Fantasy Baseball: Week of May 27 Two-Start Pitcher Recommendations

Welcome to the ninth week of Major League Fantasy Baseball in 2025.

Fantasy managers usually take a look at two-start pitcher possibilities on Sunday night or Monday morning. But for managers getting a late start to the week because of the holiday, we analyzed a handful of pitchers who will start a pair of games this week beginning Tuesday night.

Here are our recommendations:

Must-Starts

Joe Ryan, Minnesota Twins (@Rays, @Mariners)

The right-hander gave up three runs in five innings of relief during his last appearance on May 19. That was his first time coming out of the bullpen this season.

As a starter in 2025, Ryan is 4-2 with a 2.42 ERA and 0.788 WHIP. He's been particularly terrific lately, posting a 0.72 ERA with 35 strikeouts across 25 innings in his last four starts. Ryan has allowed more than one run just once in his last seven starts.

Start him with confidence

Hunter Brown, Houston Astros (vs. Athletics, vs. Rays)

The Astros starter allowed five runs while giving up three homers over five innings against Tampa Bay in his last start. Brown has yielded four bombs in his last 13 innings.

Yet, he is still 6-3 with a 2.04 ERA in 10 starts this season. He also has a 0.908 WHIP and 10.4 K/9 rate.

Brown will face the Rays again this week. Even so, it's hard to not feel confident that he will bounce back.

The right-hander held a 1.43 ERA with a 1.90 FIP with 67 strikeouts in 56.2 innings this season before the Rays scored five against him last week.

Middle With Upside

Spencer Strider, Atlanta Braves (@Phillies, vs. Red Sox)

If our list included three pitchers for each category, Strider would be in the top tier. He finds himself on the middle of our list because he's only made two starts this season, and he wasn't sharp in his return from the injured list last week.

Strider yielded four runs on six hits with a walk and three strikeouts in a loss to the Washington Nationals. He also hit two batters.

Strider will look to bounce back this week versus the Philadelphia Phillies and Boston Red Sox. He has performed well against both in his career.

In fact, the right-hander is 8-0 with a 2.06 ERA and 80 strikeouts in 52.1 innings against the Phillies during his MLB tenure.

Taj Bradley, Tampa Bay Rays (vs. Twins, @Astros)

Bradley might best belong in a tier called, "Good choice with Limited Upside."

The right-hander has been pitching better lately. He has allowed two earned runs in four of his last five starts.

However, he still only owns a 4.13 ERA and 4.90 FIP over the last month because he allowed five runs in four innings once. Bradley also has just 21 strikeouts in his last 28.1 frames.

Overall, Bradley's K/9 rate for the season has dropped to 7.6. Last season, he owned a 10.0 K/9 rate.

He is also 4-3 with a 4.61 ERA in 56.2 innings.

Bench

JP Sears, Athletics (@Astros, @Blue Jays)

The southpaw is 4-4 with a 4.00 ERA. But he struggles to get strikeouts, as he owns a 7.0 K/9 rate.

Sears is also coming off back-to-back outings where he suffered a loss while giving up at least four runs. In his last start, Sears yielded six runs on eight hits, including four home runs in five innings against the Los Angeles Angels.

It's hard to feel good about Sears starting twice this week.

Bowden Francis (@Rangers, vs. Athletics)

The Blue Jays starter gave up two runs in his most recent outing. But it didn't drop his ERA much because Francis only lasted four innings.

Francis has limited fantasy value at the moment because he's not going deep in games. He's lasted fewer than five innings in five of his last six starts.

Francis gave up seven runs in three innings against the Red Sox on April 29. Since then, his season ERA hasn't dropped below 5.28.

He's averaged a strikeout per inning in his last two starts, but Francis has 40 punch outs in 50.1 innings overall this season.