Who is the best pitcher in baseball? Here's what players said

During Spring Training, MLB.com's beat reporters surveyed their clubhouses, asking players for their opinions on a range of topics. Well over 100 players participated, in exchange for anonymity. In the leadup to Opening Day, MLB.com is publishing a series of stories based on the results of that survey.

Today’s topic: Who is the best pitcher in the game?

There’s an argument to be made that the current state of pitching is better than ever.

That makes for fierce competition when it comes to naming the best pitchers in baseball. As the Max Scherzers, Clayton Kershaws and Justin Verlanders of the world are no longer in their primes, a new wave of young starters -- along with some veteran aces still going strong -- have made their case for baseball’s top pitcher.

Here are the best pitchers in the Majors entering 2025, according to their MLB contemporaries.

1. Tarik Skubal, Tigers

It’s been a meteoric rise for Skubal, who was voted the best pitcher by his MLB peers. It wasn’t even close -- Skubal more than doubled any other pitcher’s vote total.

After undergoing flexor tendon surgery in August 2022, Skubal returned the following July and has been baseball’s best pitcher since. Across 272 1/3 innings since July 2023, Skubal has a 2.51 ERA and 330 strikeouts compared to just 49 walks.

Skubal followed up a dominant 15-start stretch in 2023 with an otherworldly ‘24 season, taking home the American League pitching Triple Crown with a 2.39 ERA, 228 strikeouts and 18 wins, resulting in a unanimous Cy Young Award.

"It's hard not to go with Skubal after he was the best pitcher in the game last year. He was awesome,” said an American League first baseman.

Skubal continued his excellent season in October when he was the leading force for an upstart Tigers club that didn’t just make the playoffs but also won the Wild Card Series against Houston and pushed Cleveland to Game 5 of the ALDS before losing. In his three starts, Skubal allowed just five runs in 19 innings and struck out 20 batters.

“He almost single-handedly won that [ALDS] series for them," said an American League outfielder. "He went out three times and did his thing three times. There's only one pitch he regrets, and everything else was untouchable."

2. Zack Wheeler, Phillies

Wheeler has consistently been one of baseball’s top pitchers since he signed with the Phillies before the 2020 season. After dealing with injuries and inconsistency with the Mets from 2013-19, Wheeler has been a durable innings-eating ace in Philadelphia.

In five seasons with the Phillies, Wheeler has tossed 829 1/3 innings in the regular season with a 2.94 ERA that is a near match for his 2.96 FIP. Wheeler has finished top 10 in National League Cy Young Award voting in three of the last four seasons, including a second-place finish in 2024 (2.57 ERA and 224 strikeouts in 200 innings).

“He pitches at such an elite level, and then just the bulk he posts every year," said an American League starting pitcher. "It's just like he seems to show up every time, so he's a big-game pitcher as well."

That pitcher isn’t lying about Wheeler’s dominance in big games. In 70 1/3 playoff innings (all with the Phillies), Wheeler has an absurd 2.18 ERA with 77 strikeouts, 14 walks and just 37 hits allowed.

3. Paul Skenes, Pirates

It took little time for Skenes to justify his selection as the No. 1 pick in the 2023 Draft. Less than a year after being drafted, Skenes debuted and promptly took the league by storm to immediately become one of baseball’s top pitchers.

Skenes tossed 133 innings with a 1.96 ERA that was tops among all pitchers with at least 100 innings. He struck out a whopping 170 batters and 33.1 percent of opposing hitters while flashing excellent control (6.2 percent walk rate) for a pitcher with this type of stuff. The result was Skenes winning NL Rookie of the Year and finishing third in Cy Young Award voting 498 days after he was drafted.

“I’ve only watched him, but the stuff he can do at that velocity is ridiculous," said an American League third baseman. "Lots of guys can throw hard but I haven’t seen anyone else control it like that or set you up like that."

The stuff truly is remarkable. Skenes mainly relied on a 98.8 mph average four-seamer and his 94 mph trademark splinker, while mixing in a curveball, sweeper, slider and changeup. More is coming too, as Skenes has been flashing a cutter this spring.

4. Chris Sale, Braves

What’s more surprising: that he didn’t win his first Cy Young Award until his age-35 season or that he even returned to that level in the first place?

After battling injuries for the final four years of his Boston tenure, Sale was traded to Atlanta before the 2024 season and promptly took home the NL Cy Young Award for the Braves. Like Skubal, Sale won his league's pitching Triple Crown with his 2.38 ERA, 225 strikeouts and 18 wins.

“He's just nasty,” said a National League third baseman.

Indeed he is. Like his peak years from 2012-18, Sale dominated with his mid-90s heater, devastating slider and changeup to generate a 32.1 percent strikeout rate. Sale also walked just 5.6 percent of hitters, giving him the daunting combo of elite stuff and command.

5. Jacob deGrom, Rangers

It speaks volumes that deGrom is still valued this much by his peers given the injuries he’s endured in recent years. deGrom returned last September with a trio of starts after undergoing Tommy John Surgery in June 2023, his first season with the Rangers.

deGrom has not thrown more than 100 innings in a season since 2019 but when he’s been on the mound, no starter has been more dominant. From 2020-24, deGrom has thrown 265 1/3 innings with a 2.10 ERA and 1.80 FIP, while striking out a staggering 411 batters (41.5 percent strikeout rate) compared to just 42 walks (4.2 percent walk rate).

“When he's healthy, he's the best in the game,” said a National League reliever.

deGrom is healthy this spring and gearing up for what could be a pivotal season for him. If there’s good health for the next chapter in deGrom’s career, the sport of baseball would be better for it.

Others receiving votes: Emmanuel Clase, Gerrit Cole (Note: Vote was conducted before his injury), Corbin Burnes, Garrett Crochet, Blake Snell, Logan Gilbert, Jhoan Duran, Dylan Cease, Sandy Alcantara, Tyler Glasnow, Shane McClanahan, Max Fried, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Shohei Ohtani, Nathan Eovaldi, Justin Verlander