Fantasy Baseball Two-Start Pitchers/Streaming Starters Week 18: Zac Gallen Gets A Pair Of Road Matchups

The MLB Trade Deadline is upon us, so some of the starting pitchers profiled below may see their schedules altered, and thus your fantasy baseball expectations may need some adjustment as we head into the dog days of summer. Saturday gave us a bombshell of a trade as Max Scherzer was dealt to the Texas Rangers. There is a wealth of upper tier hurlers to choose from, should you have that luxury based on your trading or drafting skills, and there are plenty of arms in the bottom tier to avoid for the most part (streaming may be beneficial based on venue and opponent). Certainly, another week with a paltry selection of middle tier choices. There are a number of streaming suggestions presented once mid-week arrives, all the way through the Sunday contests. Choose wisely, and please do not neglect the opportunity to explore all the resources available on the Fantasy Alarm site to aid you in your fantasy sport pursuits. Once you have perused the starting pitching suggestions, be wise and look into the rest of the fabulous fantasy information on Fantasy Alarm, such as the latest Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire article or the MLB Streaks & Trends piece. Plus, do not fail to begin your fantasy football preparations with our assistance. The 2023 Fantasy Football Draft Guide is live and ready for you to start combing through it. Without further ado, here are this week’s two start pitchers.

This first week in August provides a bounty of top-notch arms to consider for a pair of times on the mound to aid in your quest to secure a fantasy baseball championship. The season wears on, but this is the time to work on building your statistical base from which crowns have the potential to come into existence. Employ this wealth of pitching goodness wisely, please.

J.P. France has tossed eight quality starts (QS) out of his last nine trips to toe the rubber for the Astros. The second start in Week 18 is a tougher matchup than having the Guardians come visit to open the scoring period, yet it is difficult not to like his recent string of successes on the hill. On the other hand, he has been superb when pitching away from his home park this season, so do not necessarily shy away from the start in Yankee Stadium, either. 

Charlie Morton has been able to battle his way to 10 victories on the season (against 8 losses, to be clear) and has been wild when climbing the bump for the Braves, with a 4.0 BB/9 rate over his 113.1 IP in 2023. He is striking out hitters at better than one per frame (9.5 K/9) and is generating a fair share of groundballs and keeping the ball in the park (0.8 HR/9). The home start against the Angels looks more promising than the end of the week game at Wrigley against the surging Cubs, if you were to be willing not to employ him for both his starts in Week 18.

Bn Lively pitched past the sixth inning for the first time since early June, and looked solid despite taking a loss due to allowing a seventh inning homer in Milwaukee to Tyrone Taylor. The veteran righty has been an effective SP for the Reds, putting up good if not great ratio stats in the form of a 3.76 ERA and 1.21 WHIP over his 67.0 IP this season. The second start of Week 18 at home against the Nationals would be a fine time to plug him into your fantasy lineup, if you entertain any concerns about him taking the mound in Chicago against a suddenly dangerous Cubs team.

Jose Quintana picked up a QS in only his second start of the season and has pitched well although he has two losses to show for his efforts. Taking on the Royals on the road is a good matchup and has the potential for him to pick up a victory, although the second start, again on the road, in Baltimore is certainly a less attractive matchup for the 34-year-old southpaw. 

Austin Gomber has collected four QS out of his last five trips to toe the rubber, and over those frames, he has posted an excellent 2.90 ERA and 1.03 WHIP. The strikeouts are not great, but the control is: 19:1 K/BB over the last 31.0 IP he has tossed. 

This is a large group of pitchers that it is suggested strongly you stay away from, at least from employing them in both games they are slated to toil atop the hill this week. If you need to stream a two-start SP for a single game, consider those who are facing lesser opponents, say the Royals or Rockies (away from Coors Field), or perhaps for a home start against a team that does not play well on the road. Not every bottom tier arm is to be entirely avoided, just do not be swayed by the dual start opportunity presented.

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 streaming candidates:

Brandon Williamson, Cincinnati Reds @ Chicago Cubs

The Cubs have been surging of late, so this is not a prime streaming option, yet the rookie southpaw has been settling in nicely as a member of the Reds’ rotation, posting an attractive 2.25 ERA and 0.85 WHIP over his last four starts covering 20.0 IP. The K rate is average, sitting at 7.1 K/9 on the season, but his control has been better of late. 

Kutter Crawford, Boston Red Sox @ Seattle Mariners

Crawford has proven himself to be quite the road warrior this year, and here he heads to Seattle to attempt to continue that trend. He came within an out of picking up his second QS out of the last three trips to the bump, and is striking out just shy of a batter per inning (8.9 K/9 through his 77.0 IP combined as a starter and reliever in 2023).

Clarke Schmidt, New York Yankees vs Houston Astros

Schmidt’s place in the Yankee rotation seems secure, and he offers good K potential for his owners with an 8.8 K/9 rate on the season (99.2 IP). His home/road splits portend this matchup to be in his favor, despite the tough opponent.

Jameson Taillon, Chicago Cubs vs Cincinnati Reds

The veteran righty has recovered from his early season struggles, beginning to look like a useful SP over his last three starts, coming within an out in each of his last two contests from collecting another pair of QS. Despite his earlier struggles in 2023, his peripheral metrics hint that he has been unlucky this year so far and perhaps the current success is due.

Patrick Sandoval, Los Angeles Angels vs Seattle Mariners

The lefty has been limited to just three July starts, but he has been making the most of his limited time on the hill, racking up a superb 2.08 ERA and 1.04 WHIP over those 17.1 IP, with a useful 8.3 K/9 rate to go along with the nice ratios. He generates a great deal of groundballs while not allowing many balls to leave the park: 51.0 % GB, 0.68 HR/9.

Brady Singer, Kansas City Royals vs New York Mets

Singer has collected 19 Ks over his last two outings (11.0 IP, 19:3 K/BB). His season ERA is still elevated at 5.46 but he has been working to reduce that ratio stat from an ugly season high 8.82 achieved after a May 6^th loss to visiting Oakland, so the trend is in the correct direction. The Mets have not shown any great proclivity to producing on the road, while the Royal righty pitches more comfortably from his home mound.

Cristopher Sanchez, Philadelphia Phillies vs Kansas City Royals

The 26-year-old lefty has been rock solid over his last five starts, posting a useful 2.48 ERA and 0.93 WHIP over that span of 29.0 IP. He is an above-average K producer (8.1 K/9 through eight starts) and has demonstrated superb control as evidenced by his 1.3 BB/9 over his limited 42.1 IP. He has a nice home matchup with the lackluster Royals visiting the City of Brotherly Love this coming weekend.

Graham Ashcraft, Cincinnati Reds vs Washington Nationals

The 25-year-old second year player came two outs short of collecting his fifth consecutive QS, although he did produce a season-high eight Ks against the host Brewers. On the slate are the last place Nationals, a team that should help assuage his home pitching woes.

Steven Matz, St. Louis Cardinals vs Colorado Rockies

The veteran southpaw pitched his deepest into a game this season, lasting 6.0 IP in a six K and one BB effort against the host Diamondbacks. Despite holding Arizona scoreless, it was a no-decision for the 32-year-old. He gets the Rockies away from Coors Field in this contest, a positive point to continue to build upon.

Michael Grove, Los Angeles Dodgers @ San Diego Padres

Grove may not have many starts left to prove his mettle, with Clayton Kershaw on the verge of being activated from the IL. His peripheral metrics indicate that he has pitched to some bad luck, and he has proven to be a good source of Ks when on the hill (8.4 K/9). He is not as comfortable toiling on foreign mounds of dirt, so unless you simply need counting stats (read: Ks) this may not be the best streaming option to turn to at the end of the scoring period.

Ryan Yarbrough, Kansas City Royals @ Philadelphia Phillies

As this is being written, in his three starts following his activation from the IL, the veteran southpaw has been solidly effective for the Royals, posting a 2.55 ERA and 1.13 WHIP over those 17.2 IP. He is a below-average K producer who has great control, and who seems to prefer pitching away from his home park, which is the case with this streaming opportunity.

Luis Medina, Oakland Athletics vs San Francisco Giants

The rookie righty has been effective since the All-Star break, allowing just a single earned tally over his 10.2 IP while snagging 12 Ks. He is a pitcher who performs better at home given his splits so far, and here he takes on the cross-bay Giants. He needs to work on controlling his sometimes-erratic control to be trustworthy as a regular rotation SP, but the signs hint that this is a proper streaming opportunity where he could provide value. 

Tyler Anderson, Los Angeles Angels vs Seattle Mariners

It is not often we get any end of the week streaming options, and here we have two for Sunday’s consideration. The veteran lefty has been enjoying marginally better success at home, despite yielding four earned tallies in his last game against the visiting Pirates, which did result in a victory. He offers reasonable strikeout potential with a 7.5 K/9 rate on the season.