10. Freddy Peralta, Milwaukee Brewers
142.2 IP, 15-5, 2.78 ERA, 3.70 FIP, 1.10 WHIP, 9.7 K/9, 4.1 bWAR, 2.8 fWAR
For half a decade now, Peralta has been a consistently solid, better-than-most-realize pitcher for the Brewers, with numbers (3.35 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 10.8 K/9) not that far off from Gerrit Cole’s (3.15 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 10.8 K/9) since the beginning of 2021.
This year has been his best yet, though, at least from the perspective of ERA and wins, which would have made him a top candidate for Cy Young two decades ago. And he has had quite a few gems against likely playoff teams, going six scoreless innings against the Dodgers once, the Padres once and the Cubs twice.
Nos. 9-7: Logan Webb, Andrew Abbott and Joe Ryan
8 of 10
Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images
San Francisco’s Logan Webb
9. Logan Webb, San Francisco Giants
160.2 IP, 11-9, 3.19 ERA, 2.55 FIP, 1.22 WHIP, 9.8 K/9, 2.8 bWAR, 4.3 fWAR
It’s worth mentioning this is the lone instance in our top 16 where Baseball-Reference and FanGraphs disagree on who has been the most valuable pitcher in a team’s rotation, bWAR giving the nod to Robbie Ray with his 2.85 ERA and 1.11 WHIP.
Among qualified pitchers, though, only likely Cy Young winners Tarik Skubal and Paul Skenes have had a lower FIP this season than Webb, who has a 3.19 ERA in spite of some of the worst BABIP (.340) luck in the majors. He has made 17 quality starts this season, including four outings with at least 10 strikeouts and no walks allowed.
8. Andrew Abbott, Cincinnati Reds
130.0 IP, 8-3, 2.28 ERA, 3.52 FIP, 1.08 WHIP, 7.8 K/9, 5.2 bWAR, 3.2 fWAR
Speaking of Baseball-Reference, there’s a pitching statistic on the site called Adjusted Earned Run Average, or ERA+. It accounts for external factors like ballparks and opponents and spits out a number where 100 is league average and the higher the number the better, much like OPS+ for hitters.
As far as that data point is concerned, Abbott has been the best pitcher in baseball this season, his 199 ERA+ ranking No. 1 among all qualified pitchers. Surely, going seven shutout innings against the blistering-hot Brewers on Sunday provided a nice big boost in that department. That was his 14th time out of 22 starts allowing either zero or one earned run.
7. Joe Ryan, Minnesota Twins
143.0 IP, 12-6, 2.77 ERA, 3.25 FIP, 0.94 WHIP, 10.0 K/9, 4.6 bWAR, 3.4 fWAR
Minnesota didn’t hang onto many players at the trade deadline, but it did make sure to keep this ace around with two more years of team control still to come.
Ryan almost made it to 200 strikeouts in 2023, falling three shy of that plateau after missing most of August with a groin injury. He was also on track to get there last year, but a shoulder injury suffered again in August ended his season early.
So far so good on the injury front this month as he ticked up to 159 Ks on Tuesday. Perhaps he finally gets to 200 and gets some down-ballot votes for Cy Young, too.
Nos. 6-4: Hunter Brown, Nathan Eovaldi and Cristopher Sánchez
9 of 10
Brandon Sloter/Getty Images
Philadelphia’s Cristopher Sánchez
6. Hunter Brown, Houston Astros
149.0 IP, 10-5, 2.36 ERA, 2.91 FIP, 1.01 WHIP, 10.3 K/9, 5.4 bWAR, 4.2 fWAR
Tuesday night’s showdown between Brown and Tarik Skubal was everything we hoped it would be, with those aces combining for 13 scoreless innings and 16 strikeouts in what was a 0-0 game until the 10th inning.
For Brown, it was his 20th start (out of 25 total) allowing two or fewer earned runs, cementing the notion that the Astros will still have one of the best pitchers in baseball in 2026, even if Framber Valdez walks in free agency.
Brown opened the season on a run of seven consecutive quality starts and had a 1.82 ERA for the year after his 17th appearance. And, if you’ll recall, he was equally dominant over the latter two-thirds of last season, posting a 2.31 ERA and 18 quality starts in his final 22 appearances. (Not to mention a 5.2 IP, 1 R, 9 K gem in the postseason.)
5. Nathan Eovaldi, Texas Rangers
123.0 IP, 11-3, 1.76 ERA, 2.90 FIP, 0.87 WHIP, 8.8 K/9, 4.2 bWAR, 3.4 fWAR
Over the past half-decade, Eovaldi has been nothing if not consistent, his ERA ranging from 3.63-3.87 while his WHIP repeatedly fell in the 1.10-1.24 range. It was excellent for a No. 2 starter, decent ace production on a year-over-year basis that netted him a three-year, $75 million deal in advance of his age-35 campaign.
What a leap this veteran has made, though, from borderline ace to borderline Cy Young.
Because he missed a month of action, Eovaldi is presently a few innings shy of qualifying for an ERA title. (Requirement is one inning pitched per team game played, and he is at 123.0 in 128 games.) Barring another injury, though, he ought to get to 162 innings and may well win that ERA crown, currently more than half a run ahead of Tarik Skubal. He’s also tied with Skubal for the lowest WHIP among pitchers with at least 120 innings of work.
4. Cristopher Sánchez, Philadelphia Phillies
157.0 IP, 11-4, 2.46 ERA, 2.63 FIP, 1.10 WHIP, 9.7 K/9, 6.2 bWAR, 4.7 fWAR
Zack Wheeler landing on the IL while recovering from having a blood clot surgically removed from his shoulder eliminated the need to agonize over which Phillies player to choose for this list.
Honestly, though, the pick probably would have been Sánchez anyway, especially after Tuesday night’s gem against Seattle in which he recorded his 18th quality start and third game of the year with a dozen strikeouts. He now has a 1.94 ERA and a 6.2 K/BB ratio in 14 starts since the beginning of June.
More than a month after the fact, it’s still just plain inexplicable that Sánchez wasn’t named an All-Star. However, if you’re worried that will impact his Cy Young candidacy, it won’t. In fact, there was a three-year stretch in the mid-2010s in which one of the Cy Young winners—Corey Kluber in 2014, Jake Arrieta in 2015, Rick Porcello in 2016—wasn’t named to the All-Star roster. Robbie Ray also did it in 2021. And for as much as the entire baseball world loves it some Paul Skenes, there’s a very real chance Sánchez pulls it off.
Nos. 3-1: Garrett Crochet, Paul Skenes and Tarik Skubal
10 of 10
Joe Robbins/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Pittsburgh’s Paul Skenes
3. Garrett Crochet, Boston Red Sox
159.1 IP, 13-5, 2.43 ERA, 2.59 FIP, 1.07 WHIP, 11.1 K/9, 4.7 bWAR, 5.0 fWAR
Thus far, Boston’s decision to trade for Crochet and sign him to an extension through 2031 looks brilliant, with his several-month breakout from last season in Chicago the precursor to what is now bona fide ace status.
Crochet’s magnum opus was the complete-game shutout of Tampa Bay in a 1-0 game just before the All-Star break, but that’s merely one of the 11 times he has gone at least seven innings while allowing two or fewer earned runs. (Which really ought to be a stat we track in addition to quality starts. Formal proposal to call it a Halladay, as he made 172 such appearances in his Hall of Fame career.)
The shame of the matter is that Crochet is still playing second fiddle to Tarik Skubal in the American League, but that Cy Young race could be a photo finish.
2. Paul Skenes, Pittsburgh Pirates
154.0 IP, 7-9, 2.16 ERA, 2.45 FIP, 0.96 WHIP, 10.2 K/9, 5.9 bWAR, 5.1 fWAR
With the exception of 2020, no starting pitcher has ever won a Cy Young award while winning fewer than 10 games.
Then again, how many pitchers have gone at least 7.2 innings with at least seven strikeouts, three or fewer hits and one or fewer runs allowed three times in a season with an 0-2 record to show for it?
That’s where we’re at with Skenes and the Pirates, his masterful outings routinely squandered by lack of run support. In his seven victories, he has allowed a combined total of one earned run, needing near perfection to get into the win column.
It shouldn’t prevent him from winning the Cy Young, but it does feel like a super talent is going to waste on a team going nowhere.
1. Tarik Skubal, Detroit Tigers
159.1 IP, 11-3, 2.32 ERA, 2.21 FIP, 0.87 WHIP, 11.3 K/9, 5.8 bWAR, 5.9 fWAR
One year removed from leading the majors with 228 strikeouts, Skubal moved back into first place in that department on Tuesday night with his 200th K of the current campaign. And with at least six, possibly seven starts still to come, it’s likely he’ll join Spencer Strider (281 in 2023) and Gerrit Cole (257 in 2022) as the only pitchers to reach 250 since the pandemic.
The reigning AL Cy Young winner is also leading the league in ERA among qualified pitchers, with a 2.21 FIP and 2.49 xFIP (not to mention his Triple Crown last season) that suggests there’s no good reason to think he might falter down the stretch.
And if he manages to keep all three of those marks below 2.50, he’ll join Clayton Kershaw (2014-15) and Corbin Burnes (2021) as the only pitchers to do so since xFIP became a thing in 2002.
He’s pretty darn good is the point we’re trying to make here. And with his remaining starts projected to come against the A’s, Royals, White Sox, Marlins and Guardians (twice), he just might mess around and get his ERA down below 2.00.
TOP NEWS
B/R’s 2026 MLB Mock Draft 📝
Bleacher Report2dWitt Jr. Makes History with 100th HRBleacher Report2dRed Sox Fantasy Order Setup ⚾Bleacher Report1dJosé Alvarado ReinstatedBleacher Report2dAustin Riley Out for SeasonBleacher Report17h
vs
