Erik Bedard can't lose EVERY start this season (or at least I hope not) - US Presswire

So far this season, Erik Bedard has pitched a total of 12 innings in his two starts, striking out seven, issuing only two walks, allowing just three runs ... and of course he's 0-2. Welcome to Pittsburgh.

But at this point in his career, Bedard probably wouldn't know what to do with run support. The winningest team for which he's ever played was the 2011 Boston Red Sox, a club that failed spectacularly, against all odds. Prior to last year, Bedard had only pitched for one team that finished its season above .500, the 85-win Mariners of 2009. And you might recall that '09 was the year Bedard suffered a torn labrum. I realize it's tough to keep track of all his injuries — hip, shoulder, knee, oblique, etc. — but the labrum was really a big one. He didn't pitch in the majors at all in 2010.

And now here I am, asking you to consider him an option in a two-start week. Hey, I could have taken a much easier path and recommended, say, Justin Masterson (at SEA, at OAK), but that dude is owned more than three-quarters of Yahoo! leagues. In this piece, we try to focus on pitchers who are actually available to a few of you.

Bedard was a hard-luck loser to Roy Halladay on opening day, as he allowed just one run over seven innings (while Doc allowed nothin' over eight frames). His second start wasn't quite as crisp, but he nonetheless yielded only two runs to the Dodgers in a loss to Chad Billingsley. He was reaching 90-92 on the radar gun in his final innings against LA, which isn't such a bad range by his standards. I'm trusting him in two leagues in Week 3. The opposing starters aren't particularly intimidating (Saunders, Lohse), so I'm hoping for at least a one-win week, with acceptable ratios.

Typically, when Bedard happens to not be on the DL, he's helpful. (Check the numbers, hater). If you've been playing match-ups this season, consider him in Week 3.

For the rest of your two-start options, ranked and tiered, please continue beyond the jump...

Matt Adams (US Presswire)

At the moment, the St. Louis Cardinals have an injured first basemen on the big league roster (Lance Berkman, calf) and a hot-hitting first base prospect stashed at Triple-A Memphis (Matt Adams, .419 AVG, 3 HR). Under slightly different circumstances — different timing, different injury prognosis — we'd be issuing an urgent buy-order on Adams. But for now, the 23-year-old simply remains a prospect of interest, another name to file away.

Just check his recent minor league stats...

2012, Triple-A — 5 R, 3 HR, 7 RBI, 1 SB, .419/.455/.806, 7 K, 33 PA
2011, Double-A — 80 R, 32 HR, 101 RBI, 0 SB, .300/.357/.566, 90 K, 513 PA
2010, Single-A — 71 R, 22 HR, 88 RBI, 5 SB, .310/.355/.541, 78 K, 510 PA

As you can probably tell from the image above, Adams is a big-and-tall shopper. Not a small dude. (For obvious reasons, I'm terrified to read anything that Brad Evans ever writes about him. Brad has a fondness for players with similar proportions. No idea why. Maybe he went to Steve Balboni Fantasy Camp when he was a kid. Hell if I know). Whenever Adams arrives in the majors — definitely by 2013, possibly sooner — he'll clear a few fences.

The Cardinals' depth chart is loaded with injury risk, so it wouldn't be a huge surprise if Adams made his MLB debut this season. He's on the watch list, and he's scorching hot right now.

Brad Lidge, blower of saves (US Presswire)

The Washington Nationals managed to pull out a 10th inning win in their home opener on Thursday, when Ryan Zimmerman scored on a two-out walk-off wild pitch. But the Nats really should have closed the door in the ninth, when Brad Lidge was handed a two-run lead. Starter Gio Gonzalez and setup man Tyler Clippard had tossed eight shutout innings — allowing just three total hits to the Reds, walking no one, striking out nine — and then the ball was handed to Lidge ... who promptly gave up a pair of hits, a pair of walks, and a pair of runs.

Lidge received no help from his defense, we should note (there was a play to be made here), but bad things occasionally happen when batters make hard contact. The blown save was Lidge's first of the season. To his credit, he hadn't allowed a run in his two previous appearances. Still, he could have taken another step toward the circle of trust on Thursday. Instead, he moved a bit further away.

Francisco Liriano, you're fired (US Presswire)This morning, I wrote a few hundred words of standard early-season fantasy advice, focused on the need for patience in the opening weeks. Very basic Fantasy 101 content: Baseball is a game of probabilities and match-ups and streaks and blah-blah-failures-outnumber-successes-blah.

Not exactly revolutionary stuff, but, based on your emails and tweets, it was something that many of you needed to hear. I'd managed to include some semi-interesting data, too.

And then, in the second inning of Francisco Liriano's second start of the 2012 season, I dropped him like a burning coal. Go away, Francisco. We're done.

In Liriano's first start this year, he yielded six runs (five earned) over four innings. Then, on Thursday afternoon, he gave up a five-spot to the Angels in the second inning. As I write these words he's still in the game, at 89 pitches. Vernon Wells just smoked a ground-rule RBI double to left. Liriano has issued three walks so far, and he's paying no attention whatsoever to base-runners. He's allowed five steals in five attempts. The radar readings aren't too impressive, either. Lots of 88-91.

Hecotr Santiago (US Presswire)

On this date in 2011, Hector Santiago was the scheduled starter for the Winston-Salem Dash, High-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox. The left-hander was making his first start of the  season. As a prospect, the kid wasn't on anyone's radar. He was a former 30th round draft pick entering his fifth minor league season.

That night, Santiago pitched four innings for the Dash, allowing just one run and striking out seven batters in a no-decision. On his way to that respectable strikeout total, he almost certainly mixed in a few screwballs. Santiago began experimenting with the pitch in winter ball in 2008, and he first used it in a game in Puerto Rico in 2010. When you're a 23-year-old minor league veteran who can't seem to escape Single-A, it's not such a bad idea to tweak the pitching arsenal.

Santiago discussed his introduction to the screwball in a recent interview with MLB.com's Scott Merkin:

"I didn't really have a change-up at the time, so it was like, 'Why not? Let's try it.' It kind of came along more as a change-up and made my change-up a lot better. Over time, I got to the point where I could get my arm into that motion where I could turn it over pretty well."

[...]

"There was big drop to it. It was kind of like a curve ball. It had some fade and drop."

When Santiago throws the screwball to a right-hander, it can be a knee-buckler, breaking down and away. It's a rarely seen pitch — tough to master, stressful on the arm — yet it's a significant weapon for any left-handed pitcher, an equalizer, a key to success against righties.

Fernando, saving games again. Yikes. (Getty Images)

Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon hasn't actually been using the word "closer" to describe Fernando Rodney, despite the fact that Rodney picked up a pair of one-out saves over the weekend. When reporters ask Maddon about Fernando, they usually get responses like this...

"He's a really good late-inning relief pitcher."

Or this...

"He's pitched in the ninth. It just happened to be his moment, just based on the match-ups."

And if you really pester Maddon about his bullpen, he'll say stuff like this...

"They all have the potential to get the last out of the game, and you might see a lot of different guys get the last out."

So whatever else Fernando Rodney is, he's not officially the Rays' interim closer. There remains a legit possibility that we'll see Peralta or Howell or some other Ray on the hill for the final out in the ninth, sometime soon. And as most of you already know, Rodney has been a mess over multiple seasons. Just check his ratios over the past five years for details.

Kyle Farnsworth is expected to be sidelined for perhaps six weeks due to his elbow strain, but he'll presumably step back into the closer's role eventually, ending this nightmare.

Let's move on to news that involves less-terrible names...

Tommy Milone (Getty Images)

For the benefit of those who are new to fantasy baseball, I'll take a moment here to explain why we publish a weekly preview of two-start pitchers:

It's because these guys all get two starts in the coming week. Duh.

Honestly, you new guys ask a lot of ridiculous questions. Please just keep 'em to yourself next time. And if you absolutely have to ask a silly question, then do it in comments. That's why we keep Mackdaddy around. He's like a 24/7 customer care professional (who happens to not care about you. At all).

OK, so much for the preamble. Before we get to the full list of next week's probable double-dip starters, I'll give you a few details on the guy pictured above. That's Oakland lefty Tommy Milone, a 25-year-old who opens the season as his team's No. 3 starter. (Don't be too impressed; Bartolo Colon is No. 2). Milone gets a pair of appealing match-ups in the week ahead (vs. KC, at Sea), and at the moment he's only owned in three percent of Yahoo! leagues.

Check this kid's recent minor league stats and tell me you're not interested...

If you didn't draft Goldschmidt, you can't say it's because Brad failed to hype him (US Presswire-Roto Arcade)

I'll issue a warning right here at the top, so there's no confusion: You will not find any actionable fantasy information in this blog post. None. Zero. Nada. Empty set. Nothing. If you're looking for news and advice, please visit Closing Time. Scott has you covered.

But what you will find here is home run porn, and who doesn't like that?

I'm just killing time on a Saturday morning, waiting for a 14-team dynasty draft to begin. One of my five keepers in this particular league is the dude featured above  — no, not Brad. The other guy: Paul Goldschmidt.