Two of the more bankable starting pitchers in Fantasy Baseball this year, Trevor Bauer and Jose Berrios, have been in free fall at a point in the year when you can least afford a misstep. And it just so happens each is in line for two starts this week.
So what do you do? Well, if you've been following this column all year, you know that streaming starting pitchers off the waiver wire is a dubious approach in the most power-laden environment the game has ever known. As bad as Bauer and Berrios have been in recent starts, anyone you might pick up instead is liable to be just as bad no matter who they're facing. If not, he wouldn't be available to you. Such is the nature of today's MLB.
So while I don't include Bauer and Berrios among the must-start two-start options, I don't think it's realistic to suggest a viable alternative is just waiting there to be added. Maybe you already have one on your roster if you're one of those lucky few who actually has depth at the position, but if you're consulting this list for two-start players, you probably aren't. And if I were you, I'd stick with the guys who brought me there and trust in their capacity to turn things around. The downside is just as apparent but the upside significantly more.
But if you actually do need a two-start sleeper for other, more defensible reasons, someone like Johnny Cueto may actually be your best bet. Yeah, he's fresh off Tommy John surgery, but he threw six shutout innings in the hitter-friendly PCL in his last rehab start and of course has a lengthy track record of success. Mostly, though, it's his two terrific matchups against the Pirates and Marlins that make him worthy of the gamble, but there's no doubting it is a gamble. If not, he wouldn't be available to you.
Such is the nature of today's MLB.
