On Wednesday night, MLB Network revealed “The Shredder's” top 10 starting pitchers in baseball. The Shredder focuses on statistics and data without any bias. It has a way of surprising fans, though. In fact, San Francisco Giants ace Logan Webb, who is one of MLB's most underrated star pitchers, did not even make this year's top 10 pitchers. Unsurprisingly, Detroit Tigers and Pittsburgh Pirates aces Tarik Skubal and Paul Skenes were ranked as the top starting pitchers in the game, but who landed at No. 1 overall?
Here are The Shredder's top 10 starting pitchers for the 2026 MLB season, via MLB Network:
- Tarik Skubal, Detroit Tigers
- Paul Skenes, Pittsburgh Pirates
- Zach Wheeler, Philadelphia Phillies
- Chris Sale, Atlanta Braves
- Cristopher Sanchez, Philadelphia Phillies
- Garrett Crochet, Boston Red Sox
- Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Los Angeles Dodgers
- Hunter Brown, Houston Astros
- Max Fried, New York Yankees
- Hunter Greene, Cincinnati Reds
Skubal, 29, has won back-to-back American League Cy Young Awards. He's led the league in ERA, ERA-plus and FIP in each of the past two seasons. He has also recorded at least 228 strikeouts in each of the past two years.
Skenes is having quite the start to his big league career. The 23-year-old finished third in National League Cy Young Award voting as a rookie in 2024 and took home the award for the first time in 2025. Skenes has never recorded an ERA above 1.97 in his career, and he led the NL in ERA, ERA-plus and WHIP in 2025.
Skubal is The Shredder's top pitcher in MLB for good reason, but Skenes certainly is not far behind. While Skenes is hoping to lead Pittsburgh for years to come, Skubal is a trade candidate heading into 2026. Whether he spends the '26 campaign in Detroit or elsewhere, Skubal is set to enter free agency next offseason and could receive the most lucrative contract for a pitcher in the history of the sport.
