Top 20 Starters for 2025 Fantasy Baseball, A Recap

All the final 2025 fantasy baseball rankings for hitters are done. For those that skipped today’s title, this starts the top 20 starters for 2025 fantasy baseball. This is NOT for next year (caps for those who can’t read titles; supposedly it’s easier to read caps, I have my doubts). This is a recap. Will these affect next year’s rankings? Sure. Maybe. Maybe not. I don’t know. Not entirely. Yes, entirely. Like when you had a knee replacement, this is a recap! To recapitulate the recap, these rankings are from our Fantasy Baseball Player Rater. We’re (me’re) using it to fairly gauge our (my) preseason rankings. Anyway, here’s the top 20 starters for 2025 fantasy baseball and how they compared to where I originally ranked them:

1. Garrett Crochet – Told everyone to draft Crochet and I am very disappointed I didn’t get him anywhere. Unlike other ranking recaps, I see a guy ranked, say, 10th in the preseason and ending up at #1 and I see that as a great success for my overall draft strategy with starters. “They are unpredictable so don’t waste draft capital on them.” That’s the nuts and bolts of it. Think about the top hitters: Judge, Ohtani, Soto, Lindor, Jose Ramirez and Witt Jr. Any pattern there? Yes, they’re all drafted incredibly high. Now look at the starters (just top 10): Crochet, Woo, Rodon, Peralta, Fried, Sanchez, Brown and Yamamoto. Those are all guys you could’ve had in any draft. Skubal and Skenes were the only ones that needed a top 20 pick. As for Crochet, he threw 205 1/3 IP, so the numbers were gonna be eye-popping. Preseason Rank #10, 2025 Projections: 13-9/3.47/1.05/193 in 154 IP, Final Numbers: 18-5/2.59/1.03/255 in 205 1/3 IP

2. Tarik Skubal – One thing about top-end starters, the cream of the crop, the absolute best: They’re great or injured. There’s no “Ooh, shoot, I drafted them high and they were not good” with Skenes or Skubal. They are great. Injury risk is bigger for them than hitters; they don’t give you five categories like the best hitters, and one of their category (Wins) is almost completely out of their control (Skenes), but it feels like zero risk with them if they stay healthy. They will be good. That’s two guys though. Could say the same about Ohtani or Witt or Judge or, well, I just listed a bunch in the previous blurb. Oh, and Skubal was great. Preseason Rank #2, 2025 Projections: 17-5/2.51/0.94/237 in 202 IP, Final Numbers: 13-6/2.21/0.89/241 in 195 1/3 IP

3. Paul Skenes – I projected him for 17 wins. HA! Grey in the preseason, “Whoa, the Pirates signed Tommy Pham. They’re going to be so good now.” Preseason Grey had a lot more faith in the Pirates giving Skenes chances for wins, apparently. As I mentioned this year, Skenes is up there as one of the greatest starts to a career of all-time. He has 320 2/3 IP in his career with a 1.96 ERA. I’m sorry, that’s nuts. One small note that is odd, he’s stopped going for as many Ks. What I think happened? His agent said to him, “Stop trying so hard for Ks with the Pirates, and just make outs and you’ll get out of Pittsburgh with your elbow tendon.” Preseason Rank #1, 2025 Projections: 17-6/2.47/0.97/250 in 192 IP, Final Numbers: 10-10/1.97/0.95/216 in 187 2/3 IP

4. Bryan Woo – He went from 121 1/3 IP to 186 2/3 IP, which is troubling. I can be wrong on ERA, WHIP, and wins, but I shouldn’t be that far off on projected innings unless there’s a long history of injuries (deGrom) or, like Woo, he exceeded how many IP he should’ve thrown. Love Woo, but not sure why they let him go that many innings. It’s a bit concerning, and no wonder he ended the year with an injury (pectoral), and could barely go in the playoffs. Preseason Rank #25, 2025 Projections: 10-8/3.33/0.97/136 in 154 IP, Final Numbers: 15-7/2.94/0.93/198 in 186 2/3 IP

5. Carlos Rodon – Lot of back-patting in this recap, but I have a lot of back-patting to do, sorry. My preseason Rodon blurb said, “I was initially not in on him, but the more I looked at his stats, the more I liked him. He does give up a few too many homers, and that’s not going to get suddenly fixed in Yankee Stadium, but his command was way better last year, and maybe it took maturity for him to figure out how to pitch vs. just throw, but even that’s kinda unfair, because three of his last four years were 2.37 ERA, 2.88 ERA and 3.96 ERA. There’s one disasterclass year in there (6.85 ERA), but that was in 64 1/3 IP, and it feels silly to hold one year in higher regard than his other three. Haven’t been in on Rodon in some time, but bring him on.” And that’s me quoting me! Preseason Rank #33, 2025 Projections: 13-9/3.86/1.19/202 in 179 IP, Final Numbers: 18-9/3.09/1.05/203 in 195 1/3 IP

6. Freddy Peralta – Yet another guy I told everyone to draft. If you drafted the Wheeler, Gilbert, Burnes and Kirbys when I told you not to, and ignored me when I said draft Rodon, FreddyKBB, Hunter Brown and Woo’s, I don’t know what to tell you. Maybe you should do the opposite of what you think you should do. Preseason Rank #30, 2025 Projections: 12-9/3.61/1.15/207 in 177 IP, Final Numbers: 17-6/2.70/1.24/204 in 176 2/3 IP

7. Max Fried – Gonna be patting myself on the back a lot in this post and the top 40 starers, so it’s only fair I say with Fried: I loved him! I kid, I hated him and got him completely wrong. Apparently, he doesn’t need an elbow tendon to pitch. Preseason Rank #37, 2025 Projections: 13-9/3.49/1.11/154 in 158 IP, Final Numbers: 19-5/2.86/1.10/189 in 195 1/3 IP

8. Cristopher Sanchez – Yup, told you to draft him too. It’s no surprise a lot of my fantasy teams did so well in pitching. If it wasn’t for Yordan and Gunnar, I hate them so much still. I need to put it behind me. Preseason Rank #48, 2025 Projections: 12-8/3.41/1.21/161 in 183 IP, Final Numbers: 13-5/2.50/1.06/212 in 202 IP

9. Hunter Brown – As I said in the Crochet blurb, my preseason ranking vs. end of the year ranking means nothing for starters. It’s a trumph if they’re far away from each other. I told everyone to draft Brown at the 28th starter ranking and that was ahead of his ADP, so you should’ve had him everywhere. Preseason Rank #28, 2025 Projections: 13-9/3.55/1.24/184 in 172 IP, Final Numbers: 12-9/2.43/1.03/206 in 185 1/3 IP

10. Yoshinobu Yamamoto – Successfully drafted Yamamoto in a few leagues, and my success there is going to make it hard to not double or nothing with drafting Sasaki next year. The one thing stopping me there will likely being unsure if he’s a starter or a closer. Yamamoto follows a clear pattern with Japanese starters though: If they’re successful in Japan, they will be successful here. His last year in Japan: 9.3 K/9, 1.5 BB/9 and his time here: 10.5 K/9, 2.8 BB/9. It’s easier to strike out guys in MLB and they’re more likely to make you pay with homers, if they connect. Preseason Rank #13, 2025 Projections: 11-5/3.19/1.09/159 in 139 IP, Final Numbers: 12-8/2.49/0.99/201 in 173 2/3 IP

11. Nick Pivetta – What’s pertinent here: As I always say, draft a 2018 sleeper and every ten years they’ll pay off. If you followed that obscurely stupid advice, congrats on Byron Buxton, Trevor Story, Eovaldi and Pivetta. Preseason Rank #49, 2025 Projections: 10-8/4.03/1.14/177 in 141 IP, Final Numbers: 13-5/2.87/0.99/190 in 181 2/3 IP

12. Jacob deGrom – Unlike other positions, it’s not 100% clear from a preseason ranking of a pitcher if I was actually close. I ranked deGrom 16th and he finished 12th, so close? No, not at all. I told you to avoid deGrom, that was wrong. But it’s the kind of wrong I’m okay with. (“Type of wrong I’m okay with,” lol, nice hedge!) What I mean is I’m fine betting against guys who have one full season every 12 years. Preseason Rank #16, 2025 Projections: 5-3/2.41/0.91/124 in 89 IP, Final Numbers: 12-8/2.97/0.92/185 in 172 2/3 IP

13. Zack Wheeler – He was coasting to an easy top four starter overall year until he got hurt. He easily would’ve led the league in K/9 if he qualified, and there was a case that his peripherals were actually better than Skenes and Skubal before the injury. Now that he’s having thoracic outlet surgery? Well, hopefully he can return. Forget returning to this level. Preseason Rank #3, 2025 Projections: 16-7/2.59/0.98/221 in 198 IP, Final Numbers: 10-5/2.71/0.94/195 in 149 2/3 IP

14. Nathan Eovaldi – My preseason blurb, “Re-signed with the Rangers, and no one ever likes Eovaldi, except for me and the Rangers. About as lock down for solid stats that will never, ever, ever, ever having you say, “Damn, I’m glad I drafted Eovaldi.” He’s the stereotypical starter that you Ron Popeil into your fantasy lineup and never, ever, ever, ever think about again. He’s so boringly perfect I can’t even stretch out this blurb with my usual jibber-jabbering and I twice repeated “ever” three times.” And that’s me predicting Eovaldi again! Preseason Rank #45, 2025 Projections: 12-9/3.71/1.13/162 in 167 IP, Final Numbers: 11-3/1.73/0.85/129 in 130 IP

15. Joe Ryan – I was out on Ryan, but the War Room loved him, so, if you had him this year, thank the War Room. I usually indiscriminately trust the War Room too. “Well…?” the War Room says like Ted Knight in Caddyshack. I didn’t trust Joe Ryan! I’m sorry! I figured he’d be hurt by May, after his shoulder injury in August of 2024. Shows me: Make love to the War Room, not war to the War Room. Preseason Rank #39, 2025 Projections: 7-4/3.81/1.09/127 in 121 IP, Final Numbers: 13-10/3.42/1.04/194 in 171 IP

16. Logan Webb – He led the NL in strikeouts, which is underrated funny because Webb’s main attribute for the longest time was his ratio help but not necessarily his great Ks. Oh, and Webb had a 1.24 WHIP, which is the highest to this point in the top 20 starters (tied with FreddyKBB). Preseason Rank #23, 2025 Projections: 13-10/3.48/1.12/176 in 202 IP, Final Numbers: 15-11/3.22/1.24/224 in 207 IP

17. Matthew Boyd – This guy goes back to things I said in a few other blurbs. I wanted Boyd in every league, that I didn’t rank him higher doesn’t mean anything, and what I was saying with Woo: Why did I get Boyd’s IP so wrong? This one is easy, he threw 39 2/3 IP in 2024. I was pumped to get around 100 IP from Boyd this year, that he threw this many? Well, we had a good year and now it’s time we go our separate ways, Journey. Preseason Rank #72, 2025 Projections: 6-5/3.83/1.24/98 in 95 IP, Final Numbers: 14-8/3.21/1.09/154 in 179 2/3 IP

18. Jesus Luzardo – I loved rostering him, then hated him, then loved him, then loathe! Love! Hate! Love! Hate’s such a strong word, and it’s exactly what’s called for here…And now maybe I like him again. Mercurial, I think they call it. You know how much this means, so prepare your grain of salt: But if you took out two starts on May 31st and June 5th of 5 2/3 IP and 20 ER, he’d have an ERA of 3.03. Preseason Rank #63, 2025 Projections: 11-8/3.76/1.26/154 in 148 IP, Final Numbers: 15-7/3.92/1.22/216 in 183 2/3 IP

19. Kevin Gausman – Fair time to point out how much wins changes fantasy value — wins that are almost completely out of the pitcher’s control. Yanks and Jays had same number of regular season wins. If Gausman had Rodon’s wins, he would be up by Yamamoto. As for Gausman’s season, I was way off on him. I thought 2024 was the beginning of the end, but he bounced back instead. Not sure how I could’ve picked up on that better. In 2024, his velo was down, his pitches just weren’t breaking as well, and none of that seemed to matter in 2025. Preseason Rank #55, 2025 Projections:  12-9/3.79/1.24/157 in 171 IP, Final Numbers: 10-11/3.59/1.06/189 in 193 IP

20. Trevor Rogers – He had a 4.92 ERA in 2024 and a 5.47 ERA in 2022, his last previous year of 100+ IP. So, yeah, this year came kinda out of nowhere. He had a 81.7 Z-Contact%. The lowest five for Z-Contact (if Rogers qualified): Skubal, Dylan Cease, Skenes, Joe Ryan and Rogers. Not sure there’s a bigger sign a guy is killing hitters than lack of contact in the zone. Oh, I know! How about a guy who is in the zone a lot? Rogers paired that lack of contact in the zone with the 2nd highest Zone% after Mikolas. That’s as good as peripherals get. Preseason Unranked, Final Numbers: 9-3/1.81/0.90/103 in 109 2/3 IP