Top 100 Dynasty Keepers For 2025 – Starting Pitchers

Welcome back to the Top Dynasty Keepers for 2025 series. Last week I listed my 50 Top Dynasty Relievers for 2025, so we move forward to starting pitchers this week.

This is one of the tougher groups to rank. Thanks to the nature of pitching, it seems half of all starting pitchers are recovering from Tommy John or some other shoulder/elbow injury every season, dwindling the number of quality starters down to a handful.

There is also the subjectivity of ranking starting pitchers. Everyone attacks building a starting staff differently in dynasty leagues. Perhaps you are supper aggressive when it comes to young pitchers. If that is the case, you will likely hate where I rank some very talented, but very young, pitchers. Or you may prefer older pitchers with a track record. If that is the case, then see my last sentence and just replace the word “young” with “older.”

I tend to ride the fence. Each tier will feature both young and old pitchers and take into account upside and past history. As we get closer to Tiers 1 and 2, then raw talent and a “win now” approach is likely to win out over potential upside or downside. I like the list I have put together and hope you find it useful as you build your dynasty staff.

*Age as of April 1, 2025

TIER 7

The Old Guys

Yu Darvish will be 38 most of next season, but he still gets hitters out. When you are digging around pitchers in the 100 range, you can do a lot worse than Darvish, who had a 3.31 ERA and 1.065 WHIP in 2024.

Sean Manaea had a bounce-back season with a 3.47 ERA and 1.084 WHIP after two seasons in which he looked lost on the mound at times. While posting ERAs of 4.96 and 4.44 in 2022 and 2023, over the last three years his K/9 rates have been 8.9, 9.8 and 9.1 – solid numbers to help your staff.

The Reds

As you can see, there are three Reds pitchers listed above. Before you jump to conclusions, no, I am not from Cincinnati and I am not a Reds fan. But I am a fan of their pitching staff.

If you can ignore the home park they pitch in, Andrew Abbott, Rhett Lowder and Nick Lodolo are three solid pitchers that will provide your staff quality depth. All three pitchers will be 27 or younger on Opening Day. Lowder is the youngest of the group and has only six games of major league experience. But he flew through the system and showed he was ready to succeed on the MLB level by posting a 1.17 ERA and 1.272 WHIP in his six starts.

Abbott doesn’t post huge strikeout numbers and needs to cut down on his walk rate a bit. But he allows less than a hit per inning in 46 career starts and 8.5 K/9. If Abbott is still hanging around at this point of a draft or auction, he would be a solid pitcher to add. The same goes for Lodolo.

What has kept Lodolo from progressing as a pitcher is a rash of injuries. He had a lower back strain in 2022. He spent most of the 2023 season on the IL and was on the IL this past season three times. When healthy. Lodolo averages 10.7 K/9 for his career and only 8.6 H/9. His ERA was bloated in 2024, but he had a 1.197 WHIP and 9.5 K/9 rate in 21 starts.

The Youngsters

Cristian Javier missed most of the season after undergoing Tommy John Surgery on June 6. He likely won’t return until July or August of 2025, but he is a buy low player if you can stash players on the IL. When healthy, he produces great strikeout numbers with a 10.0 K/9 career rate.

Like Javier, Ben Brown spent much of the season on the IL when testing on his neck revealed a “benign area of concern,” leading Brown to land on the IL on June 11. When on the mound, Brown had a 3.58 ERA and 64 strikeouts in 55.1 innings of work.

Kyle Harrison had a rough finish to his season, but in June and July he showed he can be a top-end pitcher when he posted a 2.75 ERA and 1.04 ERA with 30 strikeouts in 32.2 innings of work. Walks are an issue as he had a 4.8 BB/9 rate during his minor league career. But in parts of two seasons with the Giants, that rate is 3.0.

TIER 6

Was 2024 For Real?

Erick Fedde was once a top prospect in baseball, if you want to go back t0 2017. Since breaking in with the Nationals late in 2017, however, his career has not matched his minor league hype until finally putting together his best season of his career this past year.

With the White Sox and Cardinals he had a combined 3.30 ERA and 1.162 WHIP. The gamble with Fedde here is that at the age of 32 he will be able to duplicate his career year. Are the chances great? No. But he is a low-risk gamble who has the chance to provide great depth to your rotation.

Was 2024 For Real – Part II

In 2021 and 2022, Alek Manoah was one of the best pitchers in baseball. During those seasons he was a combined 25-9 with a 2.60 ERA and 1.01 WHIP. He was eighth in Rookie of the Year voting in 2021 and finished third in the Cy Young voting in 2022.

Then the wheels fell off in 2023. Manoah posted a 5.87 ERA and 1.74 WHIP. His walk rate ballooned to 6.1 per nine innings and he was pitching so poorly for the Blue Jays that he was demoted to Rookie ball to work on his mechanics. He was able to rebound this past season with a 3.70 ERA and 1.027 WHIP before having Tommy John surgery in June. So why am I listing Manoah here as a 2025 dynasty keeper? Because I’m looking beyond 2025, as I have with other injured pitchers. Manoah is a perfect buy low player who may not help you much in 2025 but should offer solid pitching in the years after that.

Looking Ahead…

Brayan Bello is a great snapshot of the difference between dynasty leagues and redraft leagues. Based on what he did in 2024 (4.49 ERA, 1.361 WHIP, 8.5 K/9), Bello is not a player you would want to keep on your roster and maybe not even draft. But when you look a little deeper at this past season, you will find a pitcher with great stuff who just hasn’t quite figured out how to be successful with it.

His slider and sinker have above average movement while his four-seamer ranks in the 77th percentile with a 95.7 mph average. While his sinker has great movement, it does not generate a lot of swing and miss as shown by his 11.1 Whiff%. But his slider generates a 34.3 Whiff% and his changeup a 36.9 Whiff%.

And it appears Bello figured things out as the season went along. After posting a 5.66 ERA in May and an ugly 8.25 ERA in June, Bello posted ERAs of 4.29, 3.00 and 3.55 over the final three months of the season. Over his final 13 starts he had a 3.47 ERA and 1.225 WHIP. The improvement is certainly there and so is a breakout season.

TIER 5

Love the Breakout Seasons, but…

Can Reynaldo Lopez and Ronel Blanco replicate what they did again in 2025? That is the question, and my answer is yes. OK, Lopez will likely not post another 1.99 ERA/1.106 WHIP season, but there is no reason to think he is suddenly going to have a 5.38 ERA and 1.457 WHIP like he did in 2019 when he was last a full-time starter. The Braves know how to get the most out of their starters and they did that with Lopez this year. Perhaps you can move him down this list, but there is no reason to think 2024 was a fluke.

The same can be said of Blanco. Like the Braves, the Astros are outstanding at identify what works with each pitcher on their staff and then use those weapons to be successful on the mound. Used mostly as a reliever in 2023, the Astros moved Blanco into the starting rotation thanks to the myriad injuries the staff suffered, and Blanco was outstanding, posting a 2.80 ERA and 1.088 WHIP with nearly a strikeout per inning. In 36 career starts, Blanco is 15-7 with a 3.19 ERA and 1.141 WHIP. Those are great numbers.

Is 2025 Their Time?

There are two players in this tier who could easily be in Tier 2 or higher by this time next year, or they could be right here or lower. Those two players are Jack Leiter and Jackson Jobe. Why are they listed here? Because I am always weary of really young pitchers. Pitching is the one position where experience is a great help. There are a host of outstanding pitchers who are 24, 23 or younger, but the majority of them need time in the majors to really find success.

Leiter, who was selected second overall in the 2021 draft and is one of the top pitching prospects in baseball, has all the tools to be a great pitcher with the Rangers. But despite all those tools, his first nine major league games and six starts show he still has to work on his craft as he had an 8.83 ERA and 1.71 WHIP this past season. But his fastball velo ranked in the 86th percentile while his fastball spin was in the 75th percentile and his curveball spin was in the 64th percentile.

Jackson Jobe was selected by the Tigers with the pick right after Leiter was taken off the board. And like Leiter, Jobe raced through the Detroit system and appeared in two games for the Tigers this season in relief, throwing four shutout innings. The Tigers were so impressed with Jobe they included him on their postseason roster, where things didn’t go as well for him. Jobe will be given every chance to be in the rotation next season where he can take advantage of his 97-mph fastball.

Several other pitchers (Robert Gasser, Taj Bradley, Tobias Myers) in this tier could easily be ranked higher like Leiter and Jobe if you are an owner who is aggressive with very young pitchers.

TIER 4

Stone, Schwellenbach and Arrighetti

Considering what I said above about Leiter, Jobe and some of the other pitchers, why are Gavin Stone, Spencer Schwellenbach and Spencer Arrighetti in this tier and not in Tier 5? Bradley and Myers could have just as easily been in this tier with these three pitchers or these three place in Tier 5. All of them are very closer in talent. Bradley is in Tier 5 due to the fact he has a career 4.75 ERA and 1.294 WHIP. His saving grace is a career 10.5 K/9 rate.

Myers landed in Tier 5 mostly due to an 8.3 K/9 rate and a FIP that was 3.91 compared to his 3.00 ERA. Schwellenbach had an outstanding rookie campaign for Atlanta, posting a 3.35 ERA and 1.043 WHIP. He had a 9.2 K/9 rate and 5.5 K/BB rate while his FIP was a 3.29. Arrighetti pitched a lot better over the last half of the season after having a rough breaking in period with the Astros.

Overall he was 7-13 with a 4.53 ERA and 1.407 WHIP. But in 145 innings of work, he struck out 171 batters for a 10.6 K/9 rate. Those high numbers were due to a poor first half of the season as he had a 5.63 ERA and 1.60 WHIP thanks in large part to a 4.95 BB/9 rate though he did have a 10.5 K/9 rate. In the second half of the season, his ERA dropped to 3.18 with a 1.169 WHIP. His walk rate dropped to 2.91/9 while strikeout rate increased to 10.8/9.

Bullish on Bradish and Gore

Like other pitchers, Bradish will miss quite a bit of 2025. But like some of the other pitchers recovery from Tommy John surgery, Bradish is a pitcher you should still target and stash. Coming off a 2023 season in which he went 12-7 with a 2.83 ERA and 1.043 WHIP, Bradish was off to a solid start this year with a 2.75 ERA and 1.068 WHIP through eight starts before being sidelined. He’s young and is likely to recover to form and thus a pitcher to want on your rosters.

MacKenzie Gore is NOT recovering from Tommy John surgery. Instead he is simply a pitcher who has gotten better over the last three seasons and is now entering the prime of his career. In his three years in the majors, his ERA has dropped from 4.50 to 4.42 to 3.90. His BB/9 rate has seen a similar drop (4.8 to 3.8 to 3.5) while his K/9 rate has been pretty steady (9.3, 10.0 and 9.8). I’m sure some of you are laughing at Gore being here at #41, but I like his ceiling, one he has not come close to reaching yet.

TIER 3

On the Comeback Trail

Before being injured in 2022, Walker Buehler was one of the best pitchers in baseball. From 2018 through his last start in 2022, Buehler had a 2.95 ERA and 1.021 WHIP while striking out 9.7 hitters per nine innings. After missing all of 2023, Buehler returned this season and made 16 starts for the Dodgers, going 1-6 with a 5.38 ERA and 1.553 WHIP. His strikeout rate was way below his career average while his walk rate was way above. But I consider this season a part of his recovery and fully expect Buehler to reclaim his place as one of the top pitchers in baseball sooner rather than later.

Can the Dudes Get Some Love?

Freddy Peralta deserves some love. And I say that while perhaps not ranking him higher! All Peralta does is produce when on the mound for the Brewers. For his career he is 53-36 with a 3.79 ERA, 1.145 WHIP and an 11.3 K/9 rate. Since 2021, his numbers are even better – 3.49 ERA and a 1.099 WHIP to go with an 11.1 K/9 rate. He doesn’t hurt you in WHIP, ERA or strikeouts, so what is there not to like about Peralta?

Then there is Tanner Bibee. After finishing second in the Rookie of the Year voting last season (10-4, 2.98 ERA, 1.176 WHIP), Bibee posted another excellent season in 2024. His ERA was a little higher at 3.47, but he improved his WHIP at 1.117 as his walk rate decreased this season while increasing his strikeout rate from 8.9 to 9.7 K/9 this year. After back-to-back solid seasons to start his career, Bibee has the ability to easily move into Tier 2 next year and beyond.

TIER 2

Sale at 24?

Chris Sale claimed the NL Triple Crown in pitching by leading the league in wins (18), ERA (2.38) and strikeouts (225). But who here rally believed he had that season in him? He didn’t play at all in 2020 and made only nine starts in 2021 and two in 2022. When healthy in 2023 with Boston, he had a 4.30 ERA. So what Sale did this past season is somewhat surprising considering his recent history. He will be 36 next season, and that age coupled with the fact I am not 100 percent sold he will be able to come close to duplicating what he did this year is why he comes in at No. 24 in my rankings.

A Pair of Mariners, Chapter 1

If you are a Mariners fan, you may be disappointed about the team’s offense this year, but you have to love the pitching staff. It is loaded with talent, and that talent includes Bryce Miller and Luis Castillo.

Miller just completed his second season and built on his impressive rookie year in 2023. This past year he went 12-8 with a 2.94 ERA and 0.976 WHIP. While he doesn’t strike out a ton of hitters per inning, his 8.5 K/9 rate is still solid. Pair that with his low WHIP (1.046 career) and you have a very solid pitcher who is also young. Teammate Castillo has been a top pitcher for years. He hasn’t posted an ERA above 4.00 since 2018, his second season in the majors. His career ERA is 3.56 and his WHIP is 1.176 with a 9.7 K/9 rate.

This past season was his lowest K/9 rate (9.0) and ERA+ (101) since 2018, but right now I consider this a blip and not a trend.

Future Ace, or Current Ace?

The Houston Astros have always been high on Hunter Brown, but it took a while for Brown to start looking like the pitcher the Astros believed he would be. In 2023 Brown was in his first full season with the team and finished 11-13 with a 5.09 ERA and 1.362 WHIP. But he struck out 10.3 hitters per nine and those numbers were elevated as he wore down as the season progressed.

After a horrible April to start the 2024 season (0-4, 9.78 ERA), Brown went 11-5 with a 2.51 ERA and 1.122 WHIP while striking out 155 in 147 innings. In his one start in the postseason against Detroit he allowed only one run on two hits with two walks and nine strikeouts in 5.2 innings of work. Brown is a true ace and can anchor a staff for years to come.

Strider? Seriously?

Yep, Spencer Strider comes in at No. 12 for me. And again, I will repeat myself – this is as much about the future as today. Strider missed nearly all of this season and will return at midseason, at best, next year. But when Strider is healthy he is simply one of the best pitchers out there. If you don’t grab Strider and stash him, someone else will. Everyone wants immediate returns on their investment, but sometimes the long game is the better one to take.

TIER 1

Cheating a bit

I took some liberties by ranking Shohei Ohtani as 10B as he didn’t throw a single pitch this season. But he will be back in the starting rotation next year for the Dodgers and there is no way he isn’t the outstanding pitcher he was before getting injured. If you need a reminder about what he can do on the mound, remember a career ERA of 3.01 with a 1.082 WHIP to go with an 11.4 K/9 rate.

Garrett Crochet is the other pitcher ranked 10th. Used exclusively as a reliever since his debut in 2020, Crochet was inserted into the starting rotation and flourished. On a horrid White Sox team, he had a 3.58 WRA and 1.068 WHIP while posting a 12.9 K/9 rate. He has tremendous stuff and is an ace that you should target.

A Pair of Mariners, Chapter 2

Seattle has a ridiculous number of talented pitchers. I already talked about Miller and Castillo in Tier 2. Teammates George Kirby and Logan Gilbert are two pitchers I would want on my team. Kriby finished sixth in Rookie of the Year voting in 2022 when he had a 3.39 ERA and 1.208 WHIP. In the two years since Kirby has posted ERAs of 3.35 and 3.53 and WHIPs of 1.038 and 1.068. Kirby does not rack up high strikeout totals. But he also doesn’t walk anyone (career 1.1 BB/9 rate) and allows only 8.7 H/9.

Gilbert is the better version of Kirby. Like Kirby, Gilbert doesn’t allow baserunners as he has a career WHIP of 1.063 going back to 2021. This season his WHIP as an outstanding 0.887 thanks to allowing only 1.6 BB/9 and 6.4 H/9. Gilbert, whose career ERA is 3.60 in four seasons, also racks up the strikeouts. His K/9 rate this season was 9.5 and for his career it is 9.1. IF those are numbers you don’t like to see in a pitcher, then I don’t know what else you can want.

Overlooked Aces

Perhaps it is the markets they play in, but Hunter Greene and Cole Ragans should get more publicity about just how good they are. When it comes to Greene, I can understand why some people may be late to the game when it comes to talent. His first two seasons with the Reds produced ERAs or 4.44 and 4.82 and WHIPs of 1.210 and 1.420. Walks (career BB/9 rate of 3.5) coupled with untimely hits always haunted Greene. But he has always been able to blow the ball past hitters as shown by a K/9 rate of 11.7 and 12.2 his first two seasons.

Greene finally put everything together this season. He had a 2.75 ERA and 1.018 WHIP. He still walked 3.4 batters per nine innings, but his allowed only 5.37 hits per 9. Meanwhile, he still maintained an excellent K/9 rate of 10.1. Greene just turned 25 this past August, meaning he is just now reaching his prime and barely touching his ceiling.

Over in Kansas City, Cole Ragans has been outstanding for the Royals since they acquired him from Texas for Aroldis Chapman on June 30, 2023. Since arriving in Kansas City, Ragans has been a mainstay in the rotation. In 12 starts for the Royals in 2023 he went 5-2 with a 2.64 ERA, 1.074 WHIP and 11.2 K/9 rate. This season he was 11-9 with a 3.14 ERA and 1.143 WHIP while notching a 10.8 K/9 rate. Ragans can cut down on his walks, but that is quibbling when he does everything else so well.

Known Commodities

When looking for a pitcher to lead your staff, Corbin Burnes is a great place to start. His highest ERA since becoming a fulltime starter in 2020 is a 3.39 in 2023 with Milwaukee. His highest WHIP during that span is 1.096 that occurred this year. Corbin takes the ball every five days and produces great numbers. His strikeout rate has fallen each of the last four seasons since recording a 13.3 K/9 rate in 2020, but he still had an 8.4 rate this year.

Cease has not been as consistent as Burnes, but he is an outstanding pitcher who, like Burnes, takes the ball every five days and produces. He has a career K/9 rate of 10.8 with a career ERA of 3.75 and ERA+ of 114. He can get hurt by issuing too many walks, and it seems he balances an outstanding season with an average season the following year. But when judging Cease on pure talent, he is one of the best out there.

Skenes vs. Skubal

If you are starting a new dynasty team, you can’t go wrong with having Tarik Skubal or Paul Skenes lead your staff.

Skubal won the pitching triple crown this season with 18 wins, a 2.39 ERA and 228 strikeouts. He had a 10.7 K/9 rate to pair with a very low 1.6 BB/9 rate. Over the last two years he is 25-7 with a 2.51 ERA and 0.914 WHIP and 330 strikeouts in 272.6 innings of work. However, Skubal is now at his ceiling after a couple of years of getting there. Skenes is not at his ceiling yet and he is only 22 on Opening Day, six years younger than Skubal.

But if you are trying to choose between the two, go with Skenes.

He was the No. 1 overall pick by the Pirates in 2023 and less than a year later he was in the majors. And once he landed in Pittsburgh, there was no adjustment period needed. From the start, Skenes simply dominated opposing hitters. This year he went 11-3 with a 1.96 ERA and 0.947 WHIP. In 133 innings of work, he struck out 170 hitters allowed only 32 walks. So that is an 11.5 K/9 rate and only a 2.2 BB/9 rate.

Skenes throws six pitches – SIX – at least five percent of the time, and all of them are effective. His “worst” pitch was his slider as opposing hitters had a .286 average with a .571 SLG. But he threw that only 5% of the time. His top three pitches – the four-seamer, sinker and curve – had batting averages against of .230, .184 and .250 with slugging percentages of .351, .234 and .375.

This is a long way of saying Skenes is very, very good

Thanks for reading and come back next week when I unveil the rankings for catchers.

Previous Rankings

Oct. 9 – Top 50 Dynasty Keepers for 2025 – Relievers