Fantasy Baseball 2025 Two-Start Pitchers & Streaming Starters - Week 4

It is never exactly an easy process to determine which of the available Fantasy Baseball 2025 Two-Start Pitchers you want to insert in your current week’s lineup, but fortunately for you, most scoring periods have a fine selection of arms to consider as viable SPs. The real issue is whether they are available for your use, or were they snapped up by other savvy 2025 Fantasy Baseball owners at the draft or off the wire. 

If you look closely, though, the top tier of dual-start hurlers might just yield an unnoticed gem. Failing that, there is always the set of Fantasy Baseball 2025 Streaming Starters profiled in the second portion of this article, most of whom should be available to add to your roster due to their low ownership percentages when this piece is being written.

Fantasy Baseball 2025 Two-Start Pitchers

Please realize that these articles feature the 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 ado, here are this week’s two-start pitchers:

These are the SPs you are glad to have landed on your roster, especially this week when you get to start them twice. You need not concern yourself with opponent or venue, just wind them up and let them go. If one or more stumbles, chalk that up to the vagaries of baseball, realizing that overall, these are the arms we trust to carry our fantasy teams onward to statistical munificence.

Ray, the veteran southpaw, picked up his third victory of the season in a rain-shortened game, despite only pitching four innings. Despite sporting some attractive ratios (2.98 ERA, 1.24 WHIP over his 15.1 IP over the early going this season), his propensity to hand out free passes is worrisome and the reason he is relegated to the second tier of dual-start SPs.

 He has a couple of home starts on tap but realize his comfort-level while toeing the rubber at home over the past couple of seasons has been minimal, albeit over limited time on the hill. The good news is neither of his scheduled opponents has been playing well away from their home parks.

Pfaadt has seen his K totals drop in each of his three starts, but has also picked up back-to-back victories, the last outing a gem of a performance where he tossed six shutout innings, holding the visiting Orioles to just four hits and a pair of walks. 

He also has a couple of home starts on the schedule for Week 4, and like Ray, has not exactly been efficient while on the bump in the desert. As with the SP profiled immediately above, the opponents he faces have had their struggles on the road, so there is that in his favor.

Quintana came an out shy of collecting his second consecutive quality start (QS) this season in two starts, but still looked sharp, holding the visiting Tigers to just a single run. Bucking a trend, his two starts in the coming scoring period are on the road. He is not racking up the Ks, with just six to date, against three walks (all issued to the Tiger hitters). His ratios are stellar, though, with a 0.57 WHIP and 0.00 (!) ERA to date.

Bido has been allowing more and more hits in each of his three trips to the hill this season, handing out nine safeties over his last outing of 5.0 IP. He has been effective at limiting those baserunners to cross the plate, to his credit, and displays a 3.00 ERA over his 15.0 IP this season. 

The 14 Ks are a nice bonus for his fantasy owners, although improving his control would help to deflate his 1.60 WHIP. Two home contests on the calendar this coming week against two opponents that are not looking especially formidable on the road so far this season.

Vasquez, the third-year righthander, has accumulated a stellar 1.74 ERA and 1.35 WHIP to date over his four starts as a member of the Padre rotation (20.2 IP). The concern is the bloated walk rate: 6.1 BB/9 as a result of handing out 14 free passes thus far, while only managing to strike out eight hitters. 

He is not sporting favorable peripheral metrics, it should be noted, with a 4.28 FIP and .219 BABIP. The 82% LOB percentage is also not sustainable. The second start of the week at home against the Tampa Bay Rays seems the better time to trust him on the hill.

Buehler has been working hard to reduce his inflated ERA over his last two outings, where he has held opponents to just three earned tallies over those 11.1 IP. His ERA is still an ugly 5.23 but the WHIP is acceptable at 1.26. The 17:5 K/BB ratio is workable for fantasy purposes, and he will look for his third win of the season when facing the White Sox at home. The second start in Cleveland is less attractive if you were to exercise some discretion and not use him for both his Week 4 times scuffing at the slab.

Parker, the 25-year-old lefty, is coming off a third consecutive QS, although he did not receive a decision for his efforts on the hill against the host Marlins. The 10:8 K/BB ratio is bothersome, yet his past performance indicates that better swing-and-miss action is on the horizon. He has been generating a high percentage of ground balls, which is a new and welcome development if he can keep it working. Two home starts plays to his strength, based on his home/road splits over his time with the Nationals.

The 24-year-old righty Priester cut his ERA in half (0.90) by holding the visiting Tiger offense off the board over 5.0 IP, allowing just one hit while handing out three walks. He did collect another four Ks, bringing his season total to eight. 

His peripheral metrics hint at some negative regression on the horizon (.231 BABIP, 4.22 FIP, 100% LOB), although his GB% is exceptional at 53.8% and he has continued his skillset of avoiding giving up the long ball to opposing hitters. He has looked splendid early on, but does have two road contests in Week 4, so coupled with the metrics mentioned a sentence ago, use him with some caution.

As per usual, it is not suggested that you employ any of these SPs in your rotation(s) for both their starts, although in selective cases, a streaming start may be acceptable. Look at the venue and opponent when making those decisions, please. An example: Schmidt is coming back from an injury and the second start of the week at home has some potential. For the most part, though, the limited counting stat return in using any of these hurlers is likely offset by the damage your ratios will endure.

Fantasy Baseball 2025 Streaming Starters

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, April 22, 2025

• Steven Matz St. Louis Cardinals vs. Atlanta Braves

The veteran southpaw made his first start of the season, and after a bit of a struggle in the first frame where he allowed two hits, he then settled in and retired 15 Astros in a row. He figures to be a fixture in the Cardinal rotation for a bit, as the team is going with a six-man rotation for the next few weeks. He struck out five in his first start, coming with a K of doubling his season effort.

Wednesday, April 23, 2025

• Martin Perez, Chicago White Sox vs. Minnesota Twins 
• David Festa, Minnesota Twins vs. Chicago White Sox

Our first contest where both sides of the pitching matchup provide potential fantasy benefit if you wanted to stream one or both of these arms. It is difficult to trust a White Sox pitcher, given their lack of offensive support overall, but Perez has struck out better than a batter per frame (albeit with nine walks to his “discredit”). His ratios-1.59 ERA, 1.06 WHIP-are also extremely attractive. 

Coming from the other dugout, Festa has yet to yield an earned run over his relatively small sample size 9.0 IP and has an attractive 1.11 WHIP with a 10:2 K/BB ratio to his credit. Certainly, we can expect some ratio adjustments in the future for both these SPs, yet this matchup has the potential to allow them to continue to provide statistical benefits for those daring enough to use one or both of them in a game early in the week.

• Andrew Heaney, Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Los Angeles Angels

The 33-year-old southpaw hurt himself in his last outing, putting a couple of men on base by hitting them with pitches before allowing Elly De La Cruz to deposit a 3-2 offering over the wall for a grand slam. Those were the four runs he allowed in his 6.0 IP effort. He is striking out an average number of hitters per inning, while limiting the free passes (22:6 K/BB) and has a superb set of ratios: 2.13 ERA, 0.91 WHIP. 

His most recent trip to toe the rubber saw him toss 7.1 scoreless frames and allowed him to collect his first victory of the campaign. Continued pursuit of these efforts on the hill will likely see him collect his additional victories in the near future, perhaps as soon as this outing in Anaheim (no guarantees, though).

• Andrew Abbott, Cincinnati Reds vs. Miami Marlins

The start of the 25-year-old lefthander’s season was delayed due to a rotator cuff strain, but he looked on top of things in his first start of the 2025 campaign, going 5.0 IP and allowing just one earned run to the visiting Pirates. He currently sports a 1.80 ERA and 0.80 WHIP, but some regression seems likely to those superb ratios, although not necessarily from the Marlin offense in Miami.

• Tomoyuki Sugano, Baltimore Orioles vs. Washington Nationals

The veteran from Japan continues to be a poor strikeout producer, but his results on the hill are to be commended. He features a nice set of ratios with a 3.43 ERA and 1.29 WHIP, not eye-popping but certainly useful for fantasy purposes. His latest outing against the Guardians saw him yield a pair of runs, which came as a result of a pair of longballs, and that is a concern as he has given up four homers thus far in the early going. 

Thursday, April 24, 2025

• Shane Smith, Chicago White Sox vs. Minnesota Twins

Smith has pitched well, collecting a pair of consecutive QS and coming within one out of having a QS in all three of his rookie season starts. He also posts an admirable 2.04 ERA and 0.91 WHIP, demonstrating his skillset but he does toil on the bump for the woeful Pale Hose, the team displaying the least wins in all of the American League. His efforts are worthy of streaming use, despite the paucity of wins he is likely to accumulate in spite of his excellent efforts on the mound.

• J.T. Ginn, Sacramento Athletics vs. Texas Rangers

The 25-year-old collected a victory in his first start this season, allowing just one earned run, albeit on a dinger, while notching six Ks over his 5.1 IP effort. The good news is he gets the Rangers away from their home park, as they have played sub-.500 ball on the road to open the year. The bad news is that the team from Arlington is not known for their free-swinging ways, so strikeout production may be less than desired.

• Tyler Anderson, Los Angeles Angels vs. Pittsburgh Pirates

Despite not exhibiting great control while pushing off against the slab, having allowed eight free passes over his last two starts comprising 10.2 IP, he does feature excellent ratios: 2.87 ERA, 1.15 WHIP. He has struck out 15 hitters over his 15.1 IP to date, so that is useful for fantasy production purposes. He has been effectively pushing his ratios down to acceptable, even attractive levels and has a home start to work on more of that, against an opponent who is struggling mightily when playing away from PNC Park in Pittsburgh.

Friday, April 25, 2025

• Taijuan Walker, Philadelphia Phillies vs. Chicago Cubs 
• Colin Rea, Chicago Cubs vs. Philadelphia Phillies

The second contest where both sides of the pitching matchup provide interest as streaming options. Walker’s status as a member of the starting rotation for the Phillies is in danger, given his last outing where he yielded six runs (four earned) to the visiting Giants and also based on the impending return of Ranger Suarez from the IL. If this start is in the offing, then look for him to provide strong K numbers and continued ratio production. But please do keep an eye on the Philadelphia rotation status before relying on the veteran righty to provide SP value.

Rea was called upon to take on a starter’s role with Justin Steele now out for the balance of the season. He tossed a limited 3.2 IP against the Dodgers, thus no decision despite his effective outing, where he allowed just one earned run on four hits and a free pass, while racking up five Ks. He should be stretching his arm out as the season progresses, and the counting stats will continue to mount, and presumably the opportunities to post some wins as well. Taking on the Phillies at home is a positive factor for the veteran righthander.

Saturday, April 26, 2025

• Matthew Liberatore, St. Louis Cardinals vs. Milwaukee Brewers

The 25-year-old southpaw bounced back from a five-earned-run loss to the host Pirates with a QS of 6.0 IP excellence, where he held the Phillies scoreless and collected seven Ks. He is demonstrating excellent control and command of the strike zone, having allowed his only walk of the season in that recent QS. He has a home start on tap here, and he has been known to be a pitcher who benefits from home cooking.

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