MLB Midseason Rankings for the Top 10 Pitching Staffs in 2024 (2024)

Pitching staffs, you're up.

Before we dive in, it's important to note that one or two star pitchers does not a great staff make. It's a fantastic starting point, but we're looking at teamwide marks in statistics like ERA, WHIP, K/9, quality starts, saves, holds, ERA- and WAR—the latter two advanced stats coming from FanGraphs.

If you have a pair of aces but a swath of middle relievers who can't seem to make it through the seventh and eighth innings without allowing a few runs, the overall state of the pitching staff probably isn't great.

Every pitching staff has some weak points. Even the top team featured here has at least one clear spot where it should be looking to improve at the trade deadline.

But the best pitching staffs have at least four reasonably reliable starters, a respectable closer and a few bullpen arms who can be trusted bridge the gap between the two.

Unless otherwise noted, statistics are current through the start of play Wednesday.

Detroit Tigers

The Tigers' bullpen has been pedestrian at best, with nearly as many blown saves (17) as converted saves (20), and the latter two spots in this rotation haven't been great.

But Tarik Skubal (2.37 ERA, 10.8 K/9) could be headed for this year's AL Cy Young award, Jack Flaherty (3.24 ERA, 11.6 K/9) might be the most noteworthy two-month rental on this year's trade block, and Reese Olson (3.22 ERA, 8.4 K/9) is easily one of the top third-best starters that any rotation can boast.

Milwaukee Brewers

Milwaukee's rotation is near the bottom of the barrel in terms of quality starts, with the 16 Brewers who have started at least one game this season combining for just 23 QS. And yet, they are top 10 in the majors in run prevention and have saved 32 games en route to first place in the NL Central—even with All-Star closer Devin Williams yet to make his season debut.

An impressive case of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts.

Pittsburgh Pirates

We have to at least mention the team with the one pitcher that MLB cannot stop talking about, right? Ten starts into his MLB career, Paul Skenes has a 2.12 ERA and is averaging nearly 12 strikeouts per nine innings, and he isn't the only good pitcher whom the Pirates have.

Mitch Keller and Jared Jones have also been solid members of a rotation that has racked up 44 quality starts. If David Bednar and Aroldis Chapman were more reliable at the back of the bullpen, Pittsburgh would be seriously in the mix for a playoff spot.

Washington Nationals

The Nats are paying Patrick Corbin $25 million for a 5.49 ERA, and they're paying Stephen Strasburg and Max Scherzer a combined $38.6 million to no longer pitch for them. But they've also put together a nice stable of young arms making hardly any money, headlined by arguably the biggest All-Star Game snub of the year, Jake Irvin.

Rookie southpaw Mitchell Parker is also thriving, and both DJ Herz and MacKenzie Gore have had their moments of dominance. Throw in Kyle Finnegan's 23 saves with a 2.17 ERA and Trevor Williams' solid 11 starts before his injury, and the pitching is the primary reason why this team was flirting with a playoff spot two weeks ago.

Full Team: 49-43, 46 quality starts, 22 saves, 3.79 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 8.3 K/9, 90 ERA-, 10.2 WAR

There has been quite a dichotomy between Kansas City's starting rotation and its bullpen.

The latter is...not good. The six Royals pitchers with at least 20 innings of relief work this season—Chris Stratton, John Schreiber, James McArthur, Nick Anderson, Angel Zerpa and Will Smith—have cobbled together a cumulative ERA of 4.30 with 11 blown saves. All six have a WHIP north of 1.30 and average less than one strikeout per inning.

While that's a replacement-level sextet, the Royals also have a starting rotation that entered play Tuesday leading the majors in total strikeouts (506).

Seth Lugo is leading the AL in innings pitched (122.0), wins (11) and ERA among qualified pitchers (2.21). Strikeout artist Cole Ragans has a 3.28 ERA and 13 quality starts to Lugo's 15. And Brady Singer continues to impress, tossing seven innings of one-run ball in Coors Field on Sunday to get his ERA back down to 2.93 for the year.

Michael Wacha hasn't been too shabby, either, with a 3.74 ERA in his 15 starts.

Just last season, Kansas City was tied with Oakland for dead last in the majors with only 32 quality starts. They've already left that mark in the dust this season with 46. They're trailing only Seattle and Philadelphia for the MLB lead.

Will the Royals upgrade their bullpen ahead of the trade deadline to hopefully get back into the mix for a playoff spot?

Full Team: 55-38, 37 quality starts, 25 saves, 3.63 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 8.8 K/9, 92 ERA-, 7.4 WAR

Four weeks ago, the Yankees might have landed at No. 1 on this list.

Through 70 games, they had a teamwide ERA of 2.91. The starting rotation was out of control, anchored by then-AL Rookie of the Year front-runner Luis Gil. Clay Holmes was doing a phenomenal job at closer with a 1.23 ERA. And with minimal exceptions, everyone who had pitched at least seven total innings had done so at a high level and with a low ERA.

Since June 13, however, it has been a drastically different story. That pristine 2.91 ERA has more than doubled to 5.85 over the past 23 games.

Save for Nestor Cortes, the rotation has been out of control in a much different way. Gil, Marcus Stroman, Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón have posted a combined ERA of 7.95, walking 42 batters and hitting 11 others in 82.2 innings of uninspired work. A few of the relievers have been solid, but not Holmes, who blew his only two save chances in the past month.

Add it all up, though, and two-and-a-half great months combined with one terrible month is still better than average.

The Yankees' pitching staff isn't giving us warm and fuzzy feelings at the moment, but the full-season numbers are solid. We just have no clue whether to expect them to rebound or continue down this woeful path.

Full Team: 55-37, 37 quality starts, 27 saves, 3.69 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 8.6 K/9, 92 ERA-, 8.9 WAR

The Dodgers pitching staff's current state of health is considerably less than ideal.

With Tyler Glasnow landing on the IL Tuesday with a back injury, the Los Angeles Dodgers starting rotation is now missing (*deep breath*) Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tony Gonsolin, Dustin May, Emmet Sheehan and Glasnow. And, oh yeah, Shohei Ohtani isn't pitching this season, either.

But aside from that, Mrs. Lincoln, how has the play been?

Even with the preposterously star-studded IL, the Dodgers have pitched quite well. Prior to giving up 10 runs to the Phillies on Tuesday night, they were fifth in the majors in total runs allowed.

Both Glasnow and Yamamoto were stellar for the 32 combined starts they've been able to make, with Glasnow hitting the shelf as the NL leader in strikeouts (143).

Meanwhile, Gavin Stone and Landon Knack—young arms who never would have seen the light of day in this rotation if the team was even remotely healthy—have thrived with the opportunity they've been given, combining for a 2.98 ERA in 23 starts. Stone even tossed a complete-game shutout in late June.

The Dodgers bullpen also has been relatively stout. Evan Phillips remains one of the most underappreciated closers in the game, converting 14 of 15 save chances with a 2.28 ERA. His supporting cast of Daniel Hudson, Alex Vesia, Michael Grove and Blake Treinen has provided a lot of value, too.

All that matters at this point, though, is who's healthy in October and whether they can get this team back to a World Series.

Full Team: 44-48, 31 quality starts, 21 saves, 3.81 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 8.5 K/9, 89 ERA-, 10.2 WAR

According to Baseball Reference WAR, the pitching staff of the sub-.500 Cincinnati Reds has been worth more wins above replacement than any other team.

FanGraphs WAR isn't nearly that enamored with the Reds, but it does have them somewhat comfortably in the top 10, as well as top five in ERA-, which adjusts for park and league factors.

Long story short, it's tough to pitch at Great American Ball Park, but this staff has done well once you account for the launchability of the venue where more than half of its games have been played.

Flamethrowing Hunter Greene has been the best of the bunch, keeping the ball in the yard much better than he did in his first two seasons in the majors. With only nine home runs allowed through 18 starts, he has slashed his ERA down to 3.45, improving as a pitcher in spite of a modest dip in strikeout rate.

Andrew Abbott and Nick Lodolo have also pitched well, each with an ERA slightly better than Greene's.

After how much this staff struggled last season, it's hard to believe that it could have three starters with an ERA below 3.50. And when the Reds do get a lead, they have done a better job of preserving it than anyone.

With 21 saves, 57 holds and only six blown saves, they have a minuscule 7.1 blown-save percentage. No other team is below 10 percent.

Full Team: 57-33, 26 quality starts, 33 saves, 3.70 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 9.0 K/9, 94 ERA-, 7.8 WAR

Cleveland's starting rotation has not been great. In fact, it has been quite bad.

The Guardians are dead last in fWAR in their starting rotation, with an unsightly 4.53 ERA and the league's highest home run rate (1.53 HR/9).

Tanner Bibee has been solid with a 3.67 ERA, 1.12 WHIP and 10.6 K/9, but it gets rough in a hurry from there. Three of the other four primary starters are saddled with ERAs north of 5.00. Shane Bieber, who is done for the year and hasn't pitched since April 2, is still second in fWAR among Cleveland's starters.

But the bullpen continues to deliver at a ridiculous level. Led by closer Emmanuel Clase, Cleveland's relievers have cumulative marks of 2.58 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and 9.7 K/9.

In addition to the near-best-in-the-majors total of 32 saves, the Guardians bullpen has also converted 74 holds and has a 26-9 record. That isn't the highest number of wins, as Milwaukee has 32, but it's easily the best winning percentage.

Basically, the Guardians never implode. They've blown 12 saves and still won nine of those contests.

At this point, you just expect Cleveland to find a way to win close games. That makes it feel like the entire pitching staff is great, even though they have five fewer quality starts (26) than the Colorado Rockies (31).

Full Team: 50-40, 32 quality starts, 24 saves, 3.68 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 8.8 K/9, 86 ERA-, 12.0 WAR

Last season, the Red Sox had eight pitchers who made at least nine starts. Each of them finished the year with an ERA north of 4.00.

Without question, that pitching was to blame for Boston's last-place finish in the AL East. The Red Sox allowed at least 78 more runs than every other team in the division.

This year, however, Tanner Houck and Kutter Crawford have blossomed into quite the 1-2 punch atop the rotation with a combined ERA below 3.00 for a postseason hopeful.

Houck tallied a quality start in 12 of his first 14 outings of the season, slashing what was a 5.01 ERA in 2023 down into the low twos. He was roughed up for seven earned runs in a loss to Padres at the end of June, but he was still named an All-Star for the first time.

Crawford's transformation hasn't been quite that drastic, and the Red Sox have largely squandered his improvement anyway, going 6-12 in his 18 starts. But he has two wins against the loathed Yankees in the past month and has fared quite well for someone who constantly seems to be taking the mound against top 10 offenses over the past two months.

Beyond that duo, the rotation is certainly lacking. Houck and Crawford each have double-digit quality starts, while the rest of the Red Sox have combined for nine. They should aim to add at least one more starter at the trade deadline.

At least the bullpen has been respectable, though, anchored by veteran closer Kenley Jansen converting 18 of his 19 save chances with a 2.01 ERA. We suspected before the season that he'd be one of the bigger names on the move this summer, but he has instead become a key reason why the Red Sox are in position to be buyers.

Full Team: 57-34, 38 quality starts, 31 saves, 3.61 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 8.6 K/9, 91 ERA-, 11.0 WAR

The elbow gods have not been kind to the Orioles. Tyler Wells made his last appearance on April 12 before eventually needing UCL surgery. John Means had another Tommy John surgery on June 3, and Kyle Bradish's TJ operation took place 16 days later.

None of the three will pitch again in 2024 for a team that was already without closer Félix Bautista, who is still recovering from his Tommy John performed last October.

Somehow, though, the O's just keep rolling with the punches.

Having Corbin Burnes sure does help. The former Brewers ace has reeled off quality starts in 12 of his last 13 appearances, and he went seven innings against the Astros in the lone miss. His strikeout numbers aren't quite what they used to be, but he still might be headed for the second Cy Young of his career.

The O's have also gotten vintage Craig Kimbrel over the past two months. He lost the closer gig for a hot minute early in the year, but he has allowed only one earned run in his last 22 appearances for what has been a stout bullpen.

The biggest surprise by a landslide, though, has been Albert Suárez. After spending three years in Japan and two in Korea, he returned to USA on a minor-league deal.

With both Bradish and Means unavailable when Wells got hurt, Suárez got the call for a spot start on April 17. After he went 5.2 scoreless innings in consecutive starts in his first MLB action in nearly seven years, the O's made the obvious choice to keep him around for the long haul.

He presently has a 2.48 ERA and has been a key piece for the AL East-leading pitching staff.

Full Team: 50-43, 54 quality starts, 25 saves, 3.54 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 8.5 K/9, 92 ERA-, 11.0 WAR

After back-to-back seasons with the third-highest number of quality starts in the majors, Seattle has ascended to the No. 1 spot in that department this year.

Logan Gilbert is leading that charge with a QS in 15 of his 19 outings, including three starts in which he went eight scoreless innings. Baltimore's Corbin Burnes and Detroit's Tarik Skubal are the co-favorites for the AL Cy Young, but with a sub-3.00 ERA and sub-1.00 WHIP, Gilbert is still very much in that conversation.

George Kirby and Luis Castillo aren't terribly far behind Gilbert, either, with a combined 23 quality starts.

Kirby's numbers are darn near identical to what he put up last year, including the K/BB ratio north of 9.0. He got out to a rough start in early April, but he has a 2.68 ERA over his last 16 starts, reeling off six consecutive quality starts over the past five weeks.

Bryce Miller, Emerson Hanco*ck and Bryan Woo have also turned in quality starts in roughly half of their appearances. Closer Andrés Muñoz has been excellent as well, boasting a 1.50 ERA and 1.00 WHIP.

The bullpen as a whole, however, has been just OK, with an overall ERA of 3.74—which balloons to 4.07 if we're talking the non-Muñoz portion. They've blown only 10 saves, but the thought of Seattle trying to protect a one-run lead in the seventh and eighth innings of a postseason game is already nerve-racking.

Gregory Santos did just make his 2024 debut on Tuesday, though. He could be a clutch addition to the set-up mix in the second half.

Full Team: 51-39, 40 quality starts, 25 saves, 3.40 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 9.1 K/9, 82 ERA-, 11.9 WAR

Atlanta has fallen short of preseason expectations, but that isn't the fault of a pitching staff that has allowed the fewest runs in the majors despite losing ace Spencer Strider to Tommy John surgery in the opening week of the campaign.

They can primarily thank offseason additions Chris Sale and Reynaldo López for that.

Sale had a 4.16 ERA over the previous five seasons with Boston, making only 56 starts due to a litany of injuries. But the Braves got some sort of time machine in that swap, as he has been putting up numbers on par with what made him an annual All-Star and Cy Young candidate from 2012-18. Sale is leading the majors with 12 wins and a FIP of 2.22.

It's López who has by far the lowest ERA in the majors, though, sitting at 1.71 through 16 starts. And quite unexpectedly, we should add.

Prior to this season, López had made 97 career starts with a 4.73 ERA, and he was used almost exclusively as a middle reliever in both 2022 and 2023. When Atlanta signed him, it wasn't clear if he would serve as a starter or reliever. Yet here he is, vying for an ERA title.

Beyond that duo with a combined 19-5 record, Max Fried is pitching well (and thus far staying healthy) in his contract year. Joe Jiménez has been a major asset as the primary set-up man with a 2.31 ERA and just one blown save.

Spencer Schwellenbach is starting to make a real impact, too, with quality starts in three of his last five outings, including a big one against the Phillies last week. The 24-year-old rookie will be pivotal in the second half as Atlanta battles for postseason seeding.

Full Team: 59-32, 51 quality starts, 25 saves, 3.25 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 9.2 K/9, 79 ERA-, 15.8 WAR

The Phillies already had arguably the best pitching staff in the majors in 2023, and they have been unquestionably even better thus far in 2024.

That isn't because they made any big waves during the offseason. Among their 12 leaders in innings pitched, the only one who wasn't already on the roster last year is Spencer Turnbull, who has drastically outperformed his one-year, $2 million deal.

The pitchers who were already on the Phillies just got better.

Ranger Suárez's numbers have come back to earth a bit in recent weeks, but he's still one of the top candidates for the NL Cy Young with both the best ERA and best ERA+ in the National League. His K/BB ratio (4.61) is nearly double what it had been over the previous two seasons (2.34).

Zack Wheeler has been even better than usual, too, finishing Tuesday's start against the Dodgers with what would be both the lowest ERA (2.70) and WHIP (0.99) of his career. Suárez is a top candidate for the Cy Young, but Wheeler is the top candidate.

And how about the improvement of Cristopher Sánchez, who has allowed only two home runs in 97.1 innings pitched? He gave up 16 dingers in 99.1 innings pitched last year, but keeping the ball in the yard has transformed him into one of Philly's four aces, alongside Suárez and the already well-established dominant arms of Wheeler and Aaron Nola.

Even this best pitching staff figures to be active ahead of the trade deadline, though.

With Turnbull (lat) out through possibly the end of August and Taijuan Walker both presently on the IL (finger) and struggling this season (5.60 ERA), the Phillies should be on the prowl for a fifth starter. If they land a guy like Jack Flaherty or Yusei Kikuchi, best of luck to the rest of the NL in its quest to chase down this likely No. 1 seed.