Two-Start Pitchers Lookahead: Week 23 (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 31-September 6.

Fantasy Baseball Two-Start Pitchers Lookahead: Week 23

Scheduling Notes

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

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	25.5%
Angels	25.0%
Yankees	24.6%
Orioles	23.8%
White Sox	23.6%

Bottom 5	K% vs. LHP
Orioles	25.8%
Pirates	25.6%
Angels	25.4%
Reds	25.3%
Yankees	24.9%

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

Bottom 5	wOBA vs. RHP
Reds	.302
Angels	.304
Diamondbacks	.304
Guardians	.304
Mets	.305

Bottom 5	wOBA vs. LHP
Blue Jays	.284
Mariners	.287
Giants	.291
Guardians	.300
Padres	.301

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

Paul Skenes has not been himself since the beginning of July. Over nine starts since then, he has a 5.67 ERA and 1.50 WHIP, while only completing six innings twice. His double start lines up against the Giants and Angels, which are solid matchups, but it’s hard to know what we’ll get from him.
Gavin Williams has nine starts this season with double-digit strikeouts, only one behind strikeout leader Jacob Misiorowski. He’ll have his work cut out for him in his two-start week if he wants to reach that number for a 10th game. The Blue Jays and Tigers are among the 10 best teams in the second half in strikeout rate.
Michael King faces the Reds and Yankees, both of whom strike out around 25% against righties. His strikeout rate has dropped significantly this year, but he’s still able to go deep into games. He’s recorded three quality starts in a row and has gone at least six innings in seven of his last nine starts.