- 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 8 Two-Start Pitchers
- Updated: May 23, 2016
After spending four glorious days in sunny Florida on assignment Maddog is back at it. It’s hard to believe that we’re entering Week 8 of the Fantasy Baseball season. We now have a good sample size to help us evaluate breakout pitchers and under-performing aces. It goes both ways and if you’re a Matt Harvey, Chris Archer, or Zack Greinke owner you’re probably not a happy camper. On the flip side we’ve witnessed some breakout pitchers like Vincent Velasquez and Steven Wright come out of nowhere while providing a boost to their lucky owners. As to be expected injuries are bound to happen as is the case with Garrett Richards and Luis Severino. Sonny Gray is the latest ace to hit the DL which is a major buzz kill but hopefully you’ll be able to weather the storm until he returns. In the meantime you might have to dig deep so be sure to check out all the great fantasy baseball articles each and every week on FakePigskin.com. In Week 8 there are still plenty of great two-start options and some of these pitchers may still be available in your leagues. Without further ado here are my Week 8 two-start rankings.
| PLAYER | START #1 | START #2 | Yahoo % owned | Ron’s Ranks |
|
Clayton Kershaw LAD
|
(05/23) | (05/29) |
99
|
1 |
| vs. CIN | @ NYM | |||
| Brandon Finnegan | Bartolo Colon | |||
|
Chris Sale CHW
|
(05/24) | (05/29) |
99
|
2 |
| vs. CLE | @ KC | |||
| Corey Kluber | Edinson Volquez | |||
|
Stephen Strasburg WAS
|
(05/24) | (05/29) |
99
|
3 |
| vs. NYM | vs. STL | |||
| Matt Harvey | Michael Wacha | |||
|
Johnny Cueto SF
|
(05/23) | (05/29) |
98
|
4 |
| vs. SD | @ COL | |||
| Drew Pomeranz | Chris Rusin | |||
|
Taijuan Walker SEA
|
(05/23) | (05/29) |
86
|
5 |
| vs. OAK | vs. MIN | |||
| Rich Hill | Ricky Nolasco | |||
|
Vince Velasquez PHI
|
(05/23) | (05/29) |
90
|
6 |
| @ DET | @ CHC | |||
| Mike Pelfrey | John Lackey | |||
|
Jimmy Nelson MIL
|
(05/24) | (05/29) |
62
|
7 |
| @ ATL | vs. CIN | |||
| Julio Teheran | Brandon Finnegan | |||
|
Rich Hill OAK
|
(05/23) | (05/29) |
79
|
8 |
| @ SEA | vs. DET | |||
| Taijuan Walker | Mike Pelfrey | |||
|
Francisco Liriano PIT
|
(05/24) | (05/29) |
92
|
9 |
| vs. ARI | @ TEX | |||
| Shelby Miller | Martin Perez | |||
|
Drew Pomeranz SD
|
(05/23) | (05/29) |
79
|
10 |
| @ SF | @ ARI | |||
| Johnny Cueto | Shelby Miller | |||
|
Gio Gonzalez WAS
|
(05/23) | (05/28) |
85
|
11 |
| vs. NYM | vs. STL | |||
| Bartolo Colon | Adam Wainwright | |||
|
John Lackey CHC
|
(05/23) | (05/29) |
91
|
12 |
| @ STL | vs. PHI | |||
| Adam Wainwright | Vince Velasquez | |||
|
Edinson Volquez KC
|
(05/24) | (05/29) |
73
|
13 |
| @ MIN | vs. CHW | |||
| Ervin Santana | Chris Sale | |||
|
Jake Odorizzi TB
|
(05/24) | (05/29) |
79
|
14 |
| @ MIA | vs. NYY | |||
| Tom Koehler | Nathan Eovaldi | |||
|
Ian Kennedy KC
|
(05/23) | (05/28) |
76
|
15 |
| @ MIN | vs. CHW | |||
| Ricky Nolasco | Mat Latos | |||
| Michael Wacha STL | (05/24) | (05/29) |
91
|
16 |
| vs. CHC | @ WAS | |||
| Jason Hammel | Stephen Strasburg | |||
|
Steven Wright BOS
|
(05/24) | (05/29) |
67
|
17 |
| vs. COL | @ TOR | |||
| Chris Rusin | R.A. Dickey | |||
|
Wei-Yin Chen MIA
|
(05/23) | (05/28) |
65
|
18 |
| vs. TB | @ ATL | |||
| Matt Moore | TBA | |||
|
Chris Tillman BAL
|
(05/24) | (05/29) |
76
|
19 |
| @ HOU | @ CLE | |||
| Doug Fister | Josh Tomlin | |||
|
Mat Latos CHW
|
(05/23) | (05/28) |
40
|
20 |
| vs. CLE | @ KC | |||
| Cody Anderson | Ian Kennedy | |||
|
Adam Wainwright STL
|
(05/23) | (05/28) |
91
|
21 |
| vs. CHC | @ WAS | |||
| John Lackey | Gio Gonzalez | |||
|
Brandon Finnegan CIN
|
(05/23) | (05/29) |
12
|
22 |
| @ LAD | @ MIL | |||
| Clayton Kershaw | Jimmy Nelson | |||
|
Doug Fister HOU
|
(05/24) | (05/29) |
8
|
23 |
| vs. BAL | @ LAA | |||
| Chris Tillman | Nick Tropeano | |||
|
Bartolo Colon NYM
|
(05/23) | (05/29) |
29
|
24 |
| @ WAS | vs. LAD | |||
| Gio Gonzalez | Clayton Kershaw | |||
|
Julio Teheran ATL
|
(05/24) | (05/29) |
72
|
25 |
| vs. MIL | vs. MIA | |||
| Jimmy Nelson | Tom Koehler | |||
|
Ricky Nolasco MIN
|
(05/23) | (05/29) |
4
|
26 |
| vs. KC | @ SEA | |||
| Ian Kennedy | Taijuan Walker | |||
|
Shelby Miller ARI
|
(05/24) | (05/29) |
42
|
27 |
| @ PIT | vs. SD | |||
| Francisco Liriano | Drew Pomeranz | |||
|
Matt Moore TB
|
(05/23) | (05/28) |
30
|
28 |
| @ MIA | vs. NYY | |||
| Wei-Yin Chen | Michael Pineda | |||
|
Nathan Eovaldi NYY
|
(05/24) | (05/29) |
26
|
29 |
| vs. TOR | @ TB | |||
| R.A. Dickey | Jake Odorizzi | |||
|
Nick Tropeano LAA
|
(05/23) | (05/29) |
7
|
30 |
| @ TEX | vs. HOU | |||
| Martin Perez | Doug Fister | |||
|
Chris Rusin COL
|
(05/24) | (05/29) |
1
|
31 |
| @ BOS | vs. SF | |||
| Steven Wright | Johnny Cueto | |||
|
Tom Koehler MIA
|
(05/24) | (05/29) |
2
|
32 |
| vs. TB | @ ATL | |||
| Jake Odorizzi | Julio Teheran | |||
|
Josh Tomlin CLE
|
(05/23) | (05/29) |
42
|
33 |
| @ CHW | vs. BAL | |||
| Erik Johnson | Chris Tillman | |||
|
Martin Perez TEX
|
(05/23) | (05/29) |
5
|
34 |
| vs. LAA | vs. PIT | |||
| Nick Tropeano | Francisco Liriano | |||
|
R.A. Dickey TOR
|
(05/24) | (05/29) |
14
|
35 |
| @ NYY | vs. BOS | |||
| Nathan Eovaldi | Steven Wright | |||
|
Mike Pelfrey DET
|
(05/23) | (05/29) |
1
|
36 |
| vs. PHI | @ OAK | |||
| Vince Velasquez | Rich Hill |
I feel pretty good about my top-tier of two-start pitchers in Week 8 headlined by the best pitcher in baseball, Clayton Kershaw. The top-tier this week is top loaded with aces including Chris Sale, Stephen Strasburg, Johnny Cueto, Francisco Liriano, and Taijuan Walker. Making their first appearance in my top ten are Rich Hill, Jimmy Nelson, Vincent Velasquez, and Drew Pomeranz. While I don’t consider any of this group technically aces per say, they’re all pitching at a very high level and racking up the strikeouts. In weekly leagues I would have zero reservations about plugging all of these pitchers into your respective lineups. I highly doubt any of these guys are floating around on the wire but if they are they should be scooped up immediately. If you want to hear more in-depth breakdowns on these guys I’d highly recommend that you listen to our latest 60 Feet 6 Inches Fantasy Baseball podcast.
My second tier starts at No. 11 with Gio Gonzalez and ends at No. 25 with Julio Teheran. In deeper leagues you’re probably rolling the dice on these guys and hoping for the best. The pitchers that I trust the most out of this tier are Jake Odorizzi, Ian Kennedy, Michael Wacha, Steven Wright, Chris Tillman, and Doug Fister. They aren’t sexy names but can get the job done and help your pitching ratios while providing a decent amount of K’s and quality starts. They aren’t bulletproof options by any means so I wouldn’t blame you if you decided to bench any of these guys in a tough matchup in your daily lineups. As always I will dig deep and leave you with some low-owned two-start options for the week.
Low-Owned Two-Start Options
Steven Wright: vs. COL, @ TOR (67% Yahoo, 58% ESPN) *MUST add if available*
Brandon Finnegan: @ LAD, @ MIL (12% Yahoo, 11.8% ESPN)
Doug Fister: vs. BAL, @ LAA (8% Yahoo, 13% ESPN)
Nathan Eovaldi: vs. TOR, @ TB (26% Yahoo, 20.2% ESPN)
Matt Moore: @ MIA, vs. NYY (30% Yahoo, 24.2% ESPN)
Nick Tropeano: @ TEX, vs. HOU (7% Yahoo, 5.3% ESPN)
For more help winning your fantasy baseball league check out Fake Pigskin’s 60 Feet 6 Inches podcast on iTunes and Stitcher
