Fantasy Baseball Week 7 Two-Start Pitchers & Streaming Starters: Shohei Ohtani Leads The Way

There are many aspects to consider when setting your fantasy baseball lineups, and thus this article features those dual start options to plug in your rotations or avoid altogether despite the allure of two trips to the hill. Suggestions as to who to pick up from the fantasy baseball waiver wire are also dolled out. And be sure to check out the latest MLB Streaks & Trends article to identify the hottest and coldest players from the last week around Major League Baseball. And be sure to consults our fantasy baseball tools page where you can find MLB Daily Projections, Fantasy Baseball Rest of Season Projections, MLB Lineups, and more to help you dominate your fantasy baseball league in week 7. This week’s offering of streamers and two-start pitchers has a significant number of useful arms to employ while seeking to dominate your fantasy baseball league.  If you are fortunate enough to own one or more of the hurlers in the top tier of dual pitchers in this week’s action, kudos on your fantasy foresight.

These pitcherss are the ones you should feel comfortable placing into your fantasy rotations for Week 7 and letting them work their magic. Should you have one or more, go ahead and expect some superior results. Do not concern yourself with matchups or venues, as these are the best options going this week on a two-start basis. 

Hunter Greene has been racking up tremendous K numbers all season, at least until his last trip to the mound where he did not come close to matching his season-long 11.8 K/9 rate, collecting just four over 5.1 IP against the visiting Mets’ offense. He will look to get back on track when he heads to Coors Field for his first start of the week, although the Yankee matchup for his second start does not presage huge results in the K column. 

Dean Kremer still has an inflated ERA due to early struggles, but is coming off a shut-out QS against the potent Tampa Bay offense. That was his second consecutive QS and he will look to continue to drive down his ratios when he takes on the Angels at home in his first start of the scoring period. The second start, at Toronto where the Blue Jays are enjoying extreme success, might be a time to consider putting him on the bench.

Patrick Corbin is another SP working to bring his ratio stats into more desirable levels, although he labors for a team that is not racking up a whole slew of wins for their pitchers this season. He is the owner of four QS among his most recent five starts, where he has accumulated a 21:3 K/BB ratio over 30.1 IP. Not the greatest K ratio, to be honest, but the control keeps him in games as he does not sabotage his own efforts. 

Josiah Gray is another Nationals arm, so there is the losing record of his team to ponder when considering him for your fantasy rotation. He is a better K producer than Corbin (7.9 K/9 over 45.2 IP), but his control issues have inflated his WHIP to an unattractive 1.34 on the season. He does have a decent pair of matchups, heading to Miami and then taking on the Tigers at home.

Grayson Rodriguez is not pitching deep enough into his starts to qualify for a QS through his first seven starts, although he has collected a pair of victories this season. This is likely due to the concern over his strained lat injury last season and a desire to keep him in the rotation this season. He offers great K numbers (41 Ks over 33.2 IP, 11.0 K/9) which help to offset his ugly ratios: 5.08 ERA, 1.54 WHIP. Those ratios are scary, but he is in his rookie campaign and the team seems interested in running him out to the hill every 5^th day.

Jordan Montgomery has been on a losing streak of late, dropping five decisions of his last six, although he has not been pitching all that poorly, save for his last loss to the Cubs where he was tagged for multiple homers for the first time this year. Granted, the Cardinals are trudging through a tough early 2023 so far, so the losses are not unexpected. He gets to climb the bump at home for both his Week 7 outings, although that has not been a key to success so far this season.

As is the case week in, week out during the fantasy baseball season, there are plenty of pitchers who should not be counted upon for fantasy goodness. The mere fact that they are slated to climb the hill for two contests does not change the basic facts that these pitchers are more likely to damage your ratio stats while not contributing enough counting stats to make them worthy of a slot in your rotation. There are not even any that stand out for a single streaming start this scoring period. 

Streaming Pitchers for Week 7

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:

Michael Lorenzen, Detroit Tigers vs Pittsburgh Pirates

Lorenzen suffered a tough luck loss in Cleveland due to poor offensive support, as he allowed just a single run over 7.0 IP. It was his second consecutive QS, and now he gets to face the Pirates at home, an opponent who has begun to struggle after a hot start. He is not going to provide a ton of whiffs, but he is working diligently to provide good ratios for his owners.

J.P. France, Houston Astros vs Chicago Cubs

France has yielded just a single run over his first two MLB starts (11.2 IP), and sports some attractive ratio stats because of that stinginess: 0.77 ERA, 0.69 WHIP. He has not had a home start yet, but the Cubs as his first test at Minute Maid Park opponent is a decent enough matchup to test his skills in his third start.

Brayan Bello, Boston Red Sox vs Seattle Mariners

If you want to use Bello as a SP, it would behoove you to use him in this game, as he may be headed back to Triple-A soon with James Paxton and soon Garrett Whitlock coming back to active status. He is coming off a road QS in Atlanta, and is providing better than a K per frame. 

Rich Hill, Pittsburgh Pirates @ Detroit Tigers

The 43-year-old southpaw has not been able stick around long enough to qualify for a QS in either of his last two outings, but he also has been more of a road warrior this season, so heading to Detroit is actually a nice matchup, although the opposing pitcher is not an easy adversary by any means. He has been tightfisted with the earned tallies overall this season, and offers average K potential.

Clarke Schmidt, New York Yankees @ Cincinnati Reds

The big downside with the 27-year-old righty is his propensity to allow the long ball, having watched the ball leave the park in six of his eight starts this season. The K rate (11.0 K/9 over 35.1 IP) is his big drawing point, as he works to reduce his inflated ratio stats due to his early lack of success on the mound. His peripherals hint that he has been somewhat unlucky while toeing the rubber, but heading to Cincy with a proclivity for allowing dingers tempers his attractiveness in this matchup.

Ryan Feltner, Colorado Rockies @ Texas Rangers

The 26-year-old righty had been having success on the hill away from Coors until the Mets roughed him up in his last start. He will look to rediscover his magic in Texas, not the best venue or opponent, to be honest. If he can reharness his control (he walked six Mets in just 3.1 IP), and continue to collect Ks, he has some potential as a streamer on Friday.

Kyle Freeland, Colorado Rockies @ Texas Rangers

Another Colorado arm that is suggested as a plug-in option due to him climbing the bump away from his home park. Freeland has demonstrated consistently better results on the road in 2023, at least in terms of his ratio stats: 2.84 ERA on the road, 4.10 at home; 1.05 WHIP away from Coors Field, 1.22 at Coors. He is a below average K producer, but tends to pitch deep enough into his contests to give his owners a chance to rack up a QS.

Ryan Weathers, San Diego Padres vs Boston Red Sox

Provided that the young lefty gets the call to start this contest, he offers some potentially useful ratio stat numbers, as he has posted a sub 3.00 ERA thus far in five appearances for the Padres (three starts), 2.50 to be precise with an attractive 1.11 WHIP to accompany the ERA. He is a below average strikeout fabricator on the mound (5.5 K/9) and his advanced metrics hint that some negative regression lurks in his future, so use him with caution.

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