Welcome to the home stretch, boys, gals, and in-betweens. Like we discussed last week, the two-start starters list has been dwindling due to expanded rosters, young arms having their innings limited, and many teams opting for six-man rotations as a result. This week, with many teams also having an off day, there are fewer than 30 options for two-start starters. (By the way, fogimon, will you be watching Corey Kluber’s second start tomorrow? #KissyEmoji)
There are still some options for two-start streamers, however. Checking in with Streamonator, here are the two-start starters for this week with a positive dollar value who are owned in less than 75% of RCLs:
- German Marquez COL, $16.80, 20%
- Jharel Cotton OAK, $5.60, 18%
- Blake Snell TB, $4.70, 31%
- Tyler Mahle CIN, $1.70, 1%
- Dan Straily MIA, $0.70, 53%
Despite the light list, we still have five starters with positive dollar values. Of the names on this list, I like Marquez and Straily the most. Snell I would gamble on if I needed to, but I would stay away from Cotton and my cousin Tyler Mahle (not really my cousin).
Marquez shines through this week because of his matchups: at San Francisco and at San Diego. Two teams who have struggled mightily at the plate, and he gets them in their pitcher-friendly ballparks. He is not without risk, but you could not ask for two better matchups.
I’m not sure how Straily is still only owned in 53% of RCLs, but sign me up for that, too. His matchups aren’t as good (vs. Mets and at Diamondbacks) because of that trip to Arizona, but I am still willing to roll with him over the others on the list.
Snell is meh, but he doesn’t scare me as much as Cotton or Mahle. Despite their positive value, if I am in need of starts in H2h playoffs, I am not going near either of those two. Their potential for disaster outweighs any value they provide, at least in my eyes. Stay away and save yourself.
And now, to the charts!
Pitchers are listed in order by rank. Colors represent 8 toughest or 8 easiest opponents according to team wOBA for last 14 days.
THE BEST
| Player | Opponents | ERA/FIP | K9/BB9 |
| Clayton Kershaw LAD | @PHI, SF | 2.12/2.95 | 10.78/1.61 |
| Gio Gonzalez WSH | @ATL, @NYM | 2.68/3.88 | 8.33/3.41 |
| Jon Lester CHC | @TB, @MIL | 4.30/4.05 | 9.20/2.99 |
THE REPLICAS
| Player | Opponents | ERA/FIP | K9/BB9 |
| German Marquez COL | @SF, @SD | 4.41/4.20 | 8.50/2.73 |
| Marcus Stroman TOR | KC, NYY | 3.08/3.81 | 7.57/2.69 |
| Patrick Corbin ARI | @SD, MIA | 4.06/3.94 | 8.62/2.67 |
| Sonny Gray NYY | MIN, @TOR | 3.17/3.56 | 8.72/2.86 |
| Dan Straily MIA | NYM, @ARI | 4.24/4.50 | 8.05/2.63 |
| Mike Clevinger CLE | @LAA, @SEA | 3.21/3.98 | 10.21/4.50 |
| Jose Berrios MIN | @NYY, @DET | 3.84/3.92 | 8.47/2.78 |
THE STANDARDS
| Player | Opponents | ERA/FIP | K9/BB9 |
| Chase Anderson MIL | @PIT, CHC | 2.88/3.73 | 8.26/2.88 |
| Blake Snell TB | CHC, @BAL | 4.25/4.36 | 7.87/4.09 |
| Mike Leake SEA | TEX, CLE | 4.01/3.98 | 6.25/1.93 |
| Lucas Giolito CHW | @HOU, KC | 2.56/5.30 | 7.39/3.13 |
| Brent Suter MIL | @PIT, CHC | 3.66/3.94 | 7.33/2.85 |
| Ervin Santana MIN | @NYY, @DET | 3.35/4.53 | 7.34/2.79 |
| Kevin Gausman BAL | BOS, TB | 4.83/4.65 | 8.48/3.65 |
THE KNOCKOFFS
| Player | Opponents | ERA/FIP | K9/BB9 |
| Matt Harvey NYM | @MIA, WSH | 6.14/6.08 | 6.69/4.46 |
| Tyler Mahle CIN | STL, BOS | 2.70/4.01 | 6.30/4.95 |
| Ian Kennedy KC | @TOR, @CHW | 5.45/5.67 | 7.46/3.76 |
| Tyler Skaggs LAA | CLE, @HOU | 4.37/4.17 | 8.36/3.09 |
| Doug Fister BOS | @BAL, @CIN | 4.40/4.07 | 8.00/3.71 |
| Luis Perdomo SD | ARI, COL | 4.61/4.50 | 6.64/3.44 |
THE 
| Player | Opponents | ERA/FIP | K9/BB9 |
| Jharel Cotton OAK | @DET, TEX | 5.81/5.85 | 7.19/3.77 |
| Buck Farmer DET | OAK, MIN | 6.62/4.94 | 9.68/3.31 |
| Luiz Gohara ATL | WSH, PHI | 6.30/3.26 | 10.80/3.60 |
| Chad Bell DET | OAK, MIN | 6.42/5.37 | 7.90/4.28 |
| Nick Pivetta PHI | LAD, @ATL | 6.75/4.99 | 9.39/3.80 |
| Martin Perez TEX | @SEA, @OAK | 4.82/4.62 | 5.73/3.00 |
All pitchers are projected for two starts as of Friday night.
If you would prefer to see the above tables as a color-coded graphic, we’ve got that too!
(Click to enlarge.)
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