Reigning Cy Young winner surging up SP Power Rankings

Even at this late point, players still have the opportunity to change the entire narrative of their season. Our latest edition of the Starting Pitcher Power Rankings is but one example.

Reigning National League Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell languished on the free-agent market until settling for a short-term deal with the Giants shortly before Opening Day. What followed was a delayed start to his season, multiple stints on the injured list and subpar results from his sporadic trips to the mound. When Snell was activated on July 9, his tenure in San Francisco consisted of only six starts and a 9.51 ERA. Nothing was going according to plan.

Barely over a month later, Snell not only finds himself in our top 10 for the first time this season -- he has pushed himself all the way into an all-southpaw top three.

Here are the latest Starting Pitcher Power rankings, voted on by our MLB.com panel, which once again considered a combination of track record, season-long performance and recent success. All stats below are through Tuesday’s games.

1. Tarik Skubal, Tigers (Last poll: 2)
This is Skubal’s third time topping our rankings this season, as well as the eighth straight time he’s been either first or second. The 27-year-old lefty not only looks to be in command of the AL Cy Young Award race but potentially headed for a pitching Triple Crown as well. He currently leads the AL with 14 wins, a 2.53 ERA and 180 strikeouts. The only question remaining is how strong he can finish, given that after a quality outing on Tuesday against the Mariners, he has matched the career high of 149 1/3 innings he set back in 2021.

2. Chris Sale, Braves (3)
This is Sale’s highest ranking yet, coming on the heels of Monday’s showdown with Snell at Oracle Park. In one of the most dazzling pitching duels of the season, Sale allowed just three hits over seven scoreless innings, striking out 12 without issuing a walk. He has a 2.15 ERA and 1.72 FIP over his past 11 outings and continues to move closer to locking up the Cy Young Award that somehow has eluded him to this point in his accomplished career.

3. Blake Snell, Giants (not ranked)
Let’s just present Snell’s numbers over his seven starts since returning from his second IL stint, including his no-hitter on Aug. 2 in Cincinnati:

45.1 IP, 14 H, 5 R, 5 ER (0.99 ERA), 14 BB, 60 K

Opponents have slashed .097/.176/.159 over 159 plate appearances against Snell during that stretch. As a point of comparison, NL pitchers hit a comparable .110/.149/.140 in 2021, the last season before the permanent implementation of the universal DH.

4. Paul Skenes, Pirates (1)
Pittsburgh lost its 10th game in a row on Wednesday, an ill-timed skid that has more or less taken the Bucs out of serious playoff contention. Given that, it will bear watching how many more innings Skenes logs, beyond the 119 1/3 he so far has thrown in his first full professional season (including his time in the Minors). The 22-year-old allowed four runs in an outing for the first time last Saturday, although he struck out eight and walked just one in a tough matchup at Dodger Stadium.

5. Dylan Cease, Padres (4)
Once again this year, Cease is piling up whiffs and strikeouts. His MLB-high 181 K’s includes 109 with his slider, easily the most by any pitcher on any pitch type in 2024. But if there’s a key to Cease’s success, it may be limiting walks. His walk rate of 7.9 percent is a career low, and he has vaulted from the 25th percentile in that category in 2023 to the 51st percentile in '24.

6. Corbin Burnes, Orioles (5)
On one hand, Burnes’ strikeout rate has dropped in four consecutive seasons, from a high of 36.7 percent in the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign all the way to 22.9 percent this year. On the other hand, it isn’t hurting Burnes’ overall effectiveness. The Baltimore ace, by limiting walks and hard contact, is 12-4 with a 2.71 ERA this season.

7. Hunter Greene, Reds (9)
Greene has always thrown hard and racked up strikeouts, but the actual results over his first two Major League seasons (96 ERA+) were somewhat underwhelming. Not anymore. Greene, who just turned 25 last week, has made the necessary adjustments to unlock his considerable potential. Despite having the most walks and the most hit batters in the NL, Greene has excelled by being extremely hard to square up. Opponents are batting only .185 off him, and slugging just .300.

8. Zack Wheeler, Phillies (6)
So far in August, Wheeler has allowed two runs and struck out in 17 over 14 innings. He should soon have a chance to add to his postseason resume, which includes a 2.42 ERA and 68-to-10 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 10 starts (and one relief appearance) over the past two years.

9. Michael King, Padres (not ranked)
Thanks in large part to King, the Juan Soto trade isn’t looking so bad for San Diego, despite the incredible season Soto is having in the Bronx. While King struggled a bit early on, he has a 2.54 ERA and 2.27 FIP since May 1, ranking behind only Sale (and just ahead of Skubal) among all MLB pitchers in FanGraphs WAR over that span. The Padres have won 12 of those 17 outings.

10. Logan Gilbert, Mariners (not ranked)
Gilbert has rebounded from a rare dud on July 29 at Boston to put together back-to-back brilliant outings in August (13 combined innings, seven hits, one run, 13 strikeouts). The 6-foot-6 righty’s splitter is one of the toughest pitches in baseball, with opponents just 7-for-72 (.097) with 44 strikeouts and a .181 slugging percentage against it this year.

Others receiving votes: Jack Flaherty (Dodgers), Framber Valdez (Astros), Hunter Brown (Astros), Luis Castillo (Mariners), Cole Ragans (Royals), Seth Lugo (Royals), Christopher Sánchez (Phillies), George Kirby (Mariners), Yusei Kikuchi (Astros), Bailey Ober (Twins)

Voters: David Adler, Brett Blueweiss, Scott Chiusano, Doug Gausepohl, Thomas Harrigan, Bryan Horowitz, Brent Maguire, Whitney McIntosh, Ricardo Montes de Oca, Arturo Pardavila, Manny Randhawa, Andrew Simon, Zac Vierra