Double Dipping Two-Start Pitchers for Week Five: C.C. Sabathia, Ubaldo Jimenez

With a number of key players getting off to slow starts this season (like half of my NFBC squad), we need to stay alert and active. It is still early, so you have lots of time to make your team better.

One option is to try to buy the slow-starting players at a low price from their owners if they get impatient, but you can also get some for nothing. By keeping one eye on the waiver wire, you can get some quality guys who will turn it around.

I found Josh Johnson on the scrap heap and grabbed him just in time to enjoy his 12-strikeout performance on Monday. Why someone would toss aside a guy with a 1-1 record and a 4.09 ERA is a mystery to me, but this guy has “ace” written all over him, and I will enjoy his stats this season at the bargain-basement price of my waiver priority.

Now, the projected two-start pitchers for this week. For those of you in leagues who require you to set your lineup at the beginning of the week, these are guys you should strongly consider:

American League BAL Jeremy Guthrie , Brian Matusz BOS Clay Buchholz , Jon Lester CWS Jake Peavy , Gavin Floyd CLE Mitch Talbot DET Max Scherzer KC Gil Meche , Luke Hochevar LAA Joe Saunders , Ervin Santana MIN Scott Baker , Carl Pavano NYY C.C. Sabathia OAK Dallas Braden SEA Jason Vargas TB James Shields TEX Rich Harden , Scott Feldman TOR Brett Cecil , Ricky Romero

National League ARI Undecided*, Ian Kennedy ATL Kenshin Kawakami CHC Ryan Dempster CIN Mike Leake COL Ubaldo Jimenez FLA Anibal Sanchez HOU Felipe Paulino , Roy Oswalt LAD Clayton Kershaw MIL Chris Narveson NYM Oliver Perez PHI Cole Hamels , Joe Blanton PIT Paul Maholm SD Kevin Correia SF Todd Wellemeyer STL Jaime Garcia , Adam Wainwright WAS Livan Hernandez

* The Arizona Diamondbacks are still undecided about their Monday pitcher, who will likely get two starts on the week. This is Kris Benson ’s slot, but Benson is already on the DL after one outing.

Rick’s Picks
Five best bets for double-start pitchers this week

1. C.C. Sabathia , NYY. Sabathia is the best pitcher on the best team in baseball, so what’s not to like? The first start is a home game against a weak Baltimore Orioles squad but the second is at the rival Boston Red Sox. Bank on one win, but the second might be a little tougher to wrangle. Look for good ratios and strikeouts as always.

The next four pitchers all get two starts on the road, which is never a good thing, but all are red hot and most opponents are weak, so play them with confidence.

2. Ubaldo Jimenez , COL (at SD, at LAD)

3. Ryan Dempster , CHC (at PIT, at CIN)

4. Ricky Romero , TOR (at CLE, at CWS)

5. James Shields , TB (at SEA, at OAK)

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Rick Milleman is the head fantasy baseball contributor at DraftBuddy.com . Check his annual player projections included in the Cheatsheet Compiler & Draft Buddy to help draft your championship team.