Fantasy Baseball Week 3 Two-Start Pitchers & Streaming Starters: Shohei Ohtani Leads The Way

Week 3 arrives with a baker’s dozen of top-tier dual start possibilities to consider, and as per usual, a plenitude of arms in the bottom tier it is suggested you avoid inserting into your fantasy rotations unless you are extremely desperate for innings. The middle group this scoring period contains a number of hurlers that are having difficult locating the strike zone with their offerings, and thus, they reside in “maybe they can be useful” territory. Pick and choose wisely there. 

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.

As it is week after week, these are the pitchers it is suggested you plug into your rotation on their scheduled starting dates and let them work their magic for you. Congratulations if these pitchers grace your roster; enjoy the dual start bonus in Week 3.

Jameson, the 24-year-old rookie right-hander, stepped into the rotation and was sharp, holding the visiting Brewers scoreless on just three hits. The downside is that he was limited to just four innings of action, and will need to pitch deeper to have added value as a streaming SP option (i.e., qualify for a win or QS). He is striking out a batter per inning, but his control is suspect. Zach Davies is out with an oblique injury, so he is going to get an opportunity to stretch out his arm in the Diamondback rotation, including this week with two scheduled trips to the bump in his future.

Greene came into this season, touted for his ability to miss bats and he is living up to the hype, with 23 Ks over 14.0 IP. He racked up 10 whiffs on the road in Atlanta in his most recent time toeing the rubber, along with a QS while remaining winless on the season. Even facing opponents that are in the bottom third of strikeout producers this coming week, look for the Ks to continue to accumulate, although the ratio stats are not exactly strong selling points…so far.

Lynn also is coming off a 10 K effort, also over six frames with no decision coming his way. His control has departed from his skillset this season, and an eight earned run effort against the Giants at home have inflated his ratio stats to ugly levels. The Ks draw you in, the potential for better ERA and WHIP numbers going forward suggest he is a worthy dual start arm to employ in Week 3.

Flaherty is yet another SP who has struggled to find the strike zone in his three starts, allowing 14 free passes over the 15.1 IP to his credit this season. He has not been burned badly by the failure to throw strikes consistently, sporting a stellar 1.76 ERA thus far in 2023, and an 8.22 BB/9 rate is not something sustainable long term. Neither of his upcoming opponents are demonstrating great patience at the plate, the Diamondbacks being the offense with the least number of walks early in the season, and at least with the Mariners, he has a chance to pump up his K numbers.

Kelly had some bad luck in his last outing, or ran out of gas, as he had no-hit the Brewers through six innings until yielding a homer and a pair of walks, all of which resulted in him being charged with three earned runs and his second loss of the season. Continuing a trend in the middle tier, he has shown an inability to find the plate, with 12 walks over his 15.1 IP, and a bloated WHIP to show for it: 1.43. The 2.93 ERA is attractive.

Megill is coming off a victory over the visiting Padres, his third in three outings. He possesses a useful 2.25 ERA and 1.19 WHIP, a fantasy-friendly pair of ratios. His peripheral stats hint that some negative regression is in the cards, though, with a .233 BABIP and 4.71 FIP suggest that he has been inordinately lucky to date. The 13:7 K/BB ratio through 16.0 IP also need work on both sides of the colon, which his history indicate is certainly possible.

Freeland continues to be dominant on the hill, although he had to settle for a QS in his third outing of the season as opposed to the victories he achieved in his first two starts. He has an enviable scanty set of ratio stats, with both his ERA and WHIP sitting at 0.96 currently. A downside is the limited K production, with a 5.3 K/9 ratio over 18.2 IP on the year. A Colorado arm is generally to be avoided except for road streaming options, but right now it is time to ride Freeland’s hot hand.

Peterson has been charged with just three earned runs in his two losses, which tags him as somewhat unlucky, although not being tagged with a defeat when he gave up five earned tallies in his second start of the season balances out the luck to an extent. He is striking out better than a batter per inning (9.8 K/9 over 14.2 IP) but as with many of those profiled in this middle group of two-start SPs, his control is poor and hindering his efforts on the bump (4.9 BB/9-ouch!). Two road games in Week 3 are worrisome, as well.

Wood has yet to pitch deep enough in a contest this season as to qualify for a win, let alone a QS. Seven hits and five walks have ballooned his WHIP to an unattractive 1.57 through his two starts covering just 7.2 IP, although that sub-2.00 ERA (1.17) will draw some fantasy waiver wire interest, most likely. He does get to face the Mets at home, but opens the week with a trip to the hill in Miami, not exactly a piece of cake starting assignment.

This group is filled with pitchers that generally are not suggested to grace your lineup, even if they were not tempting you with a pair of trips to the bump. The potential damage to your ratio stats, even In the early going of the season, coupled with a relative dearth of valued counting stats makes them risky options to rely on, except in leagues were you are saddled with minimum inning requirements. Even there, it may be better to choose among the streaming options profiled later on in this article. Just a suggestion.

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:

Brad Keller (Kansas City Royals0 vs Texas Rangers

The 27-year-old righty is the first of three Royal arms being suggested as potential streaming values this week. He has been able to limit the opposing offense to just four earned tallies over three starts, and is working on a two-game win streak. His 2.12 ERA is going to draw interest, and despite his lack of control (4.24 BB/9), he is providing nearly a K per inning.

Peyton Battenfield (Cleveland Guardians) @ Detroit Tigers

In the early weeks of this season, it seems profitable to start any SP against the struggling Detroit Tigers. Battenfield did hold the Yankees to just two runs (one earned) over 4.2 IP in his debut this season in the Guardian rotation, and based on that result, will likely stick in the rotation until Aaron Civale is able to return from his oblique injury. 

Colin Rea (Milwaukee Brewers) @ Seattle Mariners

Rea returns to the ranks of the MLB after a year in Japan, and acquitted himself well in his debut start, on the road in San Diego, yielding just an earned run on two hits (one of which was a dinger), while collecting six Ks and allowing no free passes. Brandon Woodruff’s shoulder issue will sideline him for an indefinite period, which will keep Rea in the rotation for the time being.

Matt Strahm (Philadelphia Phillies) vs Colorado Rockies

Strahm has joined the Phillies’ rotation at the back end, and has performed admirably, not yielding a single run, earned or otherwise, through 10.0 IP on the season. He features a 10:2 K/BB ratio, which is atop a stellar 0.70 WHIP and a spotless ERA (the result of holding opponents scoreless, naturally). Here, he gets Colorado at home and not at Coors Field, an advantage to be sure, although his home park is certainly not pitcher friendly.

Kris Bubic (Kansas City Royals) @ Los Angeles Angels

Our second Kansas City hurler being suggested for streaming duty is the 25-year-old southpaw who picked up his K pace by whiffing nine Giant hitters on the road in San Francisco in his most recent trip to toe the rubber. He sports an entrancing 1.64 ERA and 0.91 WHIP through his 11.0 IP this season. Be cautioned that the offense he faces here is not as free swinging as his last opponent. His control has been superb to open the season, though, with just one free pass being handed out, and he is generating an impressive number of groundballs from hitters.

Zack Greinke (Kansas City Royals) @ Los Angeles Angels

Our final streaming SP option is also on the Royal starting staff, and had been pitching quite well until he headed to Texas in his last outing, where he yielded his first two over the fence shots of the season. He is a below average K producer these days (6.1 K/9) but is able to use the strike zone to his advantage and limit the walks (1.7 BB/9 over 16.1 IP in 2023. This is obviously not the best matchup, facing the Angel’s ace on the road, but wily veteran comes to mind in describing the veteran righthander. 

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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