Fantasy Baseball Week 4 Preview: Two-start pitcher rankings highlight Clay Holmes, Mitch Keller

Are two solid matchups justification enough to start the most notoriously volatile pitcher?

By Scott White

Apr 13, 2025 at 9:30 pm ET • 1 min read

Each weekend, Scott White ranks the two-start pitchers for the upcoming scoring period and then categorizes them by how usable they are. The names depicted here are highly speculative and subject to change.

One of the most common ways they change is with the addition of a spot starter when a team is scheduled to play six games in a row. It doesn't always happen, but it happens often enough that I'm taking the extra step this year of pointing out which of the two-start pitchers is scheduled for Tuesday and Sunday in the upcoming scoring period since they're the most likely to lose out in such a scenario.

Below are the two-start pitchers for Fantasy Week 4 (April 14-20), with the most questionable (Tuesday/Sunday in a seven-game week) being Max Fried, Jesus Luzardo, Jack Flaherty, Ryan Pepiot, Mitch Keller, Tylor Megill, Michael Wacha, Justin Verlander and Jake Irvin.

All information is up to date as of late Sunday.

Must-start, all formats

1	T. Skubal SP DET Tarik Skubal SP DET	@ MIL Milwaukee	vs KC Kansas City
2	P. Skenes SP PIT Paul Skenes SP PIT	vs WAS Washington	vs CLE Cleveland
3	F. Valdez SP HOU Framber Valdez SP HOU	@ STL St. Louis	vs SD San Diego
4	M. Fried SP NYY Max Fried SP NYY	vs KC Kansas City	@ TB Tampa Bay
5	D. Cease SP SD Dylan Cease SP SD	vs CHC Chi. Cubs	@ HOU Houston
6	L. Castillo SP SEA Luis Castillo SP SEA	@ CIN Cincinnati	@ TOR Toronto
7	J. Luzardo SP PHI Jesus Luzardo SP PHI	vs SF San Francisco	vs MIA Miami
8	J. Flaherty SP DET Jack Flaherty SP DET	@ MIL Milwaukee	vs KC Kansas City
9	J. Ryan SP MIN Joe Ryan SP MIN	vs NYM N.Y. Mets	@ ATL Atlanta
10	S. Lugo SP KC Seth Lugo SP KC	@ NYY N.Y. Yankees	@ DET Detroit
11	S. Gray SP STL Sonny Gray SP STL	vs HOU Houston	@ NYM N.Y. Mets
12	N. Lodolo SP CIN Nick Lodolo SP CIN	vs SEA Seattle	@ BAL Baltimore

Advisable in most cases

13	S. Baz SP TB Shane Baz SP TB	vs BOS Boston	vs NYY N.Y. Yankees
14	R. Pepiot SP TB Ryan Pepiot SP TB	vs BOS Boston	vs NYY N.Y. Yankees
15	J. Springs SP ATH Jeffrey Springs SP ATH	@ CHW Chi. White Sox	@ MIL Milwaukee
16	G. Holmes SP ATL Grant Holmes SP ATL	@ TOR Toronto	vs MIN Minnesota
17	C. Holmes SP NYM Clay Holmes SP NYM	@ MIN Minnesota	vs STL St. Louis
18	M. Keller SP PIT Mitch Keller SP PIT	vs WAS Washington	vs CLE Cleveland
19	E. Lucas SP TOR Easton Lucas SP TOR	vs ATL Atlanta	vs SEA Seattle
20	Y. Kikuchi SP LAA Yusei Kikuchi SP LAA	@ TEX Texas	vs SF San Francisco
21	T. Megill SP NYM Tylor Megill SP NYM	@ MIN Minnesota	vs STL St. Louis

Better left for points leagues

22	T. Houck SP BOS Tanner Houck SP BOS	@ TB Tampa Bay	vs CHW Chi. White Sox
23	L. Roupp SP SF Landen Roupp SP SF	@ PHI Philadelphia	@ LAA L.A. Angels
24	M. Wacha SP KC Michael Wacha SP KC	@ NYY N.Y. Yankees	@ DET Detroit
25	J. Taillon SP CHC Jameson Taillon SP CHC	@ SD San Diego	vs ARI Arizona
26	J. Verlander SP SF Justin Verlander SP SF	@ PHI Philadelphia	@ LAA L.A. Angels

No thanks

27	M. Kelly SP ARI Merrill Kelly SP ARI	@ MIA Miami	@ CHC Chi. Cubs
28	T. Alexander SP MIL Tyler Alexander SP MIL	vs DET Detroit	vs ATH Athletics
29	T. Walker SP PHI Taijuan Walker SP PHI	vs SF San Francisco	vs MIA Miami
30	C. Morton SP BAL Charlie Morton SP BAL	vs CLE Cleveland	vs CIN Cincinnati
31	S. Burke SP CHW Sean Burke SP CHW	vs ATH Athletics	@ BOS Boston
32	J. Irvin SP WAS Jake Irvin SP WAS	@ PIT Pittsburgh	@ COL Colorado
33	C. Gillispie SP MIA Connor Gillispie SP MIA	vs ARI Arizona	@ PHI Philadelphia
34	C. Carrasco SP NYY Carlos Carrasco SP NYY	vs KC Kansas City	@ TB Tampa Bay
35	L. Allen SP CLE Logan Taylor Allen SP CLE	@ BAL Baltimore	@ PIT Pittsburgh
36	P. Corbin SP TEX Patrick Corbin SP TEX	vs LAA L.A. Angels	vs LAD L.A. Dodgers
37	A. Senzatela SP COL Antonio Senzatela SP COL	@ LAD L.A. Dodgers	vs WAS Washington
38	B. Lord SP WAS Brad Lord SP WAS	@ PIT Pittsburgh	@ COL Colorado