This week’s fantasy baseball pitchers with two starts has plenty of one-star pitchers. Leaving fantasy owners with only sum two and three-star pitchers to stream.
Zac Gallen: Monday vs COL, Sunday @ MIL THREE STARS
Gallen struggled in his last game, which came against the Rockies. He only recorded three strikeouts through just four innings and allowed nine hits on top of two earned runs.
Before this game, Gallen has been pitching well and hasn’t allowed more than five hits all season. He’s only owned in 28.4 percent of ESPN fantasy leagues and could be worth an add for the rest of the season.
Dallas Keuchel: Tuesday vs MIA, Sunday @ NYM THREE STARS
Keuchel played both the Marlins and the Mets in his two previous starts. On August 8 against the Marlins, he allowed three home runs causing 10 earned runs to score in his 3 2/3 innings pitched. August 14 Keuchel managed to pitch six innings and only allowed seven base runners while striking seven batters out.
It’s hard to predict how Keuchel will perform next but his low strikeout rate is going to limit his fantasy baseball value.
John Means: Monday vs KC, Saturday vs TB ONE STAR
Dylan Bundy: Tuesday vs KC, Sunday vs TB ONE STARS
Means has made two starts since being activated off the injured list both of which came against the Yankees. He allowed four earned runs in his first start back and then allowed six earned runs his next time around. Means could be in for a rebound against weak-hitting teams this week but is hard to trust.
Bundy allowed six earned runs in his previous start as well which also came against the Yankees. Neither Bundy nor Means has turned in a solid season and shouldn’t be trusted.
Both of these players have an ESPN own percentage similar to that of Zac Gallen and should be dropped in favor of him if possible.
Brian Johnson: Tuesday vs PHI, Sunday @ SD ONE STARS
With Chris Sale and David Price both on the injured list, Boston will need to fill in with a replacement. Brian Johnson is the most likely candidate and should get a two-start week. He, however, can’t be trusted in fantasy leagues and should be left in free agency.
Cole Hamels: Tuesday vs SF, Sunday vs WSH THREE STARS
Hamels has struggled in his two most recent starts, both coming on the road, but has a chance of rebounding this week with a pair of home starts. He has a solid 2.35 ERA at home compared to 5.16 on the road on top of striking more batters out and walking fewer.
Hamels could be in for a four-star caliber week but is better left at three after allowing 12 earned runs in his last two starts.
Ivan Nova: Monday @ MIN, Saturday vs TEX FOUR STARS
Reynaldo Lopez: Tuesday @ MIN, Sunday vs TEX TWO STARS
Nova has been on fire since late July and has only allowed two earned runs in those five games while also pitching 37 innings in that span. He’s only owned in 11.1 percent of ESPN fantasy baseball leagues but could be the biggest steal left in free agency.
Lopez has been inconsistent all season and hasn’t been particularly good as of late. On Thursday versus the Angels, he allowed nine hits for five earned runs for the loss. A lone bright spot from that game would be the six strikeouts which equaled the combined strikeouts from the two games prior.
Trevor Bauer: Monday vs SD, Sunday @ PIT FOUR STARS
In the three games, Bauer has played for the Reds he has failed to make it out of the fifth inning twice. The one game he did was the Trevor Bauer that fans have come to expect. He struck out 11 batters through seven innings and allowed only one earned run off a solo home run.
Neither San Diego or Pittsburgh should pose too much of a threat to Bauer and fans should continue expecting the same and hope he doesn’t.
Shane Bieber: Tuesday @ NYM, Sunday vs KC FIVE STARS
Bieber sports an 11.09 strikeouts per nine innings ranking him 10th for K/9. He also ranks 10th in BB/9 and 11th in FIP(fielding independent pitching), making him one of the best pitchers in baseball.
Kyle Freeland: Monday @ ARI, Saturday @ STL TWO STARS
Freeland has yet to prove himself worthy of being on a fantasy baseball team. His ESPN own percentage of 31.6 is way too high for how poor he has been this season. But he has gone six innings deep in two consecutive games and has some hope of getting on track.
Edwin Jackson: Monday @ HOU, Saturday @ MIN ONE STAR
Spencer Turnbull: Tuesday @ HOU, Sunday @ MIN TWO STARS
Jackson has put together back to back wins in his last two starts and turned in his best games of the season as well. His season ERA sits at 8.62 making it hard to believe he has more games like these in store. He has to face two of the toughest offenses in the MLB this week and has a good chance of being roughed around.
Turnbull has lost two in a row despite only allowing three and two earned runs in those games. He has been a solid pitcher all year for one of the worst starting rotations and has gotten very little run support. Turnbull could be fantasy relevant on a week to week basis but this week the risk is too high to put in the lineup.
Wade Miley: Monday vs DET, Saturday vs LAA FOUR STARS
Aaron Sanchez: Tuesday vs DET, Sunday vs LAA THREE STARS
Miley is putting together a great season but is coming off his worst start all year. This should be just a blip for Miley and fantasy owners should expect him to return to form this week.
Sanchez started the year slow and bad but has shown major improvements in late July and now August. Only owned in 36.4 percent of ESPN leagues Sanchez is a top streaming option against two weak offenses this week.
Jorge Lopez: Monday @ BAL, Sunday @ CLE ONE STAR
Lopez receives a one star rating due to the fact that he won’t be able to pitch more than four innings limiting his value. Even if the innings weren’t an issue he hasn’t pitched well all year and is better left in free agency.
Dillon Peters: Monday @ TEX, Sunday @ HOU THREE STARS
Peters has been a full-time rotation pitcher since July 21 and thus far has been impressive. The Texas Rangers have been one of the worst offensive teams in August putting Peters in a spot to impress again. His best asset is his ability to locate pitches in the strike zone and throws a first-pitch strike 60 percent of the time allowing him to be more free with his pitches.
Peters should be on the fantasy radar for the rest of the season if he’s not added already.
Clayton Kershaw: Tuesday vs TOR, Sunday vs NYY FIVE STARS
Kershaw has won four games in a row and always has a great chance to win another.
Elieser Hernandez: Tuesday @ ATL, Sunday vs PHI ONE STAR
On August 8 Hernandez showed he can be an MLB pitcher when he shut out the Atlanta Braves through six innings while striking seven batters out. However the next game he allowed four home runs and six earned runs. Hernandez could put together another quality game but it’s unlikely after seeing him struggle in most starts.
Zach Davies: Monday @ STL, Sunday vs ARI ONE STAR
Davies will be activated off the injured list to start Monday versus the Cardinals. The Cardinals are one of the worst hitting teams in August but Davies season has been so bad that he ends up as a one star. He is owned in 29.8 percent of ESPN fantasy baseball leagues and the best advice for his owners is to sit him and wait till he figures it out or drop him.
Kyle Gibson: Monday vs CHW, Sunday vs DET THREE STARS
Gibson had his second straight game with five or fewer innings pitched. He has nine walks in those two starts and only five strikeouts. Gibson has had many bright spots on the season and could be getting back on track with these matchups.
Domingo German: Tuesday @ OAK, Sunday @ LAD THREE STARS
German is currently pitching a 9.62 K/9, just below his 10.72 mark in 2018. 9.62 would rank German 21st in the MLB and 10.72 would rank him 12th. There was a concern that he would be limited on his innings this season but now that it’s not an issue he should be a top 20 pitcher the rest of 2019.
Steven Matz: Tuesday vs CLE, Sunday vs ATL THREE STARS
Matz pitched six innings and only allowed one earned run despite not being awarded the win. If Matz keeps pitching like this he’ll be worth a four star rating, however, it’s hard to rate him higher when he’s pitching against two top ten offenses in the month of August.
Expect good things from Matz moving forward.
Trevor Williams: Monday vs WSH, Saturday vs CIN TWO STARS
Chris Archer: Tuesday vs WSH, Sunday vs CIN THREE STARS
Williams has allowed three or more earned runs in each of his last three starts while failing to record more than two strikeouts. This is disastrous for fantasy value and it’s hard to want Williams on your team.
Archer, on the other hand, has a lot more fantasy appeal because of his higher K/9. Archers K/9 is at 10.69, 13th in the MLB. Williams K/9 is at 6.88 although he is doing better than last years 6.64.
Expect Archer to put up enough points worthy of a start but Williams should only be started if in desperate need of points.
Eric Lauer: Monday @ CIN, Sunday vs BOS TWO STARS
Lauer has allowed a home run in three straight games while only striking out six combined in the last two starts.
The Reds and the Red Sox are both hitting plenty of home runs in August and making Lauer a hard pick to start.
Marco Gonzalez: Monday @ TB, Saturday vs TOR THREE STARS
Gonzalez is walking more batters and striking fewer out than 2018. He is allowing more contact inside and outside the strike zone while only getting swinging strikes 7.6 percent of the time.
He has, however, shown the ability to go deep in games and keep the ball inside the park. Start Gonzalez if he’s on your team.
Tyler Beede: Tuesday @ CHC Sunday @ OAK ONE STAR
Beede is currently in an awful slump and has lost four of his last five and allowed eight home runs in that span. He has been dominant for stretches but the current rut he’s in makes him hard to add.
Dakota Hudson: Monday vs MIL, Saturday vs COL TWO STARS
Michael Wacha Tuesday vs MIL, Sunday vs COL ONE STAR
Dakota Hudson allows too many runs and hits during games and is likely to allow at least one run per game. Similar to Marco Gonzalez Hudson strikes few batters out while going deep into games.
Wacha is having a forgettable season with a 1.63 WHIP and 5.44 ERA and shouldn’t be used in fantasy baseball.
Kolby Allard: Monday vs LAA, Saturday @ CHW THREE STARS
Allard has only five games under his belt in the MLB and hasn’t done much impressing. He does have a chance of being a solid strikeout pitcher, and does keep batters hitting a .184 batting average.
Allard is a speculative add only but could win the week for fantasy managers.
Sean Reid-Foley: Tuesday @ LAD, Sunday @ SEA ONE STAR
Reid-Foley comes in as a one-star due to his math up against the Dodgers. He will have a tough time each week and doesn’t normally go past the fifth innings.
Joe Ross: Monday @ PIT, Saturday @ CHC THREE STARS
Stephen Strasburg: Tuesday @ PIT, Sunday @ CHC FIVE STARS
If Ross can keep up his current play he will be one of the best players in fantasy baseball free agency the rest of the season. He has been known to pitch poorly at times but until he starts to fade he should be started in every league.
Strasburg hasn’t been pitching like a five star as of late and has allowed a home run in three straight games, after not allowing one for six straight games. Strasburg will break out of this likely sooner than later.
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