Top 10 Starting Pitchers in MLB
Part of our new weekly series ranking the best in baseball at every position. This week we feature the 10 Best Starting Pitchers.
Ranking the top starting pitchers in MLB in 2025 isn’t easy. Some aces are returning from serious injuries. Others are coming off down years. Then there’s the debate between pure dominance in short bursts vs. reliable volume over a full season – not to mention balancing past performance against breakout potential.
Just look at the names who didn’t make this list: Gerrit Cole, Spencer Strider, and Jacob deGrom – all off due to injuries either current or lingering. These rankings are based on both past production and projected performance going forward, factoring in health, role, stuff, and recent trends.
With that, here are the top 10 starting pitchers in baseball entering the 2025 season:
1. Tarik Skubal – Detroit Tigers
Coming off a Triple Crown and AL Cy Young season in 2024, Skubal is unquestionably the best pitcher in baseball right now. He’s projected to lead MLB in both ERA and fWAR, and his strikeout-to-walk ratio trails only Strider and deGrom.
Since returning from injury midway through 2023, the Tigers’ ace has posted a 2.51 ERA and a 6.73 K/BB ratio. He enters 2025 as the Cy Young favorite and has a real shot to become the first back-to-back winner since Pedro Martínez.
2. Zack Wheeler – Philadelphia Phillies
Since 2020, Wheeler has thrown the third-most innings in MLB and compiled 3.5 more fWAR than any other pitcher. He’s had two Cy Young runner-up finishes and owns a 141 ERA+ over that stretch.
ZiPS projects him just 13th in ERA this season, but with his combination of durability and elite run prevention, Wheeler remains a top-three guy.
3. Garrett Crochet – Boston Red Sox
Crochet had a breakout season in 2024, finishing with a 35.1% strikeout rate and a 2.85 xERA. He was in the Cy Young mix and might have made it interesting if he’d maintained his first-half form all year.
Now in Boston after escaping the disaster that is the White Sox, Crochet is set up for a monster 2025. Only Skubal is projected for a lower ERA. There’s legitimate Cy Young-winning upside here.
4. Logan Gilbert – Seattle Mariners
Gilbert led all pitchers in innings in 2024 and ranks fourth since 2022. He paired that volume with a sparkling 0.887 WHIP and earned a sixth-place Cy Young finish.
His 107 location+ backs up the effectiveness of his stuff, and at 6’6″, his extension makes everything play up. Gilbert might not have the flash of others on this list, but he’s becoming one of the most reliable frontline arms in baseball.
5. Corbin Burnes – Baltimore Orioles
Burnes has finished top-eight in Cy Young voting for five straight years, winning the award in 2021. His strikeouts have dipped and his FIP has ticked up to 3.68 over the past two seasons, but he’s still a workhorse with elite-level results.
He’s a safe bet for 180+ innings and an ERA+ around 125. His Cy Young peak might be behind him, but Burnes is still among the game’s best.
6. Logan Webb – San Francisco Giants
Only Aaron Nola has thrown more innings than Webb since 2021. While his 126 ERA+ isn’t eye-popping, Webb owns a 2.99 FIP over that span and keeps piling up Cy Young votes.
He doesn’t have high velocity, but his low-90s sinker and elite changeup generate a ton of weak contact. Webb doesn’t go viral, but he wins games and eats innings — and that still matters.
7. Cole Ragans – Kansas City Royals
Ragans turned heads after being traded from Texas to Kansas City, leading the AL in strikeouts per nine in 2024 and finishing fourth in Cy Young voting.
His high-velo fastball and filthy secondaries (changeup and slider) give him legit ace-level stuff. Projection systems haven’t fully caught up yet, but if Ragans repeats his 2024, he won’t be this low next year.
8. Paul Skenes – Pittsburgh Pirates
Skenes’ rookie season was flat-out historic. He ranked second in Pitching+ and enters 2025 as the NL Cy Young favorite.
The only reason he’s not higher is the limited sample size as he has thrown just 133 innings so far. But if he stays healthy and keeps this up, Skenes could be #1 on this list by October.
9. Chris Sale – Atlanta Braves
Is it harsh to have the reigning NL Cy Young winner down at #9? Maybe. But Sale turns 36 this season, and it’s hard to expect a repeat of 2024, when he won the NL Triple Crown.
ZiPS projects him for the sixth-most fWAR, and his ERA projections are still elite. But this is a pitcher who averaged 75 innings per season from 2019 to 2023. If he stays healthy, he could outperform this ranking — but that’s a big “if.”
10. Blake Snell – Free Agent
Snell is one of the most polarizing pitchers in baseball. He’s won a Cy Young in both leagues and owns the highest career K/9 in MLB history. But he’s also wildly inconsistent and rarely goes deep into games.
After a slow start last year (partly due to extended free agency), Snell dominated in the second half with a 1.45 ERA and 13.6 K/9 after the All-Star break. He’s tough to rank — anywhere from No. 5 to No. 20 would be justifiable — but the upside lands him at #10 for now.
Think we nailed it? Think we’re out of our minds?
That’s the beauty of baseball – everyone’s got an opinion. We’ll be rolling out new Top 10 rankings regularly as we go position by position across the league. So check back often, follow along, and let us know where you agree, where you disagree, and which names you think deserve more love.
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