Eric Cross' Pitcher Dynasty Rankings: Part 1

Part 1 of Eric Cross' top starting pitcher (SP) dynasty fantasy baseball rankings (#1-10) heading into 2025. His top SP targets for fantasy baseball dynasty leagues.

After going through every offensive position in my dynasty rankings series, we've now reached the mound for my top 10 dynasty starting pitcher fantasy baseball rankings.

As always, the starting pitcher position is loaded and deep. We had plenty of names rise up rankings last year, and will be getting elite names like Shane McClanahan and Sandy Alcantara back from injury this year along with several others. Frankly, I'm not sure the starting pitcher position has had this level of elite talent and depth in quite some time.

Given the immense talent at this position -- I'll be discussing the top 10 starting pitchers below in Part 1, and be sure to read Part 2 for starting pitchers ranked #11-20 as well. For my additional fantasy baseball rankings and dynasty write-ups, check out my Patreon, where you can find my full top 200 dynasty starting pitcher rankings. Be sure to also bookmark RotoBaller's dynasty fantasy baseball rankings which are constantly updated.

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Starting Pitcher Dynasty Rankings for Fantasy Baseball (#1-10)

1. Paul Skenes, PIT (Age 22)

We just witnessed one of the best rookie pitching seasons in the history of baseball with Paul Skenes in 2024. In 23 starts, Skenes recorded a stellar 1.96 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 6.2% walk rate, and a 33.1% strikeout rate. In fact, only Spencer Strider in 2022 had a higher K-BB% as a rookie in MLB history. All six of Skenes' offerings had an xBA below .240 and an xSLG below .340. He's also adding a cutter, which simply isn't fair.

Paul Skenes, New Cutter? pic.twitter.com/T9pRvmxAjJ

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) March 1, 2025

I'm not sure I've ever put a player coming off his rookie season at the top of any positional dynasty rankings, but it's certainly warranted here with Skenes. If he doesn't win multiple Cy Young Awards in his career, I'd be downright shocked. For 2025, Tarik Skubal vs Skenes is a great debate, but Skenes gets the nod here as he is around five and a half years younger than Skubal.

2. Tarik Skubal, DET (Age 28)

The 2024 American League Cy Young award winner is coming off the best season of his career with a 2.39 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, and a 25.6% K-BB rate that ranked second in baseball behind Chris Sale among qualified starters. Overall, Skubal ranked in the top 15% of pitchers in xERA, xBA, fastball velocity, whiff rate, strikeout rate, walk rate, and hard-hit rate allowed.

Skubal's metrics across the board are elite and his changeup was one of the best in baseball with a .216 BAA, .322 SLG, and 6.1% whiff rate. he also had a sub-.210 BAA on his sinker, slider, curveball, and 4-seamer. This is going to be a Tier-1 fantasy SP for the foreseeable future.

3. Spencer Strider, ATL (Age 26)

Strider was the dynasty SP1 a year ago before needing internal brace surgery on his pitching elbow, which limited him to only two starts in 2024 and will cost him the beginning of 2025 as well.

As we've seen, Strider is one of the best strikeout arms we've ever seen with a career 36.9% strikeout rate to date. An elite slider that had a .153 BAA and 55.3% whiff rate is a big reason for the elite strikeout rate, but Strider can miss bats with his 4-seamer as well and had a 28.7% whiff rate and 127 strikeouts on the offering in 2023.

Strider's elite strikeout production helps keep his value high even when his ERA isn't elite, as was the case in 2023 when he had a 3.86 ERA. If he's able to return to form in 2025, Strider could once again push for the dynasty SP1 title. Although, Skenes and Skubal will be hard to jump in rankings.

4. Logan Gilbert, SEA (Age 27)

The second half of the 2024 season made me put Logan Gilbert inside my Top-5 dynasty pitchers. He wasn't far off as it was, but Gilbert increased his strikeout rate as the season wore on and finished the second half with a 3.07 FIP, 2.45 xFIP, 0.92 WHIP, 4% walk rate, and a 31.7% strikeout rate.

Logan Gilbert throwing CHEDDAR. 🧀

T100.3 mph pic.twitter.com/5PNG1bkccc

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 29, 2024

Whenever we see a jump like this, we need to ask if it's legitimate or not. In this case, I'm a believer, as Gilbert threw fewer fastballs (combining 4-seam, sinker, and cutter) in August and September in favor of more breaking and offspeed pitches (combining slider, curveball, and splitter). If Gilbert can maintain a strikeout rate close to 30% in 2025, this top-5 ranking should stick moving forward.

5. Garrett Crochet, BOS (Age 25)

Some might scoff at Garrett Crochet being this high already, but I'm 100% believing in the dominance we saw in 2024. While his ERA was 3.58, Crochet had a 2.85 xERA, 1.07 WHIP, 5.5% walk rate, and a 35.1% strikeout rate while ranking in the top 13% of pitchers in xBA, xSLG, xwOBA, chase rate, whiff rate, walk rate, and strikeout rate.

If he had enough innings to qualify, Crochet would've led the Majors in K-BB% by a whopping 2.8% over Skenes. Now in Boston, Crochet will see his workload increase in his second full season as a starter, and a run at AL Cy Young is certainly possible.

6. Corbin Burnes, ARI (Age 30)

After the top five is where this position opens up in my dynasty rankings. Corbin Burnes has been inside my top-5 dynasty rankings for the last several seasons, but Burnes's strikeout rate has dropped considerably over the last two seasons, down to 23.1% in 2024 after being above 30% in 2020-2022.

However, Burnes's cutter was missing more bats late last season, so hopefully, we can see his strikeout rate tick back up in 2025. He was throwing it a tick slower with more vMOV and hMOV and has been throwing the same version of his cutter this spring. Even if an uptick in the strikeout rate doesn't happen, Burnes is one of the most durable arms in the game and provides elite volume with good ratios.

7. Roki Sasaki, LAD (Age 23)

Finding an appropriate spot for Roki Sasaki in these rankings was difficult. While Sasaki's strikeout rate dipped in 2024, he's still put together four stellar seasons in Japan and had a 2.02 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, 5.6% walk rate, and a 32.4% strikeout rate in 414.2 innings from 2021-2024.

All 7 Swings & Misses on Rōki Sasaki's Splitter from last night.

87% Whiff Rate. 😲 pic.twitter.com/2qm3O0dObi

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) March 5, 2025

Sasaki made his spring debut on March 4, averaging 98 mph on his fastball and creating nightmares for opposing hitters with his splitter. Sasaki threw 18 splitters in his 46-pitch outing with a 50% CSW and ridiculous 88% whiff rate on the offering.

It's always difficult to predict how foreign players will adapt to a new league and new country, but Sasaki has the stuff to be one of the best pitchers in baseball and is only 23 years old.

8. Cole Ragans, KCR (Age 27)

Ever since Cole Ragans landed in Kansas City and became a full-time starter, he's been one of the best in baseball. In 44 starts since arriving in Kansas City, Ragans has posted a 3.00 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, and 20.8% K-BB rate across 258 innings. He ranks 15th in innings, 6th in ERA, 16th in WHIP, 5th in BAA, and 13th in K-BB% over that span among the 65 pitchers with at least 200 innings.

While he might not be as flashy as many of the arms above him, Ragans has solidified himself as an ace moving forward. He's coming off a 2024 season where he had a 3.14 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 8.8% walk rate, and a 29.3% strikeout rate in 32 starts. He mixes five pitches and will throw all five to both right-handed and left-handed batters. Only the cutter had a BAA above .210 last season, and Ragans had three offerings with a whiff rate above 33%.

9. Zack Wheeler, PHI (Age 34)

Yes, he's 34, but Zack Wheeler is arguably the most reliable elite pitcher in baseball and is showing no signs of slowing down any time soon. Plus, age 34 for a starting pitcher is similar to age 30 for a hitter. This isn't a Gerrit Cole situation where the production has fallen off a bit recently, as Wheeler posted a 2.57 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, and 21.9% K-BB rate across 200 innings last season.

Wheeler has exceeded 180 innings in all but one full season dating back to 2018 and has only one season with an ERA over three over the last five seasons. He's also had more than 200 strikeouts in three of the last four seasons. This ranking will slowly go down as he gets further into his 30s, but Wheeler is still an ace and should keep that status for the next couple of seasons.

10. Eury Perez, MIA (Age 21)

We're not going to see Eury Perez until mid-season and he missed all of 2024, but this is one of the most talented pitchers on the planet who won't even turn 22 until mid-April. Perez had a phenomenal rookie season back in 2023 where he recorded a 3.15 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, and 2016% K-BB rate in 19 starts.

But what was even more impressive was that all three of Perez's secondaries (slider, curve, changeup) had a BAA under .200 and a whiff rate above 45%. Health permitting, Perez should be one of the best pitchers in baseball for the next decade and one that could jump up into tier one once he's back in game action later in 2025.

There's a buy-low window right now which I strongly encourage taking advantage of if the manager in your league is willing to discuss Perez in trade talks.

Stay tuned for 11-20 in the next few days! If you enjoyed these rankings and want to see additional rankings, analysis, and more, check out Eric's Toolshed Fantasy Patreon.

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