Fantasy Baseball Two-Start Pitchers & Streaming Starters Week 24: Spencer Strider With A Pair Of Divisional Matchups On The Road

A baker’s dozen of top-tier aces to plug into your rotations, assuming you have been savvy enough during the 2023 fantasy baseball season to acquire these SPs for your roster(s). Happy to see a more reasonable collection of middle-tier potential two-start options that may or may not be available in your fantasy baseball leagues. As ever, a boatload of dual start pitchers to simply set aside and avoid using in the bottom tier. There are a nice group of possible streaming options to consider for five of the seven days making up the Week 24 scoring period, as well. Good luck pursuing your league championship as the days dwindle down to playoff qualification for the MLB teams. Without further ado, here are this week’s two start pitchers…

These 13 pitchers are the ones you are glad to see on your rosters as the month of September hurries to a conclusion. Plug any of these arms into your fantasy rotations and reap the benefits derived from your ability to identify pitching prowess.

Hyun Jin Ryu has been a fantasy friendly SP since he returned to action August 1^st, and has allowed two or fewer runs over each of his last six times climbing the hill. His ERA sits at an attractive 2.65 and the WHIP is superb at 1.06 through his 34.0 IP to date. Two home games are on his slate for Week 24, as he seeks to pitch deep enough into a game to potentially collect a quality start (QS)-it has been five innings or less each of his seven 2023 starts.

Jordan Wicks has picked up a QS, on the other hand, and did so in his most recent trip to the bump against the visiting Giants. He boasts some excellent ratios that are enticing: 2.16 ERA and 1.20 WHIP. Keep in mind that his sample size is severely limited at this time, with just three major league starts to his credit (16.2 IP). In each of his first road starts he limited the opponents to a single earned run, but this week sees him toeing the rubber in Coors Field to start the scoring period, and then off to Arizona to wrap up Week 24. The potential for some negative regression is certainly possible.

Jose Quintana, the veteran southpaw, has been extraordinarily effective since coming back from injury, with seven QS over his last eight outings. The lack of control is a concern, given his below-average K rate (3.5 BB/9, 6.5 K/9 over 54.0 IP). He does get to face his opponents at home for both the scheduled Week 24 contests on the slate, and while only a limited sample size exists, he has been effective at Citi Field thus far.

Touki Toussaint has two home games coming up in Week 24 as well, and the matchups look favorable, as the Royals struggle on the road this season especially but to a lesser extent, the Twins are beatable when away from Target Field. He does strike out nearly a batter per frame (8.9 K/9) but the control is supremely awful: 6.2 (!) BB/9 through 70.2 IP this season.

Jakob Junis is unlikely to pitch deep enough in any game to provide his owners with a victory or QS, but the high K rate is attractive, especially when coupled with some superb control: 10.0 K/9, 2.3 BB/9 over 79.1 IP. So, stay for the Ks, but keep the other counting stat expectations low. The ratios are borderline useful: 3.97 ERA and 1.31 WHIP.

Zack Littell reversed his recent trend of allowing four earned runs to opponents by only being charged with one earned tally while facing the visiting Mariners, a game he was also saddled with a loss due to lack of run support by his offense. He has been effective to a large extent on the road in 2023 and his next two starts happen to be away from his home park, conveniently. The first host squad, Minnesota, is especially prone to strike out against right-handed pitching, which bodes well for Littell’s counting stat production.

Clarke Schmidt has had a pair of two QS out of his last three starts. He has not been consistently efficient on the hill, though, and he presents less than desirable ratios on the year: 4.54 ERA and 1.32 WHIP over the 140.2 IP he has tossed so far in 2023. He also has a pair of road contests on tap in Week 24, and he has struggled when pitching outside the confines of Yankee Stadium.

As the season winds down, the damage any of these arms could do to your ratios is minimized, but that still is no reason to use SPs that provide little to no potential value in terms of counting stats. As is said here frequently, if you must absolutely pick up one or more of these hurlers due to inning requirements, pick well based on favorable venue and/or opponent…or hopefully both attributes rolled into one SP. It is unlikely you will find an arm of use in both their scheduled trips to the hill, and therefore you might be better served looking below at the streaming possibilities to solve your IP limit needs.

Potential Streaming Options for Week 24

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:

Ryan Pepiot, Los Angeles Dodgers vs San Diego Padres

The 26-year-old rookie righthander has been absolutely dealing in his four appearances this season, posting a stellar 0.86 ERA and 0.54 WHIP through his 21.0 IP in 2023. He is also demonstrating much better control that he showed in his debut in 2022, allowing just two free passes while striking out 17 opposing hitters in a small sample size. He has a home game against a team that is 11 games under .500 on the road thus far this season.

JP Sears, Oakland Athletics @ Houston Astros

Prior to his two recent stellar outings, the second-year southpaw was not worthy of a streaming suggestion, but he has held opponents to just one earned run on eight hits over his last 11.0 IP, picking up a pair of victories in those contests. It is not the best matchup for the hurler, but his home/road splits indicate he can hold his own on the road. His diminished K rate in the two recent victories will likely not improve much against the patient Astro hitters, though.

Cal Quantrill, Cleveland Guardians @ San Francisco Giants

The righthanded has been effectively stingy with hits and runs over the two games he has appeared in since sitting on the injury list for most of July and all of August. His two return games have been QSs, and he tossed six scoreless frames against the host Angels in his last time toeing the rubber, striking out six opposing batters. Those K numbers could be duplicated against the host Giants, a free-swinging bunch of hitters.

Griffin Canning, Los Angeles Angels @ Seattle Mariners

The Angel righty is also working on a pair of recent QS efforts as he heads to Seattle to take on the division rival Mariners. He has held opposing teams to two or less runs in five of his last six trips atop the bump, and has a superb 46:6 K/BB ratio over that 30.2 IP stretch. Although it is not a tremendous difference, he has been slightly better when away from his home park this season.

Cristopher Sanchez, Philadelphia Phillies vs Atlanta Braves

Sanchez was not consistently sharp in his last time climbing the hill, but had twirled three consecutive QS prior to that non-decision against the visiting Angels. He has only handed out four walks over his last 27.2 IP (five starts), and also been credited with 28 Ks during that span. The concern with Sanchez is that he has a much better track record away from Citizens Bank Park where this matchup is scheduled to take place.

Paul Blackburn, Oakland Athletics @ Houston Astros

Over his last eight starts, the veteran righty has collected five QS and allowed more than two earned runs just once, posting an attractive 2.30 ERA. His control has been erratic, however, resulting in an inflated 1.34 WHIP over that same stretch of games, on a 3.3 BB/9 rate. His prior experience against the opponent here went well, with just a single earned run allowed on a dinger, albeit at home. Still, the recent success gives hope in utilizing his skills in a streaming situation.

Joan Adon, Washington Nationals @ Pittsburgh Pirates

The young righty has been up and down in his efforts on the hill this season, and is coming off a nice no-decision where he held the visiting Mets to just two earned tallies over 5.0 IP, collecting six Ks. His team has been better on the road this season, so heading to Pittsburgh is not necessarily a bad situation. The Pirates are generally good for some swings and misses.

Michael King, New York Yankees @ Boston Red Sox

King is apparently locked into the Yankee rotation going forward, but his problem is that he is still building up his pitch count and thus victories will be a rarity for the near future. He does offer attractive ratio stats with a 2.88 ERA and 1.14 WHIP, although much of that goodness was collected in relief work, as he has but four starts to date as this is being written. He has been much more effective on the road this season, so a game at Fenway plays to his strengths. The 91 Ks collected over his 78.0 IP are a plus as well.

Reese Olson, Detroit Tigers vs Cincinnati Reds

The rookie shut down the White Sox two outings ago, holding Chicago scoreless over 7.0 IP on just four hits and no walks. The single strikeout has more to do with his pitching to contact to preserve the early lead his offense provided him, as he had racked up nearly a strikeout per frame over his 18 appearances (15 starts). He then no-hit the Sox through six frames before giving up a two-run homer in the next inning and taking the loss, as the Tigers failed to score in the contest. He struck out five Pale Hose hitters in that game. Expect more Ks from the free-swinging Reds in this matchup.

Zack Thompson, St. Louis Cardinals vs Philadelphia Phillies

His most recent start, a QS effort against the visiting Pirates, was his longest of his MLB career (7.0 IP). He is an integral part of the Cardinal rotation now, and while his K rate will potentially drop a bit, he is still going to be a good source of swings and misses going forward. If he were to exhibit better control, his inflated WHIP would become more palatable: 1.46 currently. His results at home have far exceeded his efforts on the road, so this matchup has positive potential.

Jake Irvin, Washington Nationals @ Milwaukee Brewers

The rookie has not registered a decision over his last seven trips to the middle of the diamond as a starter, despite posting a useful 3.43 ERA over those 39.1 IP. As noted above in his rotation-mate Adon’s discussion, the Nationals play better when on the road this season, so the road matchup in Milwaukee is not a reason to avoid streaming him late in the scoring period.

Ranger Suarez, Philadelphia Phillies @ St. Louis Cardinals

Depending on the results he obtains while on the mound, expect Suarez to pitch deeper into his next contest as he comes back from injury (hamstring). He offers good strikeout numbers (8.3 K/9 over his 101.1 IP to date) and has been a road warrior this season, so heading to the Card’s home base is not a negative at all.

Tylor Megill, New York Mets vs Cincinnati Reds

The third-year righthander has been extremely effective when pitching at Citi Field, and thus wraps up our streaming options for this week. Six of his eight victories have come at home, and his somewhat erratic control has been more palatable at home, although still nothing to hang your hat on as a plus skill. His generosity with the long ball is also severely reduced in his home park. 

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.