More Week 27 Preview: Top-10 Sleeper Hitters | Latest look at waivers
Here's how I'd sum up the two-start pitcher selection for Week 27 (Sept. 24-30):
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I've spent hours trying to sort it out, to get an accurate sense of who's starting when, but it's TBDs as far as the eye can see. It has to be. So many spot starters have already inserted themselves this month that we have no idea which teams have true six-man rotations and which are just taking it day by day. And the truth is they're all probably taking it day by day. It's the last week of the season. You have to expect teams will act on a whim and leave us all to twist in the wind.
That goes for contenders and non-contenders alike. The latter are already holding auditions for next year or just looking to curtail innings. The former are aligning their rotations for the playoffs. You honestly think Corey Kluber will make two starts this week? What about Cole Hamels? It'll only be one of Luis Severino and Masahiro Tanaka, because the other will have to prep himself for the Wild Card game. Clayton Kershaw has a better chance given that the Dodgers race might go down to the wire, but it might not. There's no way anyone can know for sure at the lineup lock.
Which you might think makes this week an especially difficult time to set your lineups, but it's just the opposite. Instead of guessing at a murky future, you should just assume everyone's making one start and play the best pitchers you have.
Not buying it? OK, well I have rankings anyway. They were updated Sunday, as usual, but with the same shrug of the shoulders and bemused smirk. Sleepers, you ask? Well, the Giants aren't playing for anything and have no exciting young arms on the rise, so Derek Holland seems like a reasonably safe choice. But having said that ...
If nothing changes, final seven games, starting tomorrow, will go Suarez, Holland, Stratton, Kelly, Bumgarner, Rodriguez, Suarez. #SFGiants
— Henry Schulman (@hankschulman) September 22, 2018
So ... "safe" probably wouldn't be the best description. Meanwhile, Dylan Bundy would be a fun gamble if the matchups weren't so bad, but you should still pick him up and put him on your bench just so your opponent doesn't luck into something special.
You'll notice I left Kluber, Hamels, Severino and Tanaka in there. I mean, they could technically make two starts and use the second as a two-inning tuneup, so ... whatever. Clearly, they're the kind of pitchers you'd use regardless of the number of starts they're making.
Two-start pitchers for Week 27 | ||||||||
Rank | Pitcher | Start 1 | Start 2 | |||||
1 | Corey Kluber, CLE | at CHW | at KC | |||||
2 | Max Scherzer, WAS | vs. MIA | at COL | |||||
3 | Clayton Kershaw, LAD | at ARI | at SF | |||||
4 | Noah Syndergaard, NYM | vs. ATL | vs. MIA | |||||
5 | Stephen Strasburg, WAS | vs. MIA | at COL | |||||
6 | James Paxton, SEA | vs. OAK | vs. TEX | |||||
7 | Masahiro Tanaka, NYY | at TB | at BOS | |||||
8 | Jameson Taillon, PIT | at CHC | at CIN | |||||
9 | Luis Severino, NYY | at TB | at BOS | |||||
10 | Cole Hamels, CHC | vs. PIT | vs. STL | |||||
11 | Jack Flaherty, STL | vs. MIL | at CHC | |||||
12 | Dallas Keuchel, HOU | at TOR | at BAL | |||||
13 | Chris Archer, PIT | at CHC | at CIN | |||||
14 | Robbie Ray, ARI | vs. LAD | at SD | |||||
15 | Jon Gray, COL | vs. PHI | vs. WAS | |||||
16 | Derek Holland, SF | vs. SD | vs. LAD | |||||
17 | Dylan Bundy, BAL | at BOS | vs. HOU | |||||
18 | Zach Eflin, PHI | at COL | vs. ATL | |||||
19 | Felix Pena, LAA* | vs. TEX | vs. OAK | |||||
20 | Mike Montgomery, CHC* | vs. PIT | vs. STL | |||||
21 | Mike Leake, SEA | vs. OAK | vs. TEX | |||||
22 | Tyler Anderson, COL | vs. PHI | vs. WAS | |||||
23 | James Shields, CHW | vs. CLE | at MIN | |||||
24 | Vince Velasquez, PHI | at COL | vs. ATL | |||||
25 | Sandy Alcantara, MIA* | at WAS | at NYM | |||||
26 | Brett Anderson, OAK | at SEA | at LAA | |||||
27 | Bryan Mitchell, SD* | at SF | vs. ARI | |||||
28 | Adrian Sampson, TEX | at LAA | at SEA | |||||
29 | Dylan Covey, CHW | vs. CLE | at MIN | |||||
30 | Spencer Turnbull, DET | at MIN | at MIL |
*RP-eligible