Projecting Rest of Season Top 10 Starting Pitchers in 2026 Fantasy Baseball

May 19, 2026

Dan Palyo projects which 10 starting pitchers will finish the season in the top 10 for the 2026 fantasy baseball season as we head into Week 8 of MLB action.

If you took a starting pitcher in the early rounds of drafts this spring, I hope it was Paul Skenes, Cristopher Sanchez, or Chris Sale. Managers who clicked Tarik Skubal, Logan Gilbert, or Logan Webb might be regretting those decisions.

Personally, I have too much exposure to Eury Perez on my rosters and not enough Chase Burns or Jacob Misiorowski, who are both cracking the top ten right now. There's still time for Perez to get going, but he's been nowhere nearly as impressive as the other two, especially Misiorowski, who continues to mow down MLB hitters as if they are little leaguers.

So, which starting pitchers do we expect to finish in the top 10 by the end of the season? Let's start by looking at the current top 10 starters as of today, May 19, 2026.

Current Top 10 Starting Pitchers for Fantasy Baseball

Here are the top 10 most valuable starting pitchers in 5x5 roto leagues right now, according to Yahoo's player rankings. All stats were current through Sunday, May 17.

Toss out Paul Skenes first inning of the season against the Mets on opening day, and he's been dominant since. And for those who thought that Chris Sale might be finally "over the hill" at age 37 (myself included), the big lefty has proven otherwise. Seeing Skenes and Sale near the top of the list is no surprise, but Cam Schlittler's breakout has provided some massive value for fantasy managers who bought into his strong rookie campaign and spring training and took him in drafts.

Schlittler's results are no fluke either; he's missing bats and inducing a lot of weak contact, while also exhibiting elite control with a walk rate under 5%. I have him projected to stick in the top four, so he's absolutely not a sell-high candidate for me.

Davis Martin, on the other hand, probably is. The White Sox right-hander has been nothing shy of amazing for Chicago lately, but has never posted numbers like this before at any time in his career. He also lacks the top-notch velocity or big-time secondary pitch that most dominant starters have, so while I don't think he's going to implode by any means, I do think that some regression should be expected, and the ERA indicators agree (3.01 SIERA, 3.66 xERA).

Davis Martin, Filthy 87mph Slider. 😷

And is fired up. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/pZT1pBjYZF

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 17, 2026

While Shohei Ohtani hasn't been as dominant at the plate as he has been in years prior, he is off to arguably the best start of his career as a pitcher. The underlying numbers all support his fantastic start, and the only thing really limiting his ceiling is the fact that he'll never pitch enough innings to rack up the raw wins and strikeouts to stick in the top five.

Let's talk about a few pitchers that I see dropping out of the top ten. Jose Soriano, as much as he's arguably been one of the best values at the position this season, is starting to show some cracks in the armor. He has allowed 15 of the 16 earned runs this season in his last four starts, including five earned runs to the White Sox and six earned runs to the Dodgers in his last outing. The strikeouts are still going to be there, and I think he'll still easily outperform his numbers from last season, but it's pretty clear now that he was pitching over his head in March and April.

The regression monster already struck Shota Imanaga last night, as he had his worst outing of the season against the Brewers in very hitter-friendly conditions at Wrigley.

The Milwaukee Brewers have put up 8 runs against Shota Imanaga with 1 out in the 5th inning.

Imanaga had allowed 0 or 1 ER in 6 of 9 starts and hadn’t allowed more than 4 ER in any start.

Imanaga’s night is over after 79 pitches. pic.twitter.com/UsQQlikz9u

— Hunter Baumgardt (@hunterbonair) May 19, 2026

Imanaga's stats in the chart don't reflect this start, but he's already dropped a few spots, and as my good friend and super-smart buddy Nick Mariano pointed out to me last night, "That won't be the only warm night with the wind blowing out in Chicago this season." Imanaga is poised to have a very good season, but he probably doesn't belong in the same conversation as most of the other guys on the list.

Projected Top 10 Starting Pitchers for Fantasy Baseball

When we factor in the remaining schedule and adjust for some expected regression, we end up with this list - my prediction for which relief pitchers finish as the top 10 closers by the end of the season.

Alright, let's get to a few guys off to incredible starts that I didn't mention in the first section. I feel like having the Miz ranked second going forward isn't all that much of a stretch. His ranking is only being held down by his three wins, as he's been nearly unhittable this year and is racking up strikeouts in bunches. Hitters just aren't ready for 102 mph fastballs that are being dotted on every edge of the strike zone, and the improved control has led to fewer baserunners and more reliable results.

Cristopher Sanchez is now tied for the most strikeouts among starters with Miz after whiffing 13 Pirates over the weekend. Even after taking a huge leap last year, Sanchez has been even better in 2026 and is showing no signs of slowing down.

Now, for the pitchers who I think can creep up into the top ten over the rest of the season.

Dylan Cease has a 2.81 SIERA and 2.90 xERA this year, and like Miz, his ranking is really being held back by a lack of wins as he's won just three games despite starting for a good Toronto team. I expect the wins to come at some point, and if they do, then Cease is a legitimate Cy Young contender in the American League, a race that is now wide open since Tarik Skubal won't make enough starts due to his injury to be in contention.

Nasty stuff from Dylan Cease tonight pic.twitter.com/P5ApeQSsee

— Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) May 9, 2026

Jacob deGrom has been quietly very good again. He also has just three wins this season, despite having some sparkling underlying numbers that include a 2.92 SIERA and a 16.7% SwStr% that trails only Misiorowski among starters. He has to stay healthy to do it, but he made 30 starts last season and may be finally ready to shed his injury-prone reputation.

Zack Wheeler hasn’t skipped a beat since returning from injury 🔥

31.2 IP | 1.99 ERA | 30 K’s | 7 BB | 0.88 WHIP

Every whiff and called strike from his 7 shutout innings vs. Pittsburgh:pic.twitter.com/7CUN0ZW1uq

— Baseball Performances (@MLBPerformances) May 17, 2026

The Phillies already had Cristopher Sanchez ace-ing around, but have to be thrilled with what they've gotten from Wheels since he's come back from the injury that ended his 2025 season.

Wheeler outdueled Skenes on Sunday, striking out seven Pirates without allowing a run, and lowered his ERA to 1.99. His strikeout numbers have dipped a bit, but he's still pounding the strike zone and getting ground balls (50% GB%), while eating innings. It's certainly not a stretch to think that Wheeler, at 85% of his former self, is still good enough to be a top ten pitcher in the league.

A few guys who I'd like to add here as "honorable mentions" include Parker Messick, Nolan McLean, and Michael King.

Messick has been as good as any of us could have hoped (I was a big fan of his coming into the season), but I am not sure he will have enough strikeouts to crack into the top ten. He's still poised for a great year and could end up one of the best late-round values in the draft (or waiver pickup if you managed to snag him there early).

McLean has been better than I thought, but I don't think he can sustain that 30% K% with a SwStr% under 10%. He does get an awesome amount of movement on his sinker and slider, but eventually, he's going to see those strikeouts dip. The good news is that his batted ball data has been solid, too (5.8% Barrel%, 2.76 xERA), so the floor is still very high.

King really put himself on the radar last night, going seven scoreless against the Dodgers, while striking out nine and outdueling Yoshinobu Yamamoto. He was quietly putting up very good numbers before that, and looks totally healthy again.

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