Projecting Rest of Season Top 10 Starting Pitchers in 2025 Fantasy Baseball (Week 6)

May 7, 2025

Kevin projects which 10 pitchers will finish the season in the top 10 for the 2025 fantasy baseball season, as we head into Week 6 of MLB action.

It's our Week 6 edition of our Top 10 Starting Pitchers series for fantasy baseball and the 2025 season. Starting pitching is one of the most important things to focus on in fantasy baseball, as consistent production helps bring you more consistent fantasy success.

Many pitchers who came in with high expectations have faltered a bit, while others have posted some surprising starts. Soon enough, things will all even out, but some of those unexpectedly hot starters may just keep things going for the rest of the season.

With nearly a month and a half of the season in the books, let's take a look at this season's current top-ranked pitchers.

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Current Top 10 Starting Pitchers for Fantasy Baseball

According to Yahoo's player rankings, here are the top 10 most valuable starting pitchers in standard leagues (as of May 6).

Ranking as the current top pitcher in fantasy baseball, Hunter Brown has continued his torrid stretch as the Astros' apparent ace. Since June of last season, he's been the best pitcher in baseball by fWAR and has a 2.14 ERA. His strikeout rate of 31 percent is balanced out by his 29.3 percent hard-hit rate, which ranks in the 94th percentile. He's incredibly well-rounded and holds a ton of value.

Hunter Brown, Painted 97mph Two Seamer. 🖌️🎨 pic.twitter.com/2TFhohl1Yd

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 3, 2025

Carlos Rodon stays in the No. 2 spot after tossing nearly seven innings of shutout ball against the Padres on Monday. After struggling with walks to start the season, the lefty has now posted back-to-back starts without multiple walks. That's a great sign for him as it's holding back many of his advanced stats, specifically his FIP (3.56) and xFIP (3.32) that point toward a slight amount of negative regression.

If Rodon can keep that walk rate down, then the rest of his numbers will continue to improve. The strikeout rate is back over 30 percent for the first time since 2022, meaning fantasy managers will get even more value out of him with tons of Ks that hopefully line up with more wins from that Yankees offense.

It's a good season to be a pitcher named Hunter as Cincinnati's Hunter Greene shoots up to the No. 3 spot. The 25-year-old struck out 12 Nationals in his most recent start this past Friday, getting 18 whiffs for the second straight game. He's thrown seven or more strikeouts in all but one start this season, giving the Reds flamethrower plenty of staying power inside the top 10.

What a performance by Hunter Greene 😤

He racked up TWELVE strikeouts! pic.twitter.com/1jojeIdBaO

— MLB (@MLB) May 3, 2025

Max Fried pokes his way into the top 10 this week as the second Yankees southpaw on the list. Unlike Rodon, Fried is providing value without the gaudy strikeout numbers and instead is continuing his soft contact approach that worked so well for him in Atlanta.

The big question for Fried will simply be how much longer he can keep up this hot start, as all signs point toward some hard negative regression coming. Hitters are only hitting for a .239 wOBA right now with a .297 xwOBA. That's a pretty strong xwOBA to post, but it won't keep him in the top 10 without more strikeouts.

Max Fried, Painted 84mph Sweeper. 🖌️🎨 pic.twitter.com/3t8I1y8pJI

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 2, 2025

Freddy Peralta joins the crew this week as well after a six-inning, seven-strikeout performance against the Cubs over the weekend. It's the most strikeouts Peralta has thrown since April 2, a good sign for him, given he's usually a big strikeout guy. He'll need to get more strikeouts to stay near the top 10 going forward.

And after the usual suspects, we see Nick Pivetta holding onto the No. 10 spot. In his last start against the Yankees on Monday, he gave up just two earned runs, but also threw four walks. It's just the second game this season where he hasn't shown strong control and given up three or more walks. He'll get a nice chance to turn things around in his next scheduled start on Sunday against the Colorado Rockies.

Projected Top 10 Starting Pitchers for Fantasy Baseball

Plenty will change between now and October, though. Here's how I think the top 10 will look by the end of the season. I based these rankings on where each pitcher stands now, what the underlying metrics indicate about their performance, and who will likely have sustained success over the next five months.

My rest-of-season projections change weekly, but here's where they stand for now.

Topping the list again is Dodgers starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto. With a 2.30 xFIP to go along with his 0.90 ERA, we're certainly looking at some negative regression coming for him. But even if we assume the ERA jumps to 2.30, that's still going to be an incredibly good outcome for the Japanese superstar. The only true critique right now for Yamamoto is that his walks are up a bit, but if he can regain a little more control, he'll continue to be in the driver's seat going forward.

Philadelphia workhorse Zack Wheeler comes in at No. 2. Maybe a victim of bad luck, his 3.48 ERA is buoyed by a 2.64 xFIP, pointing toward plenty of positive regression heading the 34-year-old's way. Combine the positive regression with Wheeler's ability to continually get deep into games, and he provides plenty of fantasy value for anyone who's got him on their roster.

Zack Wheeler, K'ing the Side in the 7th.

13Ks thru 7. 😯 pic.twitter.com/J3lnTLi87T

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 19, 2025

Giants ace Logan Webb comes in at No. 4. Don't be surprised if, by the end of the season, Webb finds himself in Cy Young conversations as his 2.61 ERA is paired with a 2.35 xFIP. His strikeout numbers are a driving force here as they are way up this season, sitting at a 28.7 percent strikeout rate compared to his career number of 22.4 percent. With an already impressive season and positive regression coming, he's got plenty of staying power.

Logan Webb's 3Ks in the 2nd. 🕸️ pic.twitter.com/XwNpayqWFJ

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 4, 2025

Tarik Skubal's currently sitting just outside the top 10, but the lefty is starting to get things rolling. He made just one mistake in his last start against the Angels (a first pitch homer to Zach Neto), but recovered by striking out eight over six innings, including a strikeout of Neto that included a bit of a verbal exchange between the two.

The only thing holding back any fantasy value for last year's AL Cy Young winner may simply be Detroit protecting its ace by watching his pitch count closely. Though he went six deep on Friday, he threw just 73 pitches and didn't come out for the seventh. The Tigers will be watching over him closely with higher postseason expectations this year.

Tarik Skubal and Zach Neto went back and forth after Skubal got the strike out pic.twitter.com/TXIY7gxQmF

— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) May 3, 2025

Paul Skenes comes in at our No. 8 spot. Skenes posted just his second bad start of the season against the Cubs last Thursday, allowing three HRs and four walks while striking out just two batters. Though he's getting good results overall, as his 2.74 ERA and 3.01 xFIP suggest, one has to wonder what happened to his strikeout numbers. A drop from 33.1 percent to 24.8 percent has to be a worry for fantasy managers, even though he's still limiting runs from a holistic perspective.

Cole Ragans rounds out our top 10 after a strong start against the White Sox, where he struck out 11 in five innings. We've been pointing toward plenty of positive regression heading his way, and that still should be coming on strong for him soon. His 3.79 ERA comes along with a 2.23 xFIP. That's all driven significantly by his 38.5 percent strikeout rate. As long as his most recent groin injury doesn't hamper him, he's likely to continue climbing up the rankings in future editions of this article.

Who do you think is missing from the list, RotoBallers? Let me know! Reach out to me here on X and share your thoughts.

Thanks for reading, and good luck the rest of this fantasy baseball season!

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