Hello and welcome to the 20th installment of our weekly two-start pitcher article for the 2025 MLB season.
I’ll be here every Friday to highlight some of the best two-start pitcher options in fantasy baseball leagues for the upcoming week, as well as some streaming options to keep in mind.
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Thinking ahead with your weekly strategy can give you an advantage on the waiver wire and hopefully be a difference-maker in the standings at the end of the season.
This is a living document, so we’ll update the options below as the weekend moves along.
Before we get into it, we’ll start with a couple of notes on situations that may be unresolved or teams that may not have a two-start pitcher lined up for the upcoming week:
The Phillies are going to a six-man rotation to accommodate the return of Aaron Nola. That means that despite the fact that Ranger Suarez will pitch on Monday, he’ll make just one start on the week like the rest of his rotation-mates. If anything changes, we’ll update here.
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The Cubs play eight games next week due to a doubleheader on Monday, so even if they do shift to a six-man rotation, they would have two pitchers line up for two-start weeks. We’re confident that Cade Horton will be one of them, and he is profiled below. Jameson Taillon is likely to slot into the mix during one game of Monday’s doubleheader. If the Cubs go with a true six-man, he would start again over the weekend against the Angels in Los Angeles. It’s also possible that they may prefer to keep Matthew Boyd on regular rest or go with some sort of modified six-man rotation, in which case it’s possible that Boyd would make two starts next week. He should be in fantasy lineups regardless though, so there’s no decision point there. We’ll update in this space if we gain more clarity through the weekend.
The Rays only play five games next week, so it’s unlikely that anyone on the team will make two starts. It’s possible they could decide to skip Joe Boyle during this trip through the rotation, which would have Shane Baz make two starts – vs. Yankees and vs. Cardinals – but that’s not guaranteed.
We’re also still awaiting word on what the Blue Jays plan to do with their rotation to accommodate the return of Shane Bieber. Eric Lauer has pitched far to well to just bump him from their rotation, but it’s unclear if they want to go with a full six-man rotation. We’ll update as we receive more information.
Without further ado, let’s dig…