Two-Start Pitchers: Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Streamers and Starts for Week 1 (2025)

Welcome back RotoBallers to the first edition of our two-start pitchers - fantasy baseball waiver wire streamers and starts for Week 1 of 2025 -- from March 31 to April 6. While the season is already underway, this will be the first full week of baseball, giving us a variety of two-start pitchers to work with.

Each week of this fantasy baseball season, this fantasy baseball waiver wire pickups column will identify starting pitchers expected to make two starts in the upcoming week. It will look at fantasy baseball streamers ahead of the Sunday night waiver wire run for leagues with weekly transactions.

There are 32 pitchers currently scheduled to make two starts during this period. We will examine pitchers who are rostered in under 50% of Yahoo leagues. Listed will be those rostered over 50%, best available under 50%, and risky options under 50%. A few other two-start pitchers are available, but they should be avoided.

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Two-Start Pitchers - Over 50% Rostered

• Drew Rasmussen (vs. PIT, @ TEX)
• Bowden Francis (vs. WAS, @ NYM)
• Ronel Blanco (vs. SF, @ MIN)
• Kumar Rocker (@ CIN, vs. TB)
• Cristopher Sanchez (vs. COL, vs. LAD)
• Corbin Burnes (@ NYY, @ WAS)
• Tyler Glasnow (vs. ATL, @ PHI)

Best Available Two-Start Pitcher Streamers

David Peterson (20% Rostered), New York Mets

Scheduled Starts: @ MIA, vs. TOR

David Peterson hasn't exactly been the model of consistency, but he managed a solid 2024 season. In 27 starts, he held a 2.90 ERA, 3.67 FIP, 1.29 WHIP, 19.8% strikeout rate, 9% walk rate, and an elite 50.8% ground ball rate.

His strikeout rate is worrying, but a 28.9% CSW%, 28.8% Chase%, and 12.2% SwStr% suggest a pitcher who can manage at least a mediocre strikeout rate; there is reason to expect he gets closer to the 26% strikeout rate he kept in 2023.

He was solid on all fronts in the last months of the season, with a 2.67 ERA, 3.30 FIP, 3.87 xFIP, 1.23 WHIP, and 21.7% strikeout rate in his last fifteen starts.

Prone to blow-ups in his career, Peterson isn't someone you should trust regularly. Even then, it's difficult to pin that on a week where he'll face two teams that ranked among the eight lowest-scoring offenses in 2024.

Casey Mize (13% Rostered), Detroit Tigers

Scheduled Starts: @ SEA, vs. CHW

Casey Mize didn't impress in his first year back from Tommy John surgery, with a 4.49 ERA, 3.95 FIP, 17.3% strikeout rate, and 6.4% walk rate through 102 1/3 innings. With the Tigers coming off a surprising late-season run that pushed them into the playoffs, Mize's long-term status was in doubt.

But he held on and had a stellar spring training, with a 1.89 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, and 33.3% strikeout rate in 19 Grapefruit League innings. He also upped his splitter velocity from 86 to 89, with smaller velocity upticks on his fastball and slider. With a 17.9% SwStr% and 61.5% ground ball rate, an improved splitter could vault it into a near-elite offering.

Tigers' pitching coach Chris Fetter got Detroit's team ERA down to 3.61 in 2024 (tied for third best in the MLB); with another year, Mize should see more improvement.

The White Sox won their first game of the season, but those are sure to be few and far between. The 2018 first-overall pick has the chance to get his career back on track with a good performance this season; he likely won't get a better shot than this week against the two lowest-scoring offenses from last season.

Casey Mize's 3Ks in the 3rd. pic.twitter.com/cYduVfODUi

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) March 12, 2025

Riskier Two-Start Streamer Picks

Grant Holmes (34% Rostered), Atlanta Braves

Scheduled Starts: @ LAD, vs. MIA

With Spencer Strider still on the injured list, AJ Smith-Shawver and Grant Holmes get an extended tryout for the final spot in the rotation.

An unheralded prospect who has bounced around the minors since 2014, Holmes was great out of the bullpen in his first MLB season. In 68 1/3 innings, he held a 3.56 ERA, 3.20 FIP, 1.19 WHIP, 24.8% strikeout rate, and 5.3% walk rate.

While the efficacy of certain pitches will lower when a pitcher is moved to the starting rotation, his secondaries likely won't dip. His slider possessed a 24.8% SwStr%, and his curveball a 23.6% SwStr%- there are few pitchers in this territory with stuff like that.

With all that being said, you cannot consider streaming a pitcher who gets the Dodgers in his first start. Holmes should do well enough against Miami, but taking him for two starts this week isn't wise.

Brady Singer (19% Rostered), Cincinnati Reds

Scheduled Starts: vs. TEX, @ MIL

Acquired in exchange for Jonathan India, Cincinnati receives Brady Singer off his best season yet. He held a 3.71 ERA, 3.93 FIP, 22.3% strikeout rate, and 7.1% walk rate through 179 2/3 innings.

Singer should be a good bet as a back-end starter this year, but this isn't his week. Facing off against two offenses that project to be in the league's better half with a start in the hitter-friendly Great American Ballpark does not make this an advantageous week for a Singer stream.

Kris Bubic (13% Rostered), Kansas City Royals

Scheduled Starts: @ MIL, vs. BAL

After an incredible year out of the bullpen, Kris Bubic moves back to the Kansas City starting rotation in 2025. Through 30 1/3 innings in 2024, Bubic held a 2.67 ERA, 1.95 FIP, 2.04 xFIP, 32.2% strikeout rate, and 4.1% walk rate.

You shouldn't expect that performance from Bubic as a rotation piece for many reasons, with durability being the main issue in the long term. The 27-year-old is set up well to offer value in the early part of the year, but you can't expect him to excel against two offenses that ranked in the top seven in scoring last season.

Bubic is intriguing, but you should save the stream for another week.

Will Warren (9% Rostered), New York Yankees

Scheduled Starts: vs. ARZ, @ PIT

The Yankees' top pitching prospect, Will Warren, cracked the roster out of spring training after long-term injuries to starters Gerrit Cole and Luis Gil.

The 25-year-old didn't exactly blow the doors off in spring training, with a 5.09 ERA, 5.30 FIP, 26.4% strikeout rate, and 9.1% walk rate through 23 innings.

He is naturally intriguing long-term, but his first week on the job is against a Diamondbacks offense that topped the league in scoring in 2024. It's recommended to wait before you give Will Warren his first stream.

Ben Brown (8% Rostered), Chicago Cubs

Scheduled Starts: @ ATH, vs. SD

An injury to Javier Assad gives Ben Brown another crack at the rotation. He performed well in his rookie year, with a 3.58 ERA, 3.11 FIP, 28.8% walk rate, and 8.6% walk rate across 55 1/3 innings in the rotation and bullpen.

He didn't impress in spring training, with a 5.84 ERA, 4.22 FIP, 1.70 WHIP, and 22.4% strikeout rate through 12 1/3 innings. He was also deployed in the Tokyo series, picking up a loss out of the bullpen after allowing four hits, three runs, and three walks, with five strikeouts in 2 2/3 innings of work.

He's a tantalizing pick, especially with the Athletics on the docket. However, the right-hander has not been consistent enough to trust him against a solid Padres offense.

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