Fantasy baseball Week 19 pitchers: Max Fried, Jake Bennett make two-start list
CBS Sports' Scott White ranks Fantasy Week 19 two-start pitchers, with Zack Wheeler on top and Max Fried in the top five.
By Deshawn Carter · Sports Writer
3 min read
Fantasy baseball Week 19 pitchers are getting a fresh two-start pecking order, and CBS Sports analyst Scott White has Zack Wheeler sitting at No. 1 for the July 27-Aug. 2 scoring period.
White’s weekly rankings sort projected two-start pitchers by how usable they are in fantasy lineups. He notes the list depends on forecasting, so names and matchups can change, and the information was current as of late Sunday.
A two-start pitcher is a starter lined up to pitch twice in the same fantasy scoring period. That extra turn can pile up innings, strikeouts and win chances, but it can also expose fantasy managers to more ratio damage if the matchups go sideways.
Who are the best two-start pitchers for Fantasy Week 19?
White’s top tier is built for fantasy managers who do not want to overthink it. Wheeler leads the board with road starts against the Miami Marlins and Baltimore Orioles, according to the CBS Sports rankings.
Chris Sale is second, with Atlanta lined up for a road start against the New York Mets and a home date with Washington. Cincinnati’s Chase Burns is third, with both scheduled starts at home against Cleveland and Pittsburgh.
George Kirby comes in fourth for Seattle, with a road start at Texas and a home start against Minnesota. Max Fried is fifth for the Yankees, set for two road outings in Chicago against the White Sox and Cubs, according to White.
The rest of White’s top 10 includes Gerrit Cole, Kyle Bradish, Michael King, Sandy Alcantara and Payton Tolle. Cole shares Fried’s projected White Sox-Cubs road path, while King gets two home starts for San Diego against Colorado and San Francisco.
Where does Jake Bennett rank?
Jake Bennett lands at No. 16 in White’s rankings, inside the group he labels advisable in most cases. CBS Sports lists the Boston pitcher for road starts against the Athletics and Los Angeles Dodgers.
That same “advisable” section starts with Taj Bradley at No. 11, followed by Cade Cavalli, Griffin Jax, Landen Roupp, Michael McGreevy and Bennett. White’s placement puts them below the automatic plays but above the more format-specific options.
The next bucket is aimed more at points leagues, according to the rankings. Brady Singer is No. 17, followed by Christian Scott, Tatsuya Imai, Bubba Chandler, Seth Lugo, Zach Thornton, Walbert Urena, Merrill Kelly, Keider Montero and Mitch Keller.
That tier includes several pitchers with recognizable names and trickier calls. Lugo, for example, is listed for road starts at Minnesota and Colorado, while Kelly is projected to pitch at Pittsburgh and Cleveland, according to CBS Sports.
Which pitchers are White avoiding?
White’s bottom category begins with Gage Jump at No. 27. CBS Sports lists Jump for home starts against Boston and Detroit, but places him in the avoid group.
Martin Perez also appears in that final section, with Atlanta listed for a road start against the Mets. The published rankings were cut off after that point, but White’s category makes the fantasy recommendation clear: this is the part of the board for managers looking elsewhere.
For fantasy managers setting lineups, the headline is simple enough: Wheeler, Sale, Burns, Kirby and Fried are the premium two-start plays in White’s Week 19 ranks, while Bennett sits in the usable middle of the pool.
This story draws on original reporting from CBS Sports.