Best Pitchers of MLB 2024: To be honest, the starting pitcher position in fantasy baseball is the most crucial one. Starters will make up 25–30% of most teams and supply the bulk of your pitching totals; you can tolerate a miss at certain other positions. This might be a lengthy season if you don’t make the right decisions here.
Who are the best pitchers in MLB 2024?
The Top 2
Gerrit Cole and Ian Strider
Gerrit Cole continues to be one of the MLB’s most dominant pitchers After leading the American League with 209 innings pitched, a 2.63 ERA, and a 0.98 WHIP in the previous season, Cole finally won the Cy Young Award. Even though his 27% strikeout rate and 222 strikeouts were both lower than in prior seasons, he continues to stand out. The Yankees’ ace, who is about to turn 33, may be approaching a period of decline.
Pro Kabaddi 2023 Final: Key Player Matchups to Watch; Puneri Paltan vs Haryana Steelers
Ian Strider has become one of the league’s most exciting young pitchers very rapidly. With a wide variety of pitches at his disposal and a remarkable sense of timing, Strider has the composure and experience of a seasoned pro. His ability to precisely spot pitches and mix speeds keeps pitchers off balance, making him an amazing opponent.
Tier 2
George Kirby, Luis Castillo, Corbin Burnes, Zack Wheeler, Kevin Gausman, Zac Gallen, and Pablo López
Last year, Burnes, Wheeler, Castillo, Kirby, and Gallen had a strikeout percentage of about 25%. While they may not be considered great, their sheer size—each player has played more than 190 innings—still delivered fantasy managers a ton of strikeouts. They all placed in the top 12 in WHIP as well. In his first full season, Kirby’s walk rate (2.5%) was the lowest in the Majors. Burnes and Baltimore should continue to be formidable.
Over the last two seasons, Gausman has struggled with high BABIPs (.363 in 2022 and.321 in ’23). However, his performance over that time frame (3.25 ERA, 2.68 FIP, and an 11.1 K/9 rate across 359 2/3 innings) doesn’t give much cause for concern. Strider’s 23.8% K-BB rate from the previous year was higher than his own.
On that ranking, López came in third (23.2%). More strikeouts (234) and less harmful contact (6.3% barrel rate) accompanied an increase in velocity. Last season, a lot of pitchers added sweepers to their repertoire, and the Twins’ right-hander was one of them. With that pitch, he held batters to an average of.173 and an expected weighted on-base average of.205.
Tier 3
Logan Webb, Freddy Peralta, Framber Valdez, Blake Snell, Tarik Skubal, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Aaron Nola, Tyler Glasnow, and Max Fried
This group of the top two starters can be divided into a few distinct subgroups. You have your workhorses, Webb, Valdez, and Nola.
Based on how they concluded the 2023 season, your youthful arms appear to be ready to step up. Peralta and Skubal are included in this. Over 30 innings in September, the former pitcher struck out 43 batters and walked four, giving up three earned runs. After the All-Star break, he had an MLB-best K-BB rate of 30.6%.
These are your high-risk, high-reward throwers: Glasnow, Fried, and Snell. Despite tossing 332 2/3 innings for those five years, Glasnow has an incredible 35% strikeout percentage. Given that he pitched a career-high 120 innings the previous season, what is his ceiling in his first Dodgers season? While making three visits to the disabled list last year, Fried still managed to contribute 77 2/3 innings. His 162 ERA+ since 2020 demonstrates how well he has performed when healthy.
Snell led the Majors in walks and has just twice in his career surpassed 129 1/3 innings in a season (during his two Cy Young seasons). Nevertheless, he won his second career Cy Young Award in 2023 with a 2.25 ERA and 234 K’s.