By Ted Carlson
April 3, 2009 6:01pm CDT

Each week, we'll profile the projected two-start pitchers for the upcoming fantasy week. Keep in mind that these are subject to change as managers adjust their rotations (and possibly name No. 5 starters) over the weekend. The opening week of the major league season is one of the toughest to project, so we urge fantasy owners not to get too "cute" with their selections.

Also, we should note that this week's list tracks from Sunday, April 5 through Sunday, April 12. Normally, we're only looking at a Monday-Sunday span.

Safe Bets

Tim Lincecum: vs. MLW (Suppan); @ SD (Young) - What, are you going to bench him? Lincecum went 3-0 against the Padres, but he lost his only outing versus the Brew Crew.

Cliff Lee: @ TEX (Millwood); vs. TOR (Litsch) - The 2008 AL Cy Young winner went 2-0 against the Rangers last year, and he tossed 17 scoreless innings against the Blue Jays.

CC Sabathia: @ BAL (Guthrie); @ KC (Ramirez) - And you thought Lee had easy matchups to open the season? Sabathia is 5-0 for his career against the Orioles, and for some reason, we really like his odds against Horacio Ramirez. Call us crazy.

Johan Santana: @ CIN (Harang); @ FLA (Johnson) - Last year, Santana's road ERA (3.00) was noticeably higher than his home mark (2.09). We're not worried. He also went 3-0 with a 1.96 ERA and 0.91 WHIP in three outings against the Marlins.

Jake Peavy: vs. LAD (Kuroda); vs. SF (Sanchez) - Can a brother buy some run support? Peavy posted a 1.74 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, and .205 BAA over 14 starts at home in 2008. His record? 5-5. That's sad.

Brandon Webb: vs. COL (Cook); vs. LAD (Kuroda) - Webb picked up victories in his first nine starts of the 2008 season. In 2006, he started off 8-0. In 2005, he opened up at 6-0. Yeah, go ahead and use him.

Dan Haren: vs. COL (Jimenez); vs. LAD (Wolf) - Over the last two Aprils, Haren is 7-3 with a 2.35 ERA and 1.02 WHIP. He also tends to enjoy pitching at home, and fantasy owners should enjoy this opening week.

Roy Halladay: vs. DET (Verlander); @ CLE (Reyes) - We were leaning towards benching Halladay this week, but he had a sharp spring training. Yes, that's a joke. We love his opening two matchups against a pair of shaky right-handers.

Josh Beckett: vs. TB (Shields); @ LAA (Saunders) - Beckett had a few hiccups last year, but he still dominated the Rays (2-1, 2.06 ERA, 0.91 WHIP over five starts). If the Angels pitchers were healthy, he'd be facing John Lackey later in the week. We prefer Saunders, obviously.

James Shields: @ BOS (Beckett); @ BAL (Simon) - Shields was a much better pitcher at home (9-2, 2.59 ERA) than on the road (5-6, 4.82) last year, and he was rocked in his two appearances at Fenway Park. Still, you didn't draft him that high to bench him.

Roy Oswalt: vs. CHC (Zambrano); @ STL (Wainwright) - The Astros ace has a tough draw in the opening week, but we're not about to doubt a guy who has never posted an ERA above 3.55. His last Opening Day win was in 2006.

Ricky Nolasco: vs. WAS (Lannan); vs. NYM (Hernandez) - Nolasco will be looking to build on 2008 and solidify his spot as a fantasy stud, and the schedule is in his favor. John Lannan and Livan Hernandez? Yeah, we'll side with Nolasco in those matchups.

Felix Hernandez: @ MIN (Liriano); @ OAK (Braden) - King Felix was better away from home (3.04 ERA) than in Seattle (3.88) last year. He also boasts a career 7-4 record and 2.56 ERA against the Athletics.

Next Best Things

Derek Lowe: @ PHI (Myers); vs. WAS (Martis) - The new Braves ace will start on Opening Day and in the home opener. He last saw the Phillies in October, when he went 0-1 over two playoff starts.

Brett Myers: vs. ATL (Lowe); @ COL (De La Rosa) - The slimmed-down starter gets the Opening Day nod because of Cole Hamels spring setback with arm soreness. Myers was hammered by both the Braves (10.38 ERA) and Rockies (7.71) last year, but he looked pretty sharp this spring.

Carlos Zambrano: @ HOU (Oswalt); @ MLW (Bush) - Zambrano's last appearance in Houston came on September 14, 2008. He pitched a no-hitter and struck out 10 batters. On the negative side, Zambrano hasn't won his opening start of the regular season since 2003.

Francisco Liriano: vs. SEA (Hernandez); @ CWS (Colon) - The Twins shuffled their rotation this week and moved Liriano to Opening Day. He will be working on only three days' rest, but the good news is that he won't see Ichiro.

Josh Johnson: vs. WAS (Olsen); vs. NYM (Santana) - This right-hander has a career 4.17 ERA at home versus a 2.86 mark on the road. We're ignoring those numbers in favor of the opinion that he is a hurler on the rise towards stardom.

Javier Vazquez: @ PHI (Moyer); vs. WAS (Olsen) - Welcome back to the NL, Javy. The Braves new No. 2 draws a tough opening start, but he had an excellent spring and appears poised to have an excellent campaign.

Ryan Dempster: @ HOU (Rodriguez); @ MLW (Suppan) - Dempster faced these two Central foes nine times last year and went 4-3 with a 2.64 ERA. The Astros and Cubs can slug, but we like that Demspter is familiar with the lineups.

Adam Wainwright: vs. PIT (Maholm); vs. HOU (Oswalt) - Oddly, Wainwright went 0-1 with an 8.25 ERA against the Pirates last year, but he was 3-0 with a 2.45 ERA against the Astros. Want a more comforting stat? He was 7-1 with a 2.63 ERA and 1.11 WHIP at home.

Mark Buehrle: vs. KC (Meche); vs. MIN (Blackburn) - Buehrle doesn't have the cleanest Opening Day track record, but he went 11-3 with a 2.65 ERA and 1.18 WHIP at home in 2008. He also owns a career record of 40-21 against the Royals and Twins.

Aaron Harang: vs. NYM (Santana); vs. PIT (Snell) - Over his career, Harang is 12-5 with a 3.86 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, and 7.7 K/9 in April. This pick is a little risky considering Harang's work last year, but we like that he is at home.

At Your Own Risk

Gil Meche: @ CWS (Buehrle); vs. NYY (Chamberlain) - Meche was awful in April of 2008 and outstanding in April of 2007. His spring work suggests he could be a little shaky this time around, but we'd lean towards using him.

Wandy Rodriguez: vs. CHC (Dempster); @ STL (Lohse) - The southpaw with the huge home/road splits gets to start of the season where he is most comfortable. As for start No. 2, we'll note that Wandy allowed only three earned runs over 24.1 innings against the Cardinals last year.

Justin Verlander: @ TOR (Halladay); vs. TEX (Harrison) - Verlander posted more walks (16) than strikeouts (15) this spring, and those numbers don't give us much confidence for showdowns with Doc Halladay in Toronto and against a Josh Hamilton-led offense.

Paul Maholm: @ STL (Wainwright); @ CIN (Owings) - Maholm is one of two Pirates pitchers (Matt Capps is the other) who we feel safe using, but this southpaw was only 2-7 away from home in 2008. Plus, Owings generated a lot of confidence during his excellent spring.

Nick Blackburn: vs. SEA (Bedard); @ CWS (Buehrle) - Blackburn went 8-3 with a 2.95 ERA and 1.23 WHIP over his 14 home starts last year. He wasn't as sharp on the road, but it is a good sign that he posted solid numbers in four of his five efforts against the rival White Sox.

Joe Saunders: vs. OAK (Braden); vs. BOS (Beckett) - The southpaw ran into some arm fatigue late in camp, but he says he is over the issue and ready to role for Opening Day. We'll see. Saunders' career home ERA (4.58) is much higher than his road mark (3.39).

Aaron Cook: @ ARZ (Webb); vs. PHI (Park) - The sinkerball pitcher owns a career 6.17 ERA and 1.89 WHIP at Chase Field, and we admit that we are a little scared about any pitcher who has to face the Phillies lineup in Coors Field.

Chris Young: vs. LAD (Wolf); vs. SF (Lincecum) - We always tend to like Young (and Peavy and most other pitchers) when they are working in San Diego, but this 6-10 hurler did not have a sharp spring and is not a good bet against Manny Ramirez or Tim Lincecum.

John Lannan: @ FLA (Nolasco); @ ATL (Kawakami) - The Nationals believe Lannan is ready to become an ace, and it's interesting to note that he posted a 3.19 ERA and 6.4 K/9 on the road last year. We're simply not ready to count on him on a consistent basis.

Jeremy Guthrie: vs. NYY (Sabathia); vs. TB (TBD) - There's nothing like starting off against two clubs that could each win 95-100 games, huh? Guthrie allowed a combined 24 earned runs over 41.1 innings against the Yankees and Rays in 2008.

Erik Bedard: @ MIN (Blackburn); @ OAK (Cahill) - The southpaw posted more walks (nine) than strikeouts (seven) over 11.1 innings this spring, and we have a hard time counting on him to win road games when the Mariners will be without Ichiro.

Edwin Jackson: @ TOR (Litsch); vs. TEX (Millwood) - Jackson pitched very well at the Rogers Centre last year (1-0, 1.38 ERA), and he is coming off a nice spring. It helps that matchups with Litsch and Millwood offer good odds on victories.

Jesse Litsch: vs. DET (Jackson); @ CLE (Lee) - You'd be wise to be wary of Litsch's second start of the week, as Lee is a formidable foe. However, it's interesting to note that Jesse went 7-3 with a 2.77 ERA and 1.10 WHIP at home last year, and Jackson is a beatable opponent.

Dallas Braden: @ LAA (Saunders); vs. SEA (Hernandez) - Braden allowed only three runs over 13.0 innings against the Angels last year, and the second matchup comes against an Ichiro-less Mariners club. This lefty is far from a safe start, but we don't mind the gamble.

Pick of the Week

Kyle Lohse: vs. PIT (Snell); vs. HOU (Rodriguez) - Lohse is coming off a breakout year (15-6, 3.78 ERA), and he did most of his excellent work at home. He went 8-2 with a 3.32 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, and .242 BAA in Busch Stadium. The good news doesn't end there, though. Lohse made six starts against the Pirates and Astros last season, and he went 4-0 with a 2.48 ERA and 0.98 WHIP. Fantasy owners all know that Snell is an enigma, and we'll remind you than Rodriguez typically only looks unhittable when he is in Houston.

Hedge Your Bets

Hiroki Kuroda: @ SD (Peavy); @ ARZ (Webb) - If you only looked at spring numbers, you'd probably start Kuroda. He went 1-1 with a 2.61 ERA and 1.26 WHIP over 20.2 innings. The Dodgers are asking a lot of Kuroda this week, though. He will be facing two of the elite starting pitchers in the major leagues (Peavy, Webb), and he will be going up against two teams that hit him hard last season. Kuroda posted a 5.66 ERA and 1.65 WHIP against the Padres (20.2 innings) and a 4.50 ERA and 1.45 WHIP (20.0 innings) against the Diamondbacks last year.

Others
Scott Olsen: @ FLA (Johnson); @ ATL (Vazquez)
Kevin Millwood: vs. CLE (Lee); @ DET (Jackson)
Jeff Suppan: @ SF (Lincecum); vs. CHC (Dempster)
Randy Wolf: @ SD (Young); @ ARZ (Haren)
Ian Snell: @ STL (Lohse); @ CIN (Harang)
Trevor Cahill: @ LAA (Moseley); vs. SEA (Bedard)
Dustin Moseley: vs. OAK (Cahill); vs. BOS (Penny)

Two-Start Notes

-The Rays have yet to name a No. 5 starter between Jason Hammel and Jeff Niemann.