When the Detroit Tigers put two-time AL Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal on the market ahead of the trade deadline, it was widely expected he’d land with the Los Angeles Dodgers—and that’s exactly what happened.
The Dodgers are all in on winning their third consecutive World Series. And in the postseason, you can never have enough starting pitching. So, with their rotation hammered by injuries—Shohei Ohtani, Tyler Glasnow, and two-time Cy Young winner Blake Snell have all missed significant time this season—the Dodgers traded for the best player available.
Skubal is now part of a rotation featuring 2025 postseason hero Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Snell and Glasnow, who are finally healthy.
Casual fans might dig the long ball but real ballers know that starting pitching is the best part of Major League Baseball.
For a moment there, it appeared that starting pitching was being devalued. Teams were utilizing openers more and more often and not allowing even their best starters to go three times through a batting order. No more. There’s a renaissance at hand. There is more top-shelf starting pitching now than at any time since the early 2010s—back when Clayton Kershaw, Justin Verlander, and Max Scherzer were in their prime—and most of them are in their 20s. But one question remains: Who’s the best? We crunched the numbers and watched the games to get an answer.
These are the 15 Best Starting Pitchers in MLB, Right Now (Updated).
(All stats as of September 14.)
Blake Snell
Team: Los Angeles Dodgers
Age: 33
2026 Stats: 4-1 1.91 ERA, 37.1 IP, 51 K 16 BB, 1.088 WHIP
Last Ranking: –
With Shohei Ohtani still unable to pitch, Blake Snell has given the Dodgers rotation a boost. Snell has looked like an ace since returning from the Injured List in mid-August following elbow surgery in May. The two-time Cy Young Award winner has allowed just four runs in 32.2 innings in six starts. Best of all, he appears ready for the postseason. His four-seamer is sitting at 96 MPH and topping out at 98. and his 12-to-6 curve is baffling hitters once more. —Thomas Golianopoulos
Chase Burns
Team: Cincinnati Reds
Age: 23
2026 Stats: 15-3 2.80 ERA, 151.1 IP, 181 K, 54 BB, 1.15 WHIP
Last Ranking: 8
In his first full season in the big leagues, Burns is flashing the stuff that made him the second overall pick of the 2024 MLB Draft. Unlike almost everyone else on this list, Burns is a two-pitch pitcher. His four-seamer sits in the upper 90s, touches 100, and is almost impossible to hit when it’s up in the zone. He pairs it with a wipeout slider that has elite spin-rate and a 22-inch break. Unfortunately, he’s close to his innings limit and the Reds are lifting him early in his recent starts.—TG
Zack Wheeler
Team: Philadelphia Phillies
Age: 36
2026 Stats: 12-5, 3.14 ERA, 143.1 IP, 172 K, 45 BB, 1.074 WHIP
Last Ranking: 11
Fine Wine Wheeler is getting better with age. The 36-year-old made his MLB debut back in 2013 with the Mets but didn’t make the National League All-Star team until 2021. Wheeler then made the NL All-Star team again in 2024 and 2025. This season is shaping up to be Wheeler’s best yet. His top season when it comes to ERA came in 2024 when he finished with a 2.57 mark. over his last three starts, the 6-foot-4 righty has allowed three earned runs in 20 innings. —Matt Burke
Sonny Gray
Team: Boston Red Sox
Age: 36
2026 Stats: 17-5 2.76 ERA, 156.2 IP, 140 K, 42 BB, 1.168 WHIP
Last Ranking: 15
The veteran right-hander is enjoying a career renaassance in Boston following a trade from St. Louis over the winter. Gray is proof that you don’t need a heater like The Miz to hang zeros on the scoreboard. With a four-seamer that sits at 91-92, Gray relies on deceptive pitch tunneling, control, and variety to keep batters off balance. His out pitch is a sweeper that dives away from right-handers. —TG
Eduardo Rodriguez
Team: Arizona Diamondbacks
Age: 33
2026 Stats: 11-4, 2.70 ERA, 143.1 IP, 101 K, 47 BB, 1.23 WHIP
Last Ranking: 14
What a year it has been for Rodriguez. The Venezuelan lefty dazzled in the World Baseball Classic Final against the United States back in March, as he allowed zero earned runs while striking out four and walking one in 4.1 innings of work. That outing set the tone for his 2026 season with the Diamondbacks, as Rodriguez is enjoying the best season of his career. The veteran hurler is top ten in innings pitched and ERA. —MB
Nick Martinez
Team: Tampa Bay Rays
Age: 36
2026 Stats: 14-4 2.92 ERA, 166.1 IP, 98 K, 24 BB, 1.070 WHIP
Last Ranking: 13
Nick Martinez returned from a four-year sojourn in Japan a different pitcher. On a whim, he began using a rocking windup, equally mesmerizing as it is annoying. He also modified his change-up, going from a traditional circle change to a Vulcan grip. Now in his first season as a full-time starter, Martinez is having a career year. He’s in the top 15 in E.R.A. and made his first All-Star Team. —TG
Cristopher Sanchez
Team: Philadelphia Phillies
Age: 29
2026 Stats: 17-5 2.79 ERA 187.1 IP 210 K 42 BB 1.212 WHIP
Last Ranking: 7
Sanchez is one of the funnest starters to watch in the game. A 6-foot 6-inch southpaw, he relies on three pitches: a hard sinker that hits 96, a slider used to keep hitters off balance, and a dipping change-up, which is one of the most devastating pitches in the game. But Sanchez's real gift is his deception—his pitches look identical coming out of his hand, resulting in a top-notch swing-miss profile. —TG
Drew Rasmussen
Team: Tampa Bay Rays
Age: 31
2026 Stats: 14-5, 2.81 ERA, 160.1 IP, 160 K, 27 BB, .917 WHIP
Last Ranking: 10
Health issues were all that were standing in the way of Rasmussen becoming a top-shelf starter in MLB; since 2021, only Shohei Ohtani has posted a lower E.R.A. among starters with at least 500 innings pitched. Finally healthy, he made 31 starts pitched to a 2.75 ERA, and made an All-Star team in 2025. Rasmussen has been even better this season. Utilizing six pitches, including a hard, nasty cutter, Rasmussen is fourth in WHIP and has allowed just five earned runs in his last 26 innings pitched. —TG
Tarik Skubal
Team: Los Angeles Dodgers
Age: 29
2026 Stats: 9-7, 2.84 ERA, 139.2 IP, 164 K, 24 BB, 0.974 WHIP
Last Ranking: 6
Skubal made history last season as he became the first pitcher since Pedro Martinez in 1999/2000 to win back-to-back American League Cy Young awards. Making it three in a row will prove to be difficult for Skubal, as he missed over a month of this season due to an elbow injury—and then switched leagues at the trade deadline. Yes, Skubal is now a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Hayward, California native looked good with his new team, pitching to a 2.93 ERA in seven starts. —MB
Parker Messick
Team: Cleveland Guardians
Age: 25
2026 Stats: 11-9 2.51 ERA, 172.1 IP, 178 K, 47 BB, 1.033 WHIP
Last Ranking: 9
The second-year southpaw is in the top ten in ERA, innings pitched, and WHIP, and has pitched to a 2.10 ERA over his last five starts. How does he do it? With a four-seamer that tops out at 95, a tumbling change-up he uses as his out pitch, and an aggressive mindset that finds him attacking the strike zone like a pitcher with a much bigger arm would. —TG
Yoshinobu Yamamoto
Team: Los Angeles Dodgers
Age: 28
2026 Stats:13-8, 2.62 ERA, 171 IP, 172 K, 39 BB, 0.884 WHIP
Last Ranking: 5
The sky is the limit for the 2025 World Series MVP. Still just 28-years-old, Yamamoto is in his third season pitching for the Dodgers and this is poised to be his best MLB campaign yet. His 0.884 WHIP is the second best in MLB, behind only Milwaukee’s Jacob Misiorowki. Yamamoto’s top outing this season came on June 13, when he carried a no-hit bid into the ninth inning. The former Orix Buffaloes star (Nippon Professional Baseball) then pitched his first regular season complete game in MLB on July 19 against the Yankees. —MB
Dylan Cease
Team: Toronto Blue Jays
Age: 30
2026 Stats: 11-5, 2.38 ERA, 166.1 IP, 236 K, 72 BB, 1.06 WHIP
Last Ranking: 3
Cease has long been a K-machine in MLB as he has posted over 200 strikeouts per season, every year since 2021. In his first season with the Blue Jays, Cease’s four-seam fastball and slider are as nasty as ever. Cease is tied for the MLB lead in strikeouts and has nine games this season in which he’s struck out 10 or more batters. —MB
Chris Sale
Team: Atlanta Braves
Age: 37
2026 Stats: 14-9, 2.18 ERA, 157 IP, 190 K, 31 BB, 0.994 WHIP
Last Ranking: 4
It’s been an incredible journey back to elite status for the 37-year-old Sale, who has battled numerous injuries in his career. Sale pitched in just 11 games combined from 2022 to 2022 while a member of the Red Sox. At the time, it seemed like he may be on his way out of baseball. But the lanky lefty has had a career resurgence in Atlanta, winning the NL Cy Young award in 2024. Sale is right back in the Cy Young mix this season. An All-Star for the third straight season, Sale is top ten in ERA, strikeouts, and WHIP. —MB
Jacob Misiorowski
Team: Milwaukee Brewers
Age: 24
2026 Stats: 14-5, 1.95 ERA, 161.1 IP, 236 K, 41 BB, .800 WHIP
Last Ranking: 1
The Miz is the most unhittable pitcher in the game. A power pitcher through and through, the 6-foot 7-inch righty is a direct descendant of some of the sport’s greatest fireballers: The Big Train, The Ryan Express, and The Rocket. After a rookie season that included a (premature) All-Star berth after just five big league starts, Misiorowski is rewriting the record books and shattering radar guns in Year Two: he hit 105.5 MPH in a late June start against the Chicago Cubs. He is top two in MLB in E.R.A., strikeouts, WHIP, and a slew of advanced pitching metrics. But a recent terrible start against the Cubs left the door open for. . . —TG
Cam Schlittler
Team: New York Yankees
Age: 25
2026 Stats: 14-6, 1.95 ERA, 184.2 IP, 220 K, 44 BB, 0.90 WHIP
Last Ranking: 2
Yankees scouts hit a grand slam in the 2022 MLB Draft when New York selected Schlitter in the seventh round. The 6-foot-6 righty dominates batters with different variations of a high-90s fastball (four-seam, sinker, cutter). Schlitter, a Massachusetts native and Red Sox fan in his youth, endeared himself to Yankees fans last fall when he struck out 12 Boston batters in a series-clinching win over New York’s rival in the Wild Card round. He’s backing it up in Year Two with a Cy Young worthy season. Schlittler is in the top five in ERA, innings pitched, strikeouts, and WHIP and has been the best pitcher in baseball down the stretch. —MB
