Two Start Pitchers in Week 2: Harvey, Greene & More

And away we go. To help you prepare your rotations, I present the Two Start Pitchers as scheduled for the next week in MLB action. One caveat is that these charts assume that your fantasy week begins on Monday. I made that decision because I have no leagues that do not provide for a Monday start, and it seems to be the standard scoring system. Of course, if you have questions about starting pitchers who are going on Sunday and thus will presumably have another start during the week being profiled, do not be hesitant to drop me an e-mail (see my address at the bottom of the article) and I will attempt to get back with you in a timely fashion. Of course, you could also look to my Streaming Pitcher articles for additional SP suggestions.

The pitchers below are tiered, the first being no-brainers (in my opinion), the second tier being those I would consider adding to my roster and the final tier comprised of pitchers I do not trust at all. Of course, opinions differ and you can let us know if you disagree in the comments.

Let us move on to see who can provide those helpful two starts in next week's fantasy contests.

You will read this from me over and over this season, but I suggest that if you are fortunate enough to own any of the above pitchers, you insert them in your lineup and forget about them, barring injury, of course. I did not understand the concern about Wainwright during the draft season, and he rewarded those who grabbed him with a superb first outing against the Cubs. Facing the Brewers and Reds at home is just cause to expect further good to great results. Cole and Sanchez get to face one another early on in Week 2, and that should be a great matchup. I forsee Cole as becoming a complete pitcher this season, and will ignore his bad first start in Cincy. I am lucky enough to live in the Detroit area and can watch Sanchez deal it in person, and so long as he is healthy, there is no reason not to employ his services every game he takes the mound. The Mets have their two young studs going for four games in total this week, and that is good for their early season chances to stay competitive in the tough NL East Division. Looks like the Mets were right to take it careful with Harvey, as he looked dominant in his first start against the division-rival Nationals in Week 1.

I see this middle tier as being composed of three sub-tiers. The top tier runs down through Cashner. The second sub-tier begins with Dickey and ends with Miller. The third I trust you to figure out. As far as the top sub-tier, McCarthy gets short shrift in drafts, probably because he does not offer top-level strikeout potential. He also has had injury problems but did finally manage to break the 200 IP level last season. He also has excellent control, and it is difficult to ignore his great end of 2014 with the Yankees, pitching in a not so friendly park for SPs. I liked Duffy this year, but could not snag him in one draft. Obviously, others also share my admiration for the Royal No. 2 starter this season. He throws in his fastball in the mid-90s, and should build on his strikeout potential he demonstrated in the minors as he grows accustomed to the majors. Greene was a fantasy expert darling this draft season, and he showed why in his first start for the Tigers. The move to Comerica Park from Yankee Stadium should boost his performance, and with an improved defense in Detroit this season, his ground ball inducing tendencies should play out well. Pineda is a fine SP, but his health has been a continuing issue in his career to date. He is uninjured for now, and should be used whenever he is given the ball. Shoemaker's success last season was not exactly embraced by fantasy players. Sure, he could stumble after a great rookie campaign, and probably will not come near 200 IP this season, but there is nothing he has done to dim hopes for a continuation of 2014. Cashner is the final entry in the top sub-tier, and he should benefit from the improved Padre offense this season. He was over-pitched in 2013, going from 70 total innings in 2012 to 175 in 2013, and that undoubtedly helped him land on the DL a couple times last season and held him to 123.1 IP in 2014. He is healthy going into the current season, although his first start against the Dodgers on the road was not anything to crow about. Look for him to rebound in his start against the Diamondbacks at home, although his second start on the road against the Cubs is not as rosy.

Dickey starts off the second sub-tier. He has not lived up to his Cy Young season with the Mets since moving to Toronto, but he has been remarkably consistent, tossing over 200 innings the past three years, and winning 14 games in each the past two years. He has reported that his goal is to improve his control, and if he can cut his walks to 50-55, instead of 70+, he should be even more productive this season. Porcello is being set up to be an ace for the Red Sox for the next few seasons, as evidenced by his new four-year contract. He does not strike out batters at anything close to league average, but he does generate a ton of ground balls. That should play out well in Fenway, or anywhere else he pitches. He was hurt somewhat last season by a porous Detroit infield, but Boston should provide better support. I like many others like the mover to Miami for Latos. He looked awfully hittable in his first start, getting lit up by the Braves at home in just 0.2 innings, yielding seven earned runs on six hits and two walks. I still believe, and look for him to redeem himself in his next start against the Braves. Paxton is one of the young arms the Mariners are counting on this season. He needs to continue to work on his control, but should build off his very good end to 2014, where he was dominant in nine of his last 11 starts. Miller went to the right spot to continue his development, as Atlanta has a history of helping to bring out the best in young arms. He looked alright in his first start, but threw a lot of pitches (97) over just five innings. Atlanta has not looked as terrible as everyone predicted to start the season, but his team is not likely to be a strong source of support in 2015. Odorizzi rounds out the middle sub-tier, and he has issues that concern me. Notably, he gives up too many fly balls, and tends to get hurt with the occasional hanging breaking ball. He did improve his strikeout rate in 2014, up to 9.45 K/9, and should be able to build on his 168 IP from 2014 to approach or exceed 200 IP.

Norris leads off the bottom sub-tier, and should he justify the Blue Jays' rapid promotion of him, he will also be rising in my tiers as the season churns onward. He was a strikeout machine in the minors, but that was due to his command of his curve and slider that are complemented by a mid-90s fastball. He is middle rotation starter this season, but the 21-year old looks like a rising star. Chen is not exciting, just an innings eater that gets the job done. He is not going to provide great K numbers, but he did improve his control in 2014, and coupling that with his ground ball tendencies, makes him a safe option. Do not really like his two matchups this week, but if desperate for starts, he could be useful. Leake is another guy who does generate a lot of whiffs, but rather relies on his infield to bail him out when he gets opposing hitters to drive the ball into the ground. He is going up against two aces this week, but I do like the look of the Reds this season, so there is hope. Hudson follows the trend here of generating less than league average in strikeouts, but relies on his defense to pick up for him as he pitches to contact. Nothing to write home about, but dependable and potentially available on your league wire (under 50% owned). Garza saw his strikeout rate drop dramatically last season, down to 6.94 K/9 from 7.88 in 2013, continuing a three year trend. He does provide nice peripherals, however, and figures to be the No. 2 starter for the Brewers this season, so should pitch a ton of innings. Harang bounced back nicely for the Braves in 2014, after a terrible 2013 (5.40 ERA and 1.35 WHIP, with a 5-12 record). He looked extremely sharp in his first start for his new team, helping Philadelphia defeat the Red Sox. Pitching on the road is not a major concern, as his splits are not terrible when away from home. Koehler also is on the road for two starts in Week 2, but the second game in New York at CitiField is not so scary. I also like his chances against the Braves in the first matchup next week. What scares me is his control, but by inducing grounders, he keeps himself in games.

I cannot tell you to trust any of these SPs this week. Feldman and Hellickson can have their good moments, but Feldman is too inconsistent and keeps posting WHIP numbers that hurt you, and while I like Hellickson on the road as opposed to pitching at home, his peripherals are awful for fantasy purposes. De La Rosa also benefits by getting away from his home park in Denver, but he looked pretty bad in his first outing, despite getting the win. Heston had a great opening game to his season, but I am going to wait to see if that was a trend or just one lucky start. Let's keep our eyes on him when he faces the Rockies and Diamondbacks at home. Maybe then he will have won my trust (for a time). Buchanan has a bad couple of matchups, facing Harvey and Strasburg back to back, so I do not want to have anything to do with him this week. Detwiler looked particularly putrid in his first outing, giving up eight total runs (six earned) against the A's in 4.1 innings, so he is off my radar. Not that he was ever someone I was targeting to add to my roster. Butler is projected to have a bright future, but he does pitch his home games in Denver and does not project as a strikeout artist. I am not sold, but he does get to pitch on the road this week. Still, I would look elsewhere for pitching help at present.

Should you have questions regarding fantasy baseball, especially starting pitching, you can reach me at ia@fantasyalarm.com to continue the discussion.