MLB Rankings: The Top 20 Starting Pitchers for 2025

My rankings refer to statistics and data available on Baseball Reference, Baseball Savant, and FanGraphs.

This might be my most ambitious set of rankings yet. There are so many great starting pitchers that I couldn’t limit myself to just ten, so I ranked the top twenty pitchers for this season. While striking out batters and limiting free passes are both important for projecting future performance, I value a pitcher’s resume, durability, and stuff as well.

20: Bryce Miller, Seattle Mariners

The best way to describe Miller is that he is a student of the game. When he made his debut in 2023, he relied heavily on his fastball, throwing it 58% of the time. In the following season, Miller introduced a splitter and changed his arsenal to feature this new pitch alongside a sinker, sweeper, and a curveball more frequently. These changes paid dividends as Miller had a 2.94 ERA and 0.98 WHIP through 180.1 innings in 2024. Now, Miller is adding a revamped cutter to his arsenal, providing him with a legit six-pitch arsenal. At just 26 years old, the future is incredibly bright for Miller.

19: Cristopher Sanchez, Philadelphia Phillies

Sanchez fits the archetype as a groundball pitcher whose primary goal is to induce weak contact. While he only wields three pitches, a sinker, changeup, and slider, he had a breakout season last year with a 3.32 ERA across 181.2 innings. While his 20.3% strikeout rate was underwhelming, Sanchez was among the league’s best with a 5.8% walk rate and 57.4% groundball rate. This helped him generate 4.7 fWAR, a top-ten mark among starting pitchers. He should continue to dominate in 2025, especially after he teased reporters about a new pitch for his arsenal (my guess would be a cutter).

18: Pablo Lopez, Minnesota Twins

Lopez was my AL Cy Young Award prediction last season, but it didn’t go as planned. While a 4.08 ERA, 25.6% strikeout rate, and 185.1 IP isn’t bad, it was a noticeably worse year from his 2023 season. It’s not too difficult to figure out why. Lopez couldn’t get nearly as much swing-and-miss on his two most-frequently used pitches, his fastball and sweeper. Lopez could benefit from making an adjustment, but he could also be due for much better luck in 2025. Lopez had a 3.65 FIP, and an even more impressive 3.46 SIERA last season. With his track record, peripherals, and stuff, Lopez is an easy pick to bounce back this season.

17: Seth Lugo, Kansas City Royals

Lugo is one of the most successful players to convert from reliever to starter. He finished second in American League Cy Young award voting after posting a 3.00 ERA through 206.2 IP last season. This workload is particularly impressive for a pitcher whose previous career-high was 146.1 IP. In fact, he was one of four pitchers to surpass 200 innings last season. His stuff won’t blow you away, but he throws nine different pitches! With such a deep repertoire, it keeps hitters off balance, especially since he doesn’t give up many free passes—he had a 5.7% walk rate last year. Yet, Lugo could benefit from generating more whiffs because he remains susceptible to hard contact. He is also one of the oldest pitchers on this list as he is entering his age-35 season.

16: Michael King, San Diego Padres

Another reliever that converted to a starter, King had a 2.95 ERA and 27.7% strikeout rate in 173.2 IP last season. It was impressive to see how he handled this workload after exceeding 100 innings only one time in his career. Despite having a 97 Stuff+, King’s stuff play a lot better because he has a deceptive crossbody delivery and strong tunneling ability. He also doesn’t heavily rely on just one pitch; he uses four pitches (fastball, sinker, changeup, and sweeper/slider) at roughly an equal amount to keep batters off balance. This was an extremely successful approach. Opposing batters struggled to make quality contact; they had an average exit velocity of 85.7 mph against him. Likely a free agent after this season, this will be a big year for King.

15: Dylan Cease, San Diego Padres

When you think of MLB pitchers with the best stuff, Cease should be one of the first to come to mind. He has some of the best swing-and-miss stuff with 111 Stuff+, a 29.4% strikeout rate, and a 14.7% swinging strike rate last season. He rode this stuff to a bounce back season with a 3.47 ERA and 1.07 WHIP across 189.1 innings. However, there are two issues that prevent Cease from ranking among the best: his command and limited repertoire. Despite setting a career-low walk rate at 8.5%, it was still below the league-average. Cease is also a two-pitch pitcher that throws his fastball or slider over 80% of the time. He is reportedly working on two new pitches: a sinker and changeup. The sinker was on display in his first Spring Training start against Cincinnati, and it offers promise as something with arm-side run.

14: Framber Valdez, Houston Astros

Among pitch-to-contact pitchers, Valdez is one of the best. He had the second-highest groundball rate among starting pitchers at 60.6% en route to a 2.91 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, and 176.1 IP. This was encouraging to see after his groundball rate declined and opposing barrel rate increased in the previous season. He is also a workhorse that can pitch deep into games. Since 2022, Valdez is tied with Logan Webb and Zack Wheeler for the most quality starts among starting pitchers. As long as he continues to perform, he will receive a big payday after the season as a free agent.

13: Blake Snell, Los Angeles Dodgers

One of the most surprising pieces of baseball trivia is that Blake Snell has the highest K/9 rate in MLB history. There’s no doubt that Snell is one of the best strikeout pitchers today, but it’s difficult to believe that he’s reached that level of excellence. Maybe it’s because of his style. He is not only prone to striking batters out; he also gives out lots of free passes. Since 2021, his 11.7% walk is the the second-highest among all starting pitchers (min. 200 IP). It can be incredibly frustrating, but Snell can get out of these jams with his swing-and-miss stuff. Last year his stuff was noticeably dominant as he set new career-highs with a 2.43 FIP and 34.7% strikeout rate. Now, it’ll be interesting to see how the Dodgers, an organization that excels in player development, get the most out of Snell.

12: Sandy Alcantara, Miami Marlins

Alcantara is back! He missed the entirety of 2024 after spraining his UCL in late 2023. While 2023 was a subpar season, especially for Alcantara’s standards, it’s likely that he wasn’t healthy for the majority of that year. We’ve seen what he is capable of when he is healthy. In 2022, Alcantara won the NL Cy Young award after pitching to a 2.28 ERA across 228.2 innings. He also had six complete games that year, which is tied for the most in a season during the last decade. Most encouragingly, Alcantara has already touched 100 mph in Spring Training, something he did only three times during the 2023 season. With no innings limit in place, Alcantara should be one of the league’s top workhorses and possibly the best available trade target at the trade deadline.

11: George Kirby, Seattle Mariners

If you don’t like it when a pitcher walks a batter, just watch George Kirby. Since 2023, he has walked just 2.7% of the batters he’s faced, the best mark among active starting pitchers (min. 100 IP). In fact, he is the only pitcher since 1947 to have a walk rate below 4% through the first three seasons of his career. He has elite command with five pitches to pound the strike zone and keep hitters off balance. Admittedly, he did give up the most hits among American League pitchers last season, but it’s difficult for opposing teams to cash in when runners are rarely on base. He also still had an impressive 3.53 ERA across 191 innings. Unfortunately, Kirby will miss the very start of this season as he recovers from shoulder information, but he should be back within the first month.

10: Cole Ragans, Kansas City Royals

When the Royals acquired Ragans from Texas, they couldn’t have expected him to reach this level. Prior to joining Kansas City, Ragans had a 5.32 ERA and 64.1 IP in and two Tommy John surgeries in his career. Since then, he’s been the bonified ace of the Royals’ rotation with a 3.00 ERA, 29.8% strikeout rate, and 258 IP. His underlying metrics are just as impressive. He had the fourth-best FIP among qualified starters last season. Along with that, he led all qualified American League starters with 10.8 K/9. Most impressively, Ragans was able to maintain his dominance despite his fastball velocity losing as much as 2 mph from where it was at the start of the year. It will be interesting to see if teams begin to adjust against him after his first full season as a starter.

9: Logan Gilbert, Seattle Mariners

When you’re the ace for the league’s best rotation, that’s quite the feat. Gilbert led all starters with 208.2 IP and a 0.89 WHIP en route to a 3.23 ERA. This was his best season through a three-year stretch in which he has a combined 3.38 ERA and 585 innings, making him one of four pitchers to have an ERA below 3.40 and over 550 IP from 2022-2024. One of his biggest improvements from last season compared was that he struck out more batters and set a new career-high with a 27.4% strikeout rate. This was likely the result of him throwing significantly less four-seam fastballs and adding a cutter to his arsenal. His best pitch, a splitter with 122 Stuff+, also had a significantly higher whiff rate than the prior year. All in all, Gilbert is one of the league’s best pitchers because of his ability to handle a high workload and miss bats.

8: Jacob deGrom, Texas Rangers

deGrom is another pitcher slated to return after missing nearly all of 2024 due to Tommy John surgery. He did make a few starts at the end of last season and looked very impressive. In 10.2 innings, he had a 1.69 ERA and struck out 31.8% of batters. Yet, there’s no doubt that deGrom can dominate when he’s healthy. The big question is whether or not he can stay healthy. He hasn’t pitched more than 95 innings since 2019. Still, a player with deGrom’s talents is tantalizing. He is the only player alongside Pedro Martinez to ever have a season with over 200 IP, an ERA below 2.00, and a strikeout rate above 30%. His stuff is electric with a fastball that can touch 100 mph, a slider over 90 mph, and the third-highest career swinging strike rate among active starters at 14.8%. With a new elbow, this could be deGrom’s best chance to stay healthy.

7: Chris Sale, Atlanta Braves

The Braves made a bold move when they traded for Sale and immediately signed him to a contract extension. He had struggled to stay healthy since 2020. Yet, it paid off as Sale had his best season since 2018, earned the NL Triple Crown, and won his first ever Cy Young award. He led all qualified pitchers with 6.4 fWAR, a 174 ERA+, and a 32.1% strikeout rate. He definitely benefitted from leaving Fenway Park as his home run rate dropped from 1.3 home runs per nine innings (HR/9) in 2023 to a league-leading 0.5 HR/9 in 2024. There’s no doubt that Sale could very easily dominate once again, but his health remains a concern. He missed his final start and the postseason due to back spasms, and he will be 36 this season.

6: Garrett Crochet, Boston Red Sox

After a lengthy injury history and surprising move from the bullpen to starting rotation, Crochet was dominant even on an innings limit last season. Don’t let his 3.58 ERA and 6-12 record fool you. Crochet was the best among all starting pitchers (min. 100 IP) with a 35.1% strikeout rate, 29.6% K-BB%, and 2.53 SIERA. He also had the second-highest swinging strike rate at 16.2%—only trailing Blake Snell at 16.3%. He had the highest Stuff+ of any starting pitcher last season, and now that he is ready for a full season with no restrictions, the sky is the limit. The Red Sox got a great pitcher and hopefully they extend him before his deadline on Opening Day.

5: Logan Webb, San Francisco Giants

Webb is the polar opposite of Crochet, Sale, and deGrom. He doesn’t generate many whiffs, and his fastball sat at merely 92.6 mph last season. Yet, he’s been one of the best pitchers because of two things: his durability and groundball rate. He’s led the National League in innings for each of the last two seasons, and he has the most IP among all pitchers since 2022. If he surpasses 200 innings this season, he’d be the first pitcher of the 2020’s to have three straight seasons doing so—Justin Verlander was the last one to do it in a span from 2017-2019. As for groundballs, Webb had the seventh-highest groundball rate among starting pitchers last season at 56.8%. This was a step back from the prior season, but as Framber Valdez demonstrated, Webb could easily return to form and exceed 60% like he did in 2023 and 2021. His style may be a throwback, but he deserves respect as one of the top pitchers today.

4: Corbin Burnes, Arizona Diamondbacks

Burnes was the top starting pitcher available on the open market during this offseason. He ended up getting a six-year contract worth $210 million with Arizona. While his strikeout rate has steadily declined, Burnes’ durability has been a real strength since 2021. His 757 IP is the fourth-most among starting pitchers during this time frame. There are also reasons to believe that Burnes can return to his 2021-2022 form, a time in which he was striking out 32.8% of opposing batters. He still has some of the best stuff in the sport with 112 Stuff+, and his 12.9% swinging strike rate was among the top twenty-five starting pitchers last year. I have some faith that he can rediscover this form, but if he doesn’t, then he might fall a few spots in next year’s edition of the rankings.

3: Zack Wheeler, Philadelphia Phillies

The Phillies’ decision to sign Wheeler in 2019 may go down as one of the greatest free agency deals of all time. Since joining Philadelphia, Wheeler has a 2.94 ERA and 1.03 WHIP across 829.1 innings. His playoff numbers are equally notable as he has been pivotal for multiple playoff runs with a 2.18 ERA through 70.1 innings. His postseason ERA is the second-lowest mark by a starting pitcher (min. 30 IP) in Phillies’ postseason history, only trailing Ranger Suarez—who has 33 less innings. 2024 was one of Wheeler’s best seasons as he had 200 innings and put up a 2.57 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, and struck out 28.5% of opposing batters. Even with Sale winning the Triple Crown, Wheeler had just as good of a case to win the NL Cy Young award because he had the best WHIP and H/9 among qualified National League starters. Hopefully, this award won’t elude Wheeler for much longer as he enters his age-35 season.

2: Paul Skenes, Pittsburgh Pirates

Since 1947, there have only been three rookie pitchers to have a season with an ERA below 2.00, a WHIP below 1.00, and over 100 IP. Skenes is one of them. His rookie year was electric not only because of his success, but because his stuff is some of the best in baseball. With a fastball that sits at nearly 99 mph and five other pitches to complement it, Skenes was already one of the most advanced pitchers as a 22-year old. For good measure, he is adding two more pitches to his arsenal: a two-seam fastball and a cutter. Why does he need two more pitches? I wish I could tell you. He was historically good last season, and the underlying metrics back it up. His 2.44 FIP, 26.8% K-BB%, and 33.1% strikeout rate were all top three among starting pitchers (min. 100 IP). It’s just the beginning for what will surely be a bright future.

1: Tarik Skubal, Detroit Tigers

The AL Cy Young award winner earns the top spot as the best pitcher in MLB. He’s been arguably the best pitcher since the second half of 2023. Since then, he leads all qualified pitchers with 9.1 fWAR, a 2.51 ERA, 2.35 FIP, 0.91 WHIP, 26.4% K-BB%, 2.75 xFIP, and 2.86 SIERA. That’s a lot of statistical categories, but it shouldn’t come to much of a surprise when you watch Skubal. He’s a hard-throwing left-hander that can rival even Garrett Crochet’s velocity, while also walking fewer batters, generating more groundballs, and handling a larger workload. He remains unpredictable with five different pitches that he can rely on. One of his pitches, a changeup, is so good that former Cy Young award winner Robbie Ray reached out to him in order to learn the grip. Until dethroned, Skubal is the top pitcher heading into 2025.