2026 Positional Dynasty Baseball Rankings: Top 300+ Starting Pitchers (Patreon)

It’s time we turn our attention to the Frankenstein’s monsters of the baseball world. Starting pitchers. They have hamstring tendons in their elbows, internal braces, sutures holding their shoulders together, their nerves cut and sewed back together, numb fingers, bleeding blisters, huge scars … you name it, they got it. But these warriors do it all for the love of the game …. and millions and millions of dollars. It’s what makes them the most volatile, nightmare group to bank on for fantasy, but it’s also what allows you find underrated breakouts all over the place, both during the off-season and on the waiver wire. I’ll be going over 300 deep. Top 11 free here on the Brick Wall. Next week on the Patreon I will drop the Top 500 Prospects Rankings, along with Relief Pitcher Rankings Week. Then it’s the big dog, the Top 1,000 Rankings. But first, here is the 2026 Positional Dynasty Baseball Rankings: Top 300+ Starting Pitchers:

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR THE REST OF THESE RANKS & TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL OFF-SEASON, INCLUDING:
-A TOP 200 SNEAK PEEK OF THE 2026 TOP 1,000 DYNASTY BASEBALL RANKINGS (full Top 1,000 coming soon)
-TOP 100 2026 DYNASTY FANTASY BASEBALL PROSEPCTS RANKS (a Top 500 coming soon)
–2026 DEEP POSITIONAL RANKS: Top 80 C–Top 91 1B–Top 97 2B–Top 101 3B–Top 161 SS–Top 288 OF–Top 300+ SP
-TOP 161 2026 FIRST YEAR PLAYER DRAFT RANKS
–2026 FYPD TARGET & STRATEGY GUIDE
-HALP’S DYNASTY BASEBALL PODCAST: END OF SEASON MAILBAG!
–SPREADSHEETS
-Plus so much more coming like Position by Position Targets, Predicting Future Prospect Lists, Top 10 2027 FYPD Rankings, Spring Training Rundowns …

Previous Dynasty Team Reports on Patreon (free ones listed in parenthesis)

Arizona Diamondbacks—Atlanta Braves—Baltimore Orioles—Boston Red Sox (free)—Chicago Cubs (free)—Cincinnati Reds (free)—Cleveland Guardians—Colorado Rockies—Detroit Tigers—Houston Astros—Kansas City Royals—Los Angeles Angels—Los Angeles Dodgers (free)—Miami Marlins—Milwaukee Brewers—Minnesota Twins—New York Yankees (free)—Pittsburgh Pirates (free)—Sacramento Athletics—Seattle Mariners—St. Louis Cardinals (free)—Tampa Bay Rays—Texas Rangers—Toronto Blue Jays—Washington Nationals

1) Garrett Crochet – BOS, LHP, 26.10 – There is a clear 3-headed monster in the true top tier of dynasty pitchers, and all 3 have great arguments to be the #1 overall dynasty pitcher in the game, but only one of them can take the crown, and I’m anointing a new King this off-season. Garrett Crochet is my #1 dynasty pitcher in the game. It feels to weird to say because he’s likely the worst pitcher of the 3 on skills alone. Worse being relative as he’s still insanely elite with a 2.59 ERA and 31.3/5.7 K%/BB% in 205.1 IP. He was the #1 overall pitcher on the Razzball Player Rater. His 255 strikeouts led all of baseball. He pitched the 2nd most innings in baseball behind only Logan Webb. He won the 2nd most games behind only Max Fried and tied with Carlos Rodon. And his 25.7% K-BB% was 2nd to Tarik Skubal. Even if he’s very, very, very slightly worse than Skubal and Skenes on skills alone, he has Skenes beat on Win potential (and probably Skubal too), and he has Skubal beat on age (I talk more about age in the Skenes blurb). I could pick any of the 3 out of hat and be fine with that order, but Crochet seems to be in that perfect Goldilocks zone of young, elite, and on a good team. Skubal and Skenes can’t fully check all 3 of those boxes like Crochet can. – 2026 Projection: 17/2.88/1.05/246 in 195 IP

2) Paul Skenes – PIT, RHP, 23.10 – Playing for Pitt kills Skenes’ in wins. Pitt scored 583 Runs which was last in baseball, and the only other team even close to them was Colorado at 597 (absolutely wild that it’s even possible for Colorado to be that bad playing in Coors). The guy put up a 1.97 ERA with a 29.5/5.7 K%/BB% in 187.2 IP and won only 10 games. Pitt made offensive additions this off-season, Konnor Griffin is coming, and Pitt has nowhere to go but up, but it’s still a major thorn in his fantasy value. On almost any other team, he would be the undisputed top dog, and in Quality Start leagues, he would be my top dog, but in Wins leagues, it has to be taken into account. Crochet and Skenes are close enough in age, and Crochet is elite enough himself, where I do give the edge to Crochet. But I just can’t seem to bring myself to say that I would trade a 23 year old Skenes for a 29 year old Skubal in dynasty, even though Skubal is the better win now fantasy pitcher. Skenes nestles inbetween Crochet and Skubal at #2. – 2026 Projection: 13/2.55/0.99/238 in 195 IP

3) Tarik Skubal – DET, LHP, 29.5 – Skubal is the best pitcher in baseball. He’s #1 for me in redraft. He’s better than Crochet and Skenes. His 27.8 K-BB% led all of baseball amongst qualified starters. His 32.2% K% led all of baseball. His 0.89 WHIP led all of baseball. His 4.4% BB% trailed only Zack Littell. His 2.21 ERA trailed only Paul Skenes. He trailed Garrett Crochet by only 1 spot on the player rater, and that was in a year where Crochet won 5 more games than him, and we know wins are fickle. He’s in his last year of team control for Detroit, so wherever he ends up landing, it’s almost certain to be a good team. Wins shouldn’t be a problem. There is a great argument that at a not old 29, and considering age shouldn’t be factored in as much for pitchers due to the injury volatility, that he should be the #1 dynasty pitcher in the game. I wouldn’t argue with anyone that puts him first. I was honestly tearing the hair out of my head trying to figure out the right order. – 2026 Projection: 15/2.51/0.94/242 in 195 IP

4) Yoshinobu Yamamoto – LAD, RHP, 27.7 – How the hell am I supposed to remain objective after the legendary playoff and World Series performance from Yamamoto? I am a mere mortal, and while I was pulling hard for Toronto, Yamamoto’s heroics couldn’t help but pull me in. I originally had Yamamoto as the 7th overall pitcher in the End of Season Rankings, but he’s now moving up to my 4th overall pitcher. After the Big 3, is there anyone else you would want to give the ball to in a big game than Yamamoto right now? It seems crazy to even think of saying any other pitcher but Yamamoto for this 4th spot. And it’s not like it’s just emotions. He had a strong case for it anyway with a 2.49 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, and a 29.4/8.6 K%/BB% in 173.2 IP (1.45 ERA with a 22.9/4.2 K%/BB% in 37.1 IP in the playoffs). The 95.4 MPH 4-seamer is elite with a +17 Run Value, the splitter is devastating with a .193 xwOBA and 42.1% whiff%, and the curve is plus with a 36.7% whiff%. The cutter, sinker, and slider are all good pitches too. The annoying, party pooper, Debbie Downer side of me is saying maybe the long season, the career high 211 IP, and the pitching on back to back games will create a hangover effect in 2026, or even worse, gasp, and injury, but trying to predict which pitchers are going to get hurt year to year is mostly a crapshoot. I’ve long since stopped trying to predict it. I can’t give the ball to anyone else but Yamamoto right now with the 4th pitcher spot in Dynasty. – 2026 Projection: 14/2.91/1.02/204 in 175 IP

5) Logan Gilbert – SEA, RHP, 28.11 – We all know the Big 3 are the top dogs in both dynasty and redraft, however you want to order them (Crochet, Skenes, Skubal for me in dynasty and Skubal, Crochet, Skenes for me in redraft), but there is a hellacious tier right under them that is nipping at their heels. I originally had Gilbert leading that 2nd tier, but Yamamoto’s World Series heroics just couldn’t be denied. Maybe I’m a sucker. Maybe I’m a prisoner of the moment. But there is no shame in being the 5th dynasty pitcher in the game. Gilbert has a very elite 32.3/5.8 K%/BB% and 32.9% whiff% in 131 IP. The 95.4 MPH fastball is elite with a +10 Run Value, the control is elite, and he has 3 bat missing secondaries in his slider (34.5% whiff%), splitter (50.4% whiff%), and curve (38.6% whiff%). The only that is holding him back from actually entering the truly elite tier, is that he’s got a homer problem. He throws the ball over the plate and challenges guys to hit it, and in Seattle, they can’t, but on the road, they can. He put up a 2.24 ERA with 8 homers at home vs. a 4.74 ERA with 12 homers on the road. Seattle knows how to develop pitchers to thrive in their ballpark, but it can hurt them on the road. That homer flaw is what keeps him in Tier 2. – 2026 Projection: 14/3.29/1.04/226 in 185 IP

6) Hunter Brown – HOU, RHP, 27.7 – Brown’s 28.3/7.8 K%/BB% and 27.8% whiff% are excellent, but they aren’t in that truly elite of the elite tier to really make it all that tempting to elevate him to the 3 headed dragon tier (Crochet/Skenes/Skubal). I would say he had a huge 2025 breakout, but the truth is the breakout started in May/June of 2024 (he put up a 2.46 ERA with a 26.1/7.3 K%/BB% in his final 142.2 IP that year), and he just carried it over fully into 2025 with a 2.43 ERA, 1.03 WHIP and a 28.3/7.8 K%/BB% in 185.1 IP. The 96.6 MPH fastball is elite with a 28.8% whiff% and +17 Run Value. He has a wipeout secondary in the curve with a 39.2% whiff%. The changeup is solid with a +2 Run Value. And the sinker induces weak contact like crazy with a 78.6 EV against. He also mixes in a cutter and slider. There is no doubt he is a true ace, I’m just not ready to say he’s a true talent mid 2’s ERA guy. I trust the 3.11 xERA a tad more. – 2026 Projection: 14/3.08/1.06/207 in 185 IP

7) Hunter Greene – CIN, RHP, 26.8 – I nailed Greene’s ace breakout in 2024, calling him a major target, and then I doubled down in 2025, predicting that wasn’t even the peak. Who else predicts a random jump in control but me? Greene had a 9% BB% in 2022, a 9.6% BB% in 2023, and a 9.3% BB% in 2024, and I looked at that and said, you know what, I’m smelling improvement coming, writing in his Top 1,000 blurb last off-season, “His control/command remained below average, but I still think there is another level in here as he stays healthy and gains more experience. I don’t even think this is the peak, assuming he stays healthy, which who knows there honestly (he missed time with elbow inflammation this year). Greene had the ace breakout I knew was coming, and I’m going to continue to buy high.” … and then he went out in 2025 and proved me prescient with that huge jump in control I saw coming, putting up a 6.2% BB%. It wasn’t a “random” prediction of course. It was me betting on his athleticism and work ethic, and it resulted in the cementation of true ace status with a 2.76 ERA, 0.94 WHIP and a 31.4/6.2 K%/BB% in 107.2 IP. The 99.5 MPH 4-seamer put up a +20 Run Value which was tied for 5th best in baseball and the double plus slider put up a 46.9% whiff%. You can ding him for injury risk as he only pitched 107.2 IP and has never pitched more 150.1 IP in a season, but it was a groin injury that knocked him out for over 2 months this year, so I find it hard to really hold that against him too much. He also didn’t improve his third pitch at all, the splitter, with a negative 5 Run Value on the pitch. The negatives are enough to very clearly keep him out of the true top tier, but you know I’m going to keep betting on this kid. – 2026 Projection: 13/3.22/1.06/207 in 170 IP

8) Bryan Woo – SEA, RHP, 26.2 – I’ve been naming Bryan Woo a major Target since before the 2023 season and every year since then, and man is it awesome to see him fully blossom into a true ace. God, I love dynasty. Did I trade him away in one of my leagues after that 2023 season in a deal that included Henry Davis? Yes, yes I did. God, I hate dynasty … He throws one of the very best fastballs in baseball with a 95.7 MPH 4-seamer that put up a 28.8% whiff%, .270 xwOBA, and a 21 Run Value that was tied for 3rd best in baseball. He also throws the 15th most valuable sinker in the game with a negative 3 degree launch, while mixing in a slider (36.1% whiff%), sweeper (46.1% whiff%) and changeup (.282 xwOBA). It all led to a 2.94 ERA with a 27.1/4.9 K%/BB% in 186.2 IP. The 26.2% whiff% overall isn’t super impressive and he’ll give up plenty of homers (26 dingers) because of how much he throws the ball over the plate, but it’s crystal clear that he’s a true ace. He belongs in this Tier 2 of aces. – 2026 Projection: 14/3.23/1.01/191 in 180 IP

9) Cole Ragans – KCR, LHP, 27.4 – You should be all over any discount on Ragans with the quickness. He missed 3.5 months of the season with a rotator cuff strain (shoulder), limiting him to just 61.2 IP, and he put up a 4.67 ERA in those innings, so I’m hoping people get scared off, but I’m sure as hell not getting scared off. He returned from the injury in September and the stuff was all the way back, so other than the obligatory I guess there is some injury risk, I’m not really that concerned about it. And while he had a high ERA, it came with a 2.63 xERA and 38.1/7.8 K%/BB%, so I mean, what more needs to be said. The 34.8% whiff% is silly elite. He leads with the elite 95.3 MPH 4-seamer (28.6% whiff%) and elite changeup (50.4% whiff%), but the slider is a really good pitch too (43.4% whiff%) and the curve is solid. He also mixes in a cutter. I almost think this ranking of him is still underrating him. If he joins the true elite Tier 1, 3 headed monster during the 2026 season, I wouldn’t be surprised, but there is enough volatility (injury and average-ish control) to keep him out. – 2026 Projection: 13/3.27/1.16/220 in 180 IP

Shadow9) Shohei Ohtani – LAD, RHP, 31.9 – This is where I would rank Ohtani as a pitcher only. Only Ohtani can come back from major elbow surgery and put up career bests in BB% (4.3%), xERA (2.45), velocity (98.4 MPH) and nearly K% (33.0%) in 47 IP. So many of these other Tommy John/internal brace returnees were fighting for their lives just to survive, but not Ohtani, who coolly notched an elite 2.87 ERA. He’s a true ace that probably deserves to be in Tier 1 with Crochet/Skenes/Skubal, but we know LA is going to baby him. He’s never thrown more than 166 IP in a season, and I don’t see why the Dodgers wouldn’t want to limit him to the 150 range, especially when they want to save bullets for the playoffs. The low IP projection keeps him in Tier 2. – 2026 Projection: 13/3.07/1.05/191 in 150 IP

10) Chase Burns – CIN, RHP, 23.2 – Chase Burns is my #1 pitching prospect in baseball (at least in leagues that use the 50 IP threshold, like most of my leagues do, and not service time, because based on service time I don’t think he’s prospect eligible anymore). I was high on him in First Year Player Drafts last off-season, ranking him 4th overall, because I saw the type of true ace upside that was worth sticking your neck out for, and then he went out and proved it. He sliced through the minor leagues with a 1.77 ERA and 36.8/5.4 K%/BB% in 66 IP, and then he almost did the same in the majors with a 3.47 xERA (4.57 ERA) and a 35.6/8.5 K%/BB% in 43.1 IP. The 98.7 MPH 4-seamer is near elite with a 25.2% whiff% and +4 Run Value and the slider is also near elite with a .229 xwOBA and 43.7% whiff%. He only went to the changeup 5.6% of the time, mostly vs. lefties, but it was a solid pitch with a 33.3% whiff% and 75.7 MPH EV against. The control was really good too. He’s an athletic 6’3”, 210 pounds. I don’t see how it can get anymore obvious than this. This is a true ace waiting to happen, even pitching in Cincinnati. – 2026 Projection: 10/3.42/1.15/190 in 150 IP Prime Projection: 14/3.03/0.98/245 in 190 IP

11) Cristopher Sanchez – PHI, LHP, 29.4 – Sanchez broke out in 2023, proved it was for real in 2024, and then took it to an entirely different level in 2025. He adds velocity every year, going from a 92.1 MPH sinker in 2023, to a 94.5 MPH sinker in 2024, and then finally a 95.4 MPH sinker in 2025. It led to a true ace breakout with a 2.50 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and a 26.3/5.5 K%/BB% in 202 IP. The sinker is the most valuable sinker in baseball with a +19 Run Value and the changeup was tied for the 2nd most valuable changeup with a .208 xwOBA and 45.1% whiff%. The slider isn’t as good, but it’s useful with a solid 33.6% whiff%. The 30.4% whiff% overall is elite for a starter, he keeps the ball on the ground with a 3 degree launch, and the control is double plus. He’s an ace. Simple. – 2026 Projection: 13/3.18/1.10/194 in 190 IP

Previous Dynasty Team Reports on Patreon (free ones listed in parenthesis)

By Michael Halpern (@MichaelCHalpern)
Email: michaelhalpern@imaginarybrickwall.com
Twitter: Imaginary Brick Wall (@DynastyHalp)
Blue Sky: Dynasty Halp (@ImaginaryBrickWall)

Imaginary Brick Wall

2026 Positional Dynasty Baseball Rankings: Top 300+ Starting Pitchers (Patreon)

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