Another week is in the books, leading to this weeks Top 100 Dynasty Starting Pitchers for 2026.
Last week we examined the top 50 relievers, and if you missed that post, the link can be found at the bottom of this post. But let’s not look backward. Instead, let’s look toward next year and who I think the top starters are.
Here is a quick snapshot of the age breakdown of starting pitchers:
- 35+: 9
- 30-34: 28
- 25-29: 48
- 20-24: 15
As you can see, I have a wide range of ages when it comes to the rankings, but I skew heavily to pitchers young than 30 as those who are between the ages of 20-29 make up 63% of the players ranked.
While I am often conservative when it comes to the really young starters, that is reserved mostly for those under the age of 25. Yet I firmly believe in a few of those really young hurlers and they are ranked accordingly high.
So let’s get on with the Top 100 Dynasty Starting Pitchers for 2026.
Just Missing The Cut
When you have a list, someone is going to just miss out. The following pitchers just missed my final cut:
- Corbin Burnes
- AJ Smith-Shawver
- Clay Holmes
- Payton Tolle
Burns and Smith-Shawver would have easily made the list if not for the fact that they could miss a big chunk of the 2026 season. Burnes was in my Top 10 last year and was having another solid season before undergoing Tommy John surgery in July. Reports say he expects to start throwing by the end of November or early July with the goal of returning by July 2026. Smith-Shawver is in the same boat as Burnes as he is recovering from TJ surgery as well with a possible return in June.
Burnes will be 33 on Opening day and Smith-Shawver will be 23. If you don’t mind stashing either one on the IR, then by all means go after one or both. Burnes would be in my Top 30 and Smith-Shawver in my Top 50 if they were not injured.
One player who is also injured but not shown here is Gerrit Cole. That is because I actually ranked him as I think he has a much better chance of returning early in the season as he had his surgery before the 2025 season even started. With him getting close to a full year of time in, you kind find out where I ranked him by continuing to read on.
Holmes is a solid pitcher, but he’s just that – solid. He strikes out just over seven batters per nine, which is below the MLB average, and he walks nearly four batters per nine, above the MLB average. He’s not horrible and is a great depth pitcher, but lands just outside the Top 100.
Tolle got a taste of the majors this past season, making three starts and appearing in seven games overall. He showed his ability to strike out opposing hitters with 19 strikeouts in 16.1 innings of work, but he also walked eight hitters and had a 6.06 ERA. His time will come in Boston, but I think he spends more time in the minors than the majors in 2026 and right now falls just short of the Top 100.
TIER 9
*Age as of April 1, 2025
| RANK | PLAYER | 2025 TEAM | AGE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | Matthew Liberatore | STL | 26 |
| 99 | Trevor Rogers | BAL | 28 |
| 98 | Hurston Waldrep | ATL | 24 |
| 97 | Lucas Giolito | BOS | 31 |
| 96 | Clarke Schmidt | NYY | 30 |
| 95 | David Peterson | NYM | 30 |
| 94 | Matthew Boyd | CHC | 35 |
| 93 | Jose Berrios | TOR | 31 |
| 92 | Cristian Javier | HOU | 29 |
| 91 | Luis Morales | ATH | 23 |
| 90 | Joey Cantillo | CLE | 26 |
| 89 | Reese Olson | DET | 26 |
| 88 | Shane Smith | CHW | 25 |
| 87 | Noah Cameron | KC | 26 |
| 86 | Ryan Weathers | MIA | 26 |
The Ones To Watch
Of the 15 pitchers in this group, those who I ranked from 86th – 90th I believe can greatly outperform their current ranking.
Joey Cantillo pitched out of the pen and as a starter this year for Cleveland, and no matter the role he has been successful. As a starter Cantillo had a 2.96 ERA this year, allowed only 53 hits in 67 innings and had a 9.7 K/9 ratio. In 21 career MLB starts, he has a 3.72 ERA and 1.26 WHIP with a 10.0 K/9 ratio – solid numbers. I think going forward his role is as a starter, and that is why he is ranked here and not in last week’s reliever rankings.
Reese Olson doesn’t overwhelm hitters, but he has a career ERA of 3.60 and ERA+ of 117 while walking just under three batters per nine. In 13 starts this season he had a 3.15 ERA and a 132 ERA+ with a 1.209 WHIP. I think he is coming into his own and should only improve on those numbers.
The Rookies
Shane Smith and Noah Cameron are two under-the-radar guys thanks mostly to the team or market they play in. Smith had a nice rookie year with the White Sox. In 29 starts he had a 3.81 ERA and 1.196 WHIP while falling just shy of a strikeout per inning. Over his final 11 starts, he had a 3.17 ERA, 1.039 WHIP and a 9.7 K/9 rate, an improvement from his first half numbers of 4.26, 1.304, 8.4 over 18 starts.
Cameron was another rookie who had a good season, finishing with a 2.99 ERA and 1.099 WHIP. He is not a strikeout pitcher (7.4/9), but he limits the walks and hits. He was a little up and down this past year, but I like his upside.
The “Veteran”
Ryan Weathers has pitched in the majors since 2021, making a total of 70 appearances with 55 starts. Yet he turns only 26 in December. When on the mound, Weathers is a solid pitcher. The problem is he is not always available to take the ball. Injuries over the years have held him back. The most innings he has thrown in a season is 94.2 during his rookie year in 2021.
If he can remain healthy, I think he is primed to make a jump in these rankings.
TIER 8
| RANK | PLAYER | 2025 TEAM | AGE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 85 | Zebby Matthews | MIN | 25 |
| 84 | Chris Bassitt | TOR | 37 |
| 83 | Drew Rasmussen | TB | 30 |
| 82 | Braxton Ashcraft | PIT | 26 |
| 81 | Tyler Mahle | TEX | 31 |
| 80 | Parker Messick | CLE | 24 |
| 79 | Luis Gil | NYY | 27 |
| 78 | Sandy Alcantara | MIA | 30 |
| 77 | Brayan Bello | BOS | 26 |
| 76 | Yusei Kikuchi | LAA | 34 |
| 75 | Jacob deGrom | TEX | 37 |
| 74 | Quinn Priester | MIL | 25 |
| 73 | Jacob Lopez | ATH | 28 |
| 72 | Tylor Megill | NYM | 30 |
| 71 | Michael Wacha | KC | 34 |
A Youngster Who Can Rise Quickly
Zebby Matthews did not have a great showing with the Twins this season as he had a 5.56 ERA and 1.487 WHIP. Those numbers came after his nine-game debut in 2024 in which he had a 6.69 ERA and 1.646 WHIP. So how does a pitcher with those numbers come in at #85 on this list? Well, his underlying numbers aren’t horrible. In his 25 career starts he has a 10.1 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9 ratio. While his ERA was through the roof, his FIP 3.79. Matthews’ problem is a career H/9 rate of 11.2. If he can get that under control, he has tremendous upside.
The Question Marks
Luis Gil won the 2024 AL Rookie of the Year award after going 15-7 with a 3.50 ERA, 1.193 WHIP and a K/9 rate of 10.1. Injuries hampered Gil this season as he made only 11 starts, but he wasn’t outstanding in those starts. Yes, the ERA was nice at 3.32, but his WHIP jumped to 1.404 and his K/9 rate plummeted to 6.5. But what has kept me from jumping on the Gil bandwagon is a career walk rate of 4.9/9. I’m just not a fan of his underlying numbers.
It was just a few ago (2022) that Sandy Alcantara won the NL Cy Young Award. But since then he has not come close to matching that season. He had a 4.14 ERA and 1.213 WHIP in 2023, missed all of 2024 thanks to Tommy John surgery, and then posted a 5.36 ERA and 1.271 WHIP this year. Alcantara has never been a huge strikeout pitcher as his career best K/9 rate was 8.8 in 2021. But in 2023 it was 7.4 and this year it was 7.3.
The good news is he was healthy, making 33 starts and throwing 174.2 innings. So there is hope for Alcantara to return to his 2021-2022 seasons. But I’m not sold on that.
TIER 7
| RANK | PLAYER | 2025 TEAM | AGE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 70 | Sonny Gray | STL | 36 |
| 69 | Robbie Ray | SF | 34 |
| 68 | Ryne Nelson | ARI | 28 |
| 67 | Ryan Pepiot | TB | 28 |
| 66 | Bubba Chandler | PIT | 23 |
| 65 | Brady Singer | CIN | 29 |
| 64 | Jonah Tong | NYM | 22 |
| 63 | AJ Blubaugh | HOU | 24 |
| 62 | Connelly Early | BOS | 23 |
| 61 | Trey Yesavage | TOR | 22 |
So Many Young Guns
If you are building your team around former Top 100 prospects, then Bubba Chandler should be moved up these rankings. But based on what he is doing right now, I am going the conservative route. Age is a factor, as he has always been young for the level he has pitched on. But his career minor league numbers are a 3.73 ERA and 1.293 WHIP with rates of 4.2 BB/9 and 11.1 K/9. In seven games (four starts) with the Pirates, he was 4-1 with a 4.02 ERA.
AJ Blubaugh has never been a Top 100 prospect, but he had a great debut with the Astros this season, going 3-1 with a 1.69 ERA and 0.875 WHIP in 11 games and three starts. In September he had a 0.00 ERA with a 0.778 ERA and a 9.5 K/9 rate in 18 innings of work .
I wrote about Blubaugh as an up-and-coming dynasty pitcher, and this is what I said about him then: “Does he have the ability to be a starter, or is he destined to be a reliever? His past history of walks, thanks to an inconsistent release point, is why some believe he is destined for the bullpen and will likely be a solid long reliever. However, watching him pitch, he definitely has the pitches and ability to be a starter and will be given every chance to land a spot in the rotation.”
Trey Yesavage has quickly made a name for himself. In three regular season starts with the Blue Jays this year, he had a 3.21 ERA and a 10.3 K/9 rate. In his first-ever postseason start, he dominated the Yankees to the tune of 11 strikeouts and one walk allowed in 5.1 innings of work. That outing is what has fantasy players drooling about Yesavage. But he also has issues with command as had a 4.5 BB/9 rate in his three regular season starts and a 3.8 BB/9 rate in the minors.
Chandler, Blubaugh, Yesavage, as well as Jonah Tong and Connelly Early, can all be ranked higher. But when it comes to most rookie pitchers, I take a conservative approach, thus why they are ranked here. But in established dynasty leagues, a lot of the pitchers ranked below will not be available, making the pitchers I just mentioned top targets to go after.
TIER 6
| RANK | PLAYER | 2025 TEAM | AGE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60 | Casey Mize | DET | 28 |
| 59 | Jack Flaherty | DET | 30 |
| 58 | Gerrit Cole | NYY | 35 |
| 57 | Nathan Eovaldi | TEX | 36 |
| 56 | Jose Soriano | LAA | 27 |
| 55 | Mitch Keller | PIT | 29 |
| 54 | Gavin Williams | CLE | 26 |
| 53 | Will Warren | NYY | 26 |
| 52 | Cade Horton | CHC | 24 |
| 51 | Chad Patrick | MIL | 27 |
Can Cole Rebound?
If Gerritt Cole was 25 and coming off Tommy John surgery, he would be ranked higher than 58th. But Cole will be 35 at the start of the 2026 season, and while not impossible, duplicating his past success at this age is not a bet I want to take. Cole won the Cy Young Award in 2023, but even during that season his K/9 rate fell to 9.6, his lowest total since his final season in Pittsburgh in 2017. In 2024 his K/9 rate fell even a little lower to 9.4 while his walk rate and hit rate increased. When he returns to the mound in 2026, I expect him to be closer to his 2024 form, in which he had a 3.41 ERA and 1.126 WHIP. Still good, but not Top 50 worthy.
Impressive Rookie Season
Due to having Tommy John surgery in college, Cade Horton threw only 53.2 inning for the Oklahoma Sooners before turning pro. Since signing with the Cubs, however, Horton has proven to be an advanced pitcher. He mixes his pitches well and keeps hitters off balance while throwing strikes above the MLB average leading to an above average Whiff%. He came in and solidified the Cubs’ starting rotation this season, probably to the point that a potential move to the back of the bullpen in the future is now out of the question.
TIER 5
| RANK | PLAYER | 2025 TEAM | AGE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50 | Luis Castillo | SEA | 33 |
| 49 | Kodai Senga | NYM | 33 |
| 48 | Logan Henderson | MIL | 24 |
| 47 | Emmet Sheehan | LAD | 26 |
| 46 | Nolan McLean | NYM | 24 |
| 45 | Cam Schlittler | NYY | 25 |
| 44 | Edward Cabrera | MIA | 27 |
| 43 | Kevin Gausman | TOR | 35 |
| 42 | Carlos Rodon | NYY | 33 |
| 41 | Nick Lodolo | CIN | 28 |
Warning Signs
Luis Castillo has been an outstanding pitcher during his career, an ace for both the Reds and Mariners. But the days of him anchoring the rotation are over. He is still a solid pitcher, but his numbers have trended in the wrong direction the past two years. After allowing only 7.3 H/9 in 2023 with a 10.0 K/9 rate, the H/9 has been at 8.1 and 8.4 the last two years and the K/9 has dropped to 9.0 and then 8.1 this season.
Injuries have not been kind to Kodai Senga the last two years. He was limited to one start in 2024 and this year he was limited to 113.1 innings due to injuries and then ineffectiveness. Overall, Senga had a solid season with a 3.02 ERA and an ERA+ of 133. But a lot of things went wrong when on the mound. His K/9 rate dropped to 8.7 per nine (career rate is 10.1) and his BB/9 was at 4.4. Despite battling for a playoff spot, the Mets shipped Senga to the minors at the end of August after he posted a 6.18 ERA and 1.627 WHIP that month, which came on the heels of a 5.25/1.833 month of July.
I don’t think he is done, but at 33 years old, I’m not as quick to believe he will rebound.
New York State of Mind
A two-way player when he was drafted by the Mets, Nolan McLean blossomed on the mound when he gave up hitting. He went from a pitcher with a 4.27 ERA and 1.208 WHIP with a 9.5 K/9 rate in 2024 to one who had a 2.45 ERA and 1.126 WHIP with a 10.1 K/9 rate this year in the minors. Mostly used in relief in college, the Mets have groomed McLean to be a starter, and with the wide array of pitches he uses, it was a smart move.
McLean can blow the ball past hitters if/when needed thanks to his fastball, but he is also showing the ability to be a great pitcher, using his sweeper and sinker to get easy outs on the ground. It is not often for a pitcher who has a strikeout rate above 10.0 to also be a pitcher who can induce so many ground balls.
While McLean was doing his thing at Shea Stadium, over in the Bronx Cam Schlittler was saving the Yankees rotation. He went 4-3 with a 2.96 ERA and 1.219 WHIP, 10.9 K/9 rate and 3.8 BB/9 rate.
But which version of Schlittler can we count on moving forward. In three June starts, he was 1-1 with a 4.91 ERA, 1.841 WHIP and a 9.2 K/9 rate. Six July starts produced a 1-1 record with a 1.60 ERA and 0.980 WHIP and 10.4 K/9 rate. In September he had a 3.65 ERA, 1.176 WHIP and 10.9 K/9 rate. What he did in September is more in line with his career minor league numbers. But even if he is more September than July, he would still be a solid pitcher to have on your staff.
TIER 4
| RANK | PLAYER | 2025 TEAM | AGE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 40 | Kris Bubic | KCR | 28 |
| 39 | Eury Perez | MIA | 22 |
| 38 | Shota Imanaga | CHC | 32 |
| 37 | Brandon Woodruff | MIL | 33 |
| 36 | Chase Burns | CIN | 23 |
| 35 | Jack Leiter | TEX | 25 |
| 34 | Michael King | SD | 30 |
| 33 | Andrew Abbott | CIN | 26 |
| 32 | MacKenzie Gore | WSN | 27 |
| 31 | Shane Bieber | TOR | 30 |
The Enigma
Eury Perez should be better than what his numbers show. His xERA this year was 3.27 (compared to actual ERA of 4.25) and his xBA was .211, ranking in the 81st and 88th percentile. Meanwhile, his fastball velo ranks in the 94th percentile and his K% is in the 91st percentile. Yet his Barrel% ranked in the 39th percentile and his Hard Hit% ranked in the 8th percentile. Perez has all the tools, but he doesn’t know how to use them.
If building a team from scratch and willing to risk a few swings and misses, Perez is a player to go after. But his inconsistency prevents me from making a leap of faith with him and has him landing in this tier.
My Picks to Click
I know what I say about young pitchers – I’m more often than not a little weary of them. But two pitchers I really like are Chase Burns and Jack Leiter and I expect them to have breakout seasons in 2026.
Burns appeared in 13 games, making eight starts, for the Reds and had a 4.57 ERA and 1.315 WHIP. But he also struck out 13.9 batters per nine, notching 67 strikeouts in 43.1 innings. Burns has always been able to strike out hitters. His K/9 rate in the minors is 12.1 during his career and in college his rate was 14.6. The second overall pick in the 2024 draft and a Top 30 prospect entering 2025, Burns has nothing to prove in the minors and I think will pair with Hunter Greene and Andrew Abbott to give the Reds a very strong rotation.
Like Burns, Leiter is also a former No. 2 overall pick, selected there by the Rangers in 2021. Leiter does not have the electric arm that Burns has, but he is coming off a solid year in which he had a 3.86 ERA. Over his final 13 starts, Leiter had a 3.28 ERA and 1.192 WHIP after posting an ERA and WHIP of 4.37 and 1.357 in his first 16 starts. Even more impressive was the K/9 rate increasing from 7.7 to 10.0 while his BB/9 rate fell from 4.3 to 3.6.
TIER 3
| RANK | PLAYER | 2025 TEAM | AGE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 | Jesus Luzardo | PHI | 28 |
| 29 | Dylan Cease | SDP | 30 |
| 28 | Spencer Strider | ATL | 27 |
| 27 | Blake Snell | LAD | 33 |
| 26 | Jacob Misiorowski | MIL | 23 |
| 25 | Ranger Suarez | PHI | 30 |
| 24 | Kyle Bradish | BAL | 29 |
| 23 | Pablo Lopez | MIN | 30 |
| 22 | Max Fried | NYY | 32 |
| 21 | Chris Sale | ATL | 37 |
An Experienced Group
Half of the players in this group are 30 or older entering next season, but that doesn’t mean they should be avoided. In fact, when it comes to starting pitchers, I don’t mind going after those in their early 30s.
Any pitcher at any time can blow out their elbow, and that is the overriding concern when it comes to pitchers and their future. So I throw out the possibility of arm trouble and look at what they are going to give me over the next three years. For pitchers like Dylan Cease, Blake Snell, Ranger Suarez, Pablo Lopez, Max Fried and Chris Sale, I expect them to perform at their current levels over that time span. And their current levels are pretty good.
Suarez may be a bit of a surprise for some of you, but there is something to be said about knowing what you are going to get. You are going to get just over eight strikeouts per nine from Suarez with a 3.20-3.35 ERA and 1.25 WHIP. He has a career ERA+ of 125 and it has been at 109, 103, 121, 137 the past four years, with an upward trend. He’s not fancy, but he is consistent and dependable.
I talk about consistent and dependable because there are pitchers like Max Fried. At the end of the year, you are going to get great numbers from here, which is why I ranked him where he is. But while the end result is great, the road to get there is full of peaks and valleys. This past year he had ERAs of 1.19, 2.65 and 1.91 In the months of April, May and June. Then he posted ERAs of 5.54 and 5.14 in June and July only to rebound with a 1.89 ERA in September.
He had a similar pattern in 2024 – Blah April, great in May and June, back to blah or worse in July and August, great September. When you are trying to win every week, having a a player as up-and-down as Fried can be maddening. But when he is on, he is fantastic and that’s why you want him.
Sale is old – at least when it comes to baseball. But since joining the Braves, he has been outstanding by winning the Cy Young Award in 2024 and following that with a 2.58 ERA and 1.066 WHIP this year with an 11.8 K/9 rate. He may not be a long-term mainstay in your rotation at this point, but there is nothing wrong with having him for a year and then see where things stand.
Props To The Young Stud
If you have been reading my columns over the past two years, then you know I am not one to jump onto the young pitcher who is the flavor of the month. But when it comes to Jacob Misiorowski, I am fully on the bandwagon.
Like most young pitchers, Misiorowski had his ups and downs as a rookie this year with the Brewers as he finished with a 4.36 ERA and 1.242 WHIP thanks in large part to a 4.2 BB/9 rate. But he also had an 11.9 K/9 rate and 7.0 H/9 rate and a 3.62 FIP. His xERA ranked in the 79th percentile, his xBA the 91st percentile and his fastball velo ranked in the 99th percentile. He produced a Whiff% of 29.7, ranking in the 80th percentile and his 32.0 K% ranked in the 93rd percentile.
Once Misiorowski learns to command all of his pitches, he is going to be a nightmare for opposing hitters.
My Personal Favorite
Any time you are doing rankings, your bias will come into play somewhere. There are certain players you just don’t like and there are certain players you likely value more than others. Kyle Bradish is the player I know I value more than others.
Injuries have curtailed his last two seasons, and that likely knocks his value in the eyes of others. But since I think every single pitcher will get hurt at some point, I look at just his results. And those results are really good. Bradish finished fourth in the Cy Young voting in 2023 and, after missing April with arm issues, was off to a great start in 2024 as he had a 2.75 ERA and 12.1 K/9 rate in eight starts before getting sidelined again from mid-June through the rest of the season.
He was unable to pitch for most of this past year as well but was able to return in September. In his six starts he put up career-best numbers in ERA (2.53), WHIP (1.031) and K/9 (13.2). Will he duplicate those numbers in 2026? Maybe not quite as good, but I certainly expect him to match what he did in 2023.
TIER 2
| RANK | PLAYER | 2025 TEAM | AGE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | Nick Pivetta | SDP | 33 |
| 19 | Framber Valdez | HOU | 32 |
| 18 | Spencer Schwellenbach | ATL | 25 |
| 17 | George Kirby | SEA | 28 |
| 16 | Tyler Glasnow | LAD | 32 |
| 15 | Logan Webb | SF | 29 |
| 14 | Joe Ryan | MIN | 29 |
| 13 | Cole Ragans | KC | 28 |
| 12 | Zack Wheeler | PHI | 35 |
| 11 | Bryan Woo | SEA | 26 |
The Third Ace
Every manager in baseball would love to have the Seattle Mariners pitching staff. Why? Because a pitcher like George Kirby is ranked 17th overall yet still has two teammates ranked ahead of him. Kirby did not have his best season this year when it came to his 4.21 ERA which is much higher than his career ERA of 3.58. And his 2.1 BB/9 rate, which is outstanding for most starting pitchers, was also a career high. But he also posted a career best 9.8 K/9 rate and his 3.37 FIP is in line with his career average.
Aging Like Fine Wine
The older Zach Wheeler gets, the better he is on the mound. The Phillies veteran will be 35 on Opening Day next season, but you would be foolish to not want him on your staff. Let’s just look at the numbers since he joined Philadelphia in 2020:
- ERA: 2.91 – WHIP: 1.016 – K/9: 10.1 – BB/9: 2.0 – FIP: 2.96 – ERA+: 146
Those are outstanding numbers, and they are pretty much the same year after year. I will contradict myself a bit here but saying this: the only reason he is ranked in this tier and not in the Top 10 is because he is 35. I am not afraid of his age, but at the same time I am taking a cautious approach with where I rank him because I would gladly have him next year and then reevaluate each and every season from there.
The Second-Best Mariner
When it comes to Bryan Woo, I know the knock on him is that he does not strike out a lot of people. His career K/9 rate is 8.9. But in two of his three seasons in Seattle, Woo has posted a K/9 rate of 9.5. So I think he is closer to that pitcher than the 7.5 rate he had in 2024. Woo also allows less than a hit per inning and less than two walks for nine innings. Over the past two years he has posted WHIPS of 0.898 and 0.927 and ERAs of 2.89 and 2.94. I will happily build a staff around a pitcher like Woo.
TIER 1
| RANK | PLAYER | 2025 TEAM | AGE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | Cristopher Sanchez | PHI | 29 |
| 9 | Freddy Peralta | MIL | 29 |
| 8 | Hunter Greene | CIN | 26 |
| 7 | Logan Gilbert | SEA | 28 |
| 6 | Hunter Brown | HOU | 27 |
| 5 | Yoshinobu Yamamoto | LAD | 27 |
| 4 | Garrett Crochet | BOS | 26 |
| 3 | Shohei Ohtani | LAD | 31 |
| 2 | Tarik Skubal | DET | 29 |
| 1 | Paul Skenes | PIT | 23 |
Too Good To Ignore
Christopher Sanchez may surprise some people by being ranked in the Top 10, but I firmly believe he belongs here.
Sanchez is very much like Woo – a pitcher who has grown into an ace but doesn’t have the dominant numbers of other starters. Entering his prime, he had a 9.4 K/9 rate this season, continues not to walk a lot of hitters and limits the hits allowed. His ERA was a career-best 2.50 and his ERA+ the last three years have been 125, 126 and 176.
True Aces
The pitchers ranked from 8th to 3rd are all true aces on their teams, and if you don’t want to build a staff around Freddy Peralta, Logan Gilbert, Hunter Brown, Yoshinobu Yamamoto or Garrett Crochet, then I don’t know what to tell you.
All six starters averaged 10.0 or more strikeouts per nine innings. Five of the six starters had BB/9 rates below 3.00, with Peralta being the exception at 3.4 BB/9. Five of the six starters had ERAs below 3.00 except for Gilbert, who had a 3.44 ERA. But all six starters do a great job of limiting baserunners as the pitcher with the worst WHIP was Peralta at 1.075.
Crochet won’t win the Cy Young due to the pitcher I ranked second, but after establishing himself as a legit starter in 2024 with the White Sox, he took his game to a new level in 2025 by going 18-5 with a 2.59 ERA and 1.028 WHIP while posting an 11.2 K/9 rate to go with a 2.0 BB/9 rate. He made 32 starts and threw 205.1 innings while having and ERA+ of 159.
The Unicorn Returns
When it comes to Shohei Ohtana, there are no more superlatives that can be used. So I will stick with the fact that he is once-in-a-lifetime talent.
We all know why he didn’t pitch in 2024, so all that allowed him to do was concentrate on being a hitter and produce video game numbers. Ohtani was able to return to the mound this year, and while the Dodgers protected him by limiting his innings, in his 47 innings of work over 14 starts he had a 2.87 ERA, 1.043 WHIP with a 1.7 BB/9 rate and 11.9 K/9 rate. The restraints on Ohtani should be lifted in 2026.
Skubal or Skenes, Skenes or Skubal
I made a list, so someone had to be ranked second and someone had to be ranked first. I ranked Tarik Skubal second, but he is a great consolation prize. The lefty led the American League in ERA, again, at 2.21. He had an 11.1 K/9 rate and a 1.5 BB/9 rate. In 195.1 innings, he posted an AL-best 187 ERA+ and had a WHIP of 0.891. Those are pretty impressive numbers, and he is an impressive pitcher. But he is just not as impressive as Paul Skenes.
If Skenes played for a real baseball team and not the Pirates, he would have won 25 games this season. This is what Skenes did this season – 1.97 ERA, 0.948 WHIP, 10.4 K/9 and 2.0 BB/9 rate. He had an absurd 217 ERA+. In his first two MLB seasons, Skenes has a 1.96 ERA and 0.948 WHIP in 55 starts and 320.2 innings of work. Just amazing.
One year after winning the Rookie of the Year award and finishing third in the NL Cy Young voting, he was even better this year as he will win the Cy Young.
Thank You
Thanks for reading and come back next week for the Top 50 catchers. If you missed a previous post, just click a link below:
Top 100 Dynasty Relievers for 2026 Fantasy Baseball
