Fantasy Baseball Two-Start Pitchers: Rankings & Waiver Pickups (Week 21) (2024)

You should be grinding the two-start pitchers to give you an advantage over your competition every week.

Each week, I will give you a breakdown of the two-start options for your fantasy leagues broken up into the following tiers:

• Must Start: Pitchers you have to start because of their talent/matchups.
• Should Start: Pitchers rostered in most formats and who should probably be in your lineup.
• Here We Go: Pitchers you are probably starting in most formats but who come with some level of risk.
• Feeling Lucky: Pitchers available in less than 25% of leagues that are risky but viable in deeper formats.
• Desperate Measures: Pitchers you shouldn’t use unless you have no choice.

These projected two-start pitchers are subject to change and will throughout the season.

• Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire Assistant
• Fantasy Baseball Trade Tools
• Weekly Fantasy Baseball Content
• MLB Prop Bet Cheat Sheet

Fantasy Baseball Two-Start Pitchers: Week 21

Must Start

• Kevin Gausman (SP – TOR) vs. CIN, vs. LAA
• Taj Bradley (SP – TB) at OAK, at LAD
• Seth Lugo (SP – KC) vs. LAA, vs. PHI
• Tyler Anderson (SP – LAA) at KC, at TOR
• Bryan Woo (SP – SEA) at LAD, vs. SF
• Jose Berrios (SP – TOR) vs. CIN, vs LAA
• Michael King (SP, RP – SD) vs. MIN, vs. NYM
• Zack Wheeler (SP – PHI) at ATL, at KC

Should Start

Tanner Houck (SP – BOS) at HOU, vs. ARI

It wasn’t long ago Tanner Houck was a must-start option, but he has struggled a bit as of late and there is some risk to two tough matchups here. That being said, he has been fantastic overall this season, which makes it difficult to sit him.

Kyle Harrison (SP – SF) vs. CWS, at SEA

Kyle Harrison has been up and down this season, mostly due to struggles with the long ball. However, he has two fantastic matchups in good pitcher parks against teams that have struggled offensively.

Brandon Pfaadt (SP – ARI) at MIA, at BOS

Brandon Pfaadt’s surface numbers haven’t been overwhelming, but the underlying numbers have been. He has a 3.38 xERA and has been great at limiting walks and home runs. He has a tough matchup against the Red Sox at the end of the week, but he has an amazing one in Miami against the Marlins.

DJ Herz (SP – WAS) vs. COL, at ATL

DJ Hertz has not been elite recently, but he has been pretty good and there is a lot of upside in facing a Rockies offense starting a road trip as that is when their offense tends to struggle the most. Atlanta’s offense has been mediocre since losing Ronald Acuna Jr. and Ozzie Albies. I would roll with Herz in most formats.

Here We Go

Shane Baz (SP – TB) at OAK, at LAD

Shane Baz has been up and down since his return from Tommy John, but he has finally started to go deeper into games. He has a great matchup in Oakland, but a bad one in Los Angeles, so there is some risk here.

Zebby Matthews (RP, SP – MIN) at SD, vs. STL

Zebby Matthews looked great in his debut and has been successful at most of his stops through the minor league. He struggles with command at times, which could make him an inconsistent option. These are two tougher matchups, so there is some risk here.

Yusei Kikuchi (SP – HOU) vs. BOS, at BAL

There is an argument that Yusei Kikuchi should be more highly ranked than this because since being traded to the Astros, Kikuchi has been fantastic after a pitch mix change. However, these are two top-five offenses since the All-Star break and he has a history of hot stretches that end poorly. I would probably roll with him in most formats, but there is risk.

Reynaldo Lopez (RP, SP – ATL) vs. PHI, vs. WAS

I don’t love starting guys fresh off the injured list (IL) because you don’t know how deep they will go in their first few starts and there is a risk of re-injury. However, Reynaldo Lopez has been so good when healthy this year that it is hard not to use him.

Feeling Lucky

Jonathan Cannon (SP – CWS) at SF, vs. DET

Jonathan Cannon has been up and down recently, but these are two fantastic matchups versus offenses that are truly anemic.

Matthew Boyd (SP – CLE) at NYY, vs. TEX

Yes, these are matchups that can be very scary, but Texas has struggled offensively recently and Matthew Boyd has been fantastic since joining the Cleveland rotation.

David Peterson (SP, RP – NYM) vs. BAL, at SD

David Peterson has been very good as of late, but some of that has been good luck and bad competition. He is facing a tough Orioles squad, but a Padres offense that has been terrible against lefties, so there is some risk/reward here.

Desperate Measures

• Jose Quintana (SP – NYM) vs. BAL, at SD
• Trevor Rogers (SP – BAL) at NYM, vs. HOU
• Dean Kremer (SP – BAL) at NYM, vs. HOU
• Bryan Sammons (RP – DET) at CHC, at CWS
• Carson Fulmer (SP, RP – LAA) at KC, at TOR
• Joe Boyle (SP – OAK) vs. TB, vs. MIL
• Joey Estes (SP – OAK) vs. TB, vs. MIL
• Jose Urena (RP, SP – TEX) vs. PIT, at CLE
• Edward Cabrera (SP – MIA) vs. ARI, vs. CHC
• Javier Assad (SP, RP – CHC) vs. DET, at MIA
• Lyon Richardson (SP – CIN) at TOR, at PIT,
• Luis Ortiz (RP, SP – PIT) at TEX, vs. CIN
• Erick Fedde (SP – STL) vs. MIL, at MIN
• Austin Gomber (SP – COL) at WAS, at NYY
• Gavin Stone (SP – LAD) vs. SEA, vs. TB
• Martin Perez (RP, SP – SD) vs. MIN, vs. NYM
• Frankie Montas (SP, RP – MIL) at STL, at OAK
• Carson Spiers (RP, SP – CIN) at TOR, at PIT

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Justin Mason is the lead fantasy writer and analyst for Friendswithfantasybenefits.com. He is a writer at Fangraphs and Fantasy Pros. You can hear him on the Radio on the FWFB, TGFBI and the Sleeper and the Bust Podcasts. He also runs The Great Fantasy Baseball Invitational and the Bay Area Roto Fantasy (BARF) league.