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Two-Start Pitchers: April 16-22

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This week's two-start pitchers report comes with a different presentation. The starters are still broken up into tiers, but not based on ownership percentage. Ranking players among their fantasy peers makes sense for those looking to score on the waiver wire, but the tiers themselves were less than ideal. I've tried to keep the same spirit alive. Most of the pitchers in the first tier are not going to be available except in the shallowest of leagues, for example, and I've still included ownership percentages from Yahoo! for a point of reference. When we've moved far enough into the season for statistics to be informative, I'll start listing those as well.

As always, please leave me your suggestions and feedback in the comments section. Follow the jump for this week's two-start pitcher rundown.

Start Without Reservations in All Leagues

Pitcher Team This Week's Schedule Owned (Yahoo!)
Roy Halladay PHI M, @SF (Lincecum); Sa, @SD (Luebke) 99
C.C. Sabathia NYY T, MIN (Liriano); Su, @BOS (Bard) 99
Justin Verlander DET M, @KC (Duffy); Sa, TEX (Feliz) 99
Dan Haren LAA T, OAK (Ross); Su, BAL (Chen) 98
Jered Weaver LAA M, OAK (McCarthy); Sa, BAL (Arrieta) 99
Stephen Strasburg WAS M, HOU (Weiland); Sa, MIA (Sanchez) 98
Yovani Gallardo MIL T, LAD (Billingsley); Su, COL (Guthrie) 98
James Shields TB M, @BOS (Bard); Sa, MIN (Pavano) 98
Ian Kennedy ARI T, PIT (Karstens); Su, ATL (Delgado) 98
Gio Gonzalez WAS T, HOU (Rodriguez); Su, MIA (Johnson) 93


Stephen Strasburg and Gio Gonzalez are on fire, and they each get to face scuffling lineups at home.

Some Questions Remain

Pitcher Team This Week's Schedule Owned (Yahoo!)
Chad Billingsley LAD T, @MIL (Gallardo); Su, @HOU (Rodriguez) 84
Justin Masterson CLE T, @SEA (Millwood); Su, @OAK (Ross) 78
Tommy Hanson ATL M, NYM (Gee); Sa, @ARI (Saunders) 95
Ricky Romero TOR T, TB (Niemann); Su, @KC (Duffy) 93
Tim Lincecum SF M, PHI (Halladay); Su, @NYM (Gee) 99
Cory Luebke SD M, @COL (Guthrie); Sa, PHI (Halladay) 87
Johnny Cueto CIN T, @STL (Lohse); Su, @CHC (Dempster) 84
Ryan Dempster CHC T, @MIA (Johnson); Su, CIN (Cueto) 79
Josh Johnson MIA T, CHC (Dempster); Su, @WAS (Gonzalez) 95
Colby Lewis TEX T, @BOS (Lester); Su, @DET (Smyly) 76
Daniel Bard BOS M, TB (Shields); Su, NYY (Sabathia) 37


Chad Billingsley's numbers are insane, but he's not going to keep a 100% strand rate forever. Daniel Bard has two tough matchups, but in his first start he induced 11 ground balls on 17 balls in play, but somehow exited with a .471 BABIP and a 9.00 ERA.

Don't Buy

Pitcher Team This Week's Schedule Owned (Yahoo!)
Kyle Lohse STL T, CIN (Cueto); Su, @PIT (Bedard) 66
Wandy Rodriguez HOU T, @WAS (Gonzalez); Su, LAD (Billingsley) 64
Jake Arrieta BAL M, @CWS (Humber); Sa, @LAA (Weaver) 16
Brandon McCarthy OAK M, @LAA (Weaver); Sa, CLE (Tomlin) 64
Erik Bedard PIT M, @ARI (Saunders); Su, STL (Lohse) 47
John Danks CWS T, BAL (Chen); Su, @SEA (Millwood) 47
Danny Duffy KC M, DET (Verlander); Su, TOR (Romero) 9
Jeff Niemann TB T, @TOR (Romero); Su, MIN (Liriano) 9
Dillon Gee NYM M, @ATL (Hanson); Su, SF (Lincecum) 4
Randall Delgado ATL T, NYM (Santana); Su, @ARI (Kennedy) 3
Philip Humber CWS M, BAL (Arrieta); Sa, @SEA (Beavan) 6
Wei-Yin Chen BAL T, @CWS (Danks); Su, @LAA (Haren) 3
Francisco Liriano MIN T, @NYY (Sabathia); Su, @TB (Niemann) 50


Kyle Lohse's ERA-xFIP is -3.19, and it's not like he has strikeout upside.

Deep Leagues Only

Pitcher Team This Week's Schedule Owned (Yahoo!)
Kevin Millwood SEA T, CLE (Masterson); Su, CWS (Danks) 1
Joe Saunders ARI M, PIT (Bedard); Sa, ATL (Hanson) 6
Joe Blanton PHI T, @SF (Bumgarner); Su, @SD (Bass) 2
Freddy Garcia NYY M, MIN (Pavano); Sa, @BOS (Doubront) 6
Jeremy Guthrie COL M, SD (Luebke); Su, @MIL (Gallardo) 4
Anthony Bass SD T, @COL (Moyer); Su, PHI (Blanton) 1
Kyle Weiland HOU M, @WAS (Strasburg); Sa, LAD (Kershaw) 0
Carl Pavano MIN M, @NYY (Garcia); Sa, @TB (Shields) 2
Drew Smyly DET T, @KC (Chen); Su, TEX (Lewis) 0
Tyson Ross OAK T, @LAA (Haren); Su, CLE (Masterson) 0


I like Anthony Bass, but at Colorado and against Philadelphia is a tough week. Kyle Weiland could be a nice piece sometime this season, but I'm worried about the hard contact he's given up in a small sample size.