Projecting Rest of Season Top 10 Starting Pitchers in 2025 Fantasy Baseball (Week 7)

May 14, 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 7 of MLB action.

It's our Week 7 edition of our Top 10 Starting Pitchers series for fantasy baseball and the 2025 season. Consistent starting pitching in your fantasy lineup can lead you to much easier wins, making it one of the more important things to focus on with your roster.

We're starting to reach our middle ground, where pitchers with surprisingly hot starts are proving whether they're real or not. Those with high expectations that faltered out of the gates are starting to get things turned back around. A clearer picture of what's real is helping us make easier fantasy baseball decisions.

With nearly two months 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 13).

Coming in at the top spot this week is Zack Wheeler. A two-start week for the Phillies workhorse proved yet again why he's so dominant. He recorded two wins, both on the road, with eight and nine strikeouts and just two ER allowed across 14 innings. With a 2.58 xFIP, we may be looking at even more positive regression heading Wheeler's way.

Nathan Eovaldi creeps into the No. 3 spot. Just like Wheeler, Eovaldi put up two strong road starts last week in which he recorded the win. He notched seven strikeouts in each and allowed just one ER across 13 innings of work. The expected stats point toward some negative regression coming his way, but a 2.48 xFIP points to a lot of truth in his dominant start to the season.

Nathan Eovaldi, Nasty 90mph Splitter. ✌️ pic.twitter.com/c0yDPtLBla

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 11, 2025

Hunter Greene was on his way to yet another dominant start, striking out six Braves in three innings. But the 25-year-old was pulled early and is now on the 15-day IL with a groin strain. That will certainly put a damper on his full-season stats as fantasy managers can only hope he keeps this same form once he returns from the IL later this month.

Carlos Rodon and Max Fried keep on holding onto spots in the top 10. Rodon posted a strong outing against the A's on Saturday by striking out 10, though he did allow four ER in a no-decision. A continuing positive trend for Rodon was that he didn't walk anybody. With control being an early season issue for him, this is a turn in the right direction.

Carlos Rodón, Wicked 86mph Slider. 🤢 pic.twitter.com/RBy3XP0Ldv

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 29, 2025

For the Yankees' other southpaw, Fried was strong against the Padres last week as he struck out eight in seven innings and gave up just one ER. An uptick in strikeouts certainly helps Fried's fantasy value, as it's a change from his normal soft-contact approach. If he can generate more whiffs while getting similar soft-contact results, he'll continue to stay at or near the top of the rankings.

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

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 2, 2025

One of the bigger risers on the list this week is Tarik Skubal, who's starting to look scary good again. The 2024 AL Cy Young winner struck out 12 Rangers in seven innings last Friday while picking up the win. Skubal generated 32 whiffs, setting a new Tigers franchise record. Back-to-back Cy Young Awards may be coming for Skubal if he stays on this path.

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.

Skubal jumps up into the two-spot in our rankings as Wheeler takes the lead. Both are looking phenomenal, regardless of how you chop it up. Wheeler has some positive regression coming his way, while Skubal has a very slight amount of negative regression around the corner. Regardless, both pitchers are in fantastic spots to bring plenty of value to fantasy managers.

Tarik Skubal, 99mph ⛽️

7th K pic.twitter.com/J4xZAryhkN

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 9, 2025

Hunter Brown continues his reign as Astros ace after striking out nine Reds on Friday night. His quality start streak is over, but he's recorded a win in six of eight starts this season for Houston. The 26-year-old has limited the long ball this year and holds a ridiculous 2.8 percent HR/FB rate. If he keeps staying efficient, he'll continue driving plenty of fantasy value.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto drops a few spots after a rough outing against Arizona. The 26-year-old was due for a bit of negative regression after a strong start, but still holds a 2.51 xFIP after giving up five ER in five innings. After a scheduled start against the A's this week, Yamamoto will have a chance to avenge himself against Arizona on May 19th.

Logan Webb clocks in at five. He posted another strong start against the Twins, striking out nine and allowing just two ER in seven innings of work. The 28-year-old vet has a 2.60 ERA to go along with a 2.31 xFIP, meaning even more positive regression is likely to come. With a career-high strikeout percentage of 29.3 percent driving those numbers, Webb has a chance not only to continue driving fantasy value but to potentially sneak into Cy Young conversations with Wheeler and Yamamoto.

Logan Webb, Painted 94mph Back Door Sinker. 🖌️🎨 pic.twitter.com/AMaagSYe94

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 11, 2025

Garrett Crochet continues to deliver for the Red Sox. His 1.93 ERA leads Boston and is helping balance out subpar ERAs from Walker Buehler (4.28) and Tanner Houck (8.04). The main blemish on Crochet's numbers is his walk percentage. It's up to 9.3 percent, when last season he posted a 5.5 percent number. In his last start against the Royals, he only allowed one walk, something he's done in just three of nine starts this season. The more he limits his walks, the more value he'll continue to drive.

Garrett Crochet is THAT guy. pic.twitter.com/vLy9R7omOE

— Section 10 Podcast (@Section10Pod) May 11, 2025

MacKenzie Gore comes in at No. 7 in our rankings. While his ERA isn't what you'd expect for a top 10 pitcher, his strikeout numbers lead the league. Wheeler is the only other pitcher close, but it's taken almost six more innings to get there compared to Gore. Those strikeouts are driving his 2.60 xFIP, pointing to plenty of positive regression heading the southpaw's way. If Washington's offense can muster up more run support and get Gore more wins, then he'll shoot up this list even further.

Coming in behind Gore is Paul Skenes. It's hard to say Skenes has had a disappointing start to the season because no pitcher is disappointing when you have a 2.63 ERA. But from a fantasy perspective, he is behind pace in strikeouts, an area we expected him to dominate.

His CSW% has dropped from 29.4 percent to 26.6 percent while his strikeout rate has dropped from 33.1 percent to 24.7 percent. So the drop in strikeouts may rebound here soon, but not at the level we expect. He provides plenty of value, but until the strikeouts return, he won't reach his full potential.

Paul Skenes, Filthy 93mph Splinker. 😷

Slowed it down a little so you can see how it comes off his fingers. pic.twitter.com/WyoDAwteMq

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 1, 2025

We round out the top 10 with Carlos Rodon and Nathan Eovaldi. After highlighting Rodon being in the current top 10 for multiple weeks now, it's time to recognize he may have a lot of staying power. With Eovaldi, the numbers simply show that what we're getting isn't all that fluky. Both jump into the top 10 after the groin strain to Hunter Greene put his rest-of-season value into question, though it won't be a shock to see him back up in the top 10 once he's healthy again and proves the strain won't hold him back.

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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