Fantasy Baseball 2024 Two-Start Pitchers & Streaming Starters For Week 15

Another week with a mere handful of middle tier dual start hurlers to consider for both their trips to the bump. Loads of arms in the top tier like Chris Sale, Zack Wheeler, Zac Gallen, and even more in the bottom group. As this article has frequently advised, avoid those pitchers that reside in the lower group of two-start pitchers. There are a number of streaming options presented in the second half of this week’s installment, although there is always risk involved in seeking streaming help. Heck, there is risk involved in trusting any pitcher, even an ace. Part of fun of fantasy baseball, right? 

This week, we have a full dozen aces that will likely benefit your team if you are fortunate enough to have one or more of these pitchers on your roster. The advice of winding them up and letting them run applies this week the same as it has for the past 14 scoring periods. Do not overthink the situation; rather, take advantage of your good fortune in drafting wisely or making prudent waiver wire pickups.

Lively picked up his first quality start in a month, and took a tough loss to the Royals in Kansas City. He provides average strikeout potential with slightly above-average control, to go along with an attractive set of ratio stats: 3.03 ERA, 1.16 WHIP through 71.1 IP. His peripheral metrics hint as some negative regression, and he has been less successful away from the shores of Lake Erie which is where both of his two starts this week are taking place, in Detroit and Tampa Bay.

Rea is coming off his strongest outing this season, pitching seven scoreless frames at Coors Field. He has been stingy with the earned tallies in seven of his last eight starts, holding opponents to two or fewer earned runs save for a stumble against the Padres in San Diego. As with Little above, he offers above-average control but only sub-par strikeout ability, yet his ratios are useful, with a 3.34 ERA and 1.20 WHIP accumulated over his 94.1 IP to date. Unlike the Guardian hurler, though, he has two home starts where he has pitched superbly this year.

Abbott is another pitcher who offers useful ratio stats for his fantasy owners, with a 3.28 ERA and 1.20 WHIP, gathered over his 17 trips to toe the rubber. He also does not offer great strikeout potential this season, his 6.9 K/9 over 96.0 IP in 2024 a significant drop-off from 2023’s 9.9 K/9 rate. Two home matchups against teams mired in last place in their divisions is a definite positive.

Montas is not nearly as desirable as a member of your fantasy rotation as his rotation-mate profiled just above, although his strikeout rate is marginally higher, while his control hurts him, reflected in a sub-par 1.31 WHIP (and a less than stellar 4.23 ERA). Two home matchups against a pair of beatable opponents is also a plus for the veteran right-hander.

Kremer returned to action after dealing with a triceps strain, and continued his stellar strikeout production, fanning eight over five shutout frames in Seattle. The road warrior has to climb the hill for two home contests this coming scoring period, not ideal but his recent efforts inspire confidence. His ERA is now below 4.00 (3.93) and his WHIP continues to float in useful range (1.09).

Bello twirled another quality start against the Marlins, racking up seven strikeouts while only handing out one free pass, and with that effort, should be resuming his role as part of the Boston rotation. Although his home/road splits are not favorable for two home starts, the opponents do not play well on the road, so there is that going for him in this dual start week. He does offer good strikeout potential (8.2 K/9 over 78.0 IP) and his peripheral metrics indicate better things may be in store for him over the balance of the season.

As noted in the opening, this week again provides a plethora of arms that it is suggested you avoid plugging into your rotation, for two starts certainly, and unless you are desperate for pitching help or innings, for a single streaming start either. The better streaming options are discussed below, and you would be better served to use one or more of those arms in your rotations, and avoid the damage these 17 hurlers have the conceivable possibility to cause your ratio stats without providing great counting stat benefit.

Potential Streaming Options for Week 15

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:

Michael Wacha, Kansas City Royals vs. Andre Pallante, St. Louis Cardinals

Wacha has not allowed more than two earned runs in any start since May 9^th, a total of eight trips to the mound. He also has accumulated a stellar 2.31 ERA and 1.03 WHIP over the course of those 46.2 IP, while striking out nearly a batter per frame (44 strikeouts). His opponent on climbing the hill for the Cards, Pallante, has had similar success, although he did get roughed up twice over his recent outings, but five other starts have seen him limit opponents to a total of two earned runs. His strikeout rate is just average, but nothing in his peripheral metrics indicates that he is pitching over his head. Either side of this matchup could be favorable for your fantasy purposes, if you are not comfortable starting opposing hurlers in your lineup.

Joey Estes, Oakland Athletics vs. Boston Red Sox

There are good things to be noted about the 22-year-old righty’s recent time on the bump, including a complete game shutout in his last start against the visiting Angels. He has held opponents to just four earned runs over his last three appearances. The strikeout rate is sub-average over those three starts, and merely average for the season, plus he is on the road for this start, not his strong suit. He does flash great control, as evidenced by his 1.12 WHIP and 2.1 BB/9 over 55.1 IP on the season.

Landon Knack, Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Philadelphia Phillies

The rookie right-hander has not been pitching deep into the games where he climbs the hill to open the action, so the potential for victories is not grand, and forget about quality starts. He is racking up a nice share of strikeouts for his owners (8.0 K/9) and shows good control (2.3 BB/9 over his limited 34.2 IP on the year). He has also been more effective away from LA this year, but consider that we are looking at a limited sample size.

Carson Spiers, Cincinnati Reds vs. Kyle Freeland, Colorado Rockies

Another possibility to consider perhaps using both sides of the SP options being presented in a contest, Spiers is coming off consecutive victories and QS, with ratio stats that are appealing: 3.!3 ERA and 1.15 WHIP through his 37.1 IP in 2024. He is also helping himself with excellent control (1.7 BB/9) and he gets the Rockies on his home turf. Freeland, the veteran southpaw, has been effective over his past two starts, rolling up a superb 1.42 ERA and 0.87 WHIP over those 12.2 IP. Neither team is tearing it up this season, so there is some conceivable value with both sides of this pitching matchup.

David Peterson, New York Mets vs. Washington Nationals

Peterson has tossed two quality starts among his last three outings, and has collected quality start in half of his appearances this season. Control is not his strong suit, with a 3.8 BB/9, but he also generates a boatload of ground balls (53.8% in limited innings, just 33.1). The trick while pitching at Citi Field will be to manipulate the National batters to hit the ball on the ground and not over the fence.

Kyle Harrison, San Francisco Giants vs. Toronto Blue Jays

Harrison is coming back to action directly from his ankle injury without a rehab assignment. This is a good matchup, as Toronto is severely unperforming this season. He had been pitching well enough to consider for streaming use prior to his IL stint, and should be able to provide some strikeouts with above-average control to be fantasy-useful.

Jose Soriano, Los Angeles Angels vs. Seattle Mariners

Prior to his time on the IL, the second-year righty had been pitching deep into games and been on and off with his ability to limit runs, looking good one game, then giving up four earned tallies the next (always four). The Mariners are not a great road team in 2024, so the matchup is not terrible, just have to hope this is not one of his four earned runs allowed efforts.

Andrew Heaney, Texas Rangers vs. Houston Astros

Heaney has not allowed more than three earned runs in any of his starts since the beginning of May, a dominant run on the hill. His ERA over those 61.2 IP is an admirable 3.21 and his strikeout rate is slightly better than a strikeout per frame, 9.2 K/9. He has been a better road arm than at home by a large measure, so this matchup plays into his wheelhouse.

Carlos Carrasco, Cleveland Guardians vs. Tampa Bay Rays

The veteran has tossed a pair of quality start to sandwich his five inning, two-run effort in Baltimore, a nice stretch of effective pitching. His ERA is an unattractive 5.21 and his inflated 1.36 WHIP is not winning any beauty contests, either, which is why he is so low and he is likely available on the wire. Given his home/road splits this season, this is a risky streaming choice even given opponent and his recent success.

Yonny Chirinos, Miami Marlins vs. Cincinnati Reds

In limited action, the 30-year-old hurler has been hit hard, resulting in an extravagant WHIP of 1.67, although his ability to keep the runners he allows on base from scoring has delivered a respectable 3.77 ERA to fill out the balance of his ratio stats. The venue is not ideal, but he does offer superior K potential as evidenced by his 9.4 K/9 rate so far this season. Realize that the strikeout rate exceeds his prior production by a significant amount, and may be subject to negative regression.

Luis Medina, Oakland Athletics vs. Philadelphia Phillies

The second-year right-hander is coming off a quality start effort where he held the Diamondbacks to a single earned run over 6.0 IP. In limited action to date, he has been far better throwing the horsehide in non-home parks, so heading to Philly is not a terrible situation. His strikeout rate has also been increasing over the past few starts, so there is also that to recommend him here.

Simeon Woods Richardson, Minnesota Twins vs. San Francisco Giants

Despite getting pulled from the game an out short of his fifth quality start on the season, the young righty continued his fine efforts on the bump, maintaining his useful ratio stats: 3.52 ERA and 1.13 WHIP through 71.2 IP in this season to date. He has been marginally better when pitching away from Target Field thus far, so the matchup here has potential.