Welcome to the tenth edition of the 2026 two-start pitcher rankings!
Each week, I’ll break down all the projected two-start starters into four tiers: Set and Forget, Most Likely Start, Questionable, and Avoid. Set-and-Forget starters are simply that; get them in your lineup and shift your focus to other positions. The Most Likely tier includes players with a mix of skill and matchups that make them almost certainly two-start plays, though they carry 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, the Avoid tier includes the pitchers who should remain on your bench or the wire.
I will also be highlighting one Two-Start Streamer of the Week. The criteria for a streamer will be a rostered rate under 50% in Yahoo & ESPN leagues. The streamer of the week for this upcoming week is Cade Cavalli, and he will have (STOW) next to his name.
As a friendly reminder, the projected starters are just that, projections, and are subject to change
Set-and-Forget
Not much to be said about this tier this week. Chase Burns and Cam Schlittler have exceeded their preseason hype, Jacob deGrom is still doing deGrom things, and Kevin Gausman has still been effective and can be trusted against the elite offensive teams like the Braves.
Most Likely
- Casey Mize left his last start early, but when he’s pitched, he’s been phenomenal this season. Even if he’s going to miss some time, he’s a great trade candidate to target
- Emmet Sheehan against the Angels is a matchup I’m excited to see, as their hitters have the highest K% vs RHP this season. Sheehan’s been solid in his last 4 starts, with the lone blip coming against the Padres, who scored 4 in 4 innings against him. Outside of that, this run of starts has included two starts of 6 innings with 2 ER and 6+ strikeouts against the Giants and Braves.
- I’m not worried about a start in Coors with how Kyle Harrison is currently pitching. Even though he didn’t get the whiffs we’ve come to expect in his last outing, he’s earned the benefit of the doubt that this is an exception, not the expectation.
- Taj Bradley has an elite K% (27.2%) and faces a White Sox team that has the second-highest K% vs RHP before facing a Royals team that’s had its share of offensive struggles.
- Landen Roupp has been getting hit around recently, allowing more than one H/IP over his last 3 starts, but he’s also had at least one strikeout per inning in every start but two this season, and his 97th CSW supports that this isn’t an extended fluke run.
- Michael McGreevy was pitching well through four before a rough fifth inning destroyed his line in his last start. This comes off the heels of a not-great start previously, but his kitchen sink approach at home should have success against a Rangers and Reds offense that don’t inspire fear in their opponents.
- Griffin Jax left early from his last start after he was drilled by a linedrive, but he was looking really good against the Orioles as he continues to build up to a starter’s workload. The length is probably still a work in progress, but the innings have been quality. If he’s available, start him.
- Cade Cavalli (STOW) is coming off two strong starts, a PQS, and a start with a WHIP under 1 and 4 strikeouts over 5.2 IP. He’s pitching well right now, and I’m looking to stream him this week as the curveball has been really good over his last two outings with a 50% CSW.
Questionable
- Michael Soroka against the Dodgers is a pass, but I’m trusting him against the Nationals. He limits free passes (5.5% walk rate) and relies on a fastball and curveball combination that’s driving the best year of his career so far. If his first start wasn’t against an elite offense, he’d be in the most likely tier.
- Gage Jump made his debut in Sacramento, and it went…fine? Only 1 walk but 9 hits and 4 ER over 5 innings. I’m interested in streaming him over the weekend, but I’d pass on him against the Cubs for now.
- Bryce Elder finally had the regressive start. He’s excelled this season at inducing soft contact, as the BABIP is 30 points below league average, and he only has a 9.1% HR/FB rate. The Pirates have the 5th highest wRC+ against RHP, and the Blue Jays have the lowest K% against RHP, which limits Elder’s upside and gives me reasons to be concerned.
- Shane Baz dominated the unique Rays offense in his last two starts. His curveball’s effectiveness will correlate with his value. The Red Sox haven’t been great, and the Blue Jays have had their issues, but I’m looking at Baz as a daily streaming option rather than someone who can be penciled in for both starts this week.
- Connelly Early against the Orioles is a good matchup for him. Against the Yankees? In Yankee Stadium? That’s a bit of a scarier proposition.
- Joey Cantillo had a brutal outing against the Nationals his last time out. The command wasn’t there at all. It’ll happen over the 30+ starts of the season, and I still think he’s a quality option, just not against the Yankees offense.
- Tomoyuki Sugano won’t pump your strikeout number up, but he’s a fine streaming option against the Angels. I’m still avoiding him in Coors, though.
- David Sandlin threw 6 perfect innings in his debut, they just happened to come after a leadoff homerun. I still want to see how he does in his next few starts before potentially putting a “Most Likely” tag on him, but there are worse options to trust in weekly leagues.
- Noah Cameron’s command is back! At the Twins, he’s worth streaming. In Cincy? That’s a tougher sell. If he’s hitting his spots as he has been, he’ll have success; mistakes there tend to be even more painful, though.
- The walks are a good indicator of what version of José Soriano you’re getting. In his past 4 starts, he’s had two with 1 walk or fewer. Those two were stellar outings. The other two? not so stellar. Even if he’s struggling with walks, I don’t think the Rockies will be able to punish him. The Dodgers definitely will, though, if he’s allowing free passes.
- I’m looking to avoid Sandy Alcantara when he faces the Rays and their offense, which is predicated on contact and chaos. Sandy’s really slow to the plate, and the Rays will run all over him.
- Chad Patrick has limited upside because he’s not going deep in games. After throwing 80+ pitches in his first three appearances of the season, he moved to the bullpen, and in his last start, he threw only 61 pitches over 4 innings against the Cardinals. The lack of length is extremely concerning.
- The White Sox just got to Connor Prielipp, and he’ll have a chance for redemption in his next start against them. The White Sox are dangerous against LHP (119 wRC+), but will strike out a lot (24.6%). Against the Royals, he’s definitely a streaming option as their offense has an 85 wRC+ against LHP.
- Aaron Nola pitched well against the Padres in San Diego and will face them again in Philly. Despite that, there’s been more bad than good this season, and I can’t trust him at all, especially when his strikeout rate is down, further limiting his upside.
- Randy Vásquez relies on not walking people and limiting damage. In his last start against the Phillies, he allowed 8 hits on just a .263 BABIP, emphasizing this reliance on balls in play. That reliance and lack of strikeouts are concerning as he faces the Phillies in consecutive starts.
- Emerson Hancock had one outing with 14 strikeouts. Since then? The strikeouts haven’t been there. The ceiling for Hancock isn’t very high, but the floor is higher than most of the options in this tier.
Avoid
- Eduardo Rodriguez has an ERA (2.31), almost two points lower than his xERA (4.29). The strikeout and walk rates are career worsts. I’m looking for other options this week.
- Jameson Taillon has allowed 16 ER over his last three starts (14.2 IP), in which he allowed 21 hits while only striking out 11. There are better streaming options right now.
- Luinder Avila hasn’t thrown more than 3 innings all season as the Royals work to stretch him into a starter’s workload.
- David Peterson has surprisingly decent underlying metrics (3.03 FIP, 3.65 xFIP), but he’s not a viable option right now. His 1.67 WHIP, despite a slightly above-average walk rate, is due largely to a .379 BABIP, but he’s not stranding runners and isn’t missing bats at a rate that makes him a viable option.
- Tyler Mahle has a ridiculous 29.7% HR/FB%, and has allowed 3+ ER in 5 of his last 6 starts.
