Fantasy Baseball Two-Start Pitchers/Streaming Starters Week 4: Bruce Zimmermann Takes The Mound Twice

This week’s dual start options yield a baker’s dozen of options in the upper tier, and a similar count in the bottom tier. The middle tier arms are not stellar options, with a number having to pitch both of their scheduled starts on the road. Stay away from the lower tier denizens, plug and play the upper group of hurlers as you may be blessed to have them grace your roster, and pick and choose among the middle bunch.

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 ado, here are this week’s two start pitchers:

This group of 13 arms are those that you should simply plug into your rotations, and not worry about opponent or venue when employing their skills on your fantasy squads. An Oriole SP may seem an odd fit to the upper tier, but Bruce Zimmerman has been amazing, allowing just a pair of earned tallies through his 19.1 innings of work and racking up 21 strikeouts. 

Marco Gonzales is day-to-day, with a bruised wrist suffered on a comebacker. Putting up a strikeout per inning early on this season is attractive, but he allows a lot of traffic on the basepaths, as witnessed by his unattractive 1.50 WHIP, fueled by the 17 hits he has given up more so than the tolerable four free passes he has yielded over 14.0 IP. 

Dakota Hudson has not allowed an earner run, or any runs for that matter, over his last two outings. He has handed out seven walks during those 12.2 IP, although he did collect eight Ks as well. He is the definition of a hot hand right now, so use him while the streak extends into a pair of road contests. Given his home/road splits the past couple of seasons, pitching away from home is not a major impediment to his success while toeing the rubber. Those walks, though, could catch up to him at any time, so be forewarned.

Chris Flexen is not much for generating swings and misses, with a sub-par 5.6 K/9 rate over his 24.0 IP to date. The 3.38 ERA and 1.17 WHIP indicate that he has need not produce whiffs to be successful on the hill. He does not have the greatest matchups on the slate for Week 4, heading to Houston and then entertaining the visiting Tampa Bay at home, but both those opponents are mired in the middle of their divisions, and thus not as formidable as other opponents.

Drew Rasmussen is the first of two Ray starting pitchers profiled in the middle tier this week, and is coming off six innings of shutout pitching, holding the visiting Mariners to just two base hits and one free pass, while collecting nine Ks during that appearance. He has to toil on foreign mounds this scoring period for both his starts, so that tempers enthusiasm for his potential somewhat.

Jeffrey Springs also takes his show on the road for both his scheduled Week 4 starts, facing the A’s and then the Mariners. Seattle has been good at home in the first month of the season, so that profiles as the tougher matchup. His ratio stats are superb: 0.93 ERA and 0.83 WHIP, but the team has been employing him in an opener’s role, limiting his inning count. While he is racking up Ks at a good rate (11.2 K/9), the short time on the hill limits his counting stat production, as well as his possibility to collect any victories as a “starting” pitcher.

Zack Greinke generated his highest strikeout total in his last outing, but still only has six total whiffs over his 22.0 IP in 2022. He is pitching effectively, nevertheless, with an appealing 2.86 ERA and 1.09 WHIP thus far this season. As with others in this middle tier, he has to pitch away from his home park for both this week’s trips to the bump, although the second start is in Baltimore, which is a positive.

Ross Stripling has settled into the Toronto rotation with Hyun Jin Ryu on the IL, and has collected 12 K over his 13.0 IP over his three starts while handing out a mere single walk during that period. The 2.77 ERA and 1.00 WHIP are useful ratios for fantasy purposes, to be certain. He gets the Yankees at home, and then faces the less intimidating Guardians on the road, although both his pitching opponents reside in the upper tier this scoring period, so not the greatest matchup potential.

Carlos Carrasco is coming off a disastrous start against the host Cardinals, although his first three starts of the season were an entirely different tale. He had been featuring an excellent 1.47 ERA and 0.60 WHIP prior to his issues in St. Louis, where he toiled to last just one out short of four complete innings, allowing seven earned runs (eight runs total on eight hits, two walks and a hit batter). He will seek to right the vessel at home against the Braves and then in Philly against a bottom tier mound opponent, Ranger Suárez.

These arms are best left on the bench, on the wire or as pickups by other owners in your leagues, as they are not worthy of your trust for two starts this coming week. Some have potential value in matchup situations, and a pitcher like Suarez has been a good luck charm for the Phillies, who have won each of his starts while he has collected two of those four victories himself. Even so, a 4.42 ERA and inflated 1.64 WHIP make him a risky option to rely upon for your fantasy success. Just avoid these SPs unless and until they pitch with more effectiveness on a consistent basis.

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, May 3, 2022

Brad Keller KC vs StL Dakota Hudson

The Royal righthander has collected three quality starts (QS) over his four starts to date, posting a desirable 2.19 ERA and 0.77 WHIP through his 24.2 IP. He has only handed out five walks while generating 17 Ks. He has a home start on tap to open the scoring period, as well.

David Peterson NYM vs ATL Kyle Wright

Peterson was sent to Triple-A but is expected to return to face the visiting Brave offense, as the Mets were acting to add a bullpen arm while Peterson was not available to pitch for a few days. The southpaw was coming off his longest starting effort, coming an out short of a QS while limiting the host Diamondbacks to a single earned run on three hits and a walk.

Glenn Otto TEX @ PHI Ranger Saurez

Otto, the second-year righty, will continue to make a case to remain in the Ranger rotation when he heads to Philly for his third start of the season. He is generating better than a K per inning in his early action on the mound as a SP, although it is not all rainbows and unicorns, as his 2.9 BB/9 rate could use some improvement.

Wednesday, May 4, 2022

Madison Bumgarner ARI @ MIA Elieser Hernandez

Bumgarner was featured here last week, and he produced another five-inning effort, allowing just a single earned run on three hits and walk. He picked up his first victory against the host Cardinals while collecting three Ks, and now heads out on the road to a pitcher’s park to seek his second W of 2022.

Drew Smyly CHC vs CHW Lucas Giolito

Despite taking a pair of losses in his last two, the Cub southpaw has pitched well, with a good-looking set of ratio stats on the season, his ERA sitting under 3 at 2.79 and his WHIP at 1.09. His strikeout rate is depressed so far in 2022, with just 13 whiffs over his 19.1 IP, and the bad news is that he faces one of the more difficult offenses to get to swing and miss when the White Sox come calling this week. He will make the attempt to improve his home stats mid-week.

Martín Pérez TEX @ PHI Zack Wheeler

The veteran lefty has been superb over his last two outings, comprising 13.0 IP where he has been charged with just a single earned run on a mere four hits and one free pass. The nine Ks are below average, but in line with his usual production. Perez has been better on the road over the last few seasons, so heading to the City of Brotherly Love posts some positive potential.

Thursday, May 5, 2022

Taijuan Walker NYM @ PHI Aaron Nola

Walker is slated for limited action and a reduced pitch count this weekend as he returns to action after a stint on the IL with a shoulder issue. If the start against the Phillies at home goes well, look for this start in Philadelphia to be more in the line of a normal appearance on the hill. 

Friday, May 6, 2022

Chris Paddack MIN vs OAK Cole Irvin

Paddack is coming off a strong no-decision, where he came just one out short of racking up a QS against the visiting Tigers, not that all that many pitchers are having trouble putting up decent games against Detroit. He now gets another home game to seek his first victory of the campaign.

Chad Kuhl COL @ ARI Merrill Kelly

Building on a theme, Kuhl picked up a victory against the Tigers in his last start (2-0 on the season through three starts), succeeding where Paddack did not. Despite not demonstrating good control (seven BB), his ratio stats are eye-opening: 1.10 ERA, 0.92 WHIP through 16.1 IP. Negative regression is on the horizon, to be sure, but his matchups in the near future are not intimidating: Cincy, then this game against the host Diamondbacks.

Adrian Houser MIL @ ATL Max Fried

Houser is working on a pair of QS, and is just one out away from three of those in a row. He is handing out a few too many walks to be an elite SP option, although the results on the mound have been useful for the Brewers thus far. The fantasy results have been good as well, although he is due for some regression, based on his unsustainable .246 BABIP and higher than average walk rate.

Saturday, May 7, 2022

Michael Lorenzen LAA vs WAS Josiah Gray

The Angel righty is not owned in many leagues (13.8% ESPN, 19% Yahoo, 34% CBS), this despite tossing a couple of QS and amassing two victories in those efforts. His peripherals indicate that he is due to see negative regression from his fine ratios (2.93 ERA and 0.98 WHIP) if we look at an unsustainable BABIP of .179, LOB% of 83.3% and a FIP over a run and a half higher than his current ERA (4.60). This matchup, though, has good results written all over it.

Daniel Lynch KC @ BAL Tyler Wells

The second-year lefthander has reeled off a couple of first-rate starts, not allowing a single run, earned or otherwise, in either game. He is collecting a K per inning, while not allowing an overabundance of free passes to opposing hitters. Facing the Orioles is a good matchup to wind up Week 4. 

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.

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