Only 30 pitchers receive the honor of an Opening Day start every season. And only one of those can top our Opening Day Starting Pitcher Power Rankings.
Before we get to the results of our poll, keep these things in mind:
- Not every elite starting pitcher in the game got the nod for Opening Day this season. Some who fell into that category and therefore were not eligible for this list were Corbin Burnes, Dylan Cease, Jacob deGrom, Max Fried and Blake Snell.
- Two Opening Day starters already pitched: the Cubs¡¯ Shota Imanaga and the Dodgers¡¯ Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who faced off in Game 1 of last week¡¯s Tokyo Series.
Eighteen of the 30 Opening Day starters received at least one vote from our panel.
1. Tarik Skubal, Tigers
Before coming off the injured list to make his season debut on July 4, 2023, Skubal was a 25-year-old with a 4.15 ERA and 100 ERA+ over 299 Major League innings. Since then? The left-hander has pretty clearly been the best pitcher in baseball, going 25-7 with a 2.51 ERA and 330 strikeouts over 46 starts. In 2024, he won the AL pitching Triple Crown and was a unanimous AL Cy Young Award pick.
2. Paul Skenes, Pirates
If anyone is going to knock Skubal from that ¡°best pitcher in baseball¡± perch this season, Skenes looks like the most likely candidate. In fact, a number of our voters already have him in the No. 1 spot right now. For as dominant as Skenes¡¯ rookie season was -- he posted a 1.96 ERA, 2.44 FIP and 5.3 K-to-BB ratio -- it still felt like the 22-year-old was just scratching the surface. He¡¯s certainly not resting on his laurels, continuing to add to his high-powered repertoire this spring.
3. Zack Wheeler, Phillies
While he dealt with some injury issues earlier in his career, Wheeler has been an absolute rock over the past seven seasons: seventh in the Majors in starts, second in innings pitched and wins, third in strikeouts and first in WAR (according to both Baseball-Reference and FanGraphs). Amazingly, he¡¯s been much more effective in his 30s (142 ERA+) than he was in his 20s (100).
4. Chris Sale, Braves
If this list were purely based off 2024 performance, Sale would have to be even higher. He matched Skubal¡¯s pitching Triple Crown in the NL and nearly matched his unanimous Cy Young Award win. Then again, Sale is about to turn 36 and 2024 was his first fully healthy and effective season since 2018. If he stays healthy, however, the elite talent that made Sale one of baseball¡¯s most overwhelming arms throughout the 2010s is still there.
5. Garrett Crochet, Red Sox
Crochet following Sale on this list is a fun coincidence. Both are lefties with nasty stuff. Both were drafted in the first round by the White Sox and debuted in Chicago as 21-year-olds while being used out of the bullpen. Both later found immediate success after jumping to the rotation, Sale back in 2012 and Crochet last year. Both were subsequently traded to Boston in a Sox swap. Next up: Can Crochet match Sale¡¯s early success upon arriving on the East Coast?
6. Cole Ragans, Royals
It was a turbulent journey for Ragans on his way to becoming an ace, one that included multiple Tommy John surgeries and a June 2023 trade from Texas to Kansas City. But now he¡¯s arrived. In his first full season as a Major League starter, Ragans made the 2024 AL All-Star team and struck out 223 batters with a 3.14 ERA as a key piece atop the rotation of a surprising playoff team. He finished fourth in AL Cy Young Award voting, and figures to have a shot to go even higher this year.
7. Logan Gilbert, Mariners
In each of his first three full Major League seasons, Gilbert has made at least 32 starts and posted an above-average ERA+. That sort of durability and reliability is highly valuable in today¡¯s game, and in 2024, the righty took his performance to another level. The first-time All-Star and Cy Young vote-getter led the Majors in innings (208 2/3) and WHIP (0.89), and he was especially tough at his pitcher-friendly home park, with a 2.49 ERA in Seattle.
8. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Dodgers
So far, so good for Yamamoto¡¯s second big league season. The 26-year-old got the win in Game 1 of the Tokyo Series against the Cubs, allowing one run over five innings. It was a much smoother debut than Yamamoto had a year ago, when the Dodgers opened the season in Seoul, South Korea. Yamamoto encountered some bumps as a rookie, including triceps tightness that kept him out for almost two months. But he also flashed the ability that convinced the Dodgers to commit more than $300 million to him as a free agent, including some big playoff performances on the way to a World Series title.
9. Framber Valdez, Astros
This is a huge year for Valdez, who is due to reach free agency after this season and could be one of the elite starting pitchers available next winter. The lefty has received AL Cy Young Award votes in three straight seasons and four of the past five, posting a 3.12 ERA (131 ERA+) over the latter span. Valdez may not miss bats at the rate of some other pitchers on this list, but with a 99th-percentile ground-ball rate in 2024, he finds success in other ways.
10-T. Logan Webb, Giants
Speaking of ground-ball pitchers, we have Webb, who consistently ranks among the game¡¯s elite in that area. Put him at spacious and pitcher-friendly Oracle Park, and Webb becomes almost impossible to take deep. In his career pitching in San Francisco, Webb has allowed just one homer per every 20.5 innings. Factor in his durability (back-to-back 200-inning seasons), and Webb has been one of baseball¡¯s most effective starters despite a lack of top-end velocity.
10-T. Shota Imanaga, Cubs
The good news about Imanaga¡¯s 2025 debut in that Tokyo Series opener? He didn¡¯t allow a hit. The bad news? The Dodgers worked him for an uncharacteristic four walks and pushed him out of the game after four innings. Many pitchers figure to have similar experiences against L.A. this year, however. It will be interesting to see if Imanaga can continue making the necessary counter-adjustments after taking the Majors by storm as a 30-year-old rookie from Japan in 2024.
Others receiving votes: Zac Gallen (D-backs), Hunter Greene (Reds), Sandy Alcantara (Marlins), Michael King (Padres), Pablo L¨®pez (Twins), Freddy Peralta (Brewers), Sonny Gray (Cardinals)
Voters: David Adler, Chris Begley, Brett Blueweiss, Jason Catania, Scott Chiusano, Theo DeRosa, Daniel Feldman, Doug Gausepohl, Thomas Harrigan, Bryan Horowitz, Brent Maguire, Travis Miller, Ricardo Montes de Oca, Brian Murphy, Arturo Pardavila, Manny Randhawa, Andrew Simon, Ismail Soyugenc, David Venn, Tom Vourtsis, Andy Werle