MLB Top 10 Starting Pitchers- 2017

The Starting Pitching position is much different than everyday position players because they only play every five days or so and only play around 32 games a year. Pitching is also different because Pitchers must make sure the offense does not score runs by preventing hits and walks by getting groundouts or strikeouts. There are many very good to great Pitchers in the MLB and has been a deep position for several years. The problem with ranking Starting Pitchers is there are so many because there is five Starting Pitchers per team and there are 30 teams in the league. There are many good Pitchers that have been left off the list who are top Pitchers but there is only 10 spots.

(ERA= Earned Run Average, SO= Strikeouts, and WHIP= Walks and Hits per Innings Pitched)

10. Jose Quintana- 28, CHW

Jose Quintana has played for five seasons and he has been a consistent Pitcher for the past four seasons while also improving each year. He has only had one accomplishment so far with an AL All-Star selection in 2016 but he could receive more if he keeps Pitching good. He has been durable so far with four-straight seasons of having 32-plus starts and at least 200 innings pitched. He has had very good numbers by having a 3.51 or less ERA in four seasons with a 3.36 or less in three, 177-plus SO in three seasons, and a 1.27 or less WHIP in four seasons. He has struggled with wins by having reached above 10 wins in one season. This can be explained with him being towards the bottom in run support from the team’s offense by having 4.22 Run per 9 innings or less every season, which is very low.

Last season was his best season getting his best statistics in any one season with 32 starts, 208 innings pitched, 13 wins, a 3.20 ERA, 181 SO, and a 1.16 WHIP. He is number 10 because he has become one of the better Pitchers over his career along with being durable and having very good statistics. He is lower on the list because those higher up on this list have better stats. He is young so he can stay a top Pitcher for many more seasons and he could move up the list if he continues to improve.

9. David Price- 31, BOS

David Price has played for nine seasons and has been a great and durable Pitcher but he had a bit of a down year in 2016. He has had many accomplishments with five AL All-Star selections with the last being in 2015 and he won the 2012 AL CY Young award. He has been a durable Pitcher with 31-plus starts and 208.2-plus innings pitched in six seasons. He has had great numbers with 3.49 or lower ERA in seven seasons including a 2.72 or lower in four seasons. He has had 10-plus wins in eight seasons including 17-plus in four and a 1.20 or less WHIP in seven seasons with a 1.10 or less in four. He has been great with SO with 188-plus in six seasons including five seasons with at least 208.2 SO.

He had one of his worst seasons in 2016 with 35 starts, 230 innings pitched, 17 wins, a 3.99 ERA, 228 SO, and a 1.20 WHIP. Now his wins and SO were great and his WHIP was good but he had high ERA with 0.01 away from a 4.00 ERA, which is not good. He is number 9 because he is one the best Pitchers in the MLB with great numbers and he has been durable. He is lower because he had a bit of a down year in 2016 but he could go back up next year if bounces back in 2017. He is still in his prime and has several more seasons left being a top Pitcher but he is getting older.

8. Cole Hammels- 33, TEX

Cole Hammels has played for eleven season and he has had a very good career with several great seasons. He has had several accomplishments by having four All-Star selections with the last being in 2016. He was also on a Championship team, won a World Series MVP, and a NLCS MVP but all of those were in 2008. He has been very durable with 30-plus starts for nine-straight seasons and has pitched 200.2-plus innings in eight seasons. He has had very good statistics in his career by having a 3.65 or lower ERA in nine seasons with a 3.09 or lower in five of those. He has had 10-plus wins in eight seasons with 15-plus in three and a 1.25 or lower WHIP in nine seasons with a 1.15 or lower in five of those. He has also been very good with strikeouts as well with 177-plus SO in nine seasons and 200-plus in five of those.

He had a very good season last year where he made 32 starts, 200.2 innings pitched, 15 wins, a 3.32 ERA, 200 SO, and a 1.31 WHIP. He is number 8 because he has had a very good career and still is with a very good season in 2016, which makes him one of the best Pitchers. What holds him back is his statistics are not as good the last two seasons as those higher up the list. He is older so he may only have a few more good seasons left and he may not be a top Pitcher for much longer.

7. Jon Lester- 33, CHC

Jon Lester has been pitching for a long time being an 11-year veteran and he has had a very good career. He has had some accomplishments by having four All-Star selections with his most recent being last season, has been on three Championship teams including last season, and a NLCS MVP in 2016. He has been a very durable Pitcher with 31-plus starts in nine seasons and at least 191.2 innings pitched in nine seasons with 202.2-plus in eight of those. He has had some very good statistics with 15-plus wins and a 3.47 ERA or less in seven seasons with being under 3.00 in two seasons. He has been very good with strikeouts by having 177-plus SO in seven seasons with 207-plus in four of those. He has also been good with WHIP by getting a 1.27 or less WHIP in seven seasons including a 1.12 or lower in three of those.

He had arguably his best season in 2016 with 32 starts, 202.2 innings pitched, 19 wins, a 2.44 ERA, 197 SO, and a 1.02 WHIP. He is number 7 because he has been a durable and a very good Pitcher for many years with some of his best seasons over the past three years. What holds him back is some of his numbers are not as good as other Pitchers ranked higher on this list. He is older being 33, which means he may only have a few more great seasons left.

6. Johnny Cueto- 30, SF

Johnny Cueto is a 9-year veteran who has been a great Pitcher over the past six years with some injury problems in two of the seasons. He has had a few accomplishments by having two NL All-Star selections with the last being in 2016 and was on a Championship team in 2015. He has not been the most durable Pitcher in his career but has been 4 of the last 6 seasons. In those four seasons, he has pitched 212-plus innings and 32-plus games started. He has put up great numbers by having an ERA under 3.00 in 5 of the 6 seasons, 10-plus wins in six seasons in his career with 18-plus in three. He has five seasons with a 1.13 or less WHIP and he has not been an elite strikeout Pitcher but he has had good SO totals with 170-plus SO in four seasons.

He had a great season in 2016 with 32 starts, 219.2 innings pitched, 18 wins, a 2,79 ERA, 198 SO, and a 1.09 WHIP. He is number 6 because he has been great in four of the last five seasons by pitching a lot with great statistics. What holds back is he been injured in a couple seasons, which the Pitchers higher up the list have been more durable. He is 30-years-old, which is still young enough to have some more great seasons left if he remains healthy like his past three seasons.

5. Jake Arrieta- 30, CHC

Jake Arrieta has played for seven seasons and he has become a great Pitcher over the last three seasons after a rough start to his career. He has accomplished a lot in a short time with a NL All-Star selection in 2016, and CY Young award in 2015, the 2016 NL Silver Slugger award, and was on a Championship team last season. He has had great numbers over the past three seasons by having at least a 3.10 ERA every season with a 1.77 ERA. He has had 10-plus wins in four season with 18-plus in two of those. Over the last three seasons he has had 197.1 innings pitched in two seasons, 190-plus SO in two seasons, and a 1.08 or less WHIP in all three seasons.

In 2016 he had a great season with 31 starts, 197.1 innings pitched, 18 wins, a 3.10 ERA, 190 SO, and a 1.08 WHIP. He is number 5 because he has proven over the past three seasons to be a top five Pitcher with the great numbers he has put up. What holds him back is he has only been great for three of his seven seasons where he was not a good Pitcher before. If he has another great season in 2017 he will go up the list and he is still in his prime being 30-years-old so he could remain a top Pitcher for several more seasons.

4. Chris Sale- 27, BOS

Chris Sale has played for seven years with five seasons as a starter in which he has put up great numbers. The only accomplishment he has is having five-straight AL All-Star selections from 2012-2016, but he is young so he may win some more awards. He has had very good numbers and some great numbers by having a 3.41 or less ERA every season with an under 3.00 ERA in three seasons. He has won 10-plus games in five seasons with 17 wins in two of those, 192-plus SO in five seasons, and a 1.14 or less WHIP every season. He has also pitched a lot with 192-plus innings pitched and 29-plus games started in four seasons.

He had a very good season in 2016 but it was not his best one with 32 starts, 226.2 innings pitched, 17 wins, a 3.34 ERA, 233 SO, and a 1.04 WHIP. He is number 4 because he has been a consistently great Pitcher over the last five seasons putting very good and great numbers. What holds him back is his numbers are not as good as the next few Pitchers on the list. He is young being only 27 with many prime seasons left so he has room to improve and can remain a top Pitcher.

3. Madison Bumgarner- 27, SF Madison Bumgarner is an eight-year veteran who has been a consistent Pitcher throughout his career. He has many accomplishments with four-straight NL All-Star selections from 2013-2016 and two NL Silver Slugger for Pitchers in 2014-2015. He has also been on three Championship teams where he won the NLCS and World Series MVP in 2014. He has been durable for many seasons with 31-plus starts and 200-plus innings pitched in six-straight seasons. He put great numbers by having 10-plus wins in six seasons with 15-plus in four of those, a 3.21 ERA or less in seven seasons with an under 3.00 ERA in five of those. He has also had 191-plus SO in six seasons with a 200-plus in three of those and a 1.11 or less WHIP in six seasons.

He had one of his best seasons in 2016 with 34 starts, 226.2 innings pitched, 15 wins, a 2.74 ERA, 251 SO, and a 1.03 WHIP. He is number 3 because he has been durable and consistent for most of his career, which shows he is a top Pitcher. What holds him back is even though he has been great, the next two have better win totals and a lower WHIP over the last four seasons. He is also still young so he could remain a top Pitcher for many more seasons and he could even still improve, which is hard to imagine with the great numbers he has put up.

2. Max Scherzer- 32, WAS

Max Scherzer has played for nine years and he has been a great Pitcher for the last four seasons but was still good in a few seasons before that. He has had several accomplishments in his career with four-straight All-Star selections from 2013-2016 and two CY young awards with the last being in 2016. He has been a durable Pitcher by having 30-plus starts for eight-straight seasons and 187.2-plus innings pitched seven-straight seasons with 214.1-plus in four of those. He has had great numbers over his career with 14-plus wins in six seasons with 18-plus in three of those and a 3.74 or less ERA in six seasons with a 3.15 or less in four of those. Other stats he has done well in is having 231-plus SO for five-straight seasons and a 1.27 or under WHIP in seven seasons with an under 1.00 WHIP in three of those.

He had a great season in 2016 with 34 starts, 228.1 innings pitched, 20 wins, a 2.96 ERA, an impressive 284 SO, and a 0.97 WHIP. He is number 2 because he has proven to be a great Pitcher for four-straight seasons by having great numbers and pitching a lot. He is older being 32, but he could remain a top Pitcher for several more seasons if he stays healthy.

1. Clayton Kershaw- 28, LAD

Clayton Kershaw is a nine-year veteran who has proven to be one of the best Pitchers in the MLB. He has accomplished a lot in his career with six-straight NL All-Star selections from 2011-2016, three NL CY Young awards, the 2014 NL MVP in 2014, and the NL Gold Glove in 2011. He been durable with 30-plus starts and 198-plus innings in six seasons. He has been dominant as well where he has had 10-plus wins in seven seasons with 15-plus in four of those, a 2.91 or less ERA in eight seasons with having an under 2.00 ERA in three of those. He has also had 200-plus SO and a 1.23 or less WHIP in seven seasons including an under 1.00 WHIP in five of those.

Last year he faced some injury issues with only 21 starts and 149 innings pitched but he still had great numbers with 12 wins, 1.69 ERA, 172 SO, and a 0.72 WHIP. He is number 1 because he has been the best Pitcher for many seasons putting up great numbers. He has many accomplishments in his career and has been dominant along with being durable for majority of his career. He is also still young being only 28 so he could remain the best Pitcher or a top one for many more seasons.