With MLB officially underway and rolling I think it’s a good idea to get some early season rankings. Today I’ll be giving my opinion on the best pitchers in the league.

1. Paul Skenes. People can think what they want about this, but I think he’s number 1. Paul plays for the Pittsburgh Pirates, which happened to have a rough record last year, but also a solid pitching staff. Skenes is currently only making around 1.1 million dollars a year, but he is still on his pre-arbitration contract, which makes his salary cap really low. I have really high hopes for Skenes this year because last year he won the Cy Young award, started pitching for the all-star game, and was a solid contribution to the WBC team earlier this year.

2. Tarik Skubal. Many people think he’s #1, but although it’s close, I still think Paul Skenes has him by a tiny bit. Tarik Skubal currently plays for the Detroit tigers. Tarik is actually making 31 million more dollars than Skenes (32 million a year). Skubal is currently on a 1-year contract. Tarik is projected to have an extremely promising season. He has finished the 2024 and 2025 season winning the Cy Young award. Tarik Skubal also started pitching in last year’s all-star game and played for the WBC team.

3. Yoshinobu Yamamoto. On lots of lists and rankings, people have him around the 4-6 range, but in my eyes he’s better than that. Yamamoto’s yearly salary is currently about 27.1 million dollars. He is on a 12-year $325 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers. although Yamamoto doesn’t have a Cy Young or any major accolades in his career, he still has had a successful start. However, Yoshinobu has something these guys don’t, which is a World Series ring and a World Series MVP.