It is entirely possible that some of these starting pitchers may have landed on different teams by the time Week Eighteen opens up, and thus will have lost their two-start status as a result of a trade-deadline move. As of the time this article is being written, however, the SPs listed below are the dual appearance hurlers scheduled to head to the bump for the coming scoring period. This is a volatile time in major league baseball, as it is every season, so keep your options open and adapt, improvise and overcome.

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

 

Start 'em If You Own 'em

 

Starting Pitcher

First Start/Opponent/Date

Second Start/Opponent/Date

Gerrit Cole HOU

@ SEA James Paxton

@ LAD Rich Hill

 

Mon 7/30 10:10 PM ET

Sun 8/5 4:10 PM ET

Aaron Nola PHI

@ BOS David Price

vs. MIA Dan Straily

 

Mon 7/30 7:10 PM ET

Sun 8/5 1:35 PM ET

James Paxton SEA

vs. HOU Gerrit Cole

vs. TOR Ryan Borucki

 

Mon 7/30 10:10 PM ET

Sat 8/4 10:10 PM ET

Tyler Skaggs LAA

@ TB TBA

@ CLE Shane Bieber

 

Tue 7/31 7:10 PM ET

Sun 8/5 1:10 PM ET

Robbie Ray ARI

vs. TEX Martín Pérez

vs. SF Chris Stratton

 

Mon 7/30 9:40 PM ET

Sun 8/5 4:10 PM ET

Rich Hill LAD

vs. MIL Wade Miley

vs. HOU Gerrit Cole

 

Tue 7/31 10:10 PM ET

Sun 8/5 4:10 PM ET

Jack Flaherty STL

vs. COL Jon Gray

@ PIT Joe Musgrove

 

Tue 7/31 8:15 PM ET

Sun 8/5 1:35 PM ET

Danny Duffy KC

@ CHW James Shields

@ MIN Ervin Santana

 

Tue 7/31 8:10 PM ET

Sun 8/5 2:10 PM ET

David Price BOS

vs. PHI Aaron Nola

vs. NYY Masahiro Tanaka

 

Mon 7/30 7:10 PM ET

Sun 8/5 8:05 PM ET

Jon Lester CHC

@ PIT Jameson Taillon

vs. SD Eric Lauer

 

Tue 7/31 7:05 PM ET

Sun 8/5 2:20 PM ET

Masahiro Tanaka NYY

vs. BAL Yefry Ramírez

@ BOS David Price

 

Tue 7/31 7:05 PM ET

Sun 8/5 8:05 PM ET

Aside from the first three pitchers listed here, it is no slam dunk that you automatically roll any of the top tier pitchers out for both their starts automatically. The 11 SPs in this group are all worthy of consideration despite the opponent they are taking on or the venue(s) where they are plying their trade, but this is probably the first week where this group is filled with more uncertainty than confidence. If you have these mound presences on your roster, go ahead and run them out there for both starts and accept the results, which for the most part project to be positive.

 

 

Maybe Yes, Maybe No

 

Starting Pitcher

First Start/Opponent/Date

Second Start/Opponent/Date

Tyler Anderson COL

@ STL TBA

@ MIL Freddy Peralta

 

Mon 7/30 8:10 PM ET

Sat 8/4 7:10 PM ET

Jon Gray COL

@ STL Jack Flaherty

@ MIL Wade Miley

 

Tue 7/31 8:15 PM ET

Sun 8/5 2:10 PM ET

Tanner Roark WAS

vs. NYM TBA

vs. CIN Luis Castillo

 

Tue 7/31 7:05 PM ET

Sun 8/5 1:35 PM ET

Julio Teherán ATL

vs. MIA Wei-Yin Chen

@ NYM Zack Wheeler

 

Mon 7/30 7:35 PM ET

Sat 8/4 7:10 PM ET

Anibal Sánchez ATL

vs. MIA Dan Straily

@ NYM TBA

 

Tue 7/31 7:35 PM ET

Sun 8/5 1:10 PM ET

Walker Buehler LAD

vs. MIL Freddy Peralta

vs. HOU Lance McCullers

 

Mon 7/30 10:10 PM ET

Sat 8/4 9:10 PM ET

Dan Straily MIA

@ ATL Anibal Sánchez

@ PHI Aaron Nola

 

Tue 7/31 7:35 PM ET

Sun 8/5 1:35 PM ET

Shane Bieber CLE

@ MIN Ervin Santana

vs. LAA Tyler Skaggs

 

Mon 7/30 8:10 PM ET

Sun 8/5 1:10 PM ET

Mike Leake SEA

vs. HOU Charlie Morton

vs. TOR Sam Gaviglio

 

Tue 7/31 10:10 PM ET

Sun 8/5 4:10 PM ET

Anderson has been on a great stretch where he has not allowed more than two earned runs over his last five starts, and where his ERA has dropped over a run, sitting at 3.57 as he heads into Week Eighteen. With two games away from Coors this coming week, he leads the middle tier as a two-start alternative.

Gray, as with his teammate profiled immediately above, has a couple of starts on the road and away from Coors Field, but he is the aberrant Rockies pitcher that accumulates better stats at home than on the road. He offers elite K numbers with an 11.09 K/9 over 106.1 innings pitched (IP) in 2018, and he has the skill set to generate an abnormal number of grounders from opposing hitters (2.15 GB/FB ratio in his 19 starts), thus allowing him to keep the ball in the park. Both the two-start Colorado pitchers are good if not great possibilities at SP this coming scoring period.

Roark came out of his pre-All-Star break funk, firing bullets and racking up 11 Ks in Milwaukee over an eight inning, three-hit victory. He has two home starts against a pair of last place opponents, but then again, his home-road splits are not exactly positive when he takes the mound in Nationals Park this season, so temper your enthusiasm a bit based on that situation. His control needs some improvement to make him a more dependable arm, but he does strike out eight hitters per nine innings, which is acceptable.

Teheran is the first Brave pitcher with two starts profiled here in the middle tier (look a paragraph below for the second one, hint, hint) and has a pair of good matchups as his team takes on the Marlins at home then travels to the Big Apple for a game against the Mets. He is walking far too many opposition batters to be a dependable option, but has kept his WHIP (1.25 over 110.0 IP this campaign) in line by limiting the base hits this season. He is a good source of Ks (8.26 K/9 through his 20 starts in 2018), and both his opponents are mid-tier offenses with regard to swings and misses, so there is that in his asset column in Week Eighteen.

Sanchez has been a superb rebound starter for the Braves in 2018, but does not deserve total trust just because of how mediocre or worse he has been over the past few seasons. Plus, he was not exactly sharp in his most recent outing, yielding four earned runs (five total) on seven hits and a pair of free passes in a six and a third inning loss to the visiting Dodgers. As with Teheran, however, the matchups in the coming week are favorable, and it is difficult to argue with a 3.00 ERA and 1.09 WHIP over his 78.0 IP to date.

Buehler has been getting hurt by the long ball recently, having yielded five homers over his last 10.2 IP. While he does have a couple of home starts on his plate, those are against the tenth and ninth top teams in putting the ball over the wall this season with the Brewers and Houston coming to Chez Ravine in Week Eighteen. He is still sporting a useful 3.92 ERA and 1.10 WHIP through his limited 62.0 IP this season and is striking out better than a batter per inning (9.29 K/9) while demonstrating great control (2.03 BB/9 in 12 appearances/11 starts), so the rookie is a good option with two starts on deck this coming week.

Straily has been much better on the road this season, so a pair of starts away from his generally pitcher-friendly home park in Miami is a source of optimism for the 29-year old righthander. He is a poor strikeout option (7.39 K/9 over his 16 starts) but does offer decent if not fantastic ratio stats (4.07 ERA, 1.32 WHIP) and with his ability to pitch deeper into games, he also offers the potential for a victory on occasion. He may not be exciting, but with two starts and under 10% ownership in both ESPN and Yahoo leagues, he is a good Week Eighteen pickup for the short term.

Bieber was awful in his most recent start against the Pirates, giving up seven earned runs before being removed in the second inning, including two home runs and a triple. His ERA jumped more than a run with the poor outing, ballooning to 4.80, but prior to that disaster, he had won five of his previous six starts. He has been giving up more runs, and perhaps teams are learning how to attack the rookie, but his offense can frequently bail him out even when he yields more runs than would qualify for a quality start (QS), and neither of his matchups this coming scoring period are terrible.

Leake wraps up the middle tier, and is working on a pair of QS. Be warned, however, that he failed to get past the fourth inning in the two trips to toe the rubber prior to those games. He relies on his excellent control (2.04 BB/9 over 128.0 IP) and an ability to generate groundballs (1.98 GB/FB ratio through 21 starts) as his strikeout numbers are terrible (5.41 K/9, for a total of just 77 Ks on the season). He does have a pair of home starts, but also gets to face the defending World Champs in his first appearance of Week Eighteen, so using him in just his second start against the visiting Blue Jays may prove to be the better decision if you have him in your fantasy rotation.

 

 

Not On My Roster

 

Starting Pitcher

First Start/Opponent/Date

Second Start/Opponent/Date

Freddy Peralta MIL

@ LAD Walker Buehler

vs. COL Tyler Anderson

 

Mon 7/30 10:10 PM ET

Sat 8/4 7:10 PM ET

Ervin Santana MIN

vs. CLE Shane Bieber

vs. KC Danny Duffy

 

Mon 7/30 8:10 PM ET

Sun 8/5 2:10 PM ET

Edwin Jackson OAK

vs. TOR Ryan Borucki

vs. DET Matthew Boyd

 

Mon 7/30 10:05 PM ET

Sun 8/5 4:05 PM ET

James Shields CHW

vs. KC Danny Duffy

@ TB TBA

 

Tue 7/31 8:10 PM ET

Sun 8/5 1:10 PM ET

Sam Gaviglio TOR

@ OAK Trevor Cahill

@ SEA Mike Leake

 

Tue 7/31 10:05 PM ET

Sun 8/5 4:10 PM ET

Chris Stratton SF

@ SD Eric Lauer

@ ARI Robbie Ray

 

Mon 7/30 10:10 PM ET

Sun 8/5 4:10 PM ET

Yefry Ramírez BAL

@ NYY Masahiro Tanaka

@ TEX Martín Pérez

 

Tue 7/31 7:05 PM ET

Sun 8/5 3:05 PM ET

Martín Pérez TEX

@ ARI Robbie Ray

vs. BAL Yefry Ramírez

 

Mon 7/30 9:40 PM ET

Sun 8/5 3:05 PM ET

Wei-Yin Chen MIA

@ ATL Julio Teherán

@ PHI Zach Eflin

 

Mon 7/30 7:35 PM ET

Sat 8/4 7:05 PM ET

Matthew Boyd DET

vs. CIN Homer Bailey

@ OAK Edwin Jackson

 

Tue 7/31 7:10 PM ET

Sun 8/5 4:05 PM ET

Ryan Borucki TOR

@ OAK Edwin Jackson

@ SEA James Paxton

 

Mon 7/30 10:05 PM ET

Sat 8/4 10:10 PM ET

Wade Miley MIL

@ LAD Rich Hill

vs. COL Jon Gray

 

Tue 7/31 10:10 PM ET

Sun 8/5 2:10 PM ET

Eric Lauer SD

vs. SF Chris Stratton

@ CHC Jon Lester

 

Mon 7/30 10:10 PM ET

Sun 8/5 2:20 PM ET

You could consider a couple of these pitchers for streaming purposes, namely Jackson at home against the Tigers in his second start, or Perez when he takes on the pitiful visiting Orioles, again in his second trip to the mound of the week. Other than that, though, you would do well to simply avoid placing any of these hurlers in your rotation. There is just too much potential for damage to your ratio stats with little benefit in the counting stat categories.

FANation Chat is now live on the site. 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.