Fantasy Baseball Two-Start Pitcher Streaming Options: April 15-21

Streaming starting pitchers is a common strategy that often leads to success in fantasy baseball. For those unfamiliar with the concept, the idea is simply to pick up a “lesser” pitcher for an inviting matchup or two that is soon to come.

The strategy certainly comes with risk, as there is usually a good reason, or several, that a particular hurler is rostered at a lower rate in most leagues. Still, the gamble can pay off nicely if a fantasy manager gets it right and their waiver add delivers.

The goal of this weekly article is to help fantasy managers pinpoint some two-start streamers with favorable matchups for the following week of the 2024 MLB season. These suggestions should be able to help out in a variety of season-long formats, but they can be especially useful to gain an edge in weekly head-to-head leagues.

*** Each SP below was rostered in less than 70% of Yahoo leagues at time of writing

Next Week’s Best Two-Start SP Streamers

Zack Littell (TB) – vs. LAA, at NYY – 46%

Littell tops the list for next week, as he’s been excellent through his first three starts of the campaign. The big righty looked good in Spring Training and has carried that right into the season.

Across 15.1 innings so far, Littell has cruised to the tune of a 1.17 ERA while posting a 23.4 K%. The WHIP is a bit high at 1.30, but that is largely the product of an unlucky .341 BABIP.

The opposition has hit .254 off Littell so far, but Statcast suggests that mark should actually be about 50 points lower (.204 xBA). He has put together a 15-to-5 K/BB ratio to go with an incredible 25.0 HardHit% and 85.7 EV, so his stuff is working very well.

Though that visit to Yankee Stadium next Sunday seems a little daunting, Littell should still be able to turn in a solid results for the week overall.

Seth Lugo (KC) – at CWS, vs. BAL – 32%

It would be nice to see Lugo striking out a few more batters, as his K-rate through three starts this season (11.8%) is pretty much half of his mark from last year (23.2%).

The season is still very young, and there’s plenty of time for him to register some additional punchouts. Aside from the lack of whiffs, it’s difficult to argue with the results Lugo has managed for his new club here in the early going.

Across 18.2 innings to this point, Lugo has worked to a 1.45 ERA and 1.18 WHIP while holding the opposition to a .243 AVG. He’s only issued five walks (6.6%) so far, and his knack for inducing groundballs (52.5%) regularly gets him out of trouble and keeps runs off the board. Lugo has already picked up a win over the light-hitting White Sox this season. Yes, Baltimore does possess a great lineup, but so does Houston. Lugo skillfully navigated the Astros’ lineup last time out.  

Seth Lugo is the ground ball king 👑 pic.twitter.com/sD1k0Mrmlb

— Royals Daily (@RoyalsDaily_) April 11, 2024

Wade Miley (MIL) – vs. SD, at STL – 5%

Miley has been hurt an awful lot during his long MLB career. The 37-year-old southpaw entered this season on the IL due to a shoulder issue in his throwing arm. Fortunately, the ailment did not cost him that much time, and he was able to fire 52 pitches across four frames in his season debut at Cincinnati this past Wednesday.

Miley did not record a strikeout in the effort. He also hit a batter and issued two free passes. Still, he was able to limit the Reds to just one run and one hit – a single off the bat of Stuart Fairchild, who ended up being the final batter Miley faced that evening. Overall, it was a decent outing to begin his season, and Miley’s pitch count should tick up considerably moving forward.

Do not look for too many strikeouts from Miley, as he totaled just 79 over 120.1 innings for the Brewers last season and owns a career 18.2 K%. This is a play for ratios from a seasoned veteran who knows how to limit runs. Not only did Miley post a strong 3.14 ERA in 2023, but he has managed a 3.26 mark across 320.1 innings over the last three years.