We’re still early into the 2025 MLB season, so judging pitchers too much is hard based on a small sample size. It is too soon to start naming guys for Cy Young Awards or anything of the sort, but it isn’t too early to start noticing which guys are dominating on the mound. We’ll update this every month to sort through the top pitchers in the sport, and I expect that this time of year will be where we get the most changes in rankings. There is no previous season track record being accounted for here; I am ranking solely based on 2025, which will lead to some funny placements.
We’re not just looking at ERA; underlying data will play a role in these rankings as well, being weighed about as much as run prevention is as well.
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10. Tyler Mahle – Texas Rangers
Tyler Mahle’s 0.68 ERA is sparkling, but I think the underlying data suggests he’s bound to regress more than anyone else on this list. I don’t want to use this as a ranking full of criticisms. Mahle has battled multiple injuries over the last few seasons to get back on the mound and dominate, with his fastball velocity slowly creeping up as the command has finally started to sharpen. The fastball has a 37.6% Whiff%, his splitter gets soft contact on the ground, his cutter is a good weapon, and the slider gets so much soft contact with vertical depth. Good mix, good results, good pitcher.
9. Max Fried – New York Yankees
Max Fried has a 1.42 ERA across five stellar starts with his new ballclub in the New York Yankees, who have desperately needed an ace to emerge in the absence of Gerrit Cole. The Yankees have increased the usage of Fried’s sweeper while improving his sinker and curveball, and I get the sense that he hasn’t kicked into high gear just yet. With elite damage prevention numbers, solid strikeout rates, and a low walk rate, Fried remains one of the hardest pitchers in the sport to score on, and has the lowest qualified ERA in baseball among starting pitchers since 2020.
8. Kodai Senga – New York Mets
Kodai Senga has limited damage at an elite rate, and while he isn’t missing a ton of bats, the stuff looks sharp and the arsenal is more fleshed out than it was back in 2023. Senga is throwing over 61% of his pitches for strikes, has a 5.3% Barrel% allowed, and has posted a 1.26 ERA and 2.84 xERA. I know the K-BB% isn’t elite, but he is roughly average in that statistic thus far, while being elite at damage prevention thanks to having seven different pitches he can spin at any given time.
7. Chris Bassitt – Toronto Blue Jays
Chris Bassitt is having a resurgent season where his whiff rates are up, chase rates are up, and Stuff+ scores are better than they’ve ever been with the Toronto Blue Jays. He has a deep repertoire that allows him to go after hitters with a variety of looks and movement profiles, even if he doesn’t throw particularly hard. The ability to generate soft contact while also striking out 28% of batters faced makes him an easy lock for this list, and the 1.88 ERA through five starts further confirms those excellent underlying numbers.
6. Jesus Luzardo – Philadelphia Phillies
Jesus Luzardo has been remarkable for the Philadelphia Phillies, striking out 30% of batters faced with a 2.08 ERA as his fastball velocity has returned. He’s added a brand-new sweeper to replace his gyro slider as the primary breaking ball in his arsenal, and it’s one of the best sweepers in the game, sitting at 86 MPH with good lateral movement. The gyro slider is still part of his mix, throwing it with good vertical drop with tons of swing-and-miss, making him a five-pitch pitcher who can shake up his usage rates based on the handedness of the hitter faced; that’s a pitcher I buy in on.
5. Nick Pivetta – San Diego Padres
The San Diego Padres have gotten a steal with Nick Pivetta, who seemed to be a pitcher who just needed to get away from the hitter-friendly Fenway Park. His damage prevention has improved significantly as he’s throwing more fastballs towards the edge of the plate while spinning breaking balls for whiffs and his cutter and sinker for soft contact. With a 1.20 ERA and 27% K%, Pivetta has the results of an ace with elite-level underlying data, and the Padres could have a frontline starter in the 32-year-old.
4. Tylor Megill – New York Mets
The New York Mets have an absolute stud in Tylor Megill, who has seen massive improvements in his pitch mix as his fastball is generating more ride, sliders with more drop, and changeups/sinkers with more run. Megill looks incredible, posting a 1.08 ERA and 27.8% strikeout rate through his first five starts of the season, but the questions about his command still remain. Personally, I think those concerns are not close to being enough of a problem to ignore someone with elite-level stuff and excellent damage prevention abilities.
3. Hunter Brown – Houston Astros
The Houston Astros have found an ace in Hunter Brown, he has a 28.2% K% with a 1.16 ERA and 54.8% GB%. There isn’t a hole to poke in his game because the stuff is off-the-charts good, the command has really improved since his debut back in 2022, and the ability to limit home runs and damage contact is upper-echelon. Brown has six different pitches, and you can argue all of them are plus pitches based on their pitch quality and results right now. He has all of the traits of a top-five pitcher in the league, and over his last 27 starts, he has a 2.09 ERA with a 2.85 FIP.
2. Paul Skenes – Pittsburgh Pirates
Paul Skenes has been…just as productive as he was last season. The Pirates’ first-round pick in 2023 continues to roll as he has excellent swing-and-miss numbers while rarely getting hit hard when he does allow contact. His ability to attack the zone consistently with a bunch of different weapons is beyond impressive, and more importantly, Paul Skenes has only found ways to get better with more experience. After striking out nine batters across 6.1 shutout innings last night against a loaded Dodgers’ lineup, you have to wonder if we’re watching an all-time great in the making.
1. Yoshinobu Yamamoto – Los Angeles Dodgers
Yoshinobu Yamamoto has a 62.8% groundball rate, a 32.6% K%, and a 1.06 ERA through his first six starts of the 2025 MLB season. He is third among qualified MLB starters in GB% while ranking sixth in K%, it’s the kind of combination that almost always gets you ranked extremely high. His four-seamer has more vertical ride, the splitter is ridiculously good, and his depth of arsenal is another added benefit here. If the season ended today, I believe he would win the NL Cy Young, and dating back to last season, he has a 2.12 ERA across his last 23 starts.