vs. ARI
Seth Lugo (SP – KCR): 25% | @ TOR; @ CLE
Brandon Pfaadt (SP – ARI): 22% | vs. CHC; @ SFG
Merrill Kelly (SP – ARI): 21% | vs. CHC; @ SFG
Walbert Urena (SP – LAA): 20% | vs. CLE; vs. PHI
Keider Montero (SP – DET): 18% | vs. TBR; vs. LAD
Bailey Ober (SP – MIN): 15% | @ ATH; vs. CWS
Zac Thornton (SP – NYM): 13% | vs. MIL; vs. HOU
Gage Jump (SP – ATH): 9% | vs. MIN; vs. BAL
Matthew Liberatore (SP – STL): 4% | vs. BAL; vs. PIT
Chris Bassitt (SP – BAL): 3% | @ STL; @ ATH
Max Scherzer (SP – TOR): 3% | vs. KCR; vs. SEA
Tyler Phillips (SP – MIA): 2% | vs. BOS; @ WSH
Andrew Alvarez (SP – PHI): 2% | vs. COL; vs. MIA
Ryan Feltner (SP – COL): 1% | @ WSH; @ ATL
Adrian Houser (SP – SFG): 1% | vs. CIN; vs. ARI
Kyle Freeland (SP – COL): 1% | @ WSH; @ ATL
Ronel Blanco (SP – HOU): 1% | @ NYY; @ NYM
Jose Urquidy (SP – CWS): 0% | vs. TEX; @ MIN

Two-Start Pitcher Notes

Braxton Ashcraft was absolutely dominant in his last start against the Marlins. He threw a complete game while allowing one run and picking up 10 strikeouts on 85 pitches. It was his first quality start since June 24th, which was also the last time he reached double-digit strikeouts. He’s struggled in the second half with home runs, but he used his sinker more in his last start, which seems to have helped. He faces the Padres and the Cardinals on the road in his two-start week. In the second half, the Padres have the best wOBA (.354) in the league, but the Cardinals have the fourth-worst (.286).
Robbie Ray has disappointed for his new team. He has yet to complete six innings, with six strikeouts and eight walks in nine innings. He faces two bottom-10 teams in wOBA against lefties, but he’s hard to trust when he’s pitching this poorly.
Cade Cavalli has broken out this season with a 3.36 ERA, 1.24 WHIP and 9.9 K/9. He has four starts with double-digit strikeouts and another five starts with eight or more. He’s added a new sweeper/slider this year, and it’s been a great weapon for him. Next to his knuckle curve, it has the highest whiff rate of his six most-used pitches, and it’s actually better than the knuckle curve in terms of expected stats. He gets the Rockies and Marlins at home, which aren’t terribly scary matchups.