Each Sunday, this article will take a look at the two-start pitchers you should get into your fantasy baseball lineups and a few to avoid for the week ahead. The hurlers fall into four categories: must start, should start, could start, and don’t start. Also, you get the Streamer of the Week.
It’s the final week of the regular season, and everyone reading this has a championship on the line. It’s been a great season of streaming despite the madness, and 2021 will be bigger and better than ever. Good luck in the championship week!
STREAMER OF THE WEEK
Brady Singer, KC (STL, DET)
(54% CBS, 31% Yahoo, 24% ESPN)
Singer has gained some valuable experience in his first major-league season for the Royals. He’s taken his bumps and bruises along the way but is finishing the season strong. Over his last two starts, he has thrown 14 innings and allowed three hits, three walks, and zero earned runs to go along with 16 strikeouts. He has become a different pitcher since primarily using his fastball and slider instead of his changeup. The results are showing up in the box score as he has 27 swinging strikes in his last two outings compared to the 64 he mustered in his first eight starts of the season. He goes against two of the weaker offenses in baseball this week and can lock up your fantasy baseball championship this week.
His Opponents
Singer’s first opponent of the final week is the St. Louis Cardinals. They have a .294 weighted On Base Average versus right-handed pitching since September 1st, and that puts them in the bottom 10 in the majors. Fantasy managers won’t have to worry about the rookie giving up a long ball either as the Cardinals’ .132 ISO puts them in the bottom five. Couple all of these woeful offensive statistics with the fact they will be playing their 25th game in 20 September days, and Singer is in a great position to kick off the final week.
All those things that were just mentioned about the Cardinals are even worse for the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers have a .268 wOBA and a .116 ISO versus right-handed hurlers. They have scored three runs or less in nine of their previous 13 games, and this team looks like it just wants the season to end. Singer took on the Tigers in his latest start and threw six innings without giving up a run while getting eight Detroit batters to strikeout. A repeat performance should be in the cards as the rookie finishes off his first season with a sublime matchup.
MUST START
Shane Bieber, CLE (CHW, PIT)
Gerrit Cole, NYY (@TOR, MIA)
Jacob deGrom, NYM (TB, @WAS)
Lucas Giolito, CHW (@CLE, CHC)
Aaron Nola, PHI (@WAS, @TB)
Brandon Woodruff, MIL (@CIN, @STL)
Zack Wheeler, PHI (@WAS, @TB)
SHOULD START
German Marquez, COL (@SF, @ARI)
Dylan Bundy, LAA (TEX, @LAD)
Framber Valdez, HOU (@SEA, @TEX)
Lance McCullers Jr., HOU (@SEA, @TEX)
Brady Singer, KC (STL, DET)
Masahiro Tanaka, NYY (@TOR, MIA)
Aaron Civale, CLE (CHW, PIT)
Seth Lugo, NYM (TB, @WAS)
Adam Wainwright, STL (@KC, KC)
Caleb Smith, ARI (TEX, COL)
Marco Gonzales, SEA (HOU, @OAK)
Dustin May, LAD (OAK, LAA)
COULD START
Drew Smyly, SF (COL, SD)
Mike Minor, OAK (@LAD, SEA)
Zach Davies, SD (LAA, @SF)
Tarik Skubal, DET (@MIN, @KC)
Michael Lorenzen, CIN (MIL, @MIN)
Nathan Eovaldi, BOS (BAL, @ATL)
Jon Lester, CHC (@PIT, @CHW)
Kyle Freeland, COL (@SF, @ARI)
Cole Hamels, ATL (MIA, BOS)
Tyler Anderson, SF (COL, SD)
DON’T START
Keegan Akin, BAL (@BOS, @TOR)
Kyle Gibson, TEX (@LAA, HOU)
JT Brubaker, PIT (CHC, @CLE)
Chase Anderson, TOR (NYY, BAL)
Reynaldo Lopez, CHW (@CLE, CHC)
Trevor Rogers, MIA (@ATL, @NYY)
Josh Fleming, TB (@NYM, PHI)
Austin Voth, WAS (PHI, NYM)
Tanner Roark, TOR (NYY, BAL)
Jordan Lyles, TEX (@ARI, HOU)
Jose Urena, MIA (@ATL, @NYY)
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Main Credit Image: Embed from Getty Images
