Fantasy Baseball 2026 Two-Start Pitchers & Streaming Starters - 3/28

Week 2 of the 2026 Fantasy Baseball Season is upon us, and we now have a fine slew of dual-start options to contemplate as components for our fantasy pitching rotations. When deciding on which of the available Fantasy Baseball 2026 Two-Start Pitchers to trust for your early-season pitching staff denizens, we will look at recent season action as well as the just-completed spring training activity, but as ever, projecting actual results is a difficult proposition. 

Projecting Fantasy Baseball 2026 Streaming Starters is an equally difficult endeavor, and while things tend to settle out with the passage of time and games played, there are a handful of arms to consider employing for a single start… or potentially to add to your pitching staff going forward into the 2026 Fantasy Baseball season. 

Please realize that these articles feature the most recent rotation information available when the article is written, but also 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 SPs are the best options to trot out there for two starts early in the new season. Some may fail to live up to expectations, but that is an ever-present risk when relying on those who toss the baseball to batters who are dead set on making hard contact. These are the arms to wind up and let go to open your 2026 Fantasy Baseball campaign.

Soroka has not been able to toss anything near 100 innings over the past few seasons, so getting him for a pair of starts to open the year is a potential bonus. He should provide good K numbers, and with a pair of home games on tap, this is an ideal time to employ his services for your fantasy squads.

Messick pitched well at the conclusion of the 2025 season, posting a useful 2.72 ERA over 39.2 IP, collecting 38 Ks while handing out just six walks. He is slotted in at the back end of the Guardian rotation, and projects as a good ratio producer as well as a nearly K per inning pitcher, who also possesses good control. The downside is that he is facing off against a couple of tough opponents in the form of the reigning World Champs and the Cubbies, but at least the contest against the team from the North Side of Chicago is coming to Cleveland to play.

Verlander comes back to the city where he began mowing down opposing batters, albeit nowhere near the fireballing phenom he was back in 2005. He is now a back-of-the-rotation presence, who can still deliver on the strikeout front for fantasy owners. He has the potential to be a matchup SP, and this week he has a pair of palatable opponents on the schedule, heading to Arizona and then taking on the rebuilding Cardinals at Comerica Park.

Harrison’s ability to miss bats leads to his presence in the middle tier, as he was lit up during spring training as evidenced by his 5.79 ERA over the 14.0 IP he tossed during his Cactus League outings. His 2025 peripheral metrics hint that he may have value as a SP4/5: .374 FIB vs 4.04 ERA, .313 BABIP. 

Houser inked a two-year deal with the Giants this last winter, indicating that the team has expectations that he can continue to be an effective back-of-the-rotation arm that will keep the game close, although not by racking up a tremendous amount of strikeouts, his K rates being pedestrian at best over the past few seasons. He do keep the ball in the yard, and works on generating a ton of groundballs.

Walker is another hurler that delivers below-average K numbers while he is toeing the rubber, but he also has been able to provide decent if not amazing ratio numbers when he starts the game. He is slotted into the rotation due primarily to the Zack Wheeler shoulder injury, so if you want to take advantage of his SP role, do so now.

Rocker did not deliver a spectacular demonstration of his starting pitching skills during the spring, but it was enough to garner the fifth rotation slot ahead of Jacob Latz. He did provide a 14:3 K/BB ratio over his 12.2 IP this spring. He settles in as the final entry in the middle tier in this first set of Fantasy Baseball 2026Two-Start Pitchers we are profiling this season, but do not get overly enthusiastic over his presence here, as he was sent to the minors for the last couple months of the 2025 season and that is not a ringing endorsement of his talent.

Even though these hurlers are scheduled to climb the bump twice in the next seven days, these are not the arms you want to pin your fantasy hopes to at present. Perhaps if your league demands a certain number of innings to be thrown by your pitching staff in a given scoring period, you might want to consider streaming one or two of these SPs, but the players profiled immediately below are undoubtedly better choices for single starts. Do your ratios a favor and stay away from these SPs, as the value in counting stats is not worth the risk of a pair of bad outings.

Potential Streaming Options for Week 2

There is no promise that each game day will provide a Fantasy Baseball 2026 Streaming Starter 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:

Tuesday, March 31, 2026

Andrew Painter, Philadelphia Phillies vs. Washington Nationals

The soon to be 23-year-old righthander slots into the fifth starting pitcher slot for the Phillies due to Zack Wheeler’s shoulder injury. He enters the 2026 season after acquitting himself quite nicely during the spring, racking up a 2.31 ERA and 0.77 WHIP over his four games, consisting of 11.2 IP. 

Brayan Bello, Boston Red Sox @ Houston Astros

Entering his fifth MLB season, the righty had a much less impressive spring, although he did seem to regain some of his swing-and-miss skills in Grapefruit action, racking up 17 Ks over his 14.1 IP. If his strikeout abilities return, coupling that with his propensity to generate grounders from opposing batters would make him a useful arm to plug in for streaming purposes, such as in Week 2 against the visiting Nationals.

Aaron Civale, Athletics @ Atlanta Braves

The veteran righty is coming off a dominant final spring outing, racking up 11 Ks over 6.0 IP against the Tampa Bay offense, providing hope that he step up and effectively take his spot in the A’s rotation. Pitching in Truist Park in Atlanta is a positive, as opposed to taking the hill in his team’s temporary minor league home in this contest.

Brandon Williamson, Cincinnati Reds vs. Pittsburgh Pirates

The third-year southpaw snagged a starting rotation slot due to Nick Lodolo’s blister issue. He will look to solidify his role as a SP, by building on an impressive stint in Cactus League action, where he notched a 15:3 K/BB ratio to go with a stellar 1.65 ERA and 0.92 WHIP over 16.1 IP.

Wednesday, April 1, 2026

Cade Cavalli, Washington Nationals @ Philadelphia Phillies

The 27-year-old righthander has been making his slow way back to the majors, appearing in just 10 games for the Nationals last season after having Tommy John surgery (TJS) in 2023. He was tagged to be the Cleveland Opening Day starter on the road, a no-decision where he was limited to 75 pitches. He gets another road start in his second time on the bump in 2026.

Friday, April 3, 2026

Mitch Keller, Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Baltimore Orioles

Keller enters his eighth MLB season, altering his grip on his changeup this spring. He has been a valuable SP, racking up innings and producing acceptable ratios over his time toeing the rubber. Expect him to continue those trends, offering average or slightly below average K numbers and good control. Pitching at PNC Park is plus here.

Chad Patrick, Milwaukee Brewers @ Kansas City Royals

The 27-year-old righty had a fine rookie effort in 2025, racking up better than a K per frame (127 over 119.2 IP) and posting valuable ratios with a 3.53 ERA and 1.28 WHIP in 27 appearances (23 starts). His peripheral metrics from last season indicate that he was simply good, not lucky, and with Quinn Priester opening the season on the IL due to wrist issues, he will get an opportunity to show he belongs in the rotation going forward.

Saturday, April 4, 2026

Slade Cecconi, Cleveland Guardians vs. Chicago Cubs

Looking at his results in Cleveland last year after being dealt by the Diamondbacks, he profiles similarly to the Pirate hurler profiled immediately above. But looking at his spring results, never an assured indicator of regular season results it should be noted, he could have turned the corner and become ready to deliver top of the rotation results: 1.62 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and 16 Ks over 16.2 IP. 

Steven Matz, Tampa Bay Rays @ Minnesota Twins

The veteran southpaw did not allow a single earned tally this spring, tossing 11.0 IP of shutout ball while only allowing six safeties and three free passes for a stellar 0.82 WHIP. He has been a road warrior the past couple of seasons, and thus this time dealing while on a foreign mound plays to his strengths. He will rely on his superior control and ability to induce grounders to carry the day, as he is a below-average strikeout producer.

Rhett Lowder, Cincinnati Reds @ Texas Rangers

The young righty impressed during his brief stint with the big league club in 2024, but then he did not toss one pitch at the MLB level last season due to unfortunate injury issues. He took part in the Arizona Fall League, where he showed off his four-pitch repertoire. He is getting a shot to show off his skills with Nick Lodolo’s finger issue opening a rotation slot. Due to the fact that he was limited to 9.1 IP in 2025, he may have his innings limited this season, so now would be a fine time to grab him for some streaming action.