Fantasy Baseball: Carlos Rodon, Dan Straily, Patrick Corbin headline disappointing two-start pitcher rankings for Week 21

Some weeks, the two-start pitching landscape is a lot like California during the gold rush -- just drop your pan into any old river, and you'll find something valuable and shiny. 

Week 21 (Aug. 21-27) is not one of these weeks, at least not if you're looking on the waiver wire. By my count there are only 17 starting pitchers under 50 percent ownership with two starts, and it's hard to get excited about any of them.

Edwin Jackson has been a surprisingly useful fill-in for the Nationals, posting a 2.92 ERA in six starts, but he has the face the Astros in his first start, a team that combines huge power with the best strikeout rate in baseball. That's not exactly what you want to target. Jackson may pitch well enough against the Mets to make up for it, but you don't want to pin your hopes and dreams on that. 

Among the low-owned group, the most interesting options are also two of the youngest: Nick Pivetta and Tyler Skaggs. Pivetta has huge strikeout potential, but has huge blow-up potential against good Marlins and Cubs lineups. I would lean toward Skaggs, who has a 3.63 ERA for the season, including a 2.93 mark since returning from the DL. The problem is, he has topped six innings just once in his last three starts, and has to face those same Astros in his second start. These two are the "Break Glass in Case of Emergency" options. 

Higher up the scale, things get more interesting. Carlos Rodon (vs. MIN, vs. DET) should already be universally owned, but he's still out there in nearly one-fifth of CBSSports.com leagues. Go get him and start him, as he has shown his ace potential since returning from the DL. Dan Straily (at PHI, vs. SD) might have the best pair of matchups possible, and he makes for a solid fill-in, as does Patrick Corbin (at NYM, vs. SF). Neither has been all that reliable of late, but if they hit, they can put together plenty of strikeouts against these lineups. 

Again, it isn't the best group ever. Sorry. Scott's not here this week, but this still isn't my fault. Don't blame me. Still, you can find value here if you know where to look. You might have to roll the dice some, but you can't win without a bit of risk. At this point in the season, aim for upside. That's what we have here. 

Two-start pitchers for Week 20
Rank	Pitcher	Start 1	Start 2
1	Carlos Carrasco, CLE	vs. BOS	vs. KC
2	Aaron Nola, PHI	vs. MIA	vs. CHC
3	Yu Darvish, LAD	at PIT	vs. MIL
4	Alex Wood, LAD	at PIT	vs. MIL
5	Marcus Stroman, TOR	at TB	vs. MIN
6	Cole Hamels, TEX	at LAA	at OAK
7	Gerrit Cole, PIT	vs. LAD	at CIN
8	Danny Duffy, KC	vs. COL	at CLE
9	Jimmy Nelson, MIL	at SF	at LAD
10	Lance Lynn, STL	vs. SD	vs. TB
11	Charlie Morton, HOU	vs. WAS	at LAA
12	Jon Gray, COL	at KC	at ATL
13	Dan Straily, MIA	at PHI	vs. SD
14	Rick Porcello, BOS	at CLE	vs. BAL
15	Jacob Faria, TB	vs. TOR	at STL
16	Carlos Rodon, CHW	vs. MIN	vs. DET
17	Jameson Taillon, PIT	vs. LAD	at CIN
18	Patrick Corbin, ARI*	at NYM	vs. SF
19	Tanner Roark, WAS	at HOU	vs. NYM
20	Eduardo Rodriguez, BOS	at CLE	vs. BAL
21	John Lackey, CHC	at CIN	at PHI
22	Taijuan Walker, ARI	at NYM	vs. SF
23	Mike Foltynewicz, ATL	vs. SEA	vs. COL
24	Jose Urena, MIA*	at PHI	vs. SD
25	Nick Pivetta, PHI	vs. MIA	vs. CHC
26	Mike Clevinger, CLE	vs. BOS	vs. KC
27	Steven Matz, NYM	vs. ARI	at WAS
28	Reynaldo Lopez, CHW	vs. MIN	vs. DET
29	Jaime Garcia, NYY	at DET	vs. SEA
30	Edwin Jackson, WAS	at HOU	vs. NYM
31	Tyler Skaggs, LAA	vs. TEX	vs. HOU
32	Clayton Richard, SD*	at STL	at MIA
33	Ricky Nolasco, LAA	vs. TEX	vs. HOU
34	Tyson Ross, TEX	at LAA	at OAK
35	James Shields, CHW	vs. MIN	vs. DET
36	Robert Gsellman, NYM	vs. ARI	at WAS
37	Matthew Boyd, DET	vs. NYY	at CHW
38	Ubaldo Jimenez, BAL	vs. OAK	at BOS
39	Homer Bailey, CIN	vs. CHC	vs. PIT
40	Andrew Albers, SEA*	at ATL	at NYY
41	Kyle Gibson, MIN	at CHW	at TOR
42	Matt Cain, SF	vs. MIL	at ARI
43	Chris Smith, OAK*	at BAL	vs. TEX
44	Chris Flexen, NYM*	vs. ARI	at WAS

*RP-eligible