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

June 9, 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 11 of MLB action.

The cream is rising to the top! By this point in the season, we are starting to see the elite pitchers in MLB separate themselves from the pack. There are still some pitchers who are likely underperforming or overperforming, but there's not much argument about the top five, or maybe six, starting pitchers in baseball.

After that, there are certainly some conversations to be had. Can Tarik Skubal reestablish his dominance once he's back from his rehab stint? Will Paul Skenes snap out of his recent skid that has dropped his ranking? And which of these young studs (Chase Burns, Jacob Misiorowski, and Cam Schlittler) can stick in the top five?

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, June 9, 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 Monday, June 8.

Misiorowski and Sanchez are the two top arms in MLB, and they both just happen to be in the National League. It's a shame that one of them won't win a Cy Young this year, because both of them are on a blistering pace for huge strikeout totals and microscopic ratios.

Both pitchers are now inside the top-10 in overall ranking on Yahoo, with Miz moving up as high as third overall. Anything can happen, but these two feel entrenched atop the rankings, and if you have them on your roster (I actually have them both on the same team in one league), you have to feel pretty good about your rotation.

Cristopher Sánchez's 10th K pic.twitter.com/SZXimLBAPi

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) June 9, 2026

Gavin Williams is a new addition to the top-10 and managed to stay there by pitching relatively well against the Yankees last night. His ERA is the only real blemish on his resume, and he gave up two more home runs last night. I think he'll continue to be good, but I do have him dropping out of the top ten by the end of the year.

His teammate, Parker Messick, sneaks in at number 10 after Kyle Harrison dropped like a rock as a result of a blow-up start last night in Las Vegas. I am not too worried about Harrison long-term, and I think that big number he allowed last night has more to do with that elite hitting environment than it does with Harrison's stuff.

Parker Messick's 2Ks in the 1st pic.twitter.com/P5p4ETq9zn

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 19, 2026

Messick has been simply awesome in his first full season with Cleveland. The Guardians continue to be a pitching factory, and the fact that Messick doesn't rely on velocity or just a few pitches (he throws as many as six different pitches) bodes well for his long-term outlook. He's probably not dominant enough to keep a spot in the top ten, but he's likely to end up as one of the best draft day values in fantasy baseball.

Chase Burns refuses to go away and pitches again today against the slumping Padres. He's been every bit as good as we thought he could be...and maybe better. There's nothing but upside with Burns and I've seen enough from him to make me a believer.

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 starting pitchers by the end of the season.

I don't have that top five group changing much, and the one guy I didn't mention in the first section is Chris Sale, who continues to be rock solid every time out for the Braves this year in his age 37 season.

Let's talk about Tarik Skubal for a minute. He's already making rehab starts and is on pace to beat his initial timetable by nearly a full month thanks to a new NanoScope procedure. If he's back on the mound in Detroit in the next few weeks, he can still contribute at a high level for the entire second half of the season, whether it's for the Tigers or possibly a contender that is willing to pay a high price to acquire him before the trade deadline.

Why is Ohtani so far down the rankings in my projections? It's simple. His value right now is tied to his ERA (0.74) and WHIP (0.79). There's some inevitable regression coming to those ratios, and there's also a lack of innings and strikeouts for Ohtani compared to his other peers.

The last two spots in my projections have to go to pitchers with elite track records, and then I'll mention a few really good arms who are just on the outside of the top ten looking in.

Zack Wheeler faces a tough Toronto team today, but has been fantastic for Philadelphia this season, coming back from surgery to remove a blood clot in his shoulder, which forced him to miss the last two months of the 2025 season and the first month of this year.

He's lost some velocity on his heater (down to 95 mph from 96), but is throwing more splitters this season (13%). His secondary stuff continues to be very good, and his control is still borderline elite. He's been a workhorse when healthy and can pile up innings and wins, even if his strikeouts dip a little.

Zack Wheeler, Nasty 87mph Splitter. ✌️ pic.twitter.com/mLdow7YXmd

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 13, 2026

And speaking of "stay healthy, old man," we have Jacob deGrom here to round out the top ten. After a few troublesome starts in May, the veteran righty has reestablished his dominance lately with two scoreless starts in a row against the Cardinals and Guardians.

The underlying numbers for deGrom are quite good in terms of his strikeout ability, but he has been hit hard at times (10.4% Barrel, 3.63 xERA). If we are playing the long game, however, I think he'll be right there in the mix come October, as we saw last year that he can still pitch at a high level this late in his career.

While I have Williams and Messick dropping out of the top ten, I still expect really good years from them and good returns on your investments based on their ADP.

A few other pitchers who are knocking on the door here as honorable mentions are Max Meyer, Joe Ryan, Drew Rasmussen, Emerson Hancock and Davis Martin.

Joe Ryan could be set up for a big finish if he gets dealt from the Twins to a contender in July - something Minnesota should absolutely do while his value is high. I'm not sure anyone saw this coming from Max Meyer this year, but the Miami RHP has been otherworldly and continues to produce for fantasy managers.

Max Meyer's 2Ks in the 6th pic.twitter.com/y6Pm0MXJKW

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) June 3, 2026

Drew Rasmussen isn't likely to crack the top ten because of his lack of strikeouts, but a strong GB% (50.6%) and an elite ability to induce weak contact (3.04 xERA) make him a fantastic fantasy option. He's also had the kid gloves taken off this year by the Rays and is pitching deeper into games. He's on pace to easily eclipse his career high of 150 IP from last season.

Davis Martin has shown a few cracks in the armor lately, and I don't think he really fits here with the rest of these arms, but managers still have to be thrilled with what they've gotten from him thus far. I think Emerson Hancock is likely pitching over his head, too, but kudos to Seattle for developing yet another young arm into a very reliable middle-of-the-rotation arm.

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