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What's up what's up! It's Jon Anderson back again, I'll be handling this piece for the rest of the season. We found some winners in the two-start streamers article last week, and I think we should be able to do it again this ewek.
It is week 20, and we're drawing ever closer to the end of the season. This weekly fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups column aims to identify starting pitchers expected to make two starts in the upcoming fantasy baseball week, ahead of the Sunday night waiver wire runs for leagues with weekly transactions.
This list will be limited to players under 50% rostered in Yahoo leagues and divided into three sections based on recommendation levels: solid starters, risky streamers, and must-avoids.
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Solid Two-Start Pitcher Streamers
Ross Stripling, Toronto Blue Jays - 34% Rostered
Scheduled starts: @ BOS, vs. LAA
He has been back and forth between the rotation and the bullpen for Toronto this year, but he's firmly in the rotation now and pitching well. For the year he has a 2.93 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP, which his mostly because of his elite 4.2% BB% and ability to mix things up and keep hitters off balance. The K% is pretty low at 20.9%, but it hasn't hampered him.
He came back last week from a short stint to the IL and was held under 80 pitches, which is a bit discouraging, but there's hope that he can get over 80 here and get you through five innings to earn the win. He certainly will be favorite in both games, as both the Red Sox and Angels are really sputtering offensively this summer.
Justin Steele, Chicago Cubs - 29% Rostered
Scheduled starts: vs. STL, @ MIL
Steele started the year very hot, pretty much stunk through May and June, but has really turned it on again lately. Over his last five starts, he has a beautiful 29.1% K% and a 7.3% BB% with a 13.2% SwStr%. He's allowed just three earned runs over those 26 innings while striking out 32 and walking eight. That is quite a roll.
There's little doubt this hot streak has a lot to do with the matchups. He's faced the Nationals (twice), Marlins, Giants, and Phillies in these last five. The Cardinals and Brewers present much tougher challenges for Steele, but the lefty clearly has some ability here and he can be started in the two-start week.
Drew Smyly, Chicago Cubs - 24% Rostered
Scheduled starts: vs. STL, @ MIL
We have seen streaks of dominance from Smyly several times in the past, which usually quickly come to a halt due to injury or fatigue or some other problem. Well, he seems to be on one of those streaks right now, as he's given up just two earned runs over his last three starts while striking out 17 batters and walking three (17 innings).
Over these last three starts he has a 25.4% K% and a great 4.5% BB%. Like his teammate in Steele, they have been soft matchups (MIA, CIN, WSH), which raises a red flag.
I would be holding my breath for that start against the Cardinals, but the Brewers can certainly be had by left-handed pitchers, so it's probably worth the roll of the dice.
Nick Lodolo, Cincinnati Reds - 22% Rostered
Scheduled starts: @ PHI, @ WSH
The rookie had his worst start of the year in Iowa for the Field of Dreams game, giving up our earned runs on seven hits and failing to get through five innings. That was his second straight start with four walks, and things were not looking good for him. That was until he went out and threw seven shutout innings against the Phillies in Great American Ballpark. He struck out eight with just two walks, his best start of the year by a good margin.
The underlying numbers are all really impressive, besides the 10.4% BB%. His 30.9% CSW%, 13.0% SwStr%, 18.3% K-BB%, and .280 xwOBA against are all very competitive marks. The only problem the kid seems to have is with walks, which is admittedly a big problem - however, this profile is more than good enough to start any time there are two starts on the docket - which there should be for week 20.
Risky Two-Start Pitcher Streamer Picks
Zach Plesac, Cleveland Guardians - 34% Rostered
Scheduled starts: @ SD, @ SEA
There is really not much to like in Plesac's profile. Since July 1st, he has a bad 24.2% CSW%, a 19.3% K%, a 9.1% BB%, and a .326 xwOBA against. He has given up at least three earned run in five of his last seven starts while walking at least two in four of those starts.
The reason for some optimism is that a high walk rate is really not common territory for Plesac, he has a 6.5% career walk rate, which is really strong. He also has shown the ability as early as this season to throw a bunch of quality starts. From May 30th to July 4th, he recorded seven straight quality starts. There's some reason to believe he can go on a similar run again this season.
I doubt it starts next week as he first has to go into Petco Park to face that Padres lineup, but you could certainly find worse two-start options.
Domingo German, New York Yankees - 25% Rostered
Scheduled starts: vs. NYM, @ OAK
German's a frustrating pitcher, flashing upside every once in awhile but also having generally mediocre numbers in back in 2019. The first matchup here is brutal in New York, but he gets a much easier spot in Oakland after that.
The 18.5% K% on the year makes me really not want to mess around with him against the Mets, but the second start might be worth the risk of the first if you're really looking for innings and none of the names above are available for you.
Jake Odorizzi, Atlanta Braves - 21% Rostered
Scheduled starts: @ PIT, @ STL
Not a good start to his time with the Braves as he has a putrid 11.8% K%, a 6.14 ERA, and a 2.12 WHIP in three starts with the Braves. Despite that, his season ERA sits at a much more respectable 4.06, so he's had some success this year.
A start against the Pirates has been a get-right spot for many pitchers this year, and it could function that way for Odorizzi. He'll then have to face the tough Cardinals on the road, but I can see a pretty good week playing out here for Odorizzi.
Roansy Contreras, Pittsburgh Pirates - 18% Rostered
Scheduled starts: vs. ATL, @ PHI
He has pitched quite well in the minors this year with a 32.6% K% and a 9.2% BB%. It hasn't exactly transferred to the Majors with marks of 21.7% and 10.7%. His ERA with the Pirates is 4.17 and the WHIP sits at 1.47.
So there's not a ton of evidence that Roansy is ready for The Show, and these are certainly not easy matchups here. That said, the upside is there as his stuff is great, and both of these offenses can pile up the strikeouts - so you could start him for those reasons while crossing your fingers and hoping for the best.
Austin Voth, Baltimore Orioles - 4% Rostered
Scheduled starts: vs. CWS, @ HOU
I never thought I would be saying nice things about Voth, but he's earned it. Over his last 10 starts, he has a 2.94 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP with a 22.2% K% and a 6.6% BB%. I never thought Voth could do that, so hats off to him.
I'm still not touching him against the White Sox and Astros, but it's certainly not out of the question that he could have two effective starts here given what he's been doing on the hill lately.
Stay Away from these Two-Start Pitchers
German Marquez, Colorado Rockies - 32% Rostered
Scheduled starts: vs. TEX, @ NYM
It's always slightly tempting to start Marquez on the road, but not against the Mets - so that makes him an easy stay-away given the other start is in Coors.
Daniel Lynch, Kansas City Royals - 4% Rostered
Scheduled starts: vs. CWS, vs. SD
Lynch has pitched well enough to be considered in good matchups, but these aren't good matchups. The White Sox still hit lefties well, and the Padres are one of the toughest offenses in the league to face right now.
Two-start pitchers that are not start-worthy in any matchup:
Cole Ragans, Detroit Tigers - 2% Rostered
Tucker Davidson, Los Angeles Angels - 2% Rostered
Zach Logue, Oakland Athletics - 1% Rostered
T.J. Zeuch, Cincinnati Reds - 1% Rostered
Adam Oller, Texas Rangers - 1% Rostered
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