Two-Start Pitchers: Week 1 (April 5-12)

Two-start pitchers are back! Which means baseball is back! I'm not going to make any wild changes to this year's format; I will, however, stick to a strict less than 30 percent ownership (ESPN) for my weekly streamers, including during the first week when it should be obvious to start all of your studs. I'll do my best to include two streamers owned in less than 10 percent of leagues, too.

Enough semantics. Let's play stream two!

**Basically, in Week 1, I'm starting any pitcher listed below in the "Start!" and "Tier 1" sections. In weekly formats, I'm confident locking in the "Tier 2" starters, while I would I only use "Tier 3" starters in deep leagues.**

Start!

Clayton Kershaw: Mon-SD (Shields), Sat-@ARI (Anderson)
Max Scherzer: Mon-NYM (Colon), Sun-@PHI (O'Sullivan)
Felix Hernandez: Mon-LAA (Weaver), Sun-@OAK (Hahn)
Corey Kluber: Mon-@HOU (Keuchel), Sun-DET (Verlander)
David Price: Mon-MIN (Hughes), Sat-@CLE (House)
Madison Bumgarner: Mon-@ARI (Collmenter), Sat-@SD (Shields)
Johnny Cueto: Mon-PIT (Liriano), Sat-STL (Martinez)
Cole Hamels: Mon-BOS (Buchholz), Sat-WSH (Fister)
Jon Lester: Sun-STL (Wainwright), Sat-@COL (Kendrick)
Zack Greinke: Tue-SD (Ross), Sun-@ARI (Collmenter)
Adam Wainwright: Sun-@CHC (Lester), Sun-@CIN (Iglesias)

Tier 1

Masahiro Tanaka: Mon-TOR (Hutchison), Sun-BOS (Kelly)
Julio Teheran: Mon-@MIA (Alvarez), Sun-NYM (Colon)
Tyson Ross: Tue-@LAD (Greinke), Sun-SF (Peavy)
Sonny Gray: Mon-TEX (Gallardo), Sat-SEA (Walker)
James Shields: Mon-@LAD (Kershaw), Sat-SF (Bumgarner)
Jeff Samardzija: Mon-@KC (Ventura), Sat-MIN (Milone)
Francisco Liriano: Mon-@CIN (Cueto), Sun-@MIL (Lohse)
Phil Hughes: Mon-@DET (Price), Sun-@CWS (Sale)
Dallas Keuchel: Mon-CLE (Kluber), Sun-@TEX (Lewis)

Tier 2

Jake Peavy: Tue-@ARI (De La Rosa), Sun-@SD (Ross)
Yordano Ventura: Mon-CWS (Samardzija), Sun-@LAA (Wilson)
Jered Weaver: Mon-@SEA (Hernandez), Sat-KC (Guthrie)
Chris Archer: Mon-BAL (Tillman), Sat-@MIA (Haren)
Chris Tillman: Mon-@TB (Archer), Sun-TOR (Hutchison)
Clay Buchholz: Mon-@PHI (Hamels), Sat-@NYY (Warren)
Henderson Alvarez: Mon-ATL (Teheran), Sun-TB (Odorizzi)

Tier 3

Drew Hutchison: Mon-@NYY (Tanaka), Sun-@BAL (Tillman)
Jake Odorizzi: Tue-BAL (Chen), Sun-@MIA (Alvarez)
Jesse Hahn: Tue-TEX (Lewis), Sun-SEA (Hernandez)
C.J. Wilson: Tue-@SEA (Paxton), Sun-KC (Ventura)
Bartolo Colon: Mon-@WSH (Scherzer), Sun-@ATL (Teheran)
Kyle Lohse: Mon-COL (Kendrick), Sun-PIT (Liriano)
Yovani Gallardo: Mon-@OAK (Gray), Sat-HOU (Hernandez)

Not this week

Josh Collmenter: Mon-SF (Bumgarner), Sun-LAD (Greinke)
Kyle Kendrick: Mon-@MIL (Lohse), Sat-CHC (Lester)
Colby Lewis: Tue-@OAK (Hahn), Sun-HOU (Keuchel)
Jordan Lyles: Tue-@MIL (Garza), Sun-CHC (TBD)

My Week 1 Streamers

Jake Peavy, Giants (@ARI, @SD)

Remember the early offseason rumors of Jon Lester and Jake Peavy being a package deal? Those were cute. While the two might be friends off the field, that's where the comparisons stop (Peavy does have a Cy Young, after all.) The Cubs dished out record money for their ace, while Peavy "settled" for two years and $24 million. The "Jakemeister," as Hawk Harrelson infamously called him, had a very productive 2014 between the Red Sox and Giants, with most of the good going to the Giants (0.1 fWAR in 124 innings in Boston; 1.5 fWAR in 78 2/3 innings in San Francisco). Gone are the days when the right-hander will strike out eight per nine, but the switch to the lighter-hitting National League is a huge boost to the aging starter's fantasy value. Peavy, 33, goes on the road twice in Week 1, facing the Diamondbacks and Padres. Outside of Paul Goldschmidt (and maybe Mark Trumbo... A.J. Pollock?), nobody scares you in Arizona's lineup, while Peavy gets the Padres in his old home (PetCo Park), where he owns a 2.74 ERA, 1.08 WHIP and 10.1 K/9 (!) in 90 career starts. This one's an easy call. Dial up the Jakemeister.

Chris Tillman, Orioles (@TB, TOR)

While the Orioles didn't do much of anything to improve their ball club over the offseason, Baltimore gets back third baseman Manny Machado and (eventually... fingers crossed) catcher Matt Wieters. I wasn't a big fan of the O's lack of movement while their competition got better, but the defending American East champions are still in the mix for a division that most pundits are handing to the Red Sox. Tillman, a righty, went 13-6 with a 3.34 ERA, 1.23 WHIP and 150 strikeouts in 207 1/3 innings, giving him two years in a row with 200-plus innings in Baltimore. This week he gets the Rays, a team in rebuilding, and Blue Jays, a team that's built from the right side of the plate. I don't think Tillman dominates, but he's someone that should continue to put up solid ratios without crushing your staff. As the Orioles "ace," give Tillman a shot in Week 1.

Clay Buchholz, Red Sox (@PHI, @NYY)

Boston doesn't have a true ace after balking at the offseason price for Cole Hamels. Could Buchholz be that ace? According to Curt Schilling: no. But if Buchholz, 30, found a way to turn back the clock to 2013, when the right-hander went 12-1 with a 1.74 ERA, he could emerge from a pack of Rick Porcello's and Wade Miley's. (Sounds kind of Looney Toons-ish, doesn't it?) Last year was downright ugly for Buchholz, who finished with a 5.35 ERA and 17.9 percent strikeout rate (down from 1.74 and 23.1, respectively). It's hard to make out who exactly Clay Buchholz is. Just look at his ERA since 2014: 5.34, 1.74, 4.56, 3.48 and 2.33. You can point to last year's 62.1 percent strand rate (71.8 career) and knee injury and feel a little more confident that he can bounce back and post an ERA between 3.50 and 4. But, thankfully, this isn't a season-long endeavor. For one week, at least, I'm trusting that Buchholz can tame the Phillies, as well as hold down the rival Yankees at Yankee Stadium, where he is 4-3 with a 4.05 ERA in seven starts. Twirl him.

Stats from FanGraphs.com