Fantasy Baseball Two-Start Pitchers: Rankings & Waiver Pickups (Week 22) (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 22

Must Start

• Jose Berrios (SP – TOR) at BOS, at MIN
• Ryan Pepiot (SP, RP – TB) at SEA, vs. SD
• Nestor Cortes (SP – NYY) at WAS, vs. STL
• Cole Ragans (SP, RP – KC) at CLE, at HOU
• Bailey Ober (SP – MIN) vs. ATL, vs. TOR
• Bryce Miller (SP – SEA) vs. TB, at LAA
• Mitch Keller (SP – PIT) vs. CHC, at CLE
• Spencer Schwellenbach (SP – ATL) at MIN, at PHI
• Sean Manaea (SP, RP – NYM) at ARI, at CWS
• Aaron Nola (SP – PHI) vs. HOU, vs. ATL
• Cristopher Sanchez (SP – PHI) vs. HOU, vs. ATL
• Dylan Cease (SP – SD) at STL, at TB

Should Start

Michael Lorenzen (RP, SP – KC) at CLE, at HOU

Michael Lorenzen has been fantastic since being traded to the Royals. While the underlying numbers aren’t as great, he has been very effective. The Astros matchup isn’t great, but Cleveland has been struggling offensively and I don’t know how you sit him when the results have been this good.

Max Fried (SP – ATL) at MIN, at PHI

Max Fried’s health and inconsistent performances worry me. I think long term there will likely be issues for him, but for right now, it is really hard not to keep rolling him out in your lineup.

Tobias Myers (SP – MIL) vs. SF, at CIN

Tobias Myers has been fantastic but there is regression coming. He does mix pitches and sequences well, so the regression could be put off until next season or it may not be as massive as the underlying numbers say. However, until the regression hits, you should keep using him, especially against a bad San Francisco offense.

Kyle Harrison (SP – SF) at MIL, vs. MIA

Kyle Harrison has quietly been really good in the second half, especially if you benched him for the terrible start in Cincinnati. The Milwaukee start is a bit scary, but the Miami one at home is so juicy, you are playing him in most formats.

Here We Go

Garrett Crochet (SP, RP – CWS) vs. TEX, vs. NYM

Garrett Crochet is still a stud, but he is a stud being limited in starts. It is unlikely that he goes deep enough to win either of these games on top of being on a bad team. However, if you need ratio help or strikeouts, he can deliver that.

Nick Pivetta (SP, RP – BOS) vs. TOR, at DET

Nick Pivetta has been unreliable this season, but he has two really nice matchups and an offense behind him that will give him a lot of support. I would roll with him in a lot of formats but know that there is always blowup potential.

Nick Martinez (SP, RP – CIN) vs. OAK, vs. MIL

Nick Martinez has been really good this season, but he has struggled mightily at home because of the Reds’ homer-friendly park. His ERA at home is 4.42, much higher than his 2.72 road ERA. Unfortunately, both of these games are in Great American Ball Park, which makes him a riskier play, even against a bad Oakland lineup.

Feeling Lucky

Brant Hurter (SP – DET) at CWS, vs. BOS

If it wasn’t for the fact Boston has a top-five offense, this would be a pretty easy play considering Brant Hurter has been great since coming up. He does get an opener, so this makes getting in line for a win easier. I think I would risk it, especially in daily lineup leagues where you can decide on the Boston start later in the week.

Andrew Heaney (SP, RP – TEX) at CHW, vs. OAK

I think a lot of people would start Andrew Heaney here just because of the matchups, but there is some risk. The A’s have been pretty good against lefties this season and Heaney is the kind of pitcher that can shut down tough lineups but get killed by bad ones.

Mitchell Parker (SP – WAS) vs. NYY, vs. CHC

Mitchell Parker has been up and down of late and there is quite a bit of risk to the Yankees’ start, however, the Yankees do struggle more with lefties and the Cubs aren’t very good offensively, so this may be a sneak play.

Ronel Blanco (SP, RP – HOU) at PHI, vs. KC

Ronel Blanco has struggled since the break, especially with his control. These are two tough matchups. While most people will start him because of his overall line, there is a ton of risk.

Desperate Measures

• Cooper Criswell (SP, RP – BOS) vs. TOR, vs. DET
• Yariel Rodriguez (SP, SP – TOR) at BOS, at MIN
• Davis Martin (SP, RP – CWS) vs. DET, vs. NYM
• Kenta Maeda (RP, SP – DET) vs. LAA, vs. BOS
• Mitch Spence (RP, SP – OAK) at CIN, at TEX
• Edward Cabrera (SP – MIA) at COL, at SF
• Roddery Munoz (RP, SP – MIA) at COL, at SF
• Kyle Gibson (SP – STL) vs. SD, at NYY
• Cal Quantrill (SP – COL) vs. MIA, vs. BAL
• Walker Buehler (SP – LAD) vs. BAL, at ARI
• Randy Vasquez (RP, SP – SD) at STL, at TB

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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.