Fantasy Baseball Week 2 Two-Start Pitchers & Streaming Starters: Gerrit Cole Headlines Pitchers With Dual Starts

The second full week of the baseball season is upon us, and there are plenty of dual start starting pitchers to consider for your fantasy rotations. There is a boatload of top-notch hurlers to employ for your fantasy baseball efforts early in the going. As will be the case with most weeks, there are also a slew of arms to avoid plugging into your lineups, so be wary of being seduced by the allure of two starts from just any old starting pitcher.

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.

These 16 pitchers are the ones you want to have on your squad, and that you can insert into your lineups for both their trips to the hill in Week 2. While there is always the possibility of a misstep or two among the top tier pitching options, this group provides the best chance for superior pitching production. Wind them up and let them go.

Rodriguez is in the Oriole rotation for the short term, most likely, as he figures to head back to the Triple-A level once Kyle Bradish returns from the IL. He started off shaky in his first inning of big-league action, but settled down, tossing 5.0 IP of no-decision two run effort where he collected five Ks. If you have the opportunity to grab him now, use him for his upcoming starts, then if possible, hold him until he returns from Triple-A for his future efforts on the hill.

Keller has a home contest against the reigning World Champs and then a road game in St. Louis on tap. His early results in 2023 have been up and down, or rather down then up for the 27-year-old righthander, and he is coming off a road victory at Boston. Pittsburgh is expecting Keller to be a source of stability for their rotation, and he should be a source of inning-eating performance if his control stabilizes, as the K production makes him a value.

Elder is filling in for the Braves while Max Fried and Kyle Wright are on the IL, and thus may be on tap for two more starts this coming week. He acquitted himself well in his first start in 2023 at the major league level, holding the host Cardinals scoreless on two hits, and three free passes. He collected six Ks over his 6.0 IP, and now has a pair of good matchups on the schedule grid presuming he gets the ball for both starts.

Miley was on point for his first victory of the year, holding the visiting Mets to five hits and not allowing a single walk. He is a good source for ratio stats, although his lack of swing and miss execution makes him less valuable for fantasy usage. He has two road contests coming up as another reason to find him in the middle section of the middle tier.

Greinke is another veteran arm who offers below-average K production, while providing good ratio stat handiwork while atop the bump. He has a road game to open the week in Texas, and things do not get better when he heads home to face the Braves, but as an experienced pitcher, he is worth a back of the fantasy rotation option for the ratios.

Maeda left his first outing of the season with arm fatigue, but was pitching well against the host Marlins, racking up 9 Ks over his 5.0 IP, handing out zero walks and just three hits, one of which traveled out of the park and accounting for the sole earned run he allowed. He has a pair of tougher matchups lined up in Week 2, especially taking on the Yankees and their ace, Gerrit Cole on the road, but the home game against the White Sox to open the scoring period looks to have greater positive potential, fantasy-wise.

Gibson has collected victories in his first two outings this season, and looked better getting the second win by holding the host Texans to just two earned runs while racking up five Ks and offering up no free passes. His first Week 2 matchup looks favorable with the A’s coming to Baltimore. His second time to toe the rubber is in Chicago, which does not play well into skillset as he is in no fashion a road warrior over the past couple of seasons. Despite being lined up for two starts, it might be safer to watch his first efforts before plugging him in for his second outing.

There are plenty of pitchers that discretion suggests are best left on the bench for one or both of their scheduled trips to toe the rubber this week. The potential for harm being introduced to your ratio stats with little to no upturn in your counting stat columns argues against using any of these dual-start options. Even should there be a small unturn in your Ks (German Marquez, perhaps) the balance of the experience is likely to be distasteful.

Potential Streaming Options for Week 2

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:

Kyle Freeland (Colorado Rockies) vs St. Louis Cardinals

It is not frequently the case that a Colorado SP is suggested as a streaming option, let alone when he is pitching at home. Yet, Freeland has taken the path to the hill twice and remains unscored upon, the latest journey being at home at Coors Field. He gets another crack at home dominance, and the opponent, the Cardinals, have not been plating a ton of baserunners, despite their ability to hit safely. Someday, the luck will turn for the southpaw, but perhaps he has one more strong start in him that you can capitalize upon.

Tylor Megill (New York Mets) vs San Diego Padres

The third-year righty has been effective to a high degree, filling in while Justin Verlander sits on the bench with his shoulder issues, posting a superb 1.64 ERA and 1.18 WHIP over his two starts consisting of 11.0 IP. He also sports a 10:4 K/BB ratio, and now gets to see if he can be effective against a team other than the Marlins when he heads the mound to face the visiting Padres. San Diego’s hitters are more discerning about the strike zone than the Marlins, so anticipate a reduction in the whiff numbers.

Bailey Falter (Philadelphia Phillies) @ Cncinnati Reds

The 25-year-old southpaw is settling in as a back of the rotation starter for the Phillies, picking up from his sixth-starter role from 2022. That role makes for good streaming options, although this matchup, given the venue, is not optimal, as he also struggles more at his home park, the cozy confines of Citizens Bank Park than he generally does when on the road. Even so, he is the best option for this particular date.

Dylan Dodd (Atlanta Braves) @ Kansas City Royals

The young lefty picked up a win in his first MLB start, holding the host Cardinals to just a single earned tally on six hits and no walks. He was only credited with three punchouts but his minor league numbers hint that those results will improve as time goes on, plus his opponent in this contest is more of a free-swinging bunch.

Tyler Wells (Baltimore Orioles) @ Chicago White Sox

Wells filled in for Kyle Bradish, who left in the second inning of his start due to a foot issue, and proceeded to twirl 5.0 shutout, no-hit innings to renew his application to become part of the Baltimore rotation (he started 23 games in 2022). He was more effective away from Camden Yards last season, so the road start at Chicago is actually a potential plus on his ledger.

Seth Lugo (San Diego Padres) vs Milwaukee Brewers

Lugo was suggested as a streaming option in last week’s installment of this article, for a game that has not yet been played as he is being touted for another streaming occasion. He is coming off a first outing where he tossed a 7.0 IP victory with seven Ks and one earned run. If this game works out well for the 33-year-old righthander, his ownership may push him out of this article’s parameters (less than 50% ownership), so maybe this is a fine time to add him to your roster? Just a suggestion.

Anthony DeSclafani (San Francisco Giants) @ Detroit Tigers

Before his ankle injury and subsequent surgery limited his 2022 efforts to just five games (and a disappointing 6.63 ERA and 2.00 WHIP over a mere 19.0 IP), he proved to be a significant asset to the Giants and their pitching efforts in 2021. He is picking up the proficiency from ’21 with his first effort this season, a stellar six inning, three hit effort where he collected 4 Ks. This is a great matchup, as Detroit is struggling early and most often to open the season.

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.

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