Fantasy Sports

Fantasy Baseball: Week 9 Two-Start Pitcher Recommendations

Taking a look at the MLB pitchers who are projected to start two games this upcoming week.

Dave Holcomb

Detroit Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal
Detroit Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal / Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images
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Welcome to the eighth full week of Major League Fantasy Baseball in 2025. It’s hard to believe that the season is almost two months old.

Not a single team will have two off days this week. Furthermore, 12 clubs will play every day, which will give fantasy baseball players plenty of two-star pitcher options for the second-to-last full week of May.

Here is every MLB pitcher projected to start twice this week divided into three tiers – must starts, volatile with upside and pitchers to bench (probable pitchers as of Monday morning):

Must-Starts

Chris Bassitt, Toronto Blue Jays (vs. Padres, @Rays)

Bassitt bounced back after a poor outing versus the Angels, giving up only one run in 5.2 innings versus the Rays on Wednesday. He owns a career-best 9.6 K/9 rate.

Kris Bubic, Kansas City Royals (@Giants, @Twins)

The Kansas City left-hander has yielded just one run in his last three starts. Two of those outings came on the road, where he will start twice this week.

Dylan Cease, San Diego Padres (@Blue Jays, @Braves)

Cease has a poor ERA, but that is largely the result of a terrible outing from early April. Cease has allowed two or fewer earned runs in six straight starts, and he has 19 strikeouts in the past 13.1 innings.

Logan Henderson, Milwaukee Brewers (vs. Orioles, @Pirates)

The Brewers elected this past weekend to keep the 23-year-old in the MLB. Henderson is 2-0 with a 2.45 ERA, 0.818 WHIP and 16 strikeouts in 11 innings this season.

Nick Lodolo, Cincinnati Reds (@Pirates, vs. Cubs)

The 27-year-old hasn’t been the same strikeout pitcher this season and holds a losing record. But he has a career-best 3.42 ERA and 1.082 WHIP in 52.2 innings.

Jesús Luzardo, Philadelphia Phillies (@Rockies, @Athletics)

Luzardo leads the National League with a 2.00 ERA and 210 ERA+. He’s also striking out 9.5 batters per nine innings with a 1.185 WHIP this season.

Bailey Ober, Minnesota Twins (vs. Guardians, vs. Royals)

Ober snapped his streak of four consecutive games of allowing one earned run last week. But he is 4-1 with a 3.72 ERA and 3.92 FIP in nine starts this season. 

Robbie Ray, San Francisco Giants (vs. Royals, @Nationals)

Ray leads the NL in walks (26) but also wins (6). The right-hander is healthy and pitching as he did in 2022.

Cristopher Sanchez, Philadelphia Phillies (@Rockies, @Athletics)

The 2024 All-Star has pitched even better than last season. He is 4-1 with a 2.91 ERA and 1.223 WHIP with a 10.8 K/9 rate.

Kodai Senga, New York Mets (@Red Sox, vs. Dodgers)

The 32-year-old has returned to his All-Star form. Although his strikeouts are down, he is 4-2 with a 1.02 ERA and 1.173 WHIP in eight starts. 

Tarik Skubal, Detroit Tigers (@Cardinals, Guardians)

This is a no-brainer. Unless injured, the 2024 American League Cy Young winner should always be in the lineup.

Spencer Strider, Atlanta Braves (@Nationals, vs. Padres)

The Braves have yet to officially announce Strider as their starter for Tuesday, but the team said he would start in Washington and announced starters for the other matchups. Strider should be in every fantasy lineup when healthy.

Will Warren, New York Yankees (vs. Rangers, @Rockies)

The right-hander has allowed three runs in his last 12.1 innings. Warren also draws two of the worst offenses at scoring runs in the league this week.

Volatile With Upside

Logan Allen, Cleveland Guardians (@Twins, @Tigers)

The 26-year-old has allowed a lot of walks, but he’s prevented most of them from becoming runs. He threw six scoreless innings with three hits and one walk versus the Brewers in his last start.

Ben Brown, Chicago Cubs (@Marlins, @Reds)

Brown has pitched a lot better since giving up six runs to the Phillies on April 26. He is 1-1 with a 2.76 ERA and 1.92 FIP in his last 16.1 innings.

Walker Buehler, Boston Red Sox (vs. Mets, vs. Orioles)

The right-hander is expected to come off the IL to start Tuesday. He is 4-1 with a 4.28 ERA and 1.218 WHIP this season.

Luis Castillo, Seattle Mariners (@White Sox, @Astros)

The 32-year-old has posted two starts this month where he gave up one run. Sandwiched in between, though, was an outing where he allowed five runs in five innings to the Blue Jays.

Patrick Corbin, Texas Rangers (@Yankeees, @White Sox)

The 35-year-old isn’t striking out many batters, but that’s never been his strength. He is 3-2 with a 3.35 ERA and 1.301 WHIP in seven outings.

Hunter Dobbins, Boston Red Sox (vs. Mets, vs. Orioles)

Dobbins followed his six-shutout innings versus the Royals by giving up five runs on nine hits versus the Tigers last week.

Bailey Falter, Pittsburgh Pirates (vs. Reds, vs. Brewers)

Falter is 2-1 with a 3.00 ERA and 0.792 WHIP in four home outings this season. He draws two home starts this week.

Sonny Gray, St. Louis Cardinals (vs. Tigers, vs. Diamondbacks)

The 35-year-old hasn’t been great against anybody except the Pirates in his last five starts. But at 4-1 with a 1.180 WHIP, he’s racking up wins and doesn’t allow many baserunners.

Gunnar Hoglund, Athletics (vs. Angels, vs. Phillies)

The rookie yielded four runs in 5.1 innings in his last start, but that was to the Dodgers. It’s a small sample, but in his other two outings, Hoglund allowed three runs with 10 strikeouts in 11.1 innings.

Mitch Keller, Pittsburgh Pirates (vs. Reds, vs. Brewers)

The Pirates aren’t giving any of their pitchers enough run support to start them with confidence. Keller is 1-5 with a 4.15 ERA and 3.59 FIP in nine outings.

Landon Knack, Los Angeles Dodgers (vs. Diamondbacks, @Mets)

Knack yielded five runs on seven hits to the Athletics in his last start. Prior to that, he threw five scoreless frames versus the Marlins.

Keider Montero, Detroit Tigers (@Cardinals, vs. Guardians)

The Tigers don’t have Montero listed as their official starter for Tuesday, but Fantasy Pros projected him to start. Montero is 1-1 with a 4.68 ERA.

Ryan Pepiot, Tampa Bay Rays (vs. Astros, vs. Blue Jays)

Pepiot struck out seven for the first time since April 20 in his last start. He has dropped his ERA nearly a full run to 3.93 over the last month.

Brandon Pfaadt, Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dodgers, @Cardinals)

The right-hander has alternated great and poor starts this month. He’s due for a bounce back based on that trend, as he yielded four runs in four innings during his last outing.

Quinn Priester, Milwaukee Brewers (vs. Orioles, @Pirates)

The 24-year-old allowed seven runs against the Cubs on May 2. Since then, he’s yielded four runs in his last 10 innings. 

José Soriano, Los Angeles Angels (@Athletics, vs. Marlins)

Soriano has thrown scoreless outings in two of his last three starts. But he has also yielded three runs in five innings twice over his last four starts and has a career-high 1.462 WHIP.

Tomoyuki Sugano, Baltimore Orioles (@Brewers, @Red Sox)

Like Montero, the Orioles haven’t announced a starter for Tuesday, but Fantasy Pros projected Sugano to start that night for Baltimore. He is 4-3 with a 3.08 ERA but only a 5.0 K/9 rate.

Gavin Williams, Cleveland Guardians (@Twins, @Tigers)

Williams is 3-2 with a 4.29 ERA and 4.54 FIP this season. But he has a 2.57 ERA and 23 strikeouts in 14 innings over his past three starts.

Keep on the Bench

Kyle Freeland, Colorado Rockies (vs. Phillies, vs. Yankees)

It’s tough trusting a Rockies starter in any situation this season. Freeland is 0-6 with a 6.15 ERA.

J.T. Ginn, Athletics (vs. Angels, vs. Phillies)

The right-hander will make his first start since April 24. Posting 13.2 innings in three outings this season, he hasn’t been going deep enough in games to trust.

Kyle Hendricks, Los Angeles Angels (@Athletics, vs. Marlins)

Hendricks has been pitching better, but it’s probably still best to leave him on the bench. He is 1-5 with a 5.18 ERA this season.

Dean Kremer, Baltimore Orioles (@Brewers, @Red Sox)

The 29-year-old has seen a significant drop in his strikeout rate this season. He is also 3-5 with a 5.36 ERA and 5.15 FIP. 

Davis Martin, Chicago White Sox (vs. Mariners, vs. Rangers)

Martin has won two games and owns a 3.65 ERA this season. But even at home, it’s difficult to trust any White Sox starter twice in one week.

Mitchell Parker, Washington Nationals (vs. Braves, vs. Giants)

Parker allowed four runs in 4.2 innings versus the Braves last week and has allowed at least that many runs in four straight outings. Parker also draws the Braves offense again, which woke up over the weekend.

Cal Quantrill, Miami Marlins (vs. Cubs, @Angels)

The Canadian native is pitching a little bit better lately. But he still has a 6.37 ERA and 4.75 FIP with a 1.537 WHIP.

Antonio Senzatela, Colorado Rockies (vs. Phillies, vs. Yankees)

Senzatela is 1-7 with a 6.39 ERA. Pitching twice at Coors Field against two strong offenses is not what fantasy players want.

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Dave Holcomb
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