If you are in a daily league, this report is meaningless to you. You’re most likely streaming pitchers in and out on a daily basis to maximize your starts and accumulate your counting stats as much as you can.
But for those of you in weekly leagues, you need to know players to pick up on waivers that can get you two starts. But since most leagues have a cap on their FAAB money, or a limit regarding how many moves they can make throughout the year, it’s important to be judicious with your selections.
Therefore, this weekly report will maintain certain criteria. The focus will be only pitchers who are in less than 50% of the leagues. No need to discuss someone like Corbin Burnes or Spencer Strider, who are owned in 100% of leagues. For their owners, they are starting every game, whether it is a two-start week or not.
This report is for those teams seeking out a free agent who can help in a particular week, to get as many starts as possible. At the beginning of the season we only have last year’s performance to go on, so anyone who struggled last season, will not be touted this season…yet. When those pitchers begin to prove it, they will get a second look, but for now, discretion is the better part of valor. There is no need to suggest a two-start pitcher who may go out and throw two stinkers, killing your ratios.
A perfect example of this is Boston’s Tanner Houck. He is scheduled to make two starts this week. He had a solid Spring, but his 2023 numbers were less than stellar. In 21 starts he was 6-10 with a 5.01 ERA and 1.37 WHIP. He’ll have to improve upon those numbers before he can be suggested. Although, he does have a favorable matchup against the A’s in Oakland on Monday.
And finally, with so many days off at the start of the season, only pitchers who have Monday starts will be considered. This will most likely be the case until pitching rotations are more established and schedules are more uniform…most likely sometime in May.
With all that in mind, there are two, two-start pitchers I’ve found who should be available to consider in your leagues.
One is in the AL and one is in the NL:
Joe Boyle, Oakland Athletics:
Boyle made his debut with Oakland last season. The 24 yr old, 6’7 massive righty made three starts for the A’s. He performed magnificently, giving Oakland fans, the few that there are, some hope for 2024. In those three starts, he threw 16 innings with 15 Ks. He was 2-0 with a miniscule 1.69 ERA and equally gaudy 0.81 WHIP. His matchups this week will be against the Red Sox and Tigers. If last year was any indication, Boyle should definitely be on your team.
Andrew Abbott, Cincinnati Reds:
Abbott is also 24 yrs old, and he too made his debut last season. Although he’s not nearly as tall, only standing 6’0, and he’s a lefty, his rookie year was more substantial than Boyle’s. He made 21 starts last season for the Reds. In 109.1 innings he struck out 120 batters, 9.9 K/9. He had an 8-6 record with a 3.87 ERA and 1.32 WHIP. This is a solid sample size to gauge what his 2024 season may look like. He had solid ratios and striking out over a batter per inning is impressive. With 30 starts under his belt, with decent talent around him with a solid core of hitters, he should definitely get over 10 wins this season. His opponents this week are the Phillies and Mets.
