Top 20 Starting Pitchers

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Major League Baseball is brimming with talented starting pitchers, who display utter dominance on the mound. Colby Olson ranks the top starters right now.

By Zach Smith

Before we get into the list, it should be noted that a few big names are missing. Justin Verlander, Clayton Kershaw, and Carlos Rodon were all left off the list due to injury concerns.

Here are the MLB’s Top 20 Starting Pitchers right now:

20. Max Fried- ATL 19. Shohei Ohtani- LAA 18. Blake Snell- SD 17. Nathan Eovaldi- BOS 16. Lucas Giolito- CWS

15. Sandy Alcantara- MIA 14. Trevor Rogers- MIA 13. Freddy Peralta- MIL 12. Luis Castillo- CIN 11. Chris Sale- BOS

10. Julio Urias- LAD

Urias finished top-10 in ERA, xERA and FIP in 2021. He only walked 5.1% of batters, which was also second-lowest in baseball. This kid has legit Cy Young potential.

9. Brandon Woodruff- MIL

Woodruff’s four-seamer is one of the best, boasting the sixth-highest whiff rate. Over his last 374 innings, he has a 3.00 ERA and 3.02 FIP. It does not get more consistent than Woodruff.

8. Logan Webb- SF

Webb had a 3.03 ERA, leading the Giants to the playoffs. The reason to love Webb is simple: he gets whiffs and grounders. He could be a top-five pitcher, but it’ll take another year to prove it.

7. Max Scherzer- NYM

Scherzer is about to enter his age 37 season and his fastball still sits at 95 MPH. He finished with a 2.46 ERA and third place in the NL CY Young race, so there's still plenty left in the tank.

6. Shane Bieber- CLE

Since 2019, Bieber holds a 2.92 ERA over 388.1 innings, which ranks fifth, while striking out 33% and only walking 6% of batters. Health is an issue, but he’s lights out when on the bump.

5. Walker Buehler- LAD

Buehler finished fourth in the NL Cy Young race with a 2.47 ERA and 3.16 FIP in 207.2 innings. The expectation is that he posts another ERA under 3.00 and leads the Dodgers to another NL West pennant.

4. Zack Wheeler- PHI

Since 2018, Wheeler has thrown the third-most innings in baseball. In 2021, he averaged 6.66 innings per start with a 29% strikeout rate. If Aaron Nola is back, the Phillies could be dangerous.

3. Gerrit Cole- NYY

Through June 16, Cole was on a tear, but the “sticky stuff” situation brought his numbers down. With a full offseason to make adjustments, Cole is expected to rebound and produce another stellar year.

2. Corbin Burnes- MIL

The 2021 NL Cy Young winner proved his 2020 season was not a fluke. Over his last two seasons, Burnes has amassed 322 strikeouts over 226.2 innings with a 2.34 ERA and 1.74 FIP. That’s just nasty.

1. Jacob deGrom- NYM

In his first 12 starts he allowed just four total earned runs, struck out 117 batters and walked just 10, which all equated to a 0.50 ERA. When on the bump, he’s the best pitcher on the planet.