Fantasy Baseball 2024 Two-Start Pitchers & Streaming Starters For Week 20

Lots of top-tier pitching choices for your fantasy rotations this week, but only three options in the middle group this coming scoring period, a relative dearth of pitching talent after the aces are accounted for. The dozen residing in the bottom tier are best left there, or on the waiver wire or your bench, and not trusted for either of their two times atop the bump this week. There are a number of streaming options profiled in the second half of this article if you are in need of an arm or two to prop up your Week 20 fantasy efforts. Without further ado, here are this week’s two-start pitchers…

Wind these pitchers up and let them do what they do best, throw the baseball past opposing hitters. These 14 hurlers provide the best opportunity to get two strong starts from a member of your rotation. Could there be a stumble or two? Certainly, but odds are that these aces will deliver fantasy goodness if you are fortunate enough to have one or more on your team.

Pfaadt has tossed four quality starts (QS) over his last seven outings, demonstrating exceptional control (1.1 BB/9) and useful strikeout numbers (38 strikeouts over 40.2 innings). He gets to open Week 20 at home against the Rockies, who are, to put it bluntly, awful on the road. His second start this scoring period is at Tampa Bay, and given his home/road splits, is not as promising a start for fantasy purposes, but not so obvious a matchup imbalance to mandate sitting him.

Hendricks carries an unattractive set of ratio stats (6.60 ERA and 1.45 WHIP through 91.1 innings this season), but has looked significantly better of late, posting a not horrible 4.50 ERA and 1.14 WHIP. Redemption of his status as a useful fantasy pitcher is an ongoing matter, and his first matchup in Cleveland is not necessarily where he should be relied upon in your fantasy rotation, but the second contest of the scoring period at home against the Rays is more promising.

Lively is pitching for the opposition in that contest where Hedricks is not suggested as necessarily a reliable hurler, so heading to the other side of the field makes since, especially given the right-hander’s home dominance this season. Not that his road contest is a bad matchup when he heads to Milwaukee, so this is a decent two-start option this week, although his strikeout production is just average.

None of these pitchers are worthy of your trust for one start, let alone two appearances. As is frequently advised, avoid plugging these arms into your rotations, if you want to keep your ratio stats solid. The potential counting stat value is not worth the risk of employing these pitchers in your lineups.

Potential Streaming Options for Week 20

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.

Valente Bellozo, Miami Marlins vs. Philadelphia Phillies

The rookie righty has been effective when pitching away from home, in limited action on the MLB level. Both of those starts have been against quality opponents, Kansas City and Atlanta, so this matchup in Philly is no different. 

Jonathan Cannon, Chicago White Sox vs. New York Yankees

Another rookie right-hander, pitching for a team not able to provide many victories for its starting pitchers. He has strung together three consecutive quality starts, allowing just four earned tallies over those 19 innings. He has been a strong presence when dealing from the hill at home, so this plays to his strength, taking on the Yankees in Chicago.

Joey Estes, Oakland Athletics vs. David Peterson, New York Mets

This is the only matchup of opposing hurlers that both pitchers are streaming options. The Oakland righty has not allowed more than two earned runs in any of his last five outings, accumulating an attractive 2.84 ERA and 1.14 WHIP over those 25.1 innings and 19 strikeouts. Peterson on the other hand continues to pitch effectively although his control issues have inflated his WHIP to an ugly 1.42 on the season. Neither hurler is pitching at the better end of their home/road splits, but both have shown effectiveness on the hill of recent vintage.

DJ Herz, Washington Nationals vs. Baltimore Orioles

Herz is an attractive streaming option due to his exceptional strikeout rate. Over his last four outings, he has collected 22 strikeouts over 17.2 innings. He had a short outing against the Giants, although that did extend his streak of games where he allowed two or fewer earned runs. This would portend better were it not a road contest, but the Ks are the drawing point for his use as a streamer.

River Ryan, Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Milwaukee Brewers

In limited action (three major league starts), the rookie right-hander has put up a superior 1.72 ERA. His problem has been lack of control, allowing three walks in each of his starts. It would be a good time to harness his control when he takes on the Brewers who have amassed the third-most free passes to date in all of baseball.

Mitch Spence, Oakland Athletics vs. New York Mets

Another rookie who is having problems finding the strike zone consistently, allowing walks at a rate of 4.2 BB/9 over the course of his last three starts. He is an average strikeout producer and his peripheral metrics indicate he can continue to be a useful pitcher going forward.

Jose Soriano, Los Angeles Angels vs. Atlanta Braves

The second year righty has held opponents to one or zero runs in four of his most recent starts (five of those). He offers average strikeout potential. His home/road splits are in his favor in this contest, as he has been more of a road warrior in 2024, but in his favor, the Braves are only a .500 or so team away from Atlanta.

Ryne Nelson, Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Tampa Bay Rays

Nelson, unlike Soriano above, has seen more effective results when pitching away from Chase Field, so a road game is not a negative for him. He has picked up his strikeout rate over his recent action, with a 10.3 K/9 over his most recent 23.2 IP. His peripherals indicate that his 4.65 ERA may be the result of some poor luck.

Spencer Arrighetti, Houston Astros vs. Chicago White Sox

The Houston rookie righty appears in the streaming profiles for the third week in a row, coming off a one run six inning effort. He racked up an impressive 12 strikeouts by the visiting Tampa Bay hitters, but still was saddled with a loss, his third in a row. Here, he has a great matchup to change his losing ways.

Edward Cabrera, Miami Marlins vs. New York Mets

The 26-year-old right-hander also racked up some big strikeout numbers in his most recent trip atop the bump, whiffing eight of the host Atlanta hitters he faced. He has also allowed three or fewer runs in each of his last four starts, making this start a decent streaming option.