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 (30)

Max Fried, ATL (vs. WAS, vs. MIA)
Matt Harvey, BAL (vs. KC, vs. TOR)
Alexander Wells, BAL (vs. KC, vs. TOR)
Chris Sale, BOS (vs. TB, at CHW)
Justin Steele, CHC (vs. CIN, vs. SF)
Sonny Gray, CIN (at CHC, at STL)
Kyle Freeland, COL (vs. SF, at PHI)
Kris Bubic, KC (at BAL, at MIN)
Packy Naughton, LAA (vs. TEX, at HOU)
Max Scherzer, LAD (at STL, vs. SD)
Andre Jackson, LAD (at STL, vs. SD)
Edward Cabrera, MIA (vs. NYM, at ATL)
Bailey Ober, MIN (at CLE, vs. KC)
Carlos Carrasco, NYM (at MIA, vs. NYY)
Jameson Taillon, NYY (vs. TOR, at NYM)
Gerrit Cole, NYY (vs. TOR, at NYM)
James Kaprielian, OAK (vs. CWS, vs. TEX)
Matt Moore, PHI (at MIL, vs. COL)
Aaron Nola, PHI (at MIL, vs. COL)
Mitch Keller, PIT (vs. DET, vs. WAS)
Blake Snell, SD (vs. LAA, at LAD)
Yusei Kikuchi, SEA (at HOU, vs. AZ)
Kevin Gausman, SF (at COL, at CHC)
Miles Mikolas, STL (vs. LAD, at CIN)
J.A. Happ, STL (vs. LAD, at CIN)
Hyun Jin Ryu, TOR (at NYY, at BAL)
Steven Matz, TOR (at NYY, at BAL)
Patrick Corbin, WAS (vs. NYM, at PIT)
Paolo Espino, WAS (vs. NYM, at PIT)

The no-brainers (19)

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.

Max Fried, ATL (vs. WAS, vs. MIA)
Chris Sale, BOS (vs. TB, at CHW)
Sonny Gray, CIN (at CHC, at STL)
Max Scherzer, LAD (at STL, vs. SD)
Edward Cabrera, MIA (vs. NYM, at ATL)
Bailey Ober, MIN (at CLE, vs. KC)
Carlos Carrasco, NYM (at MIA, vs. NYY)
Jameson Taillon, NYY (vs. TOR, at NYM)
Gerrit Cole, NYY (vs. TOR, at NYM)
James Kaprielian, OAK (vs. CWS, vs. TEX)
Aaron Nola, PHI (at MIL, vs. COL)
Blake Snell, SD (vs. LAA, at LAD)
Yusei Kikuchi, SEA (at HOU, vs. AZ)
Kevin Gausman, SF (at COL, at CHC)
Logan Webb, SF (at COL, at CHC)
Hyun Jin Ryu, TOR (at NYY, at BAL)
Steven Matz, TOR (at NYY, at BAL)
Patrick Corbin, WAS (vs. NYM, at PIT)
Paolo Espino, WAS (vs. NYM, at PIT)

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The run-and-hides (4)

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.

Alexander Wells, BAL (vs. KC, vs. TOR)
Justin Steele, CHC (vs. CIN, vs. SF)
Packy Naughton, LAA (vs. TEX, at HOU)
Miles Mikolas, STL (vs. LAD, at CIN)

The meat-and-potatoes (7)

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.