- Why Trevor Lawrence is the Greatest QB I’ve Ever Scouted
- 7 Round 2021 NFL Mock Draft
- NFL Eliminator Challenge: Week 17
- Time to Shine or Ride the Pine: Week 16 Start or Sit
- Week 15 Targets and Touches
- NFL Eliminator Challenge: Week 16
- Week 15 Snaps Report
- Week 15 Rankings With Uncertainty
- Week 14 Targets and Touches
- CFB DFS Week 16 Preview – Day Slate
Fantasy Baseball: Week 5 Two-Start Pitchers
- Updated: May 2, 2016

With the 2016 baseball season in full swing I look forward to Week 5 and most importantly, two-start pitcher options. This week’s two-start list isn’t loaded with aces like most weeks but it is top-heavy. Jake Arrieta tops the list this week and his dominance in the second half of last year has carried over to the start of the 2016 season. He has pitched at least seven innings in four of his first five starts and holds a 32/10 K/BB ratio in 32 innings pitched. Arrieta is locked in having allowed a grand total of four earned runs while registering a win in each of his starts.
Johnny Cueto appears to have found his mojo in San Francisco which is good news for his owners. He has tossed a quality start in four out of his five starts while going at least seven innings every time he took the hill. I’m expecting big things after his 11K complete-game shutout last week versus the San Diego Padres. Cueto will enjoy a homecoming in Cincinnati before closing the week out at home in the Bay versus the Rockies. The change of scenery to San Francisco and move back to the National League has been a boom to his value and could have him knocking on the door of becoming a top 10 SP.
My top-tier of two-start pitchers this week includes 10 pitchers. Coming in at No. 3 is one of the more polarizing players in baseball, New York Mets ace Matt Harvey. To be fair he has been mediocre at best in the early going but I have a feeling that he’s just getting warmed up. Harvey hasn’t been missing as many bats which is my main issue but is coming off his best start of the season tossing six innings of one-run ball while whiffing a season-high seven Reds’ hitters. A date at home versus the light-hitting Atlanta Braves should allow Harvey to build off last week’s start.
Another struggling ace toes the rubber twice this week in reining AL Cy Young winner Dallas Keuchel. I’m not ready to give up on one of last year’s breakout arms and you shouldn’t either! It’s worth noting that he has pitched much better at home this year. My recommendation is to stay the course with him and don’t overreact to a few recent bad starts on this road. This week Keuchel makes his two starts at Minute Maid Park versus the Minnesota Twins and Seattle Mariners. I’m betting on a big bounce back this week and provides elite ratio’s across the board while picking up a couple of wins.

Can Dallas Keuchel return to his former Cy Young form in Week 5? (Photo by Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images)
One of the most underrated pitchers in baseball in Jose Quintana but he’s finally starting to get some respect. Quintana has tossed a quality start in four out of his five starts this year and boast a 32/8 K/BB ratio over 30.2 innings. The most surprising thing to me is how effective he has been while facing some very tough lineups. Quintana picked up his third win of the season last week on the road in Toronto in a tough environment while facing a loaded Blue Jays lineup. He allowed only four hits while punching out 10 Blue Jays’ in the process. Quintana looks to keep up his hot streak this week at U.S. Cellular Field versus the Red Sox and Twins.
Patrick Corbin has been tough to trust in the early going allowing at least four runs in three of his five starts this year. It’s pretty simple Corbin has been victimized by the home run ball allowing seven dingers in only 31.1 innings. After digging a little deeper I noticed that six of those seven home runs came in two starts versus the Pirates and Rockies. Also consider that he’s logged both of his quality starts on the road. I’m optimistic Corbin will keep that trend going with plus matchups in Miami and Atlanta. When the smoke clears in Week 5 Corbin could find himself among leaders in all pitching categories for the week.
One of the biggest early surprises of 2016 baseball season has been the unbelievable comeback of Rays southpaw Matt Moore. I was all over Matt Moore on our pre-season 60 Feet 6 Inches Fantasy Baseball podcast and I hope you took my advice and drafted him late. Moore has tossed quality starts in three out of his five starts while punching out 35 hitters over 32 innings. Moore has enjoyed a resurgence after regaining some velocity while displaying plus control with only seven walks allowed this season. I expect Moore to continue to put up stellar numbers across the board while increasing his value in the process. Considering that Moore went undrafted in a number of leagues his lucky owners have to be doing backflips. I might even be a little lower on him this week then I should be considering that resident roto expert Ben Rolfe endorsed Moore as his favorite two-start pitcher of the week on our latest podcast. Be sure to listen to the latest FakePigskin 60 Feet 6 Inches podcast for more in-depth analysis of our staff’s recommended two-start and streaming options. Also be sure to check out all the great fantasy baseball content at FakePigskin.com including Ben Rolfe’s weekly waiver wire article in addition to Damian Dabrowski’s reliever roulette and streaming articles.
TWO-START PITCHERS | Ron’s Rankings | ||
PLAYER | START #1 | START #2 | |
Jake Arrieta CHC
|
(05/03) | (05/08) | 1 |
@ PIT | vs. WAS | ||
Jonathon Niese | Tanner Roark | ||
Johnny Cueto SF
|
(05/02) | (05/07) | 2 |
@ CIN | vs. COL | ||
Brandon Finnegan | TBA | ||
Matt Harvey NYM | (05/03) | (05/08) | 3 |
vs. ATL | @ SD | ||
Jhoulys Chacin | Andrew Cashner | ||
Dallas Keuchel HOU
|
(05/02) | (05/07) | 4 |
vs. MIN | vs. SEA | ||
Jose Berrios | Nathan Karns | ||
Gerrit Cole PIT
|
(05/02) | (05/08) | 5 |
vs. CHC | @ STL | ||
Kyle Hendricks | Michael Wacha | ||
Jose Quintana CHW
|
(05/03) | (05/08) | 6 |
vs. BOS | vs. MIN | ||
Steven Wright | Jose Berrios | ||
Michael Wacha STL
|
(05/03) | (05/08) | 7 |
vs. PHI | vs. PIT | ||
Aaron Nola | Gerrit Cole | ||
Patrick Corbin ARI
|
(05/03) | (05/08) | 8 |
@ MIA | @ ATL | ||
Justin Nicolino | TBA | ||
Aaron Nola PHI
|
(05/03) | (05/08) | 9 |
@ STL | @ MIA | ||
Michael Wacha | Justin Nicolino | ||
James Shields SD | (05/02) | (05/07) | 10 |
vs. COL | vs. NYM | ||
TBA | Bartolo Colon | ||
Jimmy Nelson MIL
|
(05/02) | (05/07) | 11 |
vs. LAA | @ CIN | ||
Jered Weaver | Brandon Finnegan | ||
Matt Moore TB
|
(05/03) | (05/08) | 12 |
vs. LAD | @ LAA | ||
Scott Kazmir | Jered Weaver | ||
Kyle Hendricks CHC
|
(05/02) | (05/07) | 13 |
@ PIT | vs. WAS | ||
Gerrit Cole | Gio Gonzalez | ||
Andrew Cashner SD
|
(05/03) | (05/08) | 14 |
vs. COL | vs. NYM | ||
Jon Gray | Matt Harvey | ||
Nathan Karns SEA
|
(05/02) | (05/07) | 15 |
@ OAK | @ HOU | ||
Rich Hill | Dallas Keuchel | ||
(05/02) | (05/08) | 16 | |
vs. WAS | @ CLE | ||
Gio Gonzalez | Josh Tomlin | ||
Collin McHugh HOU | (05/03) | (05/08) | 17 |
vs. MIN | vs. SEA | ||
Alex Meyer | Hisashi Iwakuma | ||
Chris Tillman BAL
|
(05/03) | (05/08) | 18 |
vs. NYY | vs. OAK | ||
Luis Severino | Rich Hill | ||
Gio Gonzalez WAS | (05/02) | (05/07) | 19 |
@ KC | @ CHC | ||
Edinson Volquez | Kyle Hendricks | ||
Justin Verlander DET
|
(05/03) | (05/08) | 20 |
@ CLE | vs. TEX | ||
Josh Tomlin | Martin Perez | ||
(05/03) | (05/08) | 21 | |
@ CIN | vs. COL | ||
Jon Moscot | Jon Gray | ||
Adam Wainwright STL
|
(05/02) | (05/07) | 22 |
vs. PHI | vs. PIT | ||
Jeremy Hellickson | Jeff Locke | ||
Marco Estrada TOR
|
(05/03) | (05/08) | 23 |
vs. TEX | vs. LAD | ||
Martin Perez | Clayton Kershaw | ||
Hisashi Iwakuma SEA
|
(05/03) | (05/08) | 24 |
@ OAK | @ HOU | ||
Sonny Gray | Collin McHugh | ||
Jose Berrios MIN
|
(05/02) | (05/08) | 25 |
@ HOU | @ CHW | ||
Dallas Keuchel | Jose Quintana | ||
Tanner Roark WAS
|
(05/03) | (05/08) | 26 |
@ KC | @ CHC | ||
Chris Young | Jake Arrieta | ||
Luis Severino NYY
|
(05/03) | (05/08) | 26 |
@ BAL | vs. BOS | ||
Chris Tillman | Steven Wright | ||
Bartolo Colon NYM
|
(05/02) | (05/07) | 27 |
vs. ATL | @ SD | ||
TBA | James Shields | ||
Rich Hill OAK
|
(05/02) | (05/08) | 28 |
vs. SEA | @ BAL | ||
Nathan Karns | Chris Tillman | ||
Brandon Finnegan CIN
|
(05/02) | (05/07) | 29 |
vs. SF | vs. MIL | ||
Johnny Cueto | Jimmy Nelson | ||
Steven Wright BOS
|
(05/03) | (05/08) | 30 |
@ CHW | @ NYY | ||
Jose Quintana | Luis Severino | ||
Jared Weaver LAA
|
(05/02) | (05/08) | 31 |
@ MIL | vs. TB | ||
Jimmy Nelson | Matt Moore | ||
R.A. Dickey TOR
|
(05/02) | (05/07) | 32 |
vs. TEX | vs. LAD | ||
A.J. Griffin | Ross Stripling | ||
Jon Gray COL
|
(05/03) | (05/08) | 33 |
@ SD | @ SF | ||
Andrew Cashner | Jeff Samardzija | ||
Justin Nicolino MIA
|
(05/03) | (05/08) | 34 |
vs. ARI | vs. PHI | ||
Patrick Corbin | Aaron Nola | ||
Josh Tomlin CLE
|
(05/03) | (05/08) | 35 |
vs. DET | vs. KC | ||
Justin Verlander | Edinson Volquez | ||
Jeremy Hellickson PHI
|
(05/02) | (05/07) | 36 |
@ STL | @ MIA | ||
Adam Wainwright | Tom Koehler | ||
Martin Perez TEX
|
(05/03) | (05/08) | 37 |
@ TOR | @ DET | ||
Marco Estrada | Justin Verlander | ||
A.J. Griffin TEX
|
(05/02) | (05/07) | 38 |
@ TOR | @ DET | ||
R.A. Dickey | Mike Pelfrey | ||
Taylor Jungmann MIL
|
(05/03) | (05/08) | 39 |
vs. LAA | @ CIN | ||
Nick Tropeano | Jon Moscot | ||
Jon Moscot CIN
|
(05/03) | (05/08) | 40 |
vs. SF | vs. MIL | ||
Jeff Samardzija | Taylor Jungmann |
Low-owned Two-Start Options
Nathan Karns: @ OAK, @ HOU (10% Yahoo, 24.3% ESPN)
Chris Tillman: vs. NYY, vs. OAK (24% Yahoo, 20.3% ESPN)
Andrew Cashner: vs. COL, vs. NYM (33% Yahoo, 10.9% ESPN)
Jose Berrios: @ HOU, @ CHW (60% Yahoo, 37.8% ESPN)
Steven Wright: @ CHW, @ NYY (29% Yahoo, 21.9% ESPN)
Jon Gray: @ SD, @ SF (3% Yahoo, 4% ESPN)
For more help winning your fantasy baseball league check out Fake Pigskin’s 60 Feet 6 Inches podcast on iTunes and Stitcher