What, no italics? That's right, I'm abandoning the usual boilerplate intro for this final edition of the two-start pitcher rankings to issue a grave warning ...
Don't count on any of these guys actually making two starts.
They appear to be in line to -- and some indeed will -- but the second start would come on the final day of the season. With no tomorrow, a team can throw caution to the wind and pretty much use whomever it wants. I'm not saying it'll start someone on short rest, but a bullpen game or a spot starter? Why not?
And actually, I think the pitchers most in danger of losing their second start are the ones on the teams with a tomorrow -- i.e., the ones resetting their rotation for the playoffs. If they've already secured their spot prior to the final day of the season and one of their top hurlers is scheduled to go, they'll almost assuredly opt for someone else.
To reiterate, you should be skeptical of any pitcher listed here actually making two starts, but especially Zack Wheeler, Max Fried and Kevin Gausman. Maybe Cristian Javier, Nick Martinez and Robbie Ray as well. You're probably going to ask about Payton Tolle because you're likely to see two baseball indicators next to his name on your lineup page, signaling two starts, but I'm so confident he won't actually make that second start that I've left him out of these rankings altogether. Of course, you'll probably still want to use him with one start because he's that good.
That should the litmus test. If you wouldn't be comfortable getting just one start from any of these pitchers, you're better off not using him at all. For now, though, here's how the two-start pitcher slate stacks up for Fantasy Week 27 (Sept. 21-27). All information is up to date as of Sunday evening.
Must-start, all formats1 Z. Wheeler SP PHI Zack Wheeler SP PHI vs
MILMilwaukee vs 
TBTampa Bay 2 P. Messick SP CLE Parker Messick SP CLE @ 
BOSBoston @ 
KCKansas City 3 L. Gilbert SP SEA Logan Gilbert SP SEA vs 
HOUHouston vs 
LAAL.A. Angels 4 M. Fried SP NYY Max Fried SP NYY vs TBTampa Bay vs 
BALBaltimore 5 J. Jones SP PIT Jared Jones SP PIT vs 
STLSt. Louis @ 
DETDetroit Advisable in most cases6 C. Javier SP HOU Cristian Javier SP HOU @ 
SEASeattle @ 
ATHAthletics 7 K. Gausman SP CHC Kevin Gausman SP CHC vs 
MIAMiami @ BOSBoston 8 N. Martinez SP TB Nick Martinez SP TB @ 
NYYN.Y. Yankees @ 
PHIPhiladelphia Better left for points leagues9 B. Ober SP MIN Bailey Ober SP MIN @ 
SFSan Francisco vs 
TEXTexas 10 Y. Kikuchi SP LAA Yusei Kikuchi SP LAA @ ATHAthletics @ SEASeattle 11 A. Pallante SP STL Andre Pallante SP STL @ 
PITPittsburgh @ MILMilwaukee 12 M. Soroka SP ARI Mike Soroka SP ARI @ 
COLColorado @ 
SDSan Diego 13 R. Ray SP SD Robbie Ray SP SD @ 
LADL.A. Dodgers vs 
ARIArizona 14 S. Baz SP BAL Shane Baz SP BAL vs 
TORToronto @ NYYN.Y. Yankees No thanks15 S. Manaea SP NYM Sean Manaea SP NYM @ TEXTexas @ 
WASWashington 16 M. Scherzer SP TOR Max Scherzer SP TOR @ BALBaltimore vs 
CINCincinnati 17 D. Lynch IV RP KC Daniel Lynch IV RP KC vs 
CHWChi. White Sox vs 
CLECleveland 18 A. Kay SP CHW Anthony Kay SP CHW @ KCKansas City vs COLColorado 19 M. Gore SP TEX MacKenzie Gore SP TEX vs 
NYMN.Y. Mets @ 
MINMinnesota 20 J. Kent SP WAS Jackson Kent SP WAS @ DETDetroit vs NYMN.Y. Mets 21 B. Tidwell SP SF Blade Tidwell SP SF vs MINMinnesota vs LADL.A. Dodgers 22 J. Ritchie SP ATL JR Ritchie SP ATL vs CINCincinnati @ MIAMiami 23 K. Freeland SP COL Kyle Freeland SP COL vs ARIArizona @ CHWChi. White Sox 24 B. Williamson SP CIN Brandon Williamson SP CIN @ 
ATLAtlanta @ TORToronto 25 B. Basso RP ATH Brady Basso RP ATH vs LAAL.A. Angels vs HOUHouston 26 J. Junk SP MIA Janson Junk SP MIA @ 
CHCChi. Cubs vs ATLAtlanta Add CBS Sports on Google Join the Conversation comments 
