Just Baseball’s Top 10 Pitcher Power Rankings: June 2024

Major League Baseball released their first All-Star Game fan balloting updated this week, but it only pertained to position players.

Both starting pitchers and relievers for the midsummer classic are “chosen through a combination of player ballot selections and choices made by the commissioner’s office.” With that, the pitchers who are picked often end up being a more accurate representation of who deserves to be an All-Star than the starting position players.

In lieu of an update from the league on what pitchers are trending towards being All Stars, here’s Just Baseball’s latest ranking of the pitchers who have been the 10 best so far this season, many of whom will be in Arlington in mid-July.

10. Logan Gilbert, Seattle Mariners

Ranking Last Month: Not Ranked

2024 Stats: 4-4, 2.93 ERA, 3.35 FIP and 1.9 fWAR over 98 1/3 innings pitched

Gilbert leads what may be the best starting rotation in the AL in Seattle. If president of baseball operations can overhaul an underwhelming lineup this summer, Gilbert will be starting Game 1 of a postseason series in October.

At the time of publication, Gilbert leads all pitchers with 98 1/3 innings pitched, which puts him on track for his third consecutive season of 185 or more innings pitched.

Gilbert’s 0.92 WHIP is fifth among all MLB starters, with opposing batters hitting just .198 against him. So this isn’t just someone who has racked up a bunch of innings, he’s been extremely effective over the frames he’s taken down.

9. Tyler Glasnow, Los Angeles Dodgers

Ranking Last Month: 6

2024 Stats: 7-5, 3.00 ERA, 2.67 FIP and 2.6 fWAR over 93 innings pitched

The Dodgers’ rotation has been in flux all season, but the one constant has been Glasnow, who the team acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays last offseason and signed to a five-year, $136.6 million deal on the way in the door.

Glasnow set a new career-high with 120 innings pitched last year. Well, he’s on pace to blow by that in 2024, as he currently leads all senior circuit pitchers with 93 innings pitched. He also owns the best marks in terms of H/9 (5.8) and SO/9 (12.1) among NL pitchers. He’s struck out 125 batters, more than any arm in the sport so far this season.

The health history of Glasnow remains a worry, but so far, the Dodgers have managed to combine the dominance he showed in Tampa Bay, while pushing his workload much more than the Rays ever did.

8. Chris Sale, Atlanta Braves

Ranking Last Month: Not Ranked

2024 Stats: 9-2, 2.98 ERA, 2.34 FIP and 2.6 fWAR over 81 2/3 innings pitched

For the first time in half a decade, Sale has remained healthy. And with his health, he’s reasserted himself as one of the most dominant starters in the game.

Sale leads the NL in FIP (2.34) and strikeout to walk ratio (7.62). Left-handed batters are hitting just .193 against Sale this season, and right-handed hitters (.215 batting average, .569 OPS) haven’t fared much better. It’s fair to have some skepticism about Sale holding up for a full regular season and playoff run, but if he does, the Braves will be a formidable opponent, even without Spencer Strider in their rotation.

Once upon a time, Sale seemed on track to be a Hall of Famer. Now 35, he’s likely to make his eighth All-Star Game appearance next month. If this first half is the start of his second wind in his career, maybe he can still build a case for Cooperstown. Finally getting over the hump and winning a Cy Young Award — he finished sixth or better in AL voting every year from 2012-2018 — would certainly help his case.

7. Seth Lugo, Kansas City Royals

Ranking Last Month: 7

2024 Stats: 10-2, 2.42 ERA, 3.46 FIP and 2.1 fWAR over 104 innings pitched

The Royals are currently in control of the second Wild Card in the AL, and very much in a competitive division race with the Cleveland Guardians and Minnesota Twins in part because they’ve gotten excellent starting pitching.

Cole Ragans is the team’s long-term ace, and narrowly missed out on cracking this list himself. But Lugo — whom the Royals signed to a three-year, $45 million deal in the offseason — has been Kansas City’s best arm. He’s combined dominance with being a workhorse, as Lugo leads baseball in wins (10) and batters faced (418).

The long-time New York Mets reliever had a very good season pitching out of the San Diego Padres rotation a year ago, but at age 34, he’s having a great campaign for the Royals.

6. Luis Gil, New York Yankees

Ranking Last Month: Not Ranked

2024 Stats: 9-2, 2.77 ERA, 3.30 FIP and 1.8 fWAR over 81 1/3 innings pitched

One of the reasons reigning AL Cy Young Award winner Gerrit Cole is returning to a team that has the most wins in baseball is that Gil has pitched like an ace in his absence.

Despite handing out his fair share of walks, Gil was leading the AL in ERA prior to his last start, pitching to a 2.03 ERA in 14 starts and led all pitchers in H/9 (4.4). Unfortunately Gil is coming off his worst start of the season, giving up seven runs on eight hits against the Baltimore Orioles yesterday.

Still, Gil is the favorite to win the AL Rookie of the Year this season, and has a great chance to represent the Yankees at the Midsummer Classic.

Of the names on this list, he would have been the hardest to predict before the season, because he had just seven MLB starts on his resume entering the 2024 season, and made only two starts in the Florida State League a year ago as he worked his way back from Tommy John surgery.

Unfortunately for the Yankees, there is going to be a cap on how many innings Gil can throw in 2024, which may mean he becomes an option out of the bullpen later in the season. But the 26-year-old’s contributions as a starter through the first two-and-a-half months of the season have been hard to quantify.

5. Corbin Burnes, Baltimore Orioles

Ranking Last Month: Not Ranked

2024 Stats: 8-2, 2.14 ERA, 3.13 FIP and 2.3 fWAR over 92 2/3 innings pitched

Burnes beat out Zack Wheeler for the NL Cy Young in 2021, and outpitched him at Camden Yards on Father’s Day, making you wonder if he could become the eighth pitcher in MLB history to win the award in both leagues.

Considering he’s in the top five among all MLB pitchers in innings pitched and ERA, Burnes is likely headed for his fourth career All-Star Game appearance. And his presence at the top of Baltimore’s rotation will make them a much more formidable opponent in the postseason than they were a year ago.

Burnes, who will turn 30 in October, projects to be the best starting pitcher to reach free agency since Gerrit Cole did so after the 2019 season. It feels imperative for a new ownership group in Baltimore to find a way to retain him.

4. Tarik Skubal, Detroit Tigers

Ranking Last Month: 3

2024 Stats: 8-3, 2.50 ERA, 2.73 FIP and 2.5 fWAR over 90 innings pitched

If you were making a list of who has been the best starter over the last calendar year, Skubal would probably be No. 1. And he’s not too far behind in terms of his ranking among starters during the 2024 campaign.

Among all qualified starters, Skubal is among the top 10 in ERA, FIP, fWAR and WHIP. Bruce Bochy will have a few options to pick from, but Skubal certainly has to be near the top of the list to start the All-Star Game for the junior circuit.

Skubal is also one of the best values in baseball right now, as he’s making just $2.65 million in his first year of arbitration eligibility. The Tigers would be wise to start earmarking tens — if not hundreds — of millions for a long-term deal with their ace.

3. Shota Imanaga, Chicago Cubs

Ranking Last Month: 2

2024 Stats: 7-1, 1.89 ERA, 2.77 FIP and 2.2 fWAR over 76 innings pitched

Both because of his electricity on the mound and quirky personality in interviews, Imanaga has immediately become one of the most popular players in the sport. He’s also the heavy favorite for NL Rookie of the Year, and while it’s still relatively early, definitely in the NL Cy Young Award mix.

While the 30-year-old lefty is a bit thin on innings relatively to the other arms featured on this list, he’s been so dominant on the mound that it was impossible to have him much lower than this. He leads the NL in BB/9 (1.3), and is second among qualified starters with a 1.89 ERA.

It will be interesting as Imanaga’s rookie MLB season goes along to see what adjustments opposing hitters make to him. But it would be difficult to imagine a better first impression than what Imanaga has made in 2024.

2. Tanner Houck, Boston Red Sox

Ranking Last Month: 4

2024 Stats: 7-5, 2.14 ERA, 2.21 FIP and 3.3 fWAR over 96.2 innings pitched

A year ago, Houck posted a 5.01 ERA over 21 starts. But in his first season working with pitching coach Andrew Bailey, Houck has taken a massive step forward, as he leads all of baseball in FIP (2.21) and fWAR (3.3), with the top marks among AL pitchers in ERA (2.14) and HR/9 (0.2).

Luckily for the Red Sox, even though Houck has pitched in parts of five MLB seasons, he won’t even become arbitration eligible until next season. So at the very least, Boston can control him for the next three seasons.

However, both sides may be motivated to reach a long-term deal this winter, assuming that Houck continues to pitch anywhere near this level. Something like a four-year deal with a club option for a fifth season feels about right.

1. Ranger Suárez, Philadelphia Phillies

Ranking Last Month: 1

2024 Stats: 10-1, 1.75 ERA, 2.68 FIP and 2.8 fWAR over 92 1/3 innings pitched

In a rotation where Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola and Cristopher Sánchez have all pitched at high levels, it’s been Suárez who has been the best starter, and put himself in position to potentially be the starting pitcher in the All-Star Game.

The 28-year-old currently leads baseball in wins (10), ERA+ (197) and WHIP (0.89). He is second to only Reynaldo Lopez in ERA, but has thrown nearly 20 more innings than him.

Suárez has gone from one of the best mid-rotation starters in baseball to one of the best starters in baseball, period. He can become a free agent after the 2025 season, and is pitching himself into the $150-$200 million range.

In the meantime, Suárez is at the forefront of a team with a legitimate shot to compete for a World Series title in 2024. It will be interesting if he continues to pitch at this level if he would leapfrog Nola and/or Wheeler in terms of who gets the first start in a postseason series.