Two-Start Pitchers/Pitching Streamers: Week 8

We are now in the final month of MLB action, and for those of you fighting for your fantasy championships, it becomes even more essential to choose wisely when starting or benching pitchers. Now is not the time to let a bad set of starts derail your managerial efforts. Unfortunately, this week has few middle tier options, but plenty in the upper tier. Plenty to avoid in the bottom tier, as well, so exercise discretion when perusing the wire.

Please realize that these articles feature 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 listed here as having two starts ends up with one (or perhaps none) in the upcoming week, apologies but this article is meant to provide analysis, it is up to the manager to set the lineups or rotations.

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

There are 14 arms in the top group that are fine options to plug into your rotations for both starts. Kim and McKenzie are two new options in the upper tier that are proving to be real finds who still have limited availability in leagues. Lynn has been struggling, so if the better part of discretion leads you away from employing his services, you are not to be questioned. For the most part, though, wind these guys up and let them play.

Sixto Sánchez leads off this limited middle tier this week, and deservedly so. He is racking up a K per inning pitched, and exhibiting excellent command and control, with a meager 0.5 BB/9 on the season through his 19.0 IP. He will look to build on his two consecutive quality start streak when he takes to the bump on the road against the Braves to open Week 8, but then gets a home start where he has been effective against the visiting Phillies.

J.A. Happ is coming off a less than stellar effort where he let up four earned runs to the visiting Mets. He has continued to show good control, despite being a below average K producer. He faces the surging Blue Jays on the road, which is not an ideal opening to the scoring period, but then has another division rival in the Orioles at home. Not the best matchups, to be honest.

Matthew Boyd has tossed a couple of good games coming into this week, yielding three earned runs over 11.1 IP, and driving his ERA down dramatically. Sure, it still sits at an ugly 7.27 but that is almost three runs better than it was mid-August. He is racking up the Ks while limiting the free passes lately, and while not the best matchups, not the worst for a pitcher that is rediscovering his groove.

Kevin Gausman offers great K numbers (11.7 K/9 through 40.2 IP) and an attractive ratio stat with his 1.18 WHIP. Those are offset to an extent by a pedestrian 4.43 ERA. He has won two of his last three outings, sandwiching those victories around a loss to the visiting Dodgers. He has a couple of difficult matchups in store, as both the scheduled opposing SPs are residing in the upper tier this week.

Martín Pérez ended up with a no decision in his last outing, after taking a no-hitter against the Blue Jays through six frames. He has two road starts in Week 8, but his home/road splits indicate that situation as favoring his skillset in 2020. He is a below average K producer, so you are using him for reasonably decent ratio stats and the potential for a victory based on his road warrior performance to date.

Tyler Mahle misplaced his strikeout mojo in his last start, collecting just three whiffs over seven innings, but has been a good source of Ks this season overall (10.5 K/9 over 30.0 IP). As does Perez immediately above, he has a pair of road contests on the schedule, but unlike the Red Sox lefthander, this Cincy 25-year old righty is about even up at home or away, so no great advantage looms there. He is taking on two division rivals in Week 8, so that may count for something.

Aside from Montas and Montgomery, none of these hurlers should intrigue you in the slightest. And given the recent performances issued by those pitchers, the Oakland and Yankee SPs are not to be trusted presently in your fantasy lineups, despite having great potential. Leave these arms on the bench or for your opponents to utilize, likely to their dismay. Now is the time to choose wisely when setting your rotations as you strive to achieve fantasy dominance, and the decision to take a flyer on a suspect arm or two will likely not play well for you and may well lead to extended offseason recriminations. Play safe, at least with regard to the bottom tier of dual start options.

Potential Streaming Options for Week

There is no promise that each game day will provide a streaming option. First of all, the pitcher must be available in at least 50% of leagues to be a viable candidate to snag off the wire. Then, the pitchers discussed above are not included as they have a different sort of value, even though some might be available as free agents in your league. Plus, some days the matchups and/or venues just do not figure as positive enough factors to favor plugging the arm into your rotation, even for one start. That all being said, here are this week’s best streaming candidates:

Tuesday, September 8, 2020

David Peterson NYM vs BAL John Means

Baltimore is no longer a pushover opponent, but the Mets face them at home, and Peterson, while not much for Ks, has been generally effective as a starter this season. He is coming off a four inning relief effort, so if you plan on starting him here, make sure he has not been relegated to the ‘pen  instead of the rotation.

Wednesday, September 9. 2020

Taylor Clarke ARI vs LAD Clayton Kershaw

Clarke is scheduled to toe the rubber against the Giants prior to this start against the Dodgers. Take a gander at how he fares, as the Diamondback rotation looks to be getting crowded with Madison Bumgarner due to be reactivated soon and new addition Caleb Smith due to join the starting staff. That could push Clarke out of his role. Not that facing the Dodgers and Kershaw is a walk in the park on any occasion.

J.T. Brubaker PIT vs CHW Dylan Cease

Brubaker pushed his ERA below 4.00 with his last outing (3.96) but still owns an ugly 1.44 WHIP due to his propensity to hand out free passes to opposing hitters (4.0 BB/9 through 25.0 IP). Having the game played at PNC Park is his main advantage here, as the matchup is not ideal by any stretch.

Thursday, September 10, 2020

Griffin Canning LAA @ TEX Kyle Gibson

None of the second-year righties’ numbers exactly jump out at you, he just goes about his business and keeps providing good results, albeit no victories yet in 2020. He has been slowly working his ratio stats down to respectable levels, and while it would be more propitious to face the Rangers at home, they are not exactly intimidating opponents in their home park this season, either.

Trevor Cahill SF @ SD Chris Paddack

Tough matchup, going against Paddack on the road, but his ratio stats are such to invite interest from fantasy owners: 2.51 ERA and 1.12 WHIP over the course of his limited 14.1 IP. He appears to be recovered from his hip joint inflammation, although he is probably going to be seeing limited innings in the meantime. That will make victories rare until he pitches deeper into games, so keep that in mind for the balance of this season.

Friday, September 11, 2020

Trevor Rogers MIA vs PHI Spencer Howard

Small sample size makes for analysis that is suspect with the Miami youngster, but he does have a start at home, in a pitcher’s park. He has been able to rack up impressive strikeout numbers against the Mets, who are not known exactly as a free-swinging offense, so even with Philly coming in, he should still continue to miss bats.

Jaime Barria LAA @ COL Germán Márquez

This will be his third start of the season, with a game against the Astros coming up before this contest at Coors Field. Another pitcher with a limited sample size to predict from, he is heading to a hitter-friendly park which may cause him trouble given his propensity to generate less than average Ks.  Still, his ratios are superb: 2.63 ERA, 1.10 WHIP over those limited 13.2 IP, and his FIP is right in line with those stats (2.62), although his BABIP of .252 does hint at some negative regression in his future.

Chase Anderson TOR vs NYM Jacob deGrom

Aside from the fact that he has yet to pitch past the fifth inning, everything looks rosy for the veteran righthander. His K numbers are better than respectable with good control to back them up (8.2 K/9, 4.50 K/BB ratio through his five starts). His advanced metrics do not indicate any great adjustments on the horizon, either, and his mound opponent is one of the unluckiest aces we have seen in some time, so things line up well in this outing for the Toronto SP.

Saturday, September 12, 2020

Tony Gonsolin LAD vs HOU Framber Valdez

The second-year righty has settled into the Dodger rotation nicely, posting stellar ratio stats over his limited time as a starter: 0.51 ERA and 0.79 WHIP, having yielded just a single earned run through 17.2 IP on the season. He also flourishes a useful 17:5 K/BB ratio through his four starts. Take note, though, that Walker Buehler is due to be reactivated soon, and that may make for tough rotation choices in LA, and thus this start is not guaranteed in any fashion.

Sunday, September 13, 2020

Chad Kuhl PIT @ KC Matt Harvey

A pair of last place teams facing one another here, but Kuhl has been a bright spot in the Pirate pitching picture, putting up a 3.10 ERA and 1.21 WHIP on the season. He should be able to pick up some Ks against the Royals, who rank 11^th in MLB in terms of strikeouts generated from their offense in 2020.

Brett Anderson MIL vs CHC Alec Mills

Anderson had put together a couple of QS before struggling in a no-decision at home against the Pirates, where he allowed four earned tallies on nine hits including a homer. He gets the Cubs at home, where admittedly he has struggled more than on the road this season. The North Siders are the easiest team to make miss pitches this season, though, so that could work in his favor, despite his mediocre K rate of 6.4 K/9 over 28.0 IP this year.

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.