Fantasy Baseball: Two-start pitcher rankings for Week 12 identify Joe Musgrove, CC Sabathia as sleepers

In a season with more off days, streaming two-start pitchers is becoming a harder strategy to justify. But Scott White picks out his favorites for Week 12 (June 11-17).

By Scott White

Jun 10, 2018 at 5:12 pm ET • 2 min read

More Fantasy Baseball: Bullpen report: Sorting out the ninth | Waivers: Are these hot streaks real? | Shohei Ohtani injury reaction and replacements | Six part-timers worth the investment

I could whine again about the limited number of two-start pitchers in Week 12 (June 11-17), particularly those who are both useful and still available on the waiver wire, but as many times as I've done it already, it'd probably fall on deaf ears.

Maybe the problem isn't the selection itself, but our expectations. More off days were built into the schedule this season, which means more five-game weeks for teams, which means fewer opportunities for two-start pitchers. And with pitchers generally not pitching as deep into games, little of what's available is usable in the first place.

So let's just make the most of what we have, and what we have is a couple of pretty good options in Joe Musgrove and CC Sabathia. The former has pitched well since coming off the DL. The latter has a terrific supporting cast. Each has a favorable matchup among their two.

Neither is automatic in Fantasy. In fact, I'd put the cutoff for must-start status at Andrew Heaney at No. 12 on this list. But certainly in points leagues, you could stretch it as far as Sabathia, or maybe even Ryan Yarbrough at 20.

Speaking of Yarbrough, he's not technically in line to start twice or even once this week. But that's only because the Rays open with a short reliever on the days Yarbrough is schedule to pitch. Same goes for Austin Pruitt. Both figure to handle a starter's workload, but neither will be able to qualify for a quality start. Keep that in mind in standard points leagues and other formats that reward quality starts.

Subscribe to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast for free on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, Google Play or anywhere else you listen.

Two-start pitchers for Week 12
Pitcher	Rank	Start 1	Start 2
1	Carlos Carrasco, CLE	at CHW	vs. MIN
2	Aaron Nola, PHI	vs. COL	at MIL
3	Patrick Corbin, ARI	vs. PIT	vs. NYM
4	Madison Bumgarner, SF	at MIA	at LAD
5	Lance McCullers, HOU	at OAK	at KC
6	Jose Quintana, CHC	at MIL	at STL
7	Mike Foltynewicz, ATL	vs. NYM	vs. SD
8	Dylan Bundy, BAL	vs. BOS	vs. MIA
9	Jack Flaherty, STL	vs. SD	vs. CHC
10	Eduardo Rodriguez, BOS	at BAL	at SEA
11	Tanner Roark, WAS	at NYY	at TOR
12	Andrew Heaney, LAA	at SEA	at OAK
13	Joe Musgrove, PIT*	at ARI	vs. CIN
14	Jon Gray, COL	at PHI	at TEX
15	CC Sabathia, NYY	vs. WAS	vs. TB
16	Jake Odorizzi, MIN	at DET	at CLE
17	Jordan Lyles, SD*	at STL	at ATL
18	Daniel Mengden, OAK	vs. HOU	vs. LAA
19	Junior Guerra, MIL	vs. CHC	vs. PHI
20	Ryan Yarbrough, TB*	vs. TOR	at NYY
21	Steven Wright, BOS	at BAL	at SEA
22	Mike Leake, SEA	vs. LAA	vs. BOS
23	Sam Gaviglio, TOR	at TB	vs. WAS
24	Clay Buchholz, ARI	vs. PIT	vs. NYM
25	Jason Vargas, NYM	at ATL	at ARI
26	James Shields, CHW	vs. CLE	vs. DET
27	Austin Pruitt, TB*	vs. TOR	at NYY
28	Wei-Yin Chen, MIA	vs. SF	at BAL
29	Blaine Hardy, DET*	vs. MIN	at CHW
30	Wade LeBlanc, SEA*	vs. LAA	vs. BOS
31	Adam Plutko, CLE	at CHW	vs. MIN
32	Chris Stratton, SF	at MIA	at LAD
33	Trent Richards, MIA	vs. SF	at BAL
34	Lucas Giolito, CHW	vs. CLE	vs. DET