Two-start pitchers

Must-starts

Second-tier options

Paxton is owned in just 26 percent of ESPN leagues after limiting the Angels to two hits in seven innings with nine strikeouts in his first 2014 start. The lefty threw four different pitches, with a fastball that averaged over 95 mph. He got multiple whiffs on each pitch with his out-pitch curveball racking up seven whiffs. Kluber had a rough start to the season, but he should rebound fine.

Deep-league options

Morton could be a good play this week. Both Chicago and Milwaukee ranked in the bottom-third in ISO and wOBA, and Morton gets ground balls like they’re going out of style. In weekly leagues both Kendrick and Lohse could be good ways to round out your rotation. Vargas’s matchup at Minnesota is definitely pitcher-friendly.

Keep ’em benched

A lot of these guys offer very little upside even with a few attractive opponents. If you’re brave enough to go with someone in this category Harang’s start against the Mets, who have the worst strikeout rate of any team, is one place to start. You could also go with McAllister against the Padres, who rank 29th in ISO and last in wOBA.

Week Two Starting Pitcher Rankings

1. Yu Darvish – Sun vs. HOU
2. Jose Fernandez – Fri at PHI
3. Felix Hernandez – Fri vs. OAK
4. Adam Wainwright – Sat vs. CHC
5. Max Scherzer – Tue at LAD
6. David Price – Fri at CIN
7. Michael Wacha – Mon vs. CIN, Sun vs. CHC
8. Scott Kazmir – Mon at MIN, Sun at SEA
9. Tony Cingrani – Mon at STL, Sat vs. TB
10. Madison Bumgarner – Fri vs. COL
11. Chris Sale – Fri vs. CLE
12. Gio Gonzalez – Tue vs. MIA, Sun at ATL
13. C.J. Wilson – Mon at HOU, Sun vs. NYM
14. Homer Bailey – Tue at STL, Sun vs. TB
15. Justin Verlander – Sun at SD
16. Stephen Stasburg – Friday at ATL
17. Anibal Sanchez – Fri at SD
18. James Shields – Sat at MIN
19. Cliff Lee – Thu vs. MIL
20. Sonny Gray – Sat at SEA
21. Tim Hudson – Tue vs. ARI, Sun vs. COL
22. John Lackey – Mon vs. TEX, Sat at NYY
23. Francisco Liriano – Fri at MIL
24. Gerrit Cole – Thu at CHC
25. Julio Teheran – Fri vs. WSH
26. Jordan Zimmermann – Thu vs. MIA
27. Matt Cain – Sat vs. COL
28. Hiroki Kuroda – Mon vs. BAL, Sat vs. BOS
29. Matt Moore – Mon at KC, Sun at CIN
30. Andrew Cashner – Fri vs. DET
31. Zack Greinke – Sat at ARI
32. Danny Salazar – Wed vs. SD
33. Jeff Samardzija – Fri at STL
34. Zack Wheeler – Wed at ATL
35. Alex Cobb  – Sat vs. CIN
36. Bartolo Colon – Tue at ATL, Sun at LAA
37. Matt Garza – Wed at PHI
38. Masahiro Tanaka – Wed vs. BAL
39. Chris Archer – Tue at KC
40. Johnny Cueto – Fri vs. TB
41. Jon Niese – Sat at LAA
42. Corey Kluber – Mon vs. SD, Sat at CWS
43. Ubaldo Jimenez – Mon at NYY, Sun vs. TOR
44. James Paxton – Tue vs. LAA, Sun vs. OAK
45. Ivan Nova – Tue vs. BAL, Sun vs. BOS
46. Alex Wood – Sat vs. WSH
47. Jake Peavy – Wed vs. TEX
48. Yovani Gallardo – Sat vs. PIT
49. Justin Masterson – Fri at CWS
50. Ervin Santana – Wed vs. NYM
51. Shelby Miller – Wed vs. CIN
52. Lance Lynn – Tue vs. CIN
53. Rick Porcello – Sat at SD
54. Jesse Chavez – Wed at MIN
55. Jered Weaver – Sat vs. NYM
56. Tyson Ross – Tue at CLE
57. Hyun-jin Ryu – Wed vs. DET
58. R.A. Dickey – Fri at BAL
59. Hector Santiago – Tue at SEA
60. Marco Estrada – Thu at PHI
61. Drew Smyly – Wed at LAD

Feel free to skip: A.J. Burnett Fri vs. MIA, CC Sabathia Fri vs. BOS, Tim Lincecum Wed vs. ARI

 Week Two Streaming Options

*Players available in at least 50 percent of ESPN leagues braves mets padres cubs twins

David Hale – Thu vs. NYM – Hale got multiple whiffs on three different pitches in his first start of the season, and the Mets have the worst strikeout rate in the league.

Brandon Morrow – Wed vs. HOU – Houston ranks 28th in strikeout rate, and Morrow averaged 94 mph on his fastball in his first start, which is right in line with his career velocity. He also induced a ton of ground balls.

Corey Kluber – Mon vs. SD – The Padres rank dead last in wOBA, and Kluber, who gives up a fair amount of fly balls, shouldn’t be hurt from pitching in Petco.

Tyler Skaggs – Friday vs. NYM – Again we’re picking on the Mets. Skaggs dominated in his first start, going eight scoreless Saturday against Houston while striking out five and walking one. More importantly, Skaggs looked very good, mixing his pitches well and introducing a two-seam fastball that was hard to hit, and when it was hit was hit on the ground.

Michael Pineda – Thu vs. BOS – The matchup might be a little scary, but Pineda looked pretty good Saturday against Toronto in his first MLB start since 2011. His slider velocity and whiff rates on his four-seamer and slider – his two most-used pitches Saturday – resembled his 2011 numbers, albeit in a small sample. Pineda’s owned in just 26 percent of ESPN leagues, but that number should skyrocket soon.

Nathan Eovaldi – Sat at PHI – Eovaldi has pitched extremely well in his first two starts, striking out 14 and walking just one batter in 13 innings. He’s inducing ground balls at a good rate, too. The Phillies rank well in runs scored, but it’s in only five games. They have six batters who have struck out at least once a game.