EAST LANSING- We’re nearly two-thirds of the way through this year’s MLB season and many of the storylines are beginning to develop down the stretch as the picture becomes clearer after the trade deadline.
This week we take a look at my updated power rankings for starting pitchers, as we see a lot of familiar faces, a couple of new ones, and some shuffling in the order near the top as well.
1. Tarik Skubal (DET)
ERA: 12-4 W-L: 2.57 SO: 162 WHIP: 0.95
Previous Ranking: 1
Tarik Skubal continues to be everything and more that the Tigers could have hoped for this season and he will come in at the top spot in this week’s power rankings for the second consecutive time.
Skubal is tied for the league lead in qualified ERA, second in WHIP, third in strikeouts, and is also in the top ten in opponent batting average and innings pitched while leading the league in WAR for pitchers.
If I had a vote for Cy Young and the season ended today, it would be Skubal in the American League.
The flame-throwing left-hander has been the best overall pitcher in the league all season long and has been the best player for the Tigers all year as well.
Despite struggling his last time out giving up five runs, Skubal still completed six and a third innings against the Royals in his last start. Even in his low points this year, he has still been very solid.
2. Paul Skenes (PIT)
ERA: 1.99 W-L: 6-1 SO: 107 WHIP: 0.94
Previous Ranking: 2
Paul Skenes remains at number two in this week’s power rankings as he continues to be one of the most impressive stories of any player so far this season.
The rookie is making himself a shoo-in for the N.L. Rookie of the Year honors at this point, and became the first rookie ever to start as a pitcher in the All-Star game a few weeks back.
Skenes has allowed three runs or less in all fourteen starts he’s made this year, and two runs or less in twelve of them, while also pitching into the sixth in twelve of his starts this season.
Amazingly Skenes has an excellent chance at winning the Cy Young in his rookie year, as last year’s first overall pick has already solidified himself as one of the best pitchers in the league and one of the most valuable players in all of baseball as well.
3. Seth Lugo (KCR)
ERA: 2.57 W-L: 13-5 SO: 127 WHIP: 1.02
Previous Ranking: 3
Seth Lugo continues to be one of the best surprise stories in baseball this season for a young and resurgent Royals team that would make the playoffs for the first time since 2015 if the season ended today.
Lugo is tied for the Major League lead in qualified ERA and pitcher wins, and leads the American League in innings pitched while ranking top ten in categories such as WHIP and opponent batting average.
Lugo tossed a complete game for the first time in his career three starts ago, and put up eight innings of one-run ball against the Tigers his last time out, as his consistency continues to prove key in what has been the best season of his career to this point.
If the Royals want to hold their playoff spot and play meaningful games in October for the first time in nearly a decade, Lugo will have to keep stepping up.
4. Chris Sale (ATL)
ERA: 2.71 W-L: 13-3 SO: 155 WHIP: 0.95
Previous Ranking: 7
Chris Sale continues to turn back the clock, as one of the best pitchers of the 2010s continues to put up his best numbers in a season in six years.
Sale ranks top five in all of baseball in both ERA and WHIP, while ranking top ten in MLB in strikeouts and opponent batting average. Sale is miraculously giving himself a chance to win his first career Cy-Young in his age 35 season, as he has gone at least five innings and allowed two runs or less in each of his last nine starts.
The Braves are right in the thick of a National League wild-card race with the Mets, Diamondbacks, and Padres and they will need Sale to keep pitching like this vintage version of himself if they hope to separate themselves and solidify their playoff positioning, and the southpaw is currently fourth in the N.L in pitcher WAR.
5. Corbin Burnes (BAL)
ERA: 2.63 W-L: 12-4 SO: 132 WHIP: 1.06
Previous Ranking: 4
Corbin Burnes continues to be exactly what the Orioles hoped when they traded for him this past off-season, and that’s a bonafide ace.
Burnes ranks top five in all of baseball in ERA and innings pitched, while ranking top ten in the A.L. in WHIP, opponent batting average, strikeouts, and pitcher WAR.
The Orioles have come out of their struggles a bit more lately and are currently tied with the Yankees at the top of the American League East standing with forty-nine games left to play for each team.
If Baltimore wants to come out on top in the division for the second straight year, Burnes will need to continue to be an ace every fifth day, as he has only allowed four earned runs or more in a start twice all season. Burnes is still right within striking distance of Skubal and Lugo for favorites in the A.L. Cy Young race.
6. Zack Wheeler (PHI)
ERA: 2.77 W-L: 11-5 SO: 148 WHIP: 0.98
Previous Ranking: 10
Zack Wheeler has remained a constant for the Phillies despite their massive struggles as of late and that’s why he moves up in the rankings in this week’s list.
Wheeler played stopper for Philadelphia this past weekend, ending their six-game losing streak by going eight innings of shutout ball against the Mariners in Seattle, bouncing back from a start where he allowed seven innings against the Yankees at home the week prior.
Wheeler ranks top five in baseball in ERA, opponent batting average, and WHIP, while also ranking top ten in innings pitched, and strikeouts. Wheeler has been one of the most consistent starters all season long and is emerging as a very serious candidate to win Cy Young in the National League.
Suppose the Phillies want to pick it back up and hold it down in the N.L. East, Wheeler will have to continue to perform.
7. Ranger Suárez (PHI)
ERA: 2.87 W-L: 10-5 SO: 116 WHIP: 1.06
Previous Ranking: 5
Ranger Suárez has cooled off slightly as of late and so have the Phillies as a whole, as they no longer have the best record in baseball and have lost twelve of their last sixteen games.
Suárez is currently battling a neck injury and has only made one start since the All-Star break, but he was struggling a bit before that, as he’s allowed eighteen earned runs in his last four games started.
Suárez could slot back into the Phillies rotation on Sunday, and they desperately needed, as I mentioned earlier they are playing the worst baseball they’ve played all season right now.
The Phillies rotation has been one of their strengths so far this season, and Suárez has been a big reason why, so if Philadelphia wants to get back on track they need to get him back on the mound with a production level closer to the first half he had.
8. Hunter Greene (CIN)
ERA: 2.83 W-L: 8-4 SO: 149 WHIP: 1.02
Previous Ranking: N/A
Hunter Greene is another flamethrower who is making the power rankings for the first time all season this week.
Greene was an All-Star for the first time in his career this past month and is currently leading the National League in H/9 (5.7) and opponent batting average. Greene ranks top five in the N.L. in categories such as ERA, strikeouts, and WHIP, and is eighth in innings pitched.
Greene has emerged as a serious Cy-Young candidate in the past few weeks as he has allowed just one run in his last five starts where he has tossed thirty-three innings in that time.
Greene has been a shining bright spot for a young Cincinnati team having another disappointing season, but the 25-year-old right-hander has arrived and should be a force in the N.L. for years to come.
9. George Kirby (SEA)
ERA: 3.04 W-L: 8-7 SO: 131 WHIP: 1.00
Previous Ranking: N/A
George Kirby finds himself on the power rankings list for the first time this season and he has earned it as he has been dominant as of late, and one of the most consistent pitchers for a very good Mariners staff in 2024.
Kirby is currently pacing the American League in BB/9(1.0) and BB/K (8.73) ratio so far this season as his control has been one of the best aspects of his game so far this year. Kirby also ranks top ten in the A.L. in ERA and top five in WHIP.
Kirby has pitched to a 2.37 ERA in his last thirteen starts and has really turned it around from where he started the season.
Kirby is in a rotation with Luis Castillo and Logan Gilbert, and those three guys will all have to come up big for the Mariners to make the playoffs for the second time in the last three years, and win their first division title in over two decades.
10. Ronel Blanco (HOU)
ERA: 2.98 W-L: 9-6 SO: 121 WHIP: 1.02
Previous Ranking: 8
Ronel Blanco continues to be a very high-quality starting pitcher for the Astros, a team that has done an excellent job developing starting pitching for the better part of a decade now.
Blanco leads the American League in H/9 (5.7) and opponent batting average, while also ranking top five in ERA and top ten in WHIP.
The thirty-year-old has been the Astros best starter all season long and will need to continue to perform at this level if Houston wants to make the playoffs for the eighth straight year, as they are in a tight race with the Mariners at the top of the American League West.
Both Blanco and the Astros have performed in the middle of the pack lately but will need to step it up for one more big push if they hope to play Postseason baseball yet again.
11. Reynaldo López (ATL)
ERA: 2.06 W-L: 7-4 SO: 102 WHIP: 1.19
Previous Ranking: 9
Reynaldo López had his worst month of the season in July and still pitched to a 3.20 ERA as the first-time All-Star this past month continues to put up a career year in Atlanta.
López and his counterpart Chris Sale have had resurgent seasons in Atlanta for a Braves team that needed it in a year where most of the offense has been on a down year.
López has been a starter consistently this year for the first time in three years and has filled those shoes excellently, and he will need to continue to be great and a constant for the Braves if they want to make the playoffs this year, and even have a shot at making a comeback to win the N.L East for what would be the seventh straight season.
12. Tanner Houck (BOS)
ERA: 3.09 W-L: 8-8 SO: 123 WHIP: 1.14
Previous Ranking: 6
Tanner Houck and the Red Sox have cooled off slightly as of late, but he has still been one of the best starters in the American League for a better part of the season.
Houck has allowed thirteen earned runs in his last three starts but he still ranks top ten in the American League in ERA, innings pitched, and groundout to flyout ratio, as he countries to be one of the best ground ball pitchers in all of baseball, which is very important with Fenway Park as his home stadium.
Houck has an ERA of 4.82 in his last ten games started, and if he wants to help the Red Sox surge and clinch a playoff spot, he will need to get back on the track he was on through the first two months plus of the season.
13. Garrett Crochet (CHW)
ERA: 3.19 W-L: 6-8 SO: 162 WHIP: 1.01
Previous Ranking: 11
As of today, the Chicago White Sox have lost twenty-one games in a row, and they have been far and away the worst team in baseball so far this season.
This has not been due in part to their ace Garrett Crochet, who has been the only real bright spot on a baseball team that has been historically bad to this point in the season. Crochet is tied so the A.L. lead in strikeouts, top five in opponent batting average, top ten in WHIP, and is currency eleventh in ERA.
Crochet ranks top five in the A.L. in pitcher WAR despite the fact that he has not gone more than four innings in a start since the end of June, as he is also on an innings limit as he is transitioning from the bullpen.
Crochet is one of the few pitchers in the league with a FIP .50 points lower than his ERA and has been one of the best in the league all year despite playing for a terrible team.
14. Shota Imanaga (CHC)
ERA: 3.09 W-L: 8-2 SO: 118 WHIP: 1.09
Previous Ranking: 13
Shota Imanaga continues to have a very impressive season in his first year in the U.S. as he finds himself in the rankings for the second time in a row.
Imanaga is leading the National League in BB/9 (1.3) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.94) while also ranking top five in the National League in ERA and top ten in WHIP. Imanaga has a few rough starts mixed into his stats but has been overwhelmingly good for a better part of the season as he ranks top ten in the National League in quality starts.
The Cubs likely won’t get back to the playoffs this year, but it appears they have a solid piece for the future in Imanaga as he may be better than they initially bargained for when they signed him this past off-season.
15. Tyler Anderson (LAA)
ERA: 3.05 W-L: 8-10 SO: 102 WHIP: 1.17
Previous Ranking: 14
Tyler Anderson continues to quietly but consistently put up some of the best numbers in all of baseball for any starting pitcher in the league this season.
Anderson ranks top ten in the American League in ERA, innings pitched, and opponent batting average for an Angels team that has very little to cheer about over the course of this year. Anderson is holding his opponents to an OPS of .577 in his last five starts and his ERA has not been above the 3.10 mark at any point so far this season.
Anderson is not much of a strikeout pitcher but he has used his style to generate soft contact and pitch to very solid numbers on the year, and many were surprised he wasn’t dealt to a contender at the deadline, but that’s more of commentary on how the Angels have been ran over the course of the last year.
