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10 Best Pitchers in MLB: 2023 Edition

best pitchers in mlb

Who are the best pitchers in MLB 2023? We take a look at the best players in the most important position in baseball, who are all trying to make it onto the list of best pitchers of all time.

Best Pitchers in MLB

With a new crop of young star pitchers making their mark in the league, established aces are being pushed to their limits with the level of competition growing.

Let’s take a look at the best 10 pitchers in MLB 2023. 

10. Jacob deGrom

A healthy Jacob deGrom makes a strong case for being even higher on the list of best pitchers in MLB. He’s had an injury riddled last couple of seasons and he missed the beginning of the 2022 season due to a stress reaction in his right scapula.

DeGrom made only 11 starts when healthy and posted a 3.08 ERA, 0.75 WHIP and an absurd 102-to-8 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 64.1 innings. He also made a Major League Baseball record 39 consecutive starts allowing three or fewer earned runs. 

After the season, deGrom opted out of his contract with the Mets and signed a five-year, $185 million contract with the Texas Rangers. The expectation is that once healthy, he’ll be one of the best pitchers in MLB with his velocity, control and deceptive delivery.

9. Spencer Strider

Atlanta Braves pitcher Spencer Strider had an impressive rookie season in 2022 finishing with an 11-5 record and a 2.67 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, and 202 strikeouts in 131.2 innings. 

Strider gets remarkable extension on his pitches despite being just 6’0″, and he’s got the remarkable ability of throwing his fastball almost two-thirds of the time. He only joined the starting rotation late in May 2022 and allowed just 86 hits for a .180 opponents batting average. 

Despite fewer innings than the other top 10 pitchers, Strider’s dominance earned him a spot on the list. The Braves locked him up with a seven-year extension in October.

8. Shane McClanahan

Shane McClanahan made his MLB debut in 2020 during the playoffs and made a strong impression in his rookie season in 2021, going 10-6 with a 3.43 ERA and 141 strikeouts in 123+1/3 innings. 

He took his game to another level in 2022 in which he earned All-Star selection. He drastically improved his fastballs thrown at the top of the zone, has been able to produce curveballs with a couple of inches of vertical drop and his changeup went another level.

McClanahan finished the season 12-8 with a 2.54 ERA, 194 strikeouts, and leading the American League in SO/9, Strikeout-to-walk ratio, and Wins Above Replacement. He also finished second in WHIP and Opponent Batting average, behind Justin Verlander.

7. Aaron Nola

Aaron Nola is a streaky player and is one of the best pitchers in MLB after having a strong 2022 season. He finished with a 11-13 record, 3.25 ERA, and 235 strikeouts in 32 starts and 205 innings. 

He led the majors in strikeout-to-walk ratio and started in several key games for the Phillies in the playoffs, including the playoff-clinching win and Game 2 of the National League Wild Card Series. 

Nola started Game 1 and Game 4 of the 2022 World Series but couldn’t get the job done. Regardless, he’s one of the best in the league with exceptional control and execution. 

6. Brandon Woodruff

Brandon Woodruff signed a one-year, $10.8 million contract with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2022 to avoid arbitration. In 2022 he posted a 3.05 ERA and 190:42 K: BB over 153.1 innings. 

Woodruff has had his fair share of injury issues but when he does play, he’s one of the best pitchers in MLB. He’s able to keep the ball down in the strike zone most of the time, and it’s his four-seam fastball that creates the most issues for batters with a high number of swings & misses.

In the 2018 playoffs Woodruff smashed only the third home run hit by a relief pitcher in postseason history after hitting Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw out of the park. 

5. Shohei Ohtani

Two-way Angel’s superstar Shohei Ohtani had a standout performance in 2022 on the mound. He went 15-9 with a 2.33 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, and 219 strikeouts in 166 innings, tallying double-digit strikeouts 10 times in 28 starts. 

Ohtani finished fourth in the AL Cy Young balloting and was runner-up in the AL MVP voting. He can do it all with his offensive arsenal of four-seam fastballs, curves, cutters, sliders, and a split-fingered fastball.

His splitter in particular is almost impossible for batters to hit and is the most devastating pitch in the MLB. Pitching aside, he’s also one of the best hitters in the league with his phenomenal power that he can develop with his frame. 

4. Justin Verlander

Justin Verlander is without a doubt on his way to becoming a Hall of Famer. He finished 2022 with an 18-4 record, a 1.75 ERA, 0.83 WHIP, and 185 strikeouts in 175 innings, winning his third career AL Cy Young award unanimously. 

Verlander isn’t as dominant as he used to be, but he can still deliver a pitch at devastating speed and especially during big games, where he’s usually at his best during crunch time. 

He continues to climb the ranks as one of the best pitchers in the modern era of baseball. He’s got two World Series wins to his name and will be hunting a fourth Cy Young award.

3. Corbin Burnes

Despite not repeating his 2021 Cy Young award season, Corbin Burnes is still one of the best pitchers in MLB and one of the best baseball players over the last decade. 

Even though he lost more than half a point on his ERA and had a 5-point drop in his strikeout rate, he still had a fantastic 2022 with a 3.07 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, and a 30.5% K%. A five-start stretch later in the season pushed out his ERA, where he had an 5.29 ERA, and an unusually high home run rate. 

His pitch mix has remained unchanged, and his cutter, one of the most devastating pitches in the game, had a 17.4% swinging-strike rate. 

 

2. Gerrit Cole

Gerrit Cole dominates on the mound with his powerful fastball and devastating off-speed pitches. He finished the 2022 season with an MLB-leading 257 strikeouts, a 13-8 record, a 3.50 ERA, and an AL-leading 33 home runs allowed. 

He can be expensive, allowing the second most home runs in the MLB. With that said, Cole broke the Yankees’ single-season strikeout record and became the first right-handed pitcher in franchise history to lead all of MLB in strikeouts in a season. 

Cole’s pitching style is a nightmare for opposing batters. It features a four-seam and two-seam fastball, knuckle curve and changeup. His introduction of his cut fastball in 2022 helped take his game to a new level. It’s Cole’s devastating slider that’s his best weapon.

1. Sandy Alcantara

Sandy Alcantara was a workhorse for the Miami Marlins in 2022, leading the majors in innings pitched (228.2) and complete games (6), while going 14-9 with a 2.28 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, and 207 strikeouts. 

Alcantara has the ability to get better as the game goes on and he finds himself going deeper into games than other pitchers. He’s been a fierce competitor and has been extremely valuable to the Marlins, who have a better record whenever he starts. 

His lanky frame can make him quite deceptive, and he consistently throws vicious fastballs and sinkers that can clock speeds at over 100 mph. Alcantara also led all pitchers with 8.0 WAR and was the unanimous NL Cy Young winner in 2022 – the first pitcher in Miami Marlins history to take the honor.  

Alcantara may not have the highest strikeout rate, but his elite numbers across the board over a high volume of innings pitched deep into games makes him the best pitcher in MLB for 2023. 

Matt Ieriko

Matt Ieriko is a freelance writer who’s evolved his lifelong passion for sport into the creation of WolfgangSport.com in 2020 – an American sports blog covering the NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL, MLS and more. As an Australian, he’s always been fascinated with the cultural differences and global significance of sports in America.

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