Fantasy Baseball Two-Start Pitchers: Week 17

The middle tier is somewhat lacking in residents this week, which can be blamed on a plethora of five-game schedules for several teams, thereby reducing our two-start options in Week 17. There are a decent number of two-start pitchers, to be sure, but the bottom tier is loaded with 16 of the 39 two-start SPs that I would suggest you avoid, at least as far as plugging them in your lineup for two games this week. More on that situation below.

Please realize that I am working off the 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 I have listed as having two starts ends up with one (or perhaps none) in the upcoming week, I apologize but I only provide analysis, I do not set the lineups or rotations.

Without further ado, here are this week’s two-start pitchers:

Of these nine starting pitchers, I would only suggest caution with regards to Mr. Verlander. He has a tough matchup in his first start on the road against the Red Sox, and then gets a resurgent Astros team at home. Still, he has looked strong his past several outings, so he deserves a slot in the top tier. The others are the best options to plug in and forget about for Week 17.

There are only 14 candidates for middle tier status in Week 17, and those can be broken down into two sub-tiers. The first opens with Pineda and ends with DeSclafani. I really like the fact that Pineda has two road starts in Week 17, as he has allowed the majority of his homers at Yankee Stadium (15 of 18). He is a superb source of Ks, and has shown great control, as witnessed by his 127:29 K/BB ratio. He is pitching well beyond his stat line, and if you can avoid using him at home, he is a top SP option. Garcia relies on his high GB/FB rate to offset an average strikeout skillset and weak control. He has a pair of decent matchups, albeit on the road, and while I would prefer him as a home starter, he is the second-best option in this tier in this scoring period.

Eickhoff was roughed up by the Marlins in his last outing, but he gets a chance for revenge in his first start of Week 17, and then heads to Atlanta to take on the Braves. He has been better at home this season, but the matchups are not terrible this week. Eickhoff’s rotation mate, Hellickson, has the same matchups, but has been pitching better over the past several weeks. He did give up four earned runs to the Mets in his second-to-last start, but rebounded with a fine eight innings of one earned run ball in a victory over the Marlins. He is also putting up good K numbers, and showing good control. Of the two Philadelphia pitchers getting two starts, I would probably go with Hellickson over Eickhoff if I had to choose. Santana is a decent SP, despite the low K rate. He tends to hold teams down but his offense is not the key to racking up victories. He gets two home starts, and while he has been a better on the road, he does not have terrible matchups with the Braves and White Sox visiting this week. DeSclafani wraps up the top sub-tier, and as with Santana, his offense is not setting baseball on fire, so that hurts his potential. He is working on a six-game QS streak, so he is pitching well and is starting to roll up the wins. He would be higher ranked in this sub-tier were he not on the road for both his starts, although heading to San Diego at the end of the week looks good.

The second and final sub-tier begins with Peavy and runs down through Koehler. Peavy is no longer a great pitcher, just a serviceable one. He gets a pair of home starts, and with his home/road splits, that is a positive factor. He also gets to face Cincy, which is not at all bad, although the Nationals at the end of the week are a bit more formidable of an opponent. Do not expect much in the way of Ks, but do expect him to put up worthwhile non-counting stats with his sharp control. Gonzalez, the one pitching for the White Sox, has pitched well recently, racking up four consecutive quality starts, although his offense has abandoned him entirely in three of those games, failing to cross the plate. I would consider sitting him when the Cubs visit for his first start, but certainly would plug him in my rotation for the second start at Minnesota.

Pomeranz did not shine in his first start for this new team, but he was dealing before that appearance. He did not have control of his curve in his loss to the Giants, but that should be an aberration, not the norm going forward. He is a good source of Ks, and should settle in to aid the Red Sox rotation. Detroit’s offense has been in a severe depression, and the Angels are a middle of the pack bunch of hitters. The other Gonzalez in this sub-tier is coming off a pair of good starts, although he only went deep enough in his most recent start to qualify as a QS, missing it by one out against the Mets in the prior appearance. He was in a severe slump before these two outings, and while I have faith in him, I still would probably sit him against the Indians, and just use him in his second start against the slumping Giants on the road. Colon has had a couple of bad outings, giving up six earned runs to both the Nationals and Cubs, sandwiched around a nicer 5.2 innings shutout appearance against the Phillies. He gets a couple of home starts, although he does not seem bothered in the least pitching away from Citi Field this season.

Norris gets a pair of home starts this week, which bodes well for him. He is offering good strikeout numbers, with an 18:3 K/BB ratio over his last three starts. Please note that he was used in relief on Friday night against the Cards, so his two start status may be in jeopardy. That would be unfortunate since his first scheduled start is against the Rays, a tempting matchup. Corbin has been awful at home, so two road starts in Week 17 is a good sign for him to rebound from a loss to the Jays, his third consecutive defeat as a starter. He is a below average strikeout producer, with questionable control, so his only real positive is that he is pitching away from Chase Field in Week 17. Koehler is the final two-start option I can suggest as worthy of a look this week. Koehler is an inconsistent starter who offers average K potential, but who also has a great deal of difficulty locating the strike zone, as evidenced by his awful 4.42 BB/9 over his 108 innings this season. He gets a pair of home starts, though, and has been marginally better at Marlins Park than on the road.

I do not like any of these hurlers for two starts. A couple, Shields and Kennedy, could be useful for one start, but not for both their scheduled trips to the mound. I would employ Shields when he heads to Minnesota for his second start on Sunday, and Kennedy has potential in his first appearance at home against the visiting Angels. The rest are best avoided unless you are extraordinarily desperate for starting pitching.

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