Two-Start Pitchers/Streaming Starters: Shohei The Money

Just a handful of “sure thing” two start hurlers to plug into your rotations this week. The middle tier is more robust than of recent vintage, and the bottom tier is nearly overflowing with arms that are best left on the wire or your bench. There are equally as many SPs to avoid entirely this scoring period, as there are to insert in your rotations, in point of fact.

Please realize that these articles feature most recent rotation information available when the article is written, but that circumstances do change due to weather conditions, injuries and general craziness with managers. If a pitcher listed here as having two starts ends up with one (or perhaps none) in the upcoming week, apologies but this article is meant to provide analysis, it is up to the manager to set the lineups or rotations.

Without further ado, here are this week’s two-start pitchers:

These seven arms are the cream of this week’s dual start options. Use them no matter where they are toeing the rubber or whomever is coming to the place to menace them. These few are the SPs you are glad you populated your roster with at the draft or by making a wise waiver wire/free agent move.

Stripling leads off the middle tier, and is coming off a 6.0 IP effort, holding Cleveland scoreless through those frames while striking out 6 and handing out one lone free pass. He also picked up his second consecutive victory in that contest, and while the next matchup against Ohtani (or José Suarez, a better matchup) and the Angels is not superb, it is at home with a road game against the Mariners and their lower-tier starter, Gilbert to wind up the week.

Mills went into Coors Field and came out with a win, holding the Rockies to just two earned runs over 6.0 IP. He only racked up three Ks, continuing a disappointing trend evidenced by his 6.5 K/9 rate on the season. He leads off the scoring period facing the Brewers at home, then heads to Miami’s pitcher-oriented park to take on the Marlins, a less than daunting task.

Speaking of Miami, the rookie righty Thompson is sporting an attractive 2.53 ERA and 1.10 WHIP over limited action (42.2 IP), although based on his advanced metrics, those two ratios are likely due for some minor negative adjustments in the future. He squares off against the SP discussed immediately prior in this tier at the end of the week, but before that, heads to San Diego for a favorable matchup. 

Matz take the hill for the second game of the week-opening double header against the Angels, and may face Ohtani, or Suarez. In either event, he is coming off this 9th win this season, having defeated the Cleveland squad by holding them scoreless through 6.0 IP. He is a good source of Ks, with a 9,2 K.BB rate on the year, has good control, and is pitching better than his 4.30 ERA would indicate if you look at his advance metrics. Based on his home/road splits this season, his second game at Seattle looks promising, too.

Our first Gray in the middle tier has a pair of away games, and even though he calls Coors Field his home base, he is a Rockie pitcher (akin to his teammate Freeland profiled in the streaming options below) who is not averse to working his magic on the mound in Denver. Neither matchup is great, but he has tossed six QS in his last seven starts. He is a good source of Ks, which should play well in his second start in San Fran.  

The second SP with the name of Gray also finds himself on the road for a pair of outings, but that is a good thing based on his home/road splits this season, as well as the last full season for him (2019). He is a top-notch strikeout artist, showing off a superb 11.4 K/9 rate over his 81.0 IP to date. That should play well against the opponents on the schedule, the Braves and Phillies.  

The rookie Patino has been inconsistent this season, as is expected frequently of young arms, but has been looking a bit more solid of late, especially in his ability to throw strikes to opposing hitters. The 9.6 K/9 rate speaks well of that skillset, although his control is a concern, as is his propensity to yield the long ball (2.9 BB/9, 1.5 HR/9 in limited action of 36.2 IP in 2021). He has two road starts, not exactly favorable, and it might be better to avoid starting him in the first scheduled trip to the hill in Fenway Park, reserving him for when he faces the Twins later in the week.

Hernandez has a pair of home starts coming up this week, and after a drubbing by the Tigers three starts ago, he has rebounded with a pair of respectable appearances on the bump, holding the White Sox to just a single earned tally over 11.0 IP. He has been generating a ton of swings and misses as witnessed by his exceptional 11.0 K/9 rate this year. If he can demonstrate better control, he has a chance to provide fantasy value.

It is difficult to believe in any Pittsburgh arm for consistent fantasy goodness, and Crowe certainly has not been a model of consistency as witness by his inflated ratios: 5.47 ERA, 1. 56 WHIP. So how does he hit the middle tier? Two home outings this scoring period, and a decent chance to rack up some Ks in his second trip to the mound against the visiting Brewers. Use him with discretion if you need some IP to satisfy your league requirements.

Bundy wraps this group, and his last outing gives hope that he has rediscovered his early April magic. His ability to provide decent K numbers will be tested when he faces the two teams that have the fewest Ks in the majors, and if you need Ks to justify his place in your rotation, then perhaps you should just skip over any thoughts of employing him this scoring period.

The pitchers in this tier are not worthy of two starts in any circumstances. Carrasco is back in the rotation for the Mets but is not pitching deep enough into his starts to be worth employing at this juncture, but as his arm strength recovers, will likely move up a tier into the utile role of a SP that can rejoin rotations, as a streaming starter in week’s when he only goes to the bump once. 

Potential Streaming Options for Week 

There is no promise that each game day will provide a streaming option. First of all, the pitcher must be available in at least 50% of leagues to be a viable candidate to snag off the wire. Then, the pitchers discussed above are not included as they have a different sort of value, even though some might be available as free agents in your league. Plus, some days the matchups and/or venues just do not figure as positive enough factors to favor plugging the arm into your rotation, even for one start. That all being said, here are this week’s best streaming candidates:

Wednesday, August 11, 2021

Cal Quantrill CLE vs OAK Frankie Montas

Five of his last six starts have been QS standard, and he only allowed in a single earned run in the other start where he went 5 IP. His ERA sits at an attractive 3.14 after collecting a victory by holding the Tigers scoreless in a 10 K effort. Not as great a matchup in this contest, but it is at home for the 26-year-old righty.

Matt Harvey BAL vs DET Tarik Skubal

Harvey is dealing with a slight knee issue, making him day to day, so check to make sure he is actually taking the ball for this start before inserting him in your streaming lineup. Prior to allowing a couple of earned tallies to the Yankees, he had strung together 18.1 scoring frames. The big limitation on his value is the scarcity of Ks, with merely a 6.7 K/9 rate on the season.

Thursday, August 12, 2021

Marco Gonzales SEA vs TEX Mike Foltynewicz

Gonzales has held opponents to just five earned runs over the past 23.1 IP he’s tossed. His last two appearance have be of the QS level although it was the two starts before that netted him wins. As with Harvey above, his K rate is sub-standard, sitting at 6.2 K/9 over the last four games, down from his season level of still below average 7.3 K9 through 80.0 IP. The matchup potential does not get much better, though, than facing the Rangers away from Texas.

Friday, August 13, 2021

Brad Keller KC vs StL Adam Wainwright

Keller had been stringing together QS in four straight games before lower back tightness forced him to leave his last start against the host Blue Jays prematurely. Keep an eye on how he fares against the same opponent, albeit in their home park in St. Louis, before deciding on his status as a preferred streaming option at the end of the scoring period. 

Saturday, August 14, 2021

Brett Anderson MIL @ PIT TBD

The veteran southpaw is not much for missing bats (5.4 K/9 through his 16 starts in 2021) but he has been effective in limiting opponent offense, as witnessed by his 3.67 ERA and 1.27 WHIP, both acceptable and attractive ratio stats in this day and age of baseball. Although this is a road start, the matchup is superb as the Pirates are ineffective at home and on the road, and in his two previous outings against the Pittsburghers, he has yielded just a single unearned run.

Kyle Freeland COL @ SF Johnny Cueto

 Three of the last four outings by the Rockie southpaw have been QS, and he has pushed his once over-inflated ERA to a more acceptable 4.46 after holding the Cubs to just two earned tallies over 5.0 IP. He builds upon the trend with streaming options featured here with a sub-average K rate of 6.9 K/9 this year. This is a game taking place away from Coors Field, but that is not the normal plus as Freeland is a Colorado arm that does not fare tremendously better on the road.

Kris Bubic KC vs StL Jon Lester

The second-year lefthander is coming off a season-high eight K effort, although his efforts did result in a loss to the host White Sox, a game that saw him yield three home runs by the Pale Hose batters. The round trippers as well as the inflated rate of free passes (4.4 BB/9 over 80.2 IP this season) have limited his potential utility as a rosterable starter. Pitching at home against the Cards who are eight games under .500 on the road, however, makes him a potential late week arm to consider if you need some pitching help.

Feel free also to send any starting pitching or other fantasy baseball questions to ia@fantasyalarm.com for a private response to your specific issue. The more detail you can provide about your team and league, including settings (H2H vs roto, points or categories, weekly or daily moves, roster size, league size, etc.) the better the response will be suited to your individual situation. As ever, good luck and Godspeed in all your fantasy endeavors.