The Double Dip: Fantasy baseball 2-start pitchers for the week

We’re back again for this week’s fantasy baseball Double Dip — highlighting pitchers making two starts in a week. Some of the plays may be obvious — you don’t need a 1,000-word soliloquy highlighting why it’s a good idea to start Jacob deGrom twice. You just do it. 

But volume is key, especially two-start-pitcher volume. This column aims to identify all the two-start hurlers, the ones that are no-brainers, the ones that are avoids, and most importantly, focus on the tough-to-call decisions. 

Each week, I’ll do my best to highlight some of those tricky arms and what could come your way.

All of the two-steppers (32)

1. Caleb Smith, AZ (vs. PIT, at CHC)
2. Kyle Muller, ATL (vs. SD, at PHI)
3. Touki Toussaint, ATL (vs. SD, at PHI)
4. Spenser Watkins, BAL (at TB, vs. WAS)
5. Nick Pivetta, BOS (at TOR, vs. NYY)
6. Alec Mills, CHC (at STL, vs. AZ)
7. Trevor Williams, CHC (at STL, vs. AZ)
8. J.C. Mejía, CLE (at HOU, vs. TB)
9. Triston McKenzie, CLE (at HOU, vs. TB)
10. Lance Lynn, CHW (vs. MIN, at MIL)
11. Tarik Skubal, DET (vs. TEX, at KC)
12. Wily Peralta, DET (vs. TEX, at KC)
13. Luis García, HOU (vs. CLE, vs. TEX)
14. Shohei Ohtani, LAA (at OAK, vs. MIN)
15. Tony Gonsolin, LAD (vs. SF, vs. COL)
16. Josiah Gray, LAD (vs. SF, vs. COL)
17. Michael Pineda, MIN (at CWS, vs. LAA)
18. José Berríos, MIN (at CWS, vs. LAA)
19. Domingo Germán, NYY (vs. PHI, at BOS)
20. Cole Irvin, OAK (vs. LAA, at SEA)
21. Aaron Nola, PHI (at NYY, vs. ATL)
22. Yu Darvish, SD (at ATL, at MIA)
23. Marco Gonzales, SEA (at COL, vs. OAK)
24. Kevin Gausman, SF (at LAD, vs. PIT)
25. Alex Wood, SF (at LAD, vs. PIT)
26. Johan Oviedo, STL (vs. CHC, at CIN)
27. Jake Woodford, STL (vs. CHC, at CIN)
28. Ryan Yarbrough, TB (vs. BAL, at CLE)
29. Shane McClanahan, TB (vs. BAL, at CLE)
30. Kyle Gibson, TEX (at DET, at HOU)
31. Ross Stripling, TOR (vs. BOS, at NYM)
32. Jon Lester, WAS (vs. MIA, at BAL)

The no-brainers (23)

This group should definitely be in your starting lineup — whether it’s due to matchup or just sheer brilliance, don’t overthink this one. As it gets longer in the season, you are more willing, in most instances, to chase that volume. Now, each situation may be unique — if you have outstanding ratios, you may want to be a bit more careful about damaging your ratios.

• Kyle Muller, ATL (vs. SD, at PHI)
• Alec Mills, CHC (at STL, vs. AZ)
• Trevor Williams, CHC (at STL, vs. AZ)
• Triston McKenzie, CLE (at HOU, vs. TB)
• Lance Lynn, CHW (vs. MIN, at MIL)
• Tarik Skubal, DET (vs. TEX, at KC)
• Wily Peralta, DET (vs. TEX, at KC)
• Luis García, HOU (vs. CLE, vs. TEX)
• Shohei Ohtani, LAA (at OAK, vs. MIN)
• Tony Gonsolin, LAD (vs. SF, vs. COL)
• Josiah Gray, LAD (vs. SF, vs. COL)
• Michael Pineda, MIN (at CWS, vs. LAA)
• José Berríos, MIN (at CWS, vs. LAA)
• Domingo Germán, NYY (vs. PHI, at BOS)
• Cole Irvin, OAK (vs. LAA, at SEA)
• Aaron Nola, PHI (at NYY, vs. ATL)
• Yu Darvish, SD (at ATL, at MIA)
• Kevin Gausman, SF (at LAD, vs. PIT)
• Alex Wood, SF (at LAD, vs. PIT)
• Ryan Yarbrough, TB (vs. BAL, at CLE)
• Shane McClanahan, TB (vs. BAL, at CLE)
• Kyle Gibson, TEX (at DET, at HOU)
• Ross Stripling, TOR (vs. BOS, at NYM)

The run-and-hides (8)

This group should only be started out of pure desperation — the volume is nice, and it definitely could end up working out for you, but starting these hurlers is a real gamble. 

• Caleb Smith, AZ (vs. PIT, at CHC)
• Touki Toussaint, ATL (vs. SD, at PHI)
• Spenser Watkins, BAL (at TB, vs. WAS)
• J.C. Mejía, CLE (at HOU, vs. TB)
• Marco Gonzales, SEA (at COL, vs. OAK)
• Johan Oviedo, STL (vs. CHC, at CIN)
• Jake Woodford, STL (vs. CHC, at CIN)
• Jon Lester, WAS (vs. MIA, at BAL)

The meat-and-potatoes (1)

This group is one that takes a bit more thinking — the volume is nice, but the matchup could be tricky. Is it worth taking the risk on a questionable start for what could be some juicy fantasy goodness? Let’s dig in and find out.

And since they say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, I am going to use a similar rating scale that Clay Link and Todd Zola do over at Rotowire — if I was playing in five fantasy baseball leagues, how many would I feel comfortable starting this hurler? Using that as our barometer, we should be able to appropriately deem the risk and reward that’s available if you choose to start this arm. Keep in mind — your league and team context are always key. I’m using a 12-team NFBC Online Championship format as my primary backdrop.

• Nick Pivetta, BOS (at TOR, vs. NYY 100%) — THREE LEAGUES OUT OF FIVE: This one is truly a tough choice to make — the Toronto offense is flat-out filthy. When you have the luxury of batting a guy like Lourdes Gurriel Jr eighth, you are pretty damn good. If you need a refresher, the Baby Jays (Who will finally get to play in Canada again starting July 30th), rank second in wOBA (.336), isolated power (.189) and wRC+ (111), are difficult to strike out (21.8%), and own a league-leading .453 team slugging percentage. But Pivetta is a really good pitcher — he’s logged a 4.18 FIP spanning 96.1 innings pitched, paired with a solid 27.8% strikeout rate. I think I’d lean toward starting him, especially with the Yankees impaired by COVID-19 protocols with Aaron Judge and Gio Urshela, but this could be risky.