Fantasy Baseball 2024 Two-Start Pitchers & Streaming Starters For Week 12

Once again, double-digit top tier fantasy aces to use in your fantasy baseball rotations this week. Not a whole lot of middle-tier arms to rely upon, and you will note that several carry concerns with the state of their peripheral metrics resulting in negative trending in the near future. Plenty of hurlers to simply avoid, except for the rare streaming possibility in the bottom group. As far as streaming options go, the second half of this article details those pitchers that may be useful to snatch off the wire and slip into your rotation for a start in Week 12.

Only 10 top-tier options to employ in your fantasy lineups this week, but as with every week, these are the pitchers to plug into your rotations and be thankful they are on your roster. No matter where they take the ball and climb the hill, nor which offense they are facing, it is suggested you take advantage of their dual-start utility this scoring period.

Assad has a pair of home starts lined up in Week 12, and he has fared much better at Wrigley than on the road this year. The inability to pitch deeper into games, such as lasting into the sixth inning, has put a damper on his win totals, but he still is sporting a nice 2.81 ERA and 1.24 WHIP through 73.2 IP. He is also striking out nearly a batter per inning (8.8 K/9). If it were not for the two home trips to the mound, though, he would not be regarded this highly to top the middle tier, as his peripheral metrics do hint at some further negative regression moving on in 2024.

Blanco has been remarkably consistently good this season, aside from the two starts to end May and begin June, where he yielded eight earned runs over those two home contests. He opens this two-start week by taking on the White Sox, certainly a favorable matchup. He gets the Orioles at home, not an
ideal opponent to wind up Week 12 with, but he does have above-average strikeout potential with an 8.5 K.9 rate on the year. As with Assad above, the peripherals are insinuating a potential for regression on his superior results thus far.

Poteet, the 29-year-old righthander who rejoined the Yankee rotation in June, has collected a pair of victories over his last three trips to toe the rubber. He boasts a superior 2.40 ERA and 1.07 WHIP over those 15.0 innings of work. The 13:7 K/BB ratio he possesses over his 2024 time on the mound is not as impressive as the ratio stats, to be certain, and he faces a pair of daunting opponents this week, although both his upcoming time atop the bump are at home.

Myers, the 25-year-old rookie righty, is working on a two-game quality start (QS) streak heading into Week 12. Being a road warrior thus far in 2024, two road contests play into his strong suit. He is above average at missing bats, although his control could use some refinement: 8.0 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 over 40.2 innings. As with others profiled in the middle tier this week, the peripheral metrics imply potential adjustments in a negative direction.

Quantrill has nine quality starts on the season, and has accumulated six of those over his last eight appearances for the Rockies. He also has not allowed a run, earned or otherwise, over his last two starts. His strikeout production is definitely unpredictable, but he has two home games this scoring period and has been effective while toeing the rubber at Coors Field this season.

Harris is carrying a 2.49 ERA and 1.11 WHIP heading into a dual start week, with both of his times atop the hill being at home. He offers above-average strikeout potential (8.2 K/9) and below-average control (3.2 BB/9), and yep, his peripherals are signaling that the great times in terms of ratio results may be coming to an end. Not that he has not demonstrated effective pitching ability, but his team’s offense does not leave much room for error, either. He may be a two-start SP, but there is risk in trusting him against a pair of tougher opponents, even with the home-start advantage.

Plenty of dual-start SPs that you do not want to trust for one trip to the hill, let alone a pair of appearances. You may need to take a chance with one or more if you are desperate for innings in your league, or the injuries continue to beleaguer your roster(s), but choose wisely based on opponent and venue, as the potential damage to your ratios is great with the bottom-tier arms.

Potential Streaming Options for Week 12

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…

Jose Soriano, Los Angeles Angels vs. Milwaukee Brewers

He now has six quality starts over his dozen starts in 2024 (14 appearances total), and is carrying a useful 3.48 ERA and 1.18 WHIP over his 72.1 IP this season. The strikeouts are just average at 7.5 K/9, but he has become an innings-eating SP on a team in need of help on all fronts. Milwaukee is just over .500 on the road, to boot.

Michael Lorenzen, Texas Rangers vs. New York Mets

Lorenzen’s streak of four consecutive quality starts was snapped in his last short 4.1 inning outing. He now gets to face the Mets at home, but do not expect this opponent to improve his strikeout numbers greatly, which are at best average.

Griffin Canning, Los Angeles Angels vs. Milwaukee Brewers

The Angel righty is coming off his second quality start in a row, although his results were again another notch in the loss column. He has not yielded more than three runs in a contest since the end of April, but is also an only average strikeout producer (6.1 K/9). It is the innings he throws and the minimal run damage he surrenders that make him a recurring streaming suggestion.

Albert Suarez, Baltimore Orioles vs. New York Yankees

In limited action as a starter this season (seven starts out of 14 total appearances), he has been highly effective. In his last four outings, he has yielded a mere three earned tallies over those 19.1 IP (1.40 ERA). He is also contributing average K numbers although his control could be sharper. Despite a road game at Yankee Stadium here, it should be noted that his road numbers are better than his results when toeing the rubber at Camden Yards.

Andrew Heaney Texas Rangers vs New York Mets

There is no guarantee that Heaney will not find himself heading back to the bullpen with Jon Gray coming off the IL, but if he does find himself atop the bump here, he offers above-average strikeout potential (8.4 K/9) with good control (2.2 BB/9). Nothing in his peripherals indicates that he cannot continue to be an effective pitcher so long as the Rangers use him in that capacity.

Simeon Woods Richardson, Minnesota Twins vs Tampa Bay Rays

Another frequent flyer in the streaming pitching realm, the Twin rookie SP is appealing due to a 2.84 ERA and 1.09 WHIP over his 10 starts in 2024. He also has a positive 42:11 K/BB ratio accumulated over 50.2 IP, making him a good control/average strikeout arm. He gets to face the .500 Tampa Bay offense at home where he is currently nearly a run better in ERA than on the road.

Chris Flexen, Chicago White Sox vs Houston Astros

It is difficult to be excited about a pitcher on the White Sox, given their abysmal performance thus far in 2024, but the 29-year-old right-hander has given up just five earned runs over his last 15.0 IP, while fanning 13 opposing hitters. The big red mark is the seven walks he has allowed in that stretch, although his WHIP is a solid 1.07 during those games. He gets to face the Houston bats at home, and the Astros have fared poorly away from Minute Maid Park in this season. 

Mitch Spence, Oakland Athletics vs. Kansas City Royals

The rookie righty has been effective since joining the Oakland rotation, with a 3.12 ERA as a starter, to go with a 1.19 WHIP over those 26.0 IP. He tossed a QS against the visiting Blue Jays in his most recent time climbing the hill, and will look to continue that production at home against the Royals. He offers
average strikeout ability and above-average control, and his peripherals indicate that he may have even better results to come down the road. 

Andre Pallante, St. Louis Cardinals vs. San Francisco Giants 

The 25-year-old righty has had a poor outing sandwiched between two exceptional starts since rejoining the Cardinals as a major league SP. It is the 11.0 scoreless IP that makes him worthy of notice as a streaming option, as his strikeout numbers are simply pedestrian and his control can use some improvement, too. He does get to face the Giants at home, a favorable matchup given the sub-.500 record San Fran has on the road this season.

Colin Rea, Milwaukee Brewers vs. San Diego Padres

The Brewer veteran right-hander twirled a beauty of a game against the visiting Blue Jays in his last appearance, holding the opponent to a single earned run (on a homer) and racking up four strikeouts against zero free passes. A 3.31 ERA and 1.26 WHIP are decent enough ratios to carry into a road starts against the Padres, who play better on the road than at home at Petco Park.

Joey Estes, Oakland Athletics vs. Minnesota Twins

Our second Oakland pitcher to be a streaming option, Estes has proven unpredictable, looking sharp and holding the offense in check, but then the air leaves the balloon and bunches of runs are scored against him. On a positive note, he has been far stingier with the earned tallies at home this year, and he gets to face the Twins in the Coliseum in this contest. He shows good control (2.3 BB/9) and offers slightly above-average strikeout numbers (7.9 K/9 over a limited 32.0 IP in 2024).

Miles Mikolas, St. Louis Cardinals vs. San Francisco Giants

The veteran righty has been dealing from the mound recently, with five QS among his last six times climbing atop the bump, racking up a 3.00 ERA and an exceptional 0.88 WHIP over those 36.0 IP. He is just an average source of strikeouts, but has great control to aid his efforts on the hill. He is also a slightly better operator at Busch Stadium, where he gets to face the Giants, who are below .500 on the road to date this season.

Spencer Arrighetti, Houston Astros vs. Baltimore Orioles

The rookie right-hander continues to have trouble locating the plate with consistency, his last outing being the fourth where he has handed out three free passes to the opposition. He is pitching effectively, despite the lack of control, putting up a 1.23 ERA to accompany a similar 1.23 WHIP over his last three starts, comprising 14.2 IP. 18 strikeouts collected over that span helps to offset the lack of control. Not a great matchup, to be certain, but he has been a better home pitcher in his first MLB season.