Breaking down the top 10 MLB pitchers for the 2024 season, starting off with the New York Yankees’ ace and 2023 AL Cy Young award winner! Let us know what you think in the comments, and make sure to follow us for more fun and engaging lists!
1) Gerrit Cole
Gerrit Cole finally won a Cy Young after years of being one of the top pitchers in the game, thanks in large part due to refined command and a new cutter. It became his tertiary pitch in the second half, where he posted a 2.35 ERA and 24.6% K-BB%, finally blending his newfound poise on the mound with his dominant strikeout stuff. He’s the best blend of value and volume, still sporting a Stuff+ north of 120 in his mid-30s, and you can expect him to remain an elite pitcher once again in 2024.
2) Spencer Strider
Spencer Strider has flat-out dominant stuff, and while the third-year starter has run into trouble with the longball at times, he’s actively making changes to adjust. The addition of a curveball to go alongside a his fastball-slider-changeup mix should keep hitters off balance, and that’s scary for hitters seeing that the 25-year-old struck out ove 36% of batters faced last season. There’s a very real chance that he strikes out 300 batters this year, ignore the 3.86 ERA and get ready to watch him dominate in 2024.
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3) Zack Wheeler
Zack Wheeler, now $126 million richer, will be the ace of the Phillies for another four seasons at the very least. Like a Sith, Wheeler plays by the rule of two, throwing two elite fastballs and two elite sliders, and with his excellent to blend in all the movement profiles, he’s a nightmare to face for opposing offenses. There’s a reason why he leads all of baseball in fWAR (19.3) since signing with Philadelphia ahead of the 2020 season, and I believe the gap between he and Gerrit Cole is marginal at-best.
4) Corbin Burnes
While last season was a step back for Corbin Burnes, he still struck out 200 batters and posted a 3.39 ERA in 32 starts. His cutter lost a tick of mileage, but the arsenal is still one of the best in the game, and the command is marvelous. Similarly to Wheeler and Strider, there’s a very good case to make that he’s the best pitcher in baseball, and I expect him to go toe-to-toe with Gerrit Cole for the American League Cy Young in 2024. He’s now at four straight seasons with an ERA- below 80, which is a remarkable sign of consistency that’s unparalleled.
5) Logan Webb
Logan Webb led baseball in groundball rate (62.1%) and innings pitched (216.0), and he’s quietly been one of the best pitchers in the game since breaking out in 2021. The Giants’ ace is sixth in fWAR (13.1) and 11th in ERA (3.07) over the past three seasons, relying on a changeup-sinker-slider mix that batters just cannot seem to put in the air. He isn’t going to overpower you with velocity, but his funky release point and efficient style of pitching means he’ll have seven innings of shutout baseball on his ledger in a hurry.
6) Yoshinobu Yamamoto
Yoshinobu Yamamoto may not have a regular season start in the Major Leagues, but he’s a three-time MVP with some of the nastiest stuff to ever come over from Japan. His unbelievable command and unique release heights make him one of the most hyped-up pitchers of the 21st Century, and there’s a reason everyone was ready to throw $300 million at him this past winter. Now that he’s with the Los Angeles Dodgers, you’ve got a pairing of the best developmental organization in baseball and the best pitcher in Japanese history, arguably, which is as scary as it sounds for the National League.
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7) Kevin Gausman
The shoulder soreness that Kevin Gausman is dealing with doesn’t seem serious, so we’ll rank him assuming he’s completely healthy by Opening Day. Over the past three seasons, the ace of the Toronto Blue Jays has a 3.10 ERA and 95 starts, combining brilliant run prevention with excellent volume, and his strikeout-to-walk rates are downright ridiculous. The ability to get whiffs while commanding the zone well is why he’s a top-10 pitcher, but if he could figure out how to limit the barrels and line drives he’s been prone to, he’ll win the Cy Young.
8) Pablo Lopez
Pablo Lopez is being aggressively ranked on this list after one of the most underrated campaigns by a starter in recent memory. The 28-year-old struck out 234 batters faced with a groundball rate over 45%, running into some poor batted ball luck that resulted in a good but not great 3.66 ERA. He led baseball in xERA (3.00) and I expect him to take that step forward into one of the best in the game, if he hasn’t become one of them already. The addition of a sweeper has done him wonders, and this is a candidate to lead not just the AL but all of baseball in WAR this season.
9) George Kirby
The king of throwing strikes, George Kirby, upped the velocity and workload in 2023, and nobody walked fewer batters than he did last season. Kirby started throwing a splitter down the stretch, and it’ll be interesting to see how he refines it and implements it in 2024. His per rate states don’t really stack up with the guys ahead of him, but the volume is impressive and you can expect Kirby to make enough starts and prevent enough runs to consistently hover somewhere in the top 10 of pitcher value.
10) Max Fried
Max Fried has a 2.70 ERA since 2020, which is better than anybody ahead of him on this list, and only trails Justin Verlander (2.45) among qualified pitchers over that timespan. The left-hander is consistently one of the most underrated starters in the game and while he won’t strike out 250 batters or sit 98 MPH, he still has an effective repetoire that’ll generate soft contact, and his command is impeccable. If healthy, there’s a very good chance that Fried has a top-five ERA in baseball and maybe even outpitches teammate Spencer Strider for a Cy Young Award.