Fantasy Baseball: Two-Start Pitchers for Week 15

This week I go where no other two-start recommender has gone before; I suggest streaming not one, but two (!) Colorado starters. OK, so it's probably been done before, but not since the days of Mike Hampton and...hmm, who else did they have? The Rockies are on the road in Week 15, so I guess it's not unheard of, but I don't think I've recommended a single Colorado pitcher all year. It's personal history-making at the least.

With trade winds blowing, I have a feeling this week's two-starters could change mid-week. Last night, the Dodgers reportedly traded for Ricky Nolasco, and he could find himself in two-start territory in Los Angeles. The Cardinals shuffled their rotation and Adam Wainwright is now pitching twice and will be ineligible for the All-Star Game. And Matt Garza, already scheduled for two, could be traded any day now.

Start!

Adam Wainwright: Tue-HOU (Norris), Sun-@CHC (Wood)
Matt Harvey: Mon-@SF (Lincecum), Sun-@PIT (Locke)
Max Scherzer: Mon-@CLE (Kazmir), Sat-TEX (Holland)
Homer Bailey: Mon-@MIL (Lohse), Sat-@ATL (Minor)
Felix Hernandez: Mon-BOS (Lester), Sat-LAA (Weaver)
Justin Verlander: Tue-CWS (Quintana), Sun-TEX (Perez)
Julio Teheran: Tue-@MIA (Alvarez), Sun-CIN (Cingrani)
Matt Garza: Mon-@CWS (Santiago), Sat-STL (Lynn)
CC Sabathia: Mon-KC (Guthrie), Sat-MIN (Deduno)
Cole Hamels: Tue-WSH (Jordan), Sun-CWS (Quintana)
Hisashi Iwakuma: Tue-BOS (Webster), Sun-LAA (Williams)
Bartolo Colon: Mon-@PIT (Locke), Sun-BOS (Webster)
Mike Minor: Mon-@MIA (Nolasco), Sat-CIN (Bailey)
James Shields: Tue-@NYY (Phelps), Sun-@CLE (Jimenez)
Travis Wood: Tue-LAA (Williams), Sun-STL (Miller)

Pretty, pretty good

Kyle Lohse: Mon-CIN (Bailey), Sat-@ARI (Delgado)
Jeff Locke: Mon-OAK (Colon), Sun-NYM (Harvey)
Jhoulys Chacin: Tue-@SD (Stults), Sun-@LAD (Capuano)
Derek Holland: Mon-@BAL (Feldman), Sat-@DET (Scherzer)
Tony Cingrani: Tue-@MIL (Hand), Sun-@ATL (Teheran)
Scott Feldman: Mon-TEX (Holland), Sat-TOR (Redmond)
Jon Lester: Mon-@SEA (Hernandez), Sat-@OAK (Griffin)
Tyler Chatwood: Mon-@SD (Volquez), Sat-@LAD (Greinke)
Zack Greinke: Mon-@ARI (Delgado), Sat-COL (Chatwood)
Edinson Volquez: Mon-COL (Chatwood), Sat-SF (Lincecum)
Hector Santiago: Mon-CHC (Garza), Sat-@PHI (Lannan)
Tim Lincecum: Mon-NYM (Harvey), Sat-@SD (Volquez)
Randall Delgado: Mon-LAD (Greinke), Sat-MIL (Lohse)
Samuel Deduno: Mon-@TB (Hernandez), Sat-@NYY (Sabathia)
Chris Archer: Tue-MIN (Gibson), Sun-HOU (Bedard)

Play the matchups

Scott Kazmir: Mon-DET (Scherzer), *Sat-KC (Guthrie)
Ubaldo Jimenez: *Tue-TOR (Johnson), Sun-KC (Shields)
Barry Zito: *Tue-NYM (Gee), Sun-@SD (Stults)
John Lannan: Mon-WSH (Detwiler), *Sat-CWS (Santiago)
Jose Quintana: Tue-@DET (Verlander), *Sun-@PHI (Hamels)

Not this week

Chris Capuano: Tue-@ARI (Kennedy), Sun-COL (Chacin)
Wei-Yin Chen: Tue-TEX (Perez), Sun-TOR (Johnson)
Kyle Gibson: Tue-@TB (Archer), Sun-@NYY (Phelps)
Jeremy Guthrie: Mon-@NYY (Sabathia), Sat-@CLE (Kazmir)
Donovan Hand: Tue-CIN (Cingrani), Sun-@ARI (Kennedy)
Dan Haren: Mon-@PHI (Lannan), Sat-@MIA (Fernandez)
Roberto Hernandez: Mon-MIN (Deduno), Sat-HOU (Keuchel)
Josh Johnson: Tue-@CLE (Jimenez), Sun-@BAL (Chen)
Taylor Jordan: Tue-@PHI (Hamels), Sun-@MIA (Nolasco)
Ian Kennedy: Tue-LAD (Capuano), Sun-MIL (Hand)
Martin Perez: Tue-@BAL (Chen), Sun-@DET (Verlander)
Eric Stults: Tue-COL (Chacin), Sun-SF (Zito)
Allen Webster: Tue-@SEA (Iwakuma), Sun-@OAK (Colon)

My picks (Ownership percentage)

Kyle Lohse (53.7% ESPN; 54% Yahoo!)
2013: 4-6, 102.1 IP, 5.80 K/9, 1.50 BB/9, 3.43 ERA, 1.16 WHIP

Lohse is still available in about half of ESPN and Yahoo! leagues, but the Milwaukee -- soon to be ex-Milwaukee? -- starter should be owned in more leagues than that based on his latest run. If you remember, Lohse was a late free agent signee; so late, in fact, that he didn't even throw a single pitch in spring training. To my surprise, the 34-year old righty got off to a solid start in April (2.53 ERA) before tailing off in May (6.51 ERA). Lohse re-found himself in June, however, winning three games and posting a 2.34 ERA. Over the last 30 days, Lohse is 3-0 with a 1.72 ERA and 0.90 WHIP to go along with 26 strikeouts and six walks in 36 2/3 innings. This week's matchups aren't the greatest on paper (Reds, at Diamondbacks), but both teams were near the bottom third on offense -- in terms of wOBA -- during the month of June. Discounting a rainout on June 30th, Lohse has gone six-plus innings in six straight. Ride him while he's hot (and still in Milwaukee).

Jhoulys Chacin (32.9% ESPN; 28% Yahoo!)
2013: 8-3, 101.1 IP, 5.17 K/9, 2.76 BB/9, 3.74 ERA, 1.25 WHIP

My first of two Colorado starters (dun, dun dun!) is Chacin, who gets the Padres and the Dodgers on the road in Week 15. The Rockies right-hander has already picked up three wins against his NL West foes this season, and in his career, Chacin is 11-6 with a 3.58 ERA against the California duo. Chacin doesn't do any one thing spectacularly, but the 25-year old has improved dramatically in both his walk rate (4.17 BB/9 in 2012; 2.76 in 2013) and ground ball rate (38.5% in 2012; 47% in 2013). That's helped Chacin perform better wherever he's pitching, as he's allowed just three home runs in over 100 innings of work. Since June 11th, he's gone streaking with five straight wins, pitching two shutouts and allowing just eight combined runs in his remaining three turns.

Tony Cingrani (48.6% ESPN; 44% Yahoo!)
2013: 3-0, 53 IP, 10.53 K/9, 3.57 BB/9, 3.40 ERA, 1.15 WHIP

If you made it through the first two recommendations and haven't passed out from excessive yawning, how about giving Cingrani a look? With Johnny Cueto on the DL for the third time, the Reds electric rookie has become an intriguing fantasy option once again. Wood has struck out an impressive 62 batters in 53 innings, but he's had control problems during his second stint in the rotation with 10 walks over his last 9 2/3 innings. Prior to that, he had just 11 walks in 43 1/3 innings, so there's reason to believe he can solve his recent bout of wildness. Cingrani gets the Brewers and Braves in Week 15, and both teams are prone to big strikeout numbers against lefties. If you're starting Cingrani, it's all about the strikeouts, and this week should produce plenty.

Tyler Chatwood (12.1% ESPN; 14% Yahoo!)
2013: 4-2, 55.2 IP, 6.14 K/9, 2.91 BB/9, 2.75 ERA, 1.38 WHIP

Like his teammate, Chacin, Chatwood gets the Padres and Dodgers on the road in Week 15 against winnable opponents (Volquez, Zack Greinke). Chatwood has been almost unhittable on the road, posting a 0.82 ERA in 22 innings and holding batters to a .215/.265/.231 slash line. He's already beaten Los Angeles away from home this season, throwing six innings of shutout ball with five strikeouts and no walks on April 29th. Like Chacin, Chatwood gets a ton of ground balls (55.6% GB%) and the home run has been a nonfactor -- he's allowed two home runs in 55 2/3 innings. He was running a streak of eight straight starts of two runs or fewer before his last outing, but with the Dodgers hurting without Matt Kemp and the Padres falling down the NL West standings, it's a good time to own and start Chatwood.

Alex Kantecki is a fantasy baseball writer for Fake Teams. He also writes the "Closer Chronicle" for Vigilante Baseball every Thursday, ranking and tiering all 30 MLB closers. You can follow Alex on Twitter at @rotodealer.