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Picking the best starting pitchers 2022 is no easy task. No more than ever, bullpens are unreliable and hard to predict, which is why teams are spending big bucks on their aces.
Finding a guy who can take the mound every five days and constantly deliver quality starts is one thing. But finding a dominating hurler who can make a fool out of the best sluggers in the world is entirely different. And just a handful of pitchers can brag about that.
Best starting pitchers 2022
Today, we’re going to talk about the 10 best starters in MLB right now. Some of the few guys you could actually put your money on, at least for the first five innings. Hopefully, their bullpens will live up to the task and don’t spoil their record this year.
10. Zack Wheeler
Zack Wheeler came pretty much out of the blue to become an ace. He had been a shaky, mediocre, inconsistent pitcher for most of his career, but is coming off an incredible season with the Philadelphia Phillies. Unfortunately for them, Joe Girardi‘s team also featured one of the most disastrous bullpens in the Majors.
More than efficient, Wheeler has been wildly consistent. He’s thrown the third-most innings since 2018 and he managed to keep runners off the bases despite not being a high strikeout guy. Also, he’s one of the few guys with a vast pitching repertoire instead of settling for his speed and some breaking balls.
9. Sandy Alcantara
Sandy Alcantara had shown glimpses of untapped potential early in his career. Even Pedro Martinez stated that he reminded him of a younger version of him. But some struggles with control and consistency often made people overlook what he was truly capable of.
Alcantara is coming off a terrific year. His walks went down, his strikeouts went up, and his improved changeup was nearly unhittable. He doesn’t get in trouble often and has proven that he can go the distance if needed. However, the Miami Marlins have failed to provide any sort of offensive support every time he’s on the mound.
8. Julio Urias
Albeit not spectacular, nor flashy, Julio Urias was still the only 20-game winner in the Majors last season. One could argue that having the Los Angeles Dodgers’ offense backing him up had something to do with that, yet he posted a ridiculous 2.04 ERA in the second half of the season.
The Mexican’s career got off to a somewhat disappointing start but he’s finally starting to prove why everybody was so high on him. He limits contact and forces swings and misses like the best of them, boasting one of the best curves in all of baseball.
7. Shane Bieber
We expect Shane Bieber to be one of the best starting pitchers this season and one of the few bright spots for the Cleveland Guardians in their debut year. That’s assuming he gets his speed back and replicates the same success he had in the first half of last season.
Bieber was a completely different pitcher towards the end of the year, with his fastball dipping all the way to 92 mph. His shoulder injury clearly took a toll on his game but now that he’s reportedly back at full strength, we expect him to enter the AL Cy Young race again in 2022.
6. Brandon Woodruff
The Milwaukee Brewers had the best rotation in the MLB playoffs last season and it wasn’t close. Their starting pitching was tailor-made for the postseason, and not many teams could generate enough offense to get past them in a seven-game series. The only issue is that their offensive numbers were as low as their pitchers’ ERA.
Brandon Woodruff played a vital role in the Brewers’ regular-season success. He was one of the most dominant hurlers in the National League, mixing in sinkers and beautiful curveballs with an unhittable four-seam throw that can paint nearly every inch of the strike zone.
5. Walker Buehler
Even though he’s not much of a high strikeout pitcher and despite a minor dip in his velocity, Walker Buehler still managed to post a 2.47 ERA last season. Moreover, he proved his doubters wrong by throwing 207.2 innings.
Buehler was as efficient as they come, allowing more than three earned runs just four times across 33 starts. He started relying more on his changeup rather than his fastball, helping him be way less prone to the long ball. Also, he posted a whiff rate of over 30% on all his breaking-ball throws.
4. Gerrit Cole
The New York Yankees knew that they had to spend big bucks if they wanted to land Gerrit Cole, and it has sure paid off thus far, at least in the regular season. However, Cole’s numbers in the playoffs were disastrous, earning $181,000 per out during his meltdown in the Wild Card game.
Cole is one of the most dominant hurlers in the game and put the ‘sticky substance’ controversy behind him with a strong finish to the season. If he’s able to stay healthy and finds the way to take his spin rate up without any foreign substances, he should be poised for another Cy Young-caliber campaign.
3. Corbin Burnes
While Woodruff finished with a higher WAR than Corbin Burnes, Burnes was the best pitcher in the National League not named Jacob deGrom last season. He was even more impressive than during the shortened 2020 season, posting an absurd 1.63 FIP in 2021, the second-lowest of all time.
He’s limited contact to the fourth-lowest rate in all of baseball since 2020. He led the league with an absurd 2.11 ERA while also striking out 12.6 hitters per nine innings. Moreover, he was on the mound for 167.0 innings, enduring one of the biggest workloads in Major League Baseball.
2. Max Scherzer
Consistency is king and there hasn’t been a more consistent pitcher in all of baseball than Max Scherzer. He hasn’t posted an ERA of over 3.00 in any full season since 2014 (not counting the COVID-19 season) and he continues to endure a big workload despite his age.
The only concern for him entering this season will be whether he’ll be able to keep up that pace throughout the year. He was a late scratch in the playoffs due to arm fatigue and God only knows how long he can keep throwing at 95+ before his arm caves in. But his repertoire is just nasty.
1. Jacob deGrom
When healthy, there’s no one more spectacular than Jacob deGrom. He’s the best pitcher in baseball and there’s no question he’s top of the best starting pitchers in 2022. It’s a shame to see him waste his career with the New York Mets, but hopefully, this will be the year they’ll finally back him up with their offense.
DeGrom posted an incredible 0.50 ERA and 0.88 FIP through his first 12 starts last year. All that while also owning a 41.5% strikeout rate before suffering an injury. Health will be the only concern for him but barring any setbacks, he should be the league’s biggest entertainer on the mound once again.
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