Fantasy Baseball Week 5 Preview: Two-start pitcher rankings recommend using Blake Snell, Nate Pearson

Blake Snell and Nate Pearson show up high in the two-start pitcher rankings.

By Scott White

Aug 16, 2020 at 9:13 pm ET • 1 min read

Every weekend, Scott White ranks the two-start pitchers for the upcoming week, sorting them by how usable they are. The standard for a two-start sleeper is higher in categories leagues, where ERA and WHIP need to be protected, than in point leagues, where volume is a higher priority, and it's indicated in the tiers below.

Here are the two-start pitchers for Fantasy Week 5 (Aug. 17-23):

Must-starts, all formats

1	T. Bauer SP LAD Trevor Bauer SP LAD	@ KC Kansas City	@ STL St. Louis
2	C. Carrasco SP NYY Carlos Carrasco SP NYY	@ PIT Pittsburgh	vs DET Detroit
3	Y. Darvish SP SD Yu Darvish SP SD	vs STL St. Louis	vs CHW Chi. White Sox
4	D. Bundy SP NYM Dylan Bundy SP NYM	vs SF San Francisco	@ ATH Athletics
5	Z. Gallen SP ARI Zac Gallen SP ARI	vs ATH Athletics	@ SF San Francisco
6	K. Maeda RP DET Kenta Maeda RP DET	vs KC Kansas City	@ KC Kansas City
7	F. Montas RP NYM Frankie Montas RP NYM	@ ARI Arizona	vs LAA L.A. Angels
8	Z. Greinke SP KC Zack Greinke SP KC	vs COL Colorado	@ SD San Diego
9	H. Ryu SP TOR Hyun-Jin Ryu SP TOR	@ BAL Baltimore	@ TB Tampa Bay
10	C. Paddack SP MIN Chris Paddack SP MIN	@ TEX Texas	vs HOU Houston
11	K. Hendricks SP LAA Kyle Hendricks SP LAA	vs STL St. Louis	vs CHW Chi. White Sox
12	J. Urias SP LAD Julio Urias SP LAD	vs SEA Seattle	vs COL Colorado
13	R. Stripling SP KC Ross Stripling SP KC	vs SEA Seattle	vs COL Colorado

Sleepers and questionables

14	B. Snell SP LAD Blake Snell SP LAD	@ NYY N.Y. Yankees	vs TOR Toronto
15	C. Burnes SP ARI Corbin Burnes SP ARI	@ MIN Minnesota	@ PIT Pittsburgh
16	N. Pearson RP CHC Nate Pearson RP CHC	@ BAL Baltimore	@ TB Tampa Bay
17	M. Minor SP CIN Mike Minor SP CIN	vs SD San Diego	@ SEA Seattle
18	M. Tanaka SP NYY Masahiro Tanaka SP NYY	vs TB Tampa Bay	@ NYM N.Y. Mets
19	D. Cease SP SD Dylan Cease SP SD	vs DET Detroit	@ CHC Chi. Cubs
20	J. Montgomery SP ARI Jordan Montgomery SP ARI	vs BOS Boston	@ NYM N.Y. Mets
21	C. Bassitt SP TOR Chris Bassitt SP TOR	@ ARI Arizona	vs LAA L.A. Angels
22	Z. Eflin SP BAL Zach Eflin SP BAL	@ BOS Boston	@ ATL Atlanta
23	T. Toussaint SP CHW Touki Toussaint SP CHW	vs WAS Washington	vs PHI Philadelphia
24	A. Cobb SP DET Alex Cobb SP DET	vs TOR Toronto	vs BOS Boston

Better left for points leagues

25	G. Canning SP NYM Griffin Canning SP NYM	vs SF San Francisco	@ ATH Athletics
26	A. Voth RP SEA Austin Voth RP SEA	@ ATL Atlanta	vs MIA Miami
27	K. Freeland SP COL Kyle Freeland SP COL	@ HOU Houston	@ LAD L.A. Dodgers
28	M. Boyd SP CHC Matthew Boyd SP CHC	@ CHW Chi. White Sox	@ CLE Cleveland
29	D. Ponce de Leon RP WAS Daniel Ponce de Leon RP WAS	@ CHC Chi. Cubs	vs CIN Cincinnati
30	K. Kim SP STL Kwang Hyun Kim SP STL	@ CHC Chi. Cubs	vs CIN Cincinnati
31	Z. Davies SP WAS Zach Davies SP WAS	@ TEX Texas	vs HOU Houston
32	K. Bubic SP KC Kris Bubic SP KC	@ MIN Minnesota	vs MIN Minnesota
33	B. Bielak SP ARI Brandon Bielak SP ARI	vs COL Colorado	@ SD San Diego
34	J. Arrieta SP SD Jake Arrieta SP SD	@ BOS Boston	@ ATL Atlanta
35	A. Senzatela SP COL Antonio Senzatela SP COL	@ HOU Houston	@ LAD L.A. Dodgers
36	D. Peterson SP NYM David Peterson SP NYM	@ MIA Miami	vs NYY N.Y. Yankees

No thanks

37	M. Perez SP CHW Martin Perez SP CHW	@ NYY N.Y. Yankees	@ BAL Baltimore
38	A. Sanchez SP WAS Anibal Sanchez SP WAS	@ ATL Atlanta	vs MIA Miami
39	L. Weaver RP NYY Luke Weaver RP NYY	vs ATH Athletics	@ SF San Francisco
40	Z. Godley RP CIN Zack Godley RP CIN	@ NYY N.Y. Yankees	@ BAL Baltimore
41	T. Williams SP WAS Trevor Williams SP WAS	vs CLE Cleveland	vs MIL Milwaukee
42	T. Anderson SP LAA Tyler Anderson SP LAA	@ LAA L.A. Angels	vs ARI Arizona
43	J. Lyles RP KC Jordan Lyles RP KC	vs SD San Diego	@ SEA Seattle
44	J. Dunn RP CHW Justin Dunn RP CHW	@ LAD L.A. Dodgers	vs TEX Texas
45	J. Yamamoto RP LAD Jordan Yamamoto RP LAD	vs NYM N.Y. Mets	@ WAS Washington
46	W. LeBlanc RP STL Wade LeBlanc RP STL	vs TOR Toronto	vs BOS Boston
47	T. Cahill SP PIT Trevor Cahill SP PIT	@ LAA L.A. Angels	vs ARI Arizona
48	R. Gsellman RP WAS Robert Gsellman RP WAS	@ MIA Miami	vs NYY N.Y. Yankees
49	G. Gonzalez RP MIA Gio Gonzalez RP MIA	vs DET Detroit	@ CHC Chi. Cubs