MLB Two Start Pitchers: Week 7

Not as many top-notch two-start options this week as fantasy owners would like, but “ya dance with who brung ya,” as is sometimes said. In fact, the bottom three options in the top-tier would normally lead off the middle tier, but that trio benefits from recent performance and/or at least one good matchup in Week 7. Plenty to talk about in the middle-tier, for that matter, and some bottom-tier residents that while not worth starting twice, could be worth streaming consideration for one start this coming scoring period.

Please realize that these articles feature most recent rotation information available when the article is written, but that circumstances do change due to weather conditions, injuries and general craziness with managers. If a pitcher listed here as having two starts ends up with one (or perhaps none) in the upcoming week, apologies but this article is meant to provide analysis, it is up to the manager to set the lineups or rotations.

Of the nine options in this tier, there should be no hesitation in using the first six SPs in both their games scheduled for Week 7. It is difficult to not want to start Manaea, with his recent success, although one no-hitter does not make a career, and both his starts are on the road this week. Quintana has looked better recently, with three good starts in his last four, and does get to face the Reds in his second start of the week. Wood is on the road for both his trips to toe the rubber this coming week although facing the Marlins for the first start is a positive, and his lack of wins on the season is just bad luck. He has been sharper on the road than at home through his eight starts, as well.

Williams leads off the middle tier, and he is a good option for two appearances in your fantasy rotation. Five of his eight starts have been quality starts (QS), and he boasts a stellar 3.13 ERA and 1.17 WHIP over the 46 innings he has tossed to date. The 29:20 K/BB ratio is nothing exciting, though, and that limits his desirability as a SP option overall. He does have a pair of good matchups at home in Week 7, facing both the White Sox and Padres at PNC Park.

Foltynewicz is someone to employ as a starter if you like Ks, as his 10.07 K/9 rate is elite through 42 innings. He has also shown good control, yielding just 19 walks to date, and is also adept at keeping the ball in the yard, with just four dingers allowed on the season. Although he has two home starts in Week 7, keep in mind that he has been sharper on the road so far in 2018 by a good margin (4.22 ERA and 1.47 WHIP at home, 2.18 ERA and 1.16 WHIP away from SunTrust Park), so temper your expectations a bit.

The Padres have been limiting the number of pitches thrown by Lucchesi, not wanting to overtax the arm of the 24-year old southpaw. His questionable control (2.98 BB/9 over 42.1 innings pitched) is not helping him pitch deep into games, although he is racking up Ks at an impressive 9.78 K/9 pace in his eight starts this year. He gets Colorado at home, avoiding a Coors Field start, and then heads to PNC Park for his second start, a park that should help limit his propensity to give up the long ball.

Guerra has given up nine earned runs over his last two starts but had been pitching lights out in the month of April in his prior four trips atop the bump to open the season (just two earned runs over 22.0 IP). Even with the recent struggles, his ERA is a tasty 3.09 and he’s missing plenty of bats with a 9.56 K/9 rate in 2018. He has two road starts but those are in decent pitchers’ parks, Chase Field with the humidor and Target Field to take on the Twins.

Romano has held opposing offenses to one or two earned runs in each of his last five starts this season, after struggling a bit to open 2018. His control has improved as the year progresses, too, although his strikeout production is uneven at best. He is on the road in San Francisco, and then gets the Cubs at home, neither venue being superb places to ply his trade, although AT&T Park should help limit his propensity to serve up dingers (1.5 HR/9 over his 42.1 IP).

Pivetta has a couple of road starts in Week 7, and has struggled more away from Philly this season, although to be fair, most of the damage took place in his last away start when the Nationals roughed him up for six earned runs in just one inning. Still, his first start at Baltimore is not an ideal matchup, even given the poor performance of the host Orioles thus far in 2018. His second trip to the hill in St. Louis on Sunday looks more promising, and his excellent K rate (9.69 K/9 over 39.0 IP), good control (2.31 BB/9 in eight starts) and his FIP and BABIP (3.30 and .340) hint that his current 4.15 ERA may be inflated and due for a positive regression.

Here begins the four Ty’s, opening with Chatwood and winding up with Mahle. They are grouped together because how often do we get to profile four SPs named Ty (or Tyler) at once? These pitchers are listed in order of utility in the chart above. Chatwood’s value is tempered by a severe lack of control, as his BB/9 rate is an unsightly 7.65 on the season. He does provide a nice potential for strikeouts, with a 9.08 K/9 rate over his 37.2 IP this season. He has two road appearances this coming week, but also has been more effective away from Wrigley Field to open the season.

Anderson avoids pitching at home in Week 7, with games on the road in San Diego and San Francisco. The bad news is that he has not been measurably better away from Coors Field in 2018, although facing the Giants and Padres does provide some hope for decent production in this scoring period. Continuing a trend, he offers good K potential with questionable control (9.39 K/9 and 3.99 BB/9 over 38.1 innings).

Blach suffered through a poor outing against the host Phillies in his last start but had thrown three QS in the prior four games. He gets by due to an extreme groundball inducing set of skills (3.17 GB/FB rate over his 49.1 innings) but is an awful source of Ks (4.56 K/9) and struggles to get the ball in the zone (2.92 BB/9 in nine starts). He has two home starts in Week 7 but do not bank on that situation, as he has been better away from AT&T Park so far this season.

Mahle has been successful, compiling three QS in his last four starts, and the last effort was a five inning, one run (none earned) start against the Dodgers. As with his teammate Romano, he heads to San Fran for his first appearance in Week 7, then takes the mound at home against the Cubs. He strikes out nearly a batter per inning (8.93 K/9 over 44.1 innings pitched through eight starts) although he does need to work on his weak control and his nine homers allowed are a concern (six at home in 23.1 innings).

Odorizzi’s team has played .500 ball at home, so a pair of starts at Target Field are an affirmative nod for him going into the week. The 28-year old righty has also been more effective at home this year, although he has been victimized by the long ball no matter where he takes the ball so far in 2018 with a horrific 1.9 HR/9 rate over his eight starts (nine home runs total in 42.1 IP). His control has been terrible as well (4.25 BB/9) and he is an extreme flyball pitcher (0.55 GB/FB ratio), so start him with limited expectations, despite the home starts.

Heaney has been pitching better of late, allowing just five earned runs over his last three starts (four earned), reducing his bloated ERA by over two full runs. Understand his season ERA still is an unsightly 4.78 but that is a far cry from the prior 6.91 he owned at the end of April. He has a set of home starts in Week 7 but taking on Houston and a surging Tampa Bay squad should limit any high hopes for his fantasy production, despite his recent success on the mound.

Rodriguez is a fine source of Ks, with an elite 11.33 K/9 rate this season (47:16 K/BB ratio over 37.1 innings pitched in 2018. He limited the Yankees to just one hit over five innings in his last journey to the hill, a welcome turn of events as he had allowed five earned runs in each of his two prior starts. He pitches for a great offensive team, making him a popular SP option when he is at his best. He has two home starts in Week 7, the second against the beleaguered Oriole team, opening the week versus an Oakland squad that is below .500 on the road this year to date.

LeBlanc squeaks into this tier, but a major limitation with him is that he will not be pitching deep into any games, as his arm has not yet been stretched out sufficiently to throw enough pitches to rack up any QS, and victories are also likely to be sparse. He has a good set of ratio stats with a useful 3.18 ERA and 1.19 WHIP over his limited 22.2 IP this season. His matchups are not at all scary, with Minnesota then Detroit on the schedule.

The first five SPs in the bottom tier are not horrible options, although none of these guys are worthy of two starts without question. Mengden admittedly has been awful away from Oakland this year so far, but Toronto is not a terrible matchup, although not exactly a pushover, either. Darvish is coming off an illness-induced DL stint and does get to face Cincy to wrap up the scoring period. Lopez has nice stats, but the .210 BABIP and 86.4% strand rate, together with a 4.98 FIP all indicate that some regression is in store for him. Stratton and Wheeler both have a pair of home mound visits, but neither has a great matchup among their four starts. Then we move on to Cashner, and he leads the group you should just avoid in Week 7 if you value your fantasy pitching production.    

FANation Chat is now live on the site. Feel free also to send any starting pitching or other fantasy baseball questions to ia@fantasyalarm.com for a private response to your specific issue. The more detail you can provide about your team and league, including settings (H2H vs roto, points or categories, weekly or daily moves, roster size, league size, etc.) the better the response will be suited to your individual situation. As ever, good luck and Godspeed in all your fantasy endeavors.