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Weekly leaguers, Two-Startapalooza is back with a fresh lineup for week two.  It’s a weekly feature, so obviously it’s back.  I’ll try to come up with more clever ledes in future weeks, but I’m a little busy right now prepping my photog equipment for Tehol’s Playgirl shoot.  Speaking of Tehol, he’s gonna be posting on points leagues this season, and I know many of you two-start hoarders are points league participants, so be sure to read his stuff.  Anyway, here’s a look at the two-start landscape for week two.

As always, probable pitchers are subject to change.  And for a look at all fantasy baseball streamers, click that link.  The Steam-o-Nator goes live April 8th.

MUST START

Gio Gonzalez (CWS, ATL); Madison Bumgarner (COL, @CHC); Mat Latos (@STL, @PIT)

  • As promised, this must-start tier has thinned considerably after week one.  Feel free to start these three without hesitation.

FIRST TIER

Hiroki Kuroda (@CLE, BAL); C.J. Wilson (OAK, HOU); Jake Peavy (@WAS, @CLE); Anibal Sanchez (TOR, @OAK); Alexi Ogando (TB, @SEA); Clay Buchholz (BAL, TB); Jarrod Parker (@LAA, DET); Andy Pettitte (@CLE, BAL); Trevor Cahill (PIT, LAD); Wandy Rodriguez (@ARZ, CIN); Jaime Garcia (CIN, MLW); Josh Beckett (@SD, @ARZ); Matt Harvey (@PHI, @MIN); Edwin Jackson (MLW, SF); Brandon Morrow (@DET, @KC)

  • Not many surprises here.  For the most part, this first tier is owned in more than 75% of leagues.  If you’re in a shallower format, though, you might be able to find guys like Pettitte, Jackson, or Garcia on the wire.

SECOND TIER

Paul Maholm (@MIA, @WAS); Travis Wood (MLW, SF); Marco Estrada (@CHC, @STL); Clayton Richard (LAD, COL); Roy Halladay (NYM, @MIA); Ervin Santana (MIN, TOR); Jeremy Hellickson (@TEX, @BOS); Joe Saunders (HOU, TEX);  Erik Bedard (@SEA, @LAA);  Brandon Maurer (HOU, TEX); Tim Lincecum (COL, @CHC); Wei-Yin Chen (@BOS, @NYY)

  • This second tier is a little more available, so if you’re in need, take note.  I like the upside of both Bedard and Maurer for this week, and they’re on waivers in virtually any format.  I’m also knocking Halladay down into this tier until he gets his shizz together.  In other words, I’m relegating Halladay to this tier forever.

THIRD TIER

Ubaldo Jimenez (NYY, CWS); Jorge De La Rosa (@SF, @SD); Kevin Slowey (ATL, PHI)

  • Reaching into tier three is awfully risky, and I’d explore all other options before using any of these three.  Ubaldo is actually coming off a decent outing, but I wouldn’t trust him just yet outside of the deepest of H2H formats.  Same goes for De La Rosa as he works his way back to full-strength following TJ surgery.  After an impressive spring and a not-so-bad first outing, Slowey is trending upward, but he’ll need to show more before we can feel comfortable using him in mixed weekly formats.  In AL/NL-Only leagues, though, these guys are in play.

DON’T START

Nick Tepesch (TB, @SEA); Carlos Carrasco (NYY, CWS)

  • Tepesch and Carrasco are making their first starts of the season, and neither brings much upside to the fantasy game.  It’s tough to say for certain that these two are total duds, but I wouldn’t use them in any format until we see what they have to offer.