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Yo, it's Jon Anderson, continuing to run the show here in terms of late-summer fantasy baseball writing. I am back with another edition of two-start pitchers as we approach the playoffs. It is week 22, and I'm hoping this week will go better than last. I recommended Matt Manning who had one of the worst outings of the entire season on Tuesday. My bad! I'm not feeling overly confident after writing this up, I only see a couple of pitchers I have any confidence in, so I hope for your sake you have a deep rotation already.
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
Jose Quintana, St. Louis Cardinals - 36% Rostered
Scheduled starts: vs. WSH, @PIT
Elite matchups here for Quintana, who has pitched well this year. His 3.57 ERA and 1.37 WHIP for the year are mediocre, but he rarely goes out and gets obliterated, and I really don't think that's going to happen against these soft offenses.
Justin Steele, Chicago Cubs - 34% Rostered
Scheduled starts: vs. CIN, vs. SF
Two pretty appealing matchups here with the Reds and Giants at home. He has continued to limit runs, allowing more than one earned run just twice in his last nine starts. He had an uncharacteristic four walks in the last start against Milwaukee, but the strikeouts have continued to pile in. He's a solid arm right now and for some reason, the market has moved much on him.
Risky Two-Start Pitcher Streamer Picks
Alex Wood, San Francisco Giants - 46% Rostered
Scheduled starts: @ LAD, @ CHC
You probably only want to go here for the Cubs matchup, but if you're looking for sheer volume, Wood can be of use. The 5.29 ERA on the year is rough, but it's not really backed up by the 3.41 xFIP. He's faced the Dodgers twice already, and it hasn't gone well (nine earned runs given up), but he's a ground-ball pitcher that has the ability to get outs in an efficient way if things go right for him. He's my top "risky" option.
Kris Bubic, Kansas City Royals - 3% Rostered
Scheduled starts: vs. CLE, vs. DET
Two beatable matchups at home in that friendly ballpark. Bubic is far from a good major leaguer, but I could see him getting a couple of wins here in these spots. He's had useful starts recently against the White Sox, Red Sox, Yankees, Rays, and Blue Jays – so success is possible if he can limit the walks.
Marco Gonzales, Seattle Mariners - 34% Rostered
Scheduled starts: vs. CWS, vs. ATL
He hasn't been good this year with a 4.10 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP, and his strikeout rate has completely bottomed out down to 13%. You probably shouldn't be starting him against these two solid offenses, but he does still have a knack for quality starts as he's achieved four of those in his last seven starts. Avoid him in strikeout rates leagues, but you can roll the dice on him if you're really just looking for volume.
Jordan Lyles, Baltimore Orioles - 23% Rostered
Scheduled starts: vs. TOR, vs. BOS
Two tougher matchups here, but Lyles is another guy who has been able to get it done for most of the year. He has back-to-back quality starts now and has five starts in the last month of play allowing three runs or fewer. I don't think he'll be helping your ratios much in these two starts, but a quality start or two is possible, and it comes with at least a big handful of strikeouts.
Stay Away from these Two-Start Pitchers
Chris Archer, Minnesota Twins - 7% Rostered
Scheduled starts: @NYY, vs. CLE
Tommy Henry, Arizona Diamondbacks - 5% Rostered
Scheduled starts: @ SD, @ COL
Luis Patino, Tampa Bay Rays - 4% Rostered
Scheduled starts: vs. BOS, @ NYY
Ryan Feltner, Colorado Rockies - 1% Rostered
Scheduled starts: vs. MIL, vs. ARI
Cory Abbott, Washington Nationals - 1% Rostered
Scheduled starts: @ STL, @ PHI
Justin Dunn, Cincinnati Reds - 1% Rostered
Scheduled starts: @ CHC, @ MIL
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