Fantasy Baseball 2025 Two-Start Pitchers & Streaming Starters - Week 18

Heading into Week 18 and the rotations are much more settled, allowing fantasy managers to resume employing the available Fantasy Baseball 2025 Two-Start Pitchers in the quest to capture the league championship this year. There are also plenty of Fantasy Baseball 2025 Streaming Starters to ponder using for a start in your fantasy pitching lineup this scoring period…and perhaps beyond depending on results obtained.

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:

This week’s slate of top tier SPs who are scheduled to climb the hill for two starts contains 10 aces that if you have the good fortune to hold on your roster, should be utilized for both their appearances without concern about opponent or venue. Insert them into your Fantasy Baseball pitching rotations and reap the benefits. 

Cabrera came within one out of picking up his fourth quality start (QS) among his last six starts, holding the visiting Padres to a single run on five hits in collecting his fourth win of the season. His tougher matchup in Week 18 is at home, where he has been more successful while toeing the rubber this season. He offers a K per frame along with attractive ratios: 3.48 ERA, 1.24 WHIP over his 88.0 IP this year.

Woods Richardson was on a fine roll prior to his most recent time atop the hill, when he allowed five Dodgers to reach base on free passes, but only handing out two hits to the host Los Angeles offense. That stretch run where he posted a stellar 1.47 ERA and 0.91 WHIP. He faces off against two other middle tier SPs this coming scoring period, although based on his home/road splits this season, the first game at home against the Red Sox carries the most promise. 

Rasmussen’s pitch count will be monitored throughout the balance of this season, so his ability to pitch deeply into games is not a given unless he is extra efficient on the mound. He relies on his control and the ability to generate groundballs (2.2 BB/9, 51.7% GB rate through his 95.1 IP to date).  His matchups are not ideal, by any measure, but his ratios make him worthy of both starts: 2.93 ERA, 1.03 WHIP 

Fried, despite his recent four game stretch where he has yielded 14 earned runs over those 19.1 IP, he still offers up a sub -3.00 ERA (2.62) and an attractive 1.04 WHIP as well. Should he shake off his recent pitching malaise, he will return to the top-tier group as an ace to rely upon. The two contests this week have that potential to return his ace status.

Montas has been settling in as a capable starting pitching option after some initial struggles in his return to action in 2025, holding his opponents to just three earned tallies over his last 10.2, while also compiling an 11:2 K/BB ratio in those two victories. He is an average K producer with good control, and his peripheral metrics indicate his current performance is not likely to take any drastic turns for the worse in the near future.

Lord has returned to the Washington rotation after spending time in the bullpen, and thus is likely to be on a pitch count as he stretches his arm out again. He did hold the visiting Reds to a single earned run in his last start, and only one K. The strikeouts should return to his normal rate, which is sub-average but not horrible at 7.4 K/9.  

Cecconi has a pair of home starts on tap, which for most pitchers is a slam dunk to take advantage of their dual start week. The Cleveland righthander, however, is more of a road warrior. A check of his peripheral metrics hint that he could be in for some negative regression in the future, too, so use him with discretion.

Burns is an excellent source of Ks, but his overall performance as a SP has been roller coaster-ish, where he either holds the opposition to three or fewer earned tallies, or five runs (twice). His first matchup this coming week is a tough one against the Dodgers and Shohei Ohtani, and it might be worth skipping, then using him when he takes on the visiting Braves.

The bottom tier is not overly stuffed with arms you should let sit on the bench or stay on the waiver wire for other fantasy owners to allow their ratio stats to suffer harm while not realizing great value in the counting stat columns. As is the usual suggestion, you may want to use one or the other of these arms as a streaming option, but there are better choices in the second portion of this report for those purposes overall.

Potential Streaming Options for Week 18

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 Fantasy Baseball 2025 streaming starters candidates:

Eric Lauer, Toronto Blue Jays @ Baltimore Orioles

The veteran southpaw has been a supremely valuable addition to the back end of the Toronto rotation, and just picked up his second quality start (QS) of the season in a victory over the visiting Giants. He racked up seven Ks over the 6.0 IP he worked, and he carries an attractive set of ratios with him: 2.80 ERA, 0.97 WHIP as he heads to Camden Yards to open the scoring period in Week 18. 

Charlie Morton, Baltimore Orioles vs Toronto Blue Jays

The post-All-Star Game break can have adverse effects on pitchers, and it certainly did for the veteran righthander, who had been on a fine streak after straightening out his early-season woes during a stint in the Oriole bullpen. Morton was roughed by the host Rays to the tune of seven earned tallies over 5.1 IP, where he only collected four strikeouts and yielded two homers. He has been much more effective at home this season, so a home tilt against the Jays plays to his strengths. 

Mike Soroka, Washington Nationals @ Houston Astros

The 27-year-old righty has been efficiently effective over his last three times scraping the slab, allowing just four earned runs over those 14.2 IP. He did get saddled with a tough luck loss in his last start, allowing just a single run to the visiting Reds whose starter Nick Lodolo tossed a complete game shutout. He does have a tough matchup here in Houston, but his home/road splits are fairly even this season, so there is that.

Adrian Houser, Chicago White Sox vs Philadelphia Phillies

The abbreviated 4.1 IP no-decision the veteran righty struggled through against the host Pirates was his shortest start of the season, as he has been consistently working into the sixth inning or later in his scheduled trips to the bump. His ratios are impressive: 1.89 ERA, 1.23 WHIP. It should also be on note that he has been extraordinarily effective on the hill at home in the Windy City, and thus this is a prime streaming opportunity for those willing to take a chance on a White Sox hurler.

Ryan Gusto, Houston Astros vs Washington Nationals

With a blister sending Lance McCullers to the IL, the Astros will turn to the rookie righty to join the rotation again. He offers good strikeout production, fanning a batter per inning. The matchup in this contest is favorable, despite his propensity to deal better overall in 2025 when pitching away from Houston.

Marcus Stroman, New York Yankees vs Tampa Bay Rays

The veteran righty has been pitching well since he returned to action in June following his IR stint due to a balky left knee issue, posting a 3.00 ERA over his recent 21.0 IP. He offers below-average K production (5.6 K/9 over the season) and has questionable control, but does have success generating grounders (49.0 %). 

Janson Junk, Miami Marlins vs New York Yankees

The 29-year-old righthander will have a weekend outing to come back from the ineffective 5.0 IP loss to the visiting Royals before he climbs the hill to face the visiting Yankee hitters. He had been having a fine run over the 19.0 IP prior to his last time on the mound, posting a 0.95 ERA and 0.74 WHIP with a below average 5.7 K/9 rate. Keep an eye on his weekend start before trusting him in this contest.

Cade Horton, Chicago Cubs vs Baltimore Orioles

The young rookie has been quite mercurial in his initial season as a big-league hurler, but his home results have been substantially more successful in all phases except strikeout rate (6.1 K/9 at Wrigley Field, 7.6 elsewhere). The good news is that he pitches at home in this contest and faces a team playing substantially below .500 on the road in 2025.

Michael McGreevy, St. Louis Cardinals @ San Diego Padres

In the rookie’s last four times toeing the rubber, he has been much more effective when pitching away from his home park, so the trip to the West Coast bodes well for his streaming potential in this end of the scoring period appearance. He has only picked up a couple of Ks over his last two outings, which is concerning but likely a temporary aberration. This is a streaming option that you could consider holding onto beyond this single contest, especially now that the Cardinals have designated Erick Fedde for assignment, opening a rotation spot for the 25-year-old righty.

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