Two Start Pitchers for Week 5: Hernandez, Kershaw & More

Heading into Week 5, things are not exactly sorting themselves out in terms of who to trust. Certainly there are those you can rely upon for the most part, but April showcased hitting much more than pitching, once again. Still, those of us in head to head leagues, or roto leagues for that matter, need to know who we can turn to in the pitching ranks to help us get a leg up on our competition. 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.

These are the pitchers for this scoring period I feel the most confident using. There are some new faces here this week, once we get past the top four. Keuchel is proving this season that his breakout in 2014 was no fluke. Zimmerman has not exactly been pitching like a top SP, but is coming around lately, and that is a positive sign, plus I like his matchups this week. Pineda and Richards look healthy and are tossing like we expect, although I would like to see some better control from Richards. Cannot complain about anything Pineda is doing except I would prefer him to pitch a bit deeper into games so that the QS are there. Cashner's entry into the top tier is precarious, as he is away from Petco for both this week's starts and he pitches much better at home, but I do have faith in him, at least until he proves me wrong. You may want to exercise a bit more caution than me.

The middle tier this week consists of three sub-tiers. The first begins with Phelps and ends with Feldman. Phelps has been a nice addition to the Marlin rotation, pitching well in his first three starts on the season. Not a great K option, but his control has been improving, and he is limiting base runners. Hahn gets points on my ledger just by pitching for Oakland, and his ratios are good (2.86 ERA and 0.95 WHIP). He does need to build up his endurance, as he has yet to pitch a full six innings in his last three starts on the season, Collmenter is pitching in a couple of bad venues for pitchers this week, but he is pitching deep into games and exhibiting great control, although the strikeouts are not fantastic. Samardzija is coming off a bad start against the Orioles, but gets to face the inconsistent Tiger hitters in his first start this week, and then Cincy at home, where he has been good this season. Salazar keeps racking up the Ks, but has also allowed a HR in each of his first three starts. I can forgive that as his control has been excellent, and I do like his chances against the Twins in his second start this period. Ross is a fairly steady if unexciting performer on the mound so far this season. Nice strikeout potential, and neither of his matchups worry me to any great extent this week. Wood is another good source of Ks, and since he does not face the Pirates this week, maybe he can keep the ball in the park, as all three home runs he has yielded this season came in his last two starts against Pittsburgh. I really want to have him in my lineup against Milwaukee in his second start this week. Chavez is coming off a bad outing, but I would gladly insert him in my lineup against the Twins. I might have to pause before using him against King Felix in Seattle in his second start this upcoming scoring period. Hendricks was not sharp in his last start against Pittsburg, but was not terrible, either. He has been steadily lowering his ERA after his first five earned run outing in Colorado, and can on occasion provide nice K numbers. Feldman does not strike out many batters, but he also does not walk many. He generates a ton of ground balls, and that has been a key to his success this season, and his team is smoking hot right now. I would not hesitate to plug him in against Texas in his first start this week.

Wood kicks off the second sub-tier, which runs down through Shoemaker. The other Wood in this tier was recently roughed up by the Nationals, but has been solid for the most part, although the K numbers are a tad up and down for my taste. He has been better away from home, which gives hope for his second start, but I would not fear his first opponent, as the Phillies are not exactly a powerhouse this season. We are all waiting for the adjust to take place with Harang, but until it takes place, there is reason to trot him out there for a two-start week. He did not look good against the Cards in his most recent outing, but I expect a decent effort against the Braves. Be cautious if using him at the end of the week against the Mets, however, given their hot start to the season. Odorizzi is not striking out more hitters than league average, down from his better than a K per inning last season. He still has only allowed nine earned runs over five starts. I like his chances against Boston and Buchholz, mostly because he faces Buchholz, and the second start at home against Texas looks promising, too. Whitley is pitching better as a starter than he did in relief for the Yankees at the end of last season, and will apparently stay in the rotation until Masahiro Tanaka is ready to come off the DL. He is going to face a tougher couple of foes this week than his first victim, the Rays, who he held to one earned run with five Ks and one walk. This week will be a good barometer of how valuable he can be in a potentially limited starting role. Hughes was not going to simply continue his 2014 success, as that was probably his ceiling. He has been hittable, and just an average strikeout producer, but he is showing excellent control this season, with a 0.57 BB/9 ratio. Pitching at home against Oakland in his first start is good, although he has been yielding more homers on the road than I would prefer so I might shy away from him when he takes the mound in Cleveland for his second start. Smyly has been racking up the strikeouts since coming off the DL, and has only walked one hitter in his first two starts of 10.2 innings. He is likely to move up this tier if he has a good week against Boston on the road and at home against the Rangers. Shoemaker wraps up this sub-tier, and he has been struggling this season. He has a couple of tough matchups this week, but he is at home, so that is something. Not much, but something.

The final sub-tier begins with Lohse, who is at best inconsistent this season. I would not trust him at this point, but he does get to pitch at home for both his starts and his 2014 splits indicate a preference for home cooking. Still, he may be falling to the bottom tier without a couple of good outings this week. Garza has been victimized by the long ball recently, giving up five in his last three starts. He has also been struggling with his control, and the strikeout numbers are worse than league average. I do not like either of his matchups this week, but he has been a good pitcher in the past and could turn things around. Or not. Latos was a guy a lot of us in the fantasy world were excited about on draft day, but he has not lived up to expectations. He also was pulled from his last start on Wednesday with a hamstring strain, so keep an eye on his status for his starts this week. Greene was not going to continue to pitch like Cy Young all season, but he is also not as bad a pitcher as he has looked in his last two starts. He is facing a couple of division rivals this scoring period, and maybe he gets back on track again. Locke gets a couple of home games this week, and while he is just a back of the rotation guy, he does occasionally shine, and can give you some decent strikeouts. Dickey just cannot seem to harness his knuckler often enough to avoid giving up batches of runs. Couple that with poor control, and limited Ks, and he is not a trustworthy option most nights. Unless you are extremely desperate, avoid using him, Locke and most of the rest of the bottom sub-tier this week.

This final tier contains pitchers I will not use in my lineups no matter how many injuries my staff has suffered. I dislike these SPs more than Locke and Dickey, and that means you should avoid them, too. Of these eight pitchers, I would think that Guthrie and Vogelsong have the best chance to graduate to the middle tier but I would not bet my fantasy team's future on it.

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