Fantasy Baseball Week 21 Two-Start Pitchers/Streaming Starters: Jesus Luzardo Looking To Play Spoiler

The unofficial end of summer arrives with Labor Day on Monday, and it is imperative that fantasy baseball owners adjust their rosters as the season winds down in the ninth month. Keep your eye on the MLB injury reports, so you do not plug in a SP that is sitting on the bench due to injury issues. There are a number of nice dual start options, some which may be up for grabs in your leagues. Fair number of middle tier, and as per usual, plenty of arms to avoid in the bottom group. 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…

These hurlers should be plopped into your rotations and allowed to provide you with the bounty they are promised to deliver. These pitchers are not those you worry about in terms of opponent or venue. Wind them up and let them produce.

Justin Steele is being eased back into the rotation, after experiencing back tightness in his last start against the host Brewers in Milwaukee. He has been pitching well of late, with three quality starts out of his last four trips to the bump. He continues to strike out better than a batter per inning, and is a full run better in ERA at home than on the road, and lo and behold, both his Week 22 starts are scheduled for Wrigley Field.

Jesús Luzardo collected his third straight QS despite allowing five total runs to the visiting Rays. He heads into Week 22 with fine ratio numbers AND counting stats: 3.44 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 10.1 K/9. His matchups are not stellar this scoring period, but he also has been better on the road this year, so the first contest in Philly projects as the better option to plug him into your rotation, especially if you are seeking strikeouts.

Michael Wacha is looking to build on his current four game win streak when he takes his game on the road for a couple of Week 22 trips to toe the rubber. Granted, his best success on the mound has been in Fenway Park in 2022, but he also has not been atrocious away from this home park. He is an average K producer that provides excellent ratio numbers for his owners.

Jordan Lyles stumbled along for a couple of outing in the middle of August but righted the ship in his last two trips to the hill, where he collected a couple of QS, and worked on lowering his ERA to the low 4.00 range again. He offers average strikeout production and gets to pitch at home for both his starts this week, where he has been superb in 70.1 IP to date. 

Kyle Bradish, another Oriole arm with dual start status this scoring period, has also put up a pair of QS recently, coming one out short of a three consecutive QS streak. He is a better K option than his teammate Lyles, with a 8.7 K/9 rate over his 17 starts to date, comprising 87.0 IP. He does not seem to enjoy pitching in the confines of Camden Yards as much as his rotation mate, thus his slightly lower ranking here in the middle tier.

Marco Gonzales, the veteran southpaw Mariner SP, continues a trend with two QS in his last two outings. He also has a pair of home games on the slate, and he has been a better option when toiling away in Seattle in 2022. Just do not expect much in terms of strikeouts, with his 4.9 K/9 rate over his 146.2 IP this season.

Taijuan Walker is away from NY for both his Week 22 starts, and he has been generally better on the road this season, so that is reason to believe in him for the scoring period. He is coming off a performance where he was wilder than usual: three free passes, one hit batter, but he also had a better than his average five Ks. The matchups against the last place Pirates and fourth place Marlins, both division rivals, are favorable, too.

Johnny Cueto endured one recent blip on the radar, allowing the visiting Diamondbacks seven earned tallies, which kept him from heading into the week with a 12 consecutive QS streak. Ah, well, 11 of 12 QS is noting to sneeze at. Two road starts fit nicely into his home/road splits. His main negative feature is the sub-average strikeout rate of 5.7 K/9 through his 129.0 IP.

Eric Lauer took a loss in his last outing, despite twirling a QS and holding the host Diamondbacks to just two earned runs on six hits and no walks over 6.2 IP. The matchups in the coming days are favorable, despite a game to open the week at Coors Field. He averages nearly a strikeout per inning, which should play well on this second start of the week in Cincy, should you be seeking counting stats.

Martín Pérez, the veteran southpaw, saw his three game QS streak end when he was tagged for five earned runs by the Astros, although he still features a stellar sub-3.00 ERA. The 1.23 WHIP is not as desirable but by no means a detriment to his value, especially with a useful 8.2 K/9 season ratio. His groundball inducing tendency and propensity to avoid the long ball should play well in the matchups this week in Houston and against the Blue Jays at home.

There are pitchers here in this tier that may tempt you to plug them into your rotation, but their recent results indicate that such behavior would be rash and potentially damaging to your ratios and counting stats. It is possible some of these pitchers will rediscover their magic from earlier in the season, but for now, the risk outweighs the rewards for the greater part. If you are desperate, maybe use an SP facing the Nationals, the Tigers, the Royals or the A’s, but only if a start is absolutely needed. Do not get cute with your rotations as the season winds down to the final weeks.

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, September 6, 2022

Dean Kremer BAL vs TOR Alex Manoah

Kremer, the third year righty for the Orioles, is coming off a strong August, posting an admirable 2.25 ERA and 0.94 WHIP over his five starts in the month, while allowing just 1.1 BB/9 over that stretch of 32.0 IP. His major downside is the below average K rate, 5.9 K/9 in August, down from his season rate of 6.7 K/9. He does get to face Toronto at home here, which is a plus.

Rich Hill BOS @ TB TBD

Hill has been more of a road warrior this season, so heading to Florida to face the Rays is not a bad circumstance for him. He is coming off a poor effort where he allowed four earned tallies and handed out four free passes to the visiting Rangers, while only collecting a pair of Ks. The game prior to that, though, he shut out the Rays on one hit and amassed 11 Ks, so there is potential for good results in this contest.

Justin Dunn CIN @ CHC Justin Steele

The 26-year-old’s last start was cut short due to shoulder tightness, but he is expected as of writing to make his start on Tuesday against the host Cubbies. It is not the best matchup possible, as his mound opponent is also pitching well, but Dunn has been effective in his last three trips to the hill, posting a 2.40 ERA and 1.07 WHIP over his most recent 15.0 IP.  He offers average K potential, although the good news is that Chicago is ranked fifth in terms of swings and misses in all of MLB this season.

Wednesday, September 7, 2022

Austin Voth BAL vs TOR Ross Stripling

The Baltimore righty has been dealing while on the bump since the end of July, racking up an impressive 2.18 ERA and 0.97 WHIP through those 33.0 IP. He gets to face the Jays at Camden Yards, which is an advantage. He also is an average K producer, with an acceptable 7.9 K/9 rate on the season

Thursday, September 8, 2022

JP Sears OAK vs CHW Dylan Cease

The rookie southpaw is working on a pair of consecutive QS heading into this contest against the White Sox. It is not a superb matchup, but the 25-year-old SP has pitched well at home this season. He is sub-par at producing whiffs (5.7 K/9 rate on the season) but does a wonderful job keeping the ball in the park (0.5 HR/9), which helps him produce good numbers overall. Beware, though, as his peripherals indicate a bit of negative regression is in his future.

Friday, September 9, 2022

Drew Smyly CHC vs SF Carlos Rodón

The veteran southpaw is continuing to be stingy with the earned runs, having allowed just three such runs over the course of August (30.0 IP over five starts). That amounts to a stellar set of ratios: 0.90 ERA and 0.93 WHIP. He has also been blessed with good control and decent swing and miss stuff: 1.8 BB/9, 7.5 K/9 during the last month. He is pitching at home against a team that is well under .500 on the road this season.

Roansy Contreras PIT vs StL Miles Mikolas

The rookie right-hander is coming off a three hit shutout effort on the road in Philly, and has tossed two QS among his last four starts. He is averaging nearly a strikeout per frame (8.6 K/9 over his 68.0 IP in 2022), although his control needs work (4.1 BB/9). Getting the Cards at PNC Park makes for a better matchup here.

Saturday, September 10, 2022

J.T. Brubaker PIT vs StL Dakota Hudson

Another Pirate arm to consider for a streaming start, Brubaker returns from paternity leave to face the Cards at home, which as noted above is where a SP wants to face the St. Louis offense, away from Busch Stadium. Not that the right-hander has been at his best at home, and he is coming off a rough outing against the Braves, although he did collect eight Ks in that effort. His peripherals also suggest that a positive correction could be in his future.

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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Related MLB Links:

• Previous Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Targets
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• 2022 MLB Injury Report
• Fantasy Baseball Daily Round Ups
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