Welcome back to the 2025 two-start pitcher rankings!
Each week, I’ll break down all the projected two-start starters and group them into four tiers: Set and Forget, Probably Start, Questionable, and Avoid. Set-and-Forget starters are simply that; get them in your lineup and don’t think twice. The Most Likely tier includes players with a mix of skill and matchups that make them almost certainly two-start plays, but not without some elevated risk compared to the top tier. Questionable starters are those best suited for daily lineup leagues, where you can bench them against the tougher of their two opponents; they’re more situation-dependent in weekly leagues. Finally, we have the Avoid tier, which includes two start SPs who should remain on your bench or the wire.
I’ll also be highlighting one Two-Start Streamer of the Week. The criteria for a streamer will be a rostered rate under 50% in Yahoo and ESPN leagues. The Streamer of the Week will be highlighted in green in the tables.
Let’s dive in.
As a friendly reminder, the projected starters are just that, projections. They are subject to change.
Set-and-Forget
- This tier features three guys with the Aces Gonna Ace distinction. None of the three has an extremely tough slate, with Jacob deGrom’s matchup with the Angels being the scariest per the Pitcherlist offense projections.
- The White Sox are a fun matchup for Cristopher Sánchez, who is coming off an incredible complete game performance where he struck out 12 against the Red Sox.
- Dylan Cease might not be the ace that some thought he’d be this year, but his stuff is just too good for him to finish the season with the ratios he has right now. There is some chatter that he could potentially be traded, though that is somewhat difficult to see happening, due to the fact that he’s on a team that is potentially postseason-bound.
Most Likely
- Slade Cecconi is this week’s streamer pick. He was traded to the Guardians from the Diamondbacks in the offseason and has immediately found moderate success with his new club. While some may question the underlying data and believe he is due for regression, it’s hard to believe that will come against the historically awful Colorado Rockies and an inconsistent Minnesota Twins offense.
- Luis Castillo gets the ball for two matchups against AL West rivals. It’s always tricky pitching in West Sacramento, but Castillo has done enough to earn your trust over his last few starts. He’s quietly looked like his old self since the difficult start in Minnesota, at least in terms of the results of his outings. Castillo may not have the makings of a consistent ace at this point in time, but he’s a veteran who is quietly having a good season.
- Edward Cabrera somewhat straddles the line between a probable and questionable starter for this stretch, as while St. Louis is a great place to pitch, the Yankees aren’t a fun matchup. Something to consider if the possibility of a trade here, which does seem more likely than a move for a guy like Cease. A trade would likely mess Cabrera up as a two-step this week, though as we said at the top, these are based solely off of projections.
- It’s been an incredibly fun season for Matthew Boyd. Many of us have believed in him and his abilities for a while, but he really hadn’t put everything together until this year. He’s often been more of a cherry bomb type, with tons of strikeouts but hit-or-miss ratios. This year, while the strikeout rate has gone down a bit, he’s showcased better control, with a minuscule walk rate. It’s hard to believe that he will continue to be THIS good for the rest of the season, but he’s proven himself to be a key cog in the Cubs machine. Milwaukee and Baltimore aren’t the easiest slate, but this is a prime example of riding with a guy while he’s hot.
- I almost chose Landen Roupp for the streamer pick this week, though I liked Cecconi’s matchups more. Roupp is coming off of three straight solid performances, with his game against the Dodgers looking real impressive. Roupp has had one of the better curveballs in baseball this year, and it has been key to his breakout. Per The Pitcherlist top 100 rankings, he currently sits right at the #50 mark. Can he stay there the rest of the way?
Questionable
- Like most weeks, this is a fairly large tier, which makes sense. Solid pitchers with tough matchups and frequent streamers with solid matchups often make up this tier.
- Luis Gil is projected to return this week, with a two-start week potentially lined up. He’s definitely teetering into the territory of being an “avoid” start, as he’s coming off an arduous injury recovery. Still, he was a guy you were likely to start most weeks last year, and that reliability earned him Rookie of the Year.
- Ahhh, Drew Rasmussen and Joe Boyle, what do we do with you? Rasmussen was briefly demoted to being Boyle’s opener entering the All-Star break, as the Rays made it known they wanted to limit his workload as he is coming off his third major elbow surgery. Now, we don’t really know what to expect with Ras, and against the AL and NL reigning champions, this might be one you want to sit out. The only reason he isn’t worth avoiding is the fact that he’s Rasmussen. He’s shown flashes of ace potential at points in the season, with incredibly difficult to hit fastballs and impressive efficiency. Boyle has also seen major swings in usage. He has largely been a bulk guy since getting called up, but with Taj Bradley getting demoted to AAA, he is the favorite to take that rotation spot. Let’s see how he does in that role.
- Casey Mize gets two really difficult starts, facing off against the Arizona Diamondbacks, who while they have slipped a fair bit in terms of projected offensive rankings, always seem to be a team that fantasy managers fear facing. Mize then gets the Phillies, who are a top-tier offense. Still, Mize has proven himself to be consistent enough that he’s worth trusting most weeks, this one could just be a rough one.
- Chase Burns is coming off a start against a not-so-impressive offense where he dominated… Until he went too deep and left with a pretty rough statline. Focus more on the process over the results right now with Burns. He’s young but has seemingly unlimited potential. Now, this week is going to be tough. He gets a ridiculously good Dodgers offense and Atlanta, which is tough enough as it is. Now, factor in the fact that he’s doing this at home, in a very difficult ballpark to pitch in, and yeah, it’ll be tough.
- This week will probably see the trade of Mitch Keller, which possibly messes up his two-step. As of now though, he’s still a Pirate and he’s still slated to start in San Francisco and Colorado. One pitcher’s park, one hitter’s park.
Avoid
