The Starting Pitcher position is by far the hardest one to choose with the many talented starting pitchers in the game right now, However, only five can make the list. This list was based on what each player has done in their previous seasons and their ability to eat innings. A starting pitcher can have an incredible season one year and then disappear the following season. The players on the list have a strong track record of long-term success and the ability to throw a ton of innings for their teams. Here are the top 5 starting pitchers in MLB as we head into the 2024 season.
Top 5 Starting Pitchers Heading into 2024
5. Kevin Gausman
Arguably one of the most underappreciated starting pitchers in baseball is Kevin Gausman. He does what an ace does, takes the ball every five days, and gives his team a chance to win while also striking a lot of batters out. In 2023 he finished third in the AL Cy Young Award voting. This was following a great season where he led the American League in strikeouts with 237. He also pitched 185 innings, had an ERA of 3.16, and finished with a 3.4 WAR. Those were ace-like numbers and this is not even the first time he has done something like this. In 2021, Gausman led the league in games started with 33 while pitching to a 2.81 ERA with 192 innings pitched and 227 strikeouts. Gausman also had a 5.2 WAR in 2021, which helped him to secure a big free-agency contract with the Toronto Blue Jays.
“This dude is absolutely gross… it’s difficult when you know what you’re going to get and you can’t lay off of it and you can’t hit it.”
– @CameronMaybin on Kevin Gausman’s splitter#Top100RightNow | @BlueJays pic.twitter.com/IG31MUmUkI
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) February 18, 2024
If Gausman can lower his WHIP to around or under 1.000, then watch out for him to make a serious run at the AL Cy Young Award.
4. Logan Webb
Logan Webb is one of Major League Baseball’s best-kept secrets. He is an old-school ace who can keep the ball in the park and pitch a heavy workload. In 2023, Webb pitched the most innings in the MLB with 216, while also striking out 196 batters. He finished second in NL Cy Young Award voting while also compiling a 5.5 WAR, and having the best strikeout-to-walk ratio of 6.26. Webb has been on the rise since he burst onto the scene in 2021, and has since emerged as a premier pitcher in MLB. From 2021-2022 he threw 340 2/3 innings with 321 strikeouts, an ERA of 2.96, and a WAR of 8.6.
Webb is a reliable pitcher and has the potential to become the best starter in the NL with Corbin Burnes‘s departure. With Webb’s durability and pitching ability, he could become one of the game’s premier starting pitchers.
3. Zack Wheeler
Zack Wheeler is probably the best pitcher right now to have not yet won a Cy Young Award. He is extremely underrated and has been the pitcher who has accumulated the most pitcher WAR since 2021 with 16.8. Since going to Philadelphia back in 2020, every single full season except this year he has had an ERA under 3.00. Wheeler has an effective pitch mix which allows him to get through the opponent’s batting order multiple times in a game. In addition to his stuff, he also has great durability, having pitched over 30 games in two full seasons with the Phillies, and even in his injured season of 2022 he still made 26 starts.
In 2021 Wheeler should have probably won the Cy Young Award, as he had the best overall pitching statistics that year. This season, however, he has a chance to do so as the pitcher who won the Cy Young Award in 2021 is no longer in the NL.
2. Corbin Burnes
The 2021 NL Cy Young Award winner had another great season in 2023, pitching to a 3.39 ERA with 193 2/3 innings pitched, 200 strikeouts, and a WAR of 3.5. This was not even his best season as he was superb in 2021, throwing 167 innings with a 2.43 ERA, 234 strikeouts, and a WAR of 5.3. In 2022 it was more of the same, leading the NL strikeouts with 243, a 2.94 ERA, and pitching 202 innings. Overall, Burnes has solidified himself as one of the game’s premier aces. He has some of the best stuff in the game and can go deep into games as well as make all his expected starts.
2024 will be a different year for Burnes as he is pitching in arguably the toughest division in baseball and a division where the majority of the ballparks have shallow outfield depth. If Burnes can bring what he did in Milwaukee to Baltimore while avoiding the walks, then he can give the number one pitcher on this list a run for his money in the Cy Young Award race.
1. Gerrit Cole
Gerrit Cole is the best starting pitcher in Major League Baseball. Since joining the Yankees in 2020, Cole has pitched the most innings of any starter in the game and has compiled the second-highest pitching WAR since 2021 with 15.6. He is the truest definition of an ace, goes 6-8 innings almost every game, keeps the runs at a premium around 1-2, and records a ton of strikeouts, helping his defense. Cole was the best pitcher in 2023 leading the league in innings pitched with 209, finishing with 222 strikeouts, a 2.63 ERA, and a WAR of 7.4. In addition, he had the best WHIP at 0.981 and hits per nine innings at 6.8. Not to mention, Cole has put these remarkable numbers up in a notoriously difficult division, the AL East.
Gerrit Cole: Go out there and prepare to win a world championship. That’s really at the top of the list for sure. pic.twitter.com/QFm0H1CKUx
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) February 15, 2024
As long as Cole keeps being the Yankees ace he has been, then there should be no reason he should not win another Cy Young Award this season. He is at the top of the class of starting pitchers heading into 2024.
Photo Credit: © Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
