Matt Johnson
Who has the best pitching rotation in baseball? Before the first pitch is thrown in the 2026 Major League Baseball season, we’re evaluating the top 10 MLB teams at every position around the league. Pitching is more important than ever before, especially with so many injuries every season. So, depth and durability concerns are factored into our MLB rotation rankings for 2026.
Let’s dive into our list of the best MLB rotations right now as we head into Opening Day.
1. Boston Red Sox
A year ago, the Boston Red Sox rotation finished a respectable 12th in ERA (3.92) with a second-half improvement (3.71 ERA, seventh in MLB). The front office wanted the pitching staff to be even better, acquiring Sonny Gray (3.26 FIP and 1.16 WHIP over the last two seasons) and Johan Oviedo (3.57 ERA in ’25) and then signing Ranger Suarez (3.20 ERA in ’25). The Red Sox rotation is now led by AL Cy Young candidate Garrett Crochet, with Gray slotted behind him as a high-end No. 2 starter, while Suarez might be the best No. 3 pitcher in the American League. That takes a lot of pressure off Brayan Bello, who registered a 3.60 ERA with a 1.19 WHIP and a .227 batting average allowed in his final 13 starts last season. Even if Oviedo doesn’t work out as the fifth starter, which is very possible given his command issues, either Patrick Sandoval or Payton Tolle could step into the role until Kutter Crawford returns. We love the front four, and there are functional back-end starters.
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2. Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers have the best rotation in baseball if everyone is healthy; that’s just not a safe bet with this pitching staff. Blake Snell is missing Opening Day due to shoulder fatigue from his workload in October, and he has thrown just 165.1 innings combined over the last two seasons. Tyler Glasnow is outstanding when healthy, but he’s averaged just 112.1 innings pitched per season in the last two years. Behind them, there’s ample potential in hurlers Emmet Sheehan (2.82 ERA in 73.1 innings) and Roki Sasaki. Shohei Ohtani will pitch like an All-Star starting pitcher, just with a limited workload. At its best, the Dodgers rotation has four aces with ample depth behind them. We’ve just seen in recent history that every starter will spend time on the injured list—some for a significant period of time—and Los Angeles will probably finish top-five in major stats.
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3. Detroit Tigers
It’s certainly possible the Detroit Tigers wouldn’t have signed Framber Valdez if they knew Tarik Skubal would win his arbitration case. All that matters now is they have one of the best MLB rotations in 2026. Behind Skubal, who could be the first pitcher ever to win the AL Cy Young in three consecutive seasons, Detroit boasts a No. 2 starter in Valdez, who has a 3.21 ERA across 121 starts over the last four seasons. No. 3 starter Jack Flaherty should rebound after last season’s struggles (4.64 ERA vs. 3.85 FIP), and Justin Verlander put up a 2.60 ERA in his final 13 starts this past season. That leaves Casey Mize, who should do more than fine as a back-end starter who just needs to eat innings and deliver a few quality starts.
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4. Seattle Mariners
The Seattle Mariners continue to turn out great pitching. Bryan Woo is now the ace of the Mariners rotation, with a 2.92 ERA and 0.92 WHIP across 308 innings. Behind him is the outstanding trio of Luis Castillo (3.59 ERA in the last two seasons), Logan Gilbert (3.31 ERA from 2024-25) and George Kirby (3.80 ERA over his last 317 innings). It’s an excellent quartet, even if the 3.97 ERA last season (13th in MLB) didn’t show it. There just isn’t any viable pitching depth with the top arms in the system, unless Kade Anderson moves through the minors at a rapid pace.
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5. Philadelphia Phillies
The ceiling for the Philadelphia Phillies‘ starters is to be one of the three best MLB rotations in 2026. There’s also now a path for Zack Wheeler (2.63 ERA in last 349.2 IP) to return to the mound as early as May. That would give the Phillies a pair of co-aces that can rival almost any other club. Behind the duo, Jesus Luzardo (2.84 ERA in last 11 starts) is an excellent No. 3 starter, and Aaron Nola is a very good innings eater who can deliver quality starts. Behind all of that, there’s the immense upside of Andrew Painter, with Taijuan Walker ready to fill in as the fifth starter until Wheeler returns.
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6. Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds get a bump in our MLB rotation rankings for 2026 in part because of their ballpark. Over the last three seasons, Great American Ball Park had the third-highest park factor (103) in the majors. To make matters worse for the Reds rotation, the club ranked 21st in Defensive Runs Saved (2). That makes it all the more impressive that Cincinnati finished with the ninth-lowest rotation ERA (3.85) in the majors. Hunter Greene has elevated himself to perennial All-Star status with a 2.76 ERA and 301 strikeouts in his last 258 innings. Top prospect Chase Burns could develop into the second ace of Cincinnati’s rotation, Brady Singer (3.86 ERA in last 349.1 IP) is a viable mid-rotation starter and Andrew Abbott (3.42 career ERA in 413.2 IP) is a good No. 3. With Nick Lodolo behind all of that and some depth options (Rhett Lowder and Brandon Williamson), the Reds pitching staff feels underrated.
Read More: MLB Power Rankings 2026, Evaluating all 30 Teams
7. Texas Rangers
The Texas Rangers rotation had the lowest ERA (3.41) in baseball last season while placing second in batting average allowed (.226) and WHIP (1.15). A healthy Jacob deGrom (2.97 ERA) certainly played a major role in that, but Nathan Eovaldi (1.73 ERA in 130 innings) and Jack Leiter (3.88 ERA) also outperformed expectations. Looking ahead to the 2026 MLB season, Texas now welcomes high-upside arm MacKenzie Gore. He boasted the 12th-highest strikeout rate (27.2 percent) among starters with 150-plus innings, but he was dreadful in the second half (6.75 ERA and 86 baserunners allowed in 49.1 innings). Given that Leiter doesn’t miss a ton of bats and struggles with his command, a 4-plus ERA this year seems more likely. Durability (deGrom and Eovaldi) and inconsistency (Gore and Leiter) are the biggest reasons why Texas is ranked seventh among the best MLB rotations right now.
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8. Toronto Blue Jays
Unfortunately for the Toronto Blue Jays, their rotation took a hit immediately with Shane Bieber dealing with forearm issues and poised to be on the IL when Opening Day arrives. That’s where Toronto’s pitching depth does help a lot. Even if Bieber misses significant time and Cody Ponce doesn’t perform in his return stateside (2.04 ERA in 180.2 innings in KBO last year), there’s still Max Scherzer, Jose Berríos and Eric Lauer. Scherzer (5.19 ERA) and Berríos (4.17 ERA and 1.30 WHIP) are back-end starters at this point of their careers, but that’s still great depth to have. As for the front of this Blue Jays rotation, Dylan Cease (3.98 ERA in last two seasons) can perform like an ace at times, and his arrival pushes Kevin Gausman into a No. 2 role he’s more suited for, while Trey Yesavage (3.46 ERA after making MLB debut) is the arm who could overtake them all. If everything goes right, which is a big if, this could be a top-five rotation statistically.
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9. Pittsburgh Pirates
Paul Skenes, the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner, is obviously doing a lot of heavy lifting for the Pittsburgh Pirates rotation. That’s earned when you have a career 1.96 ERA with 386 strikeouts in your first 320.2 innings in the majors. Behind Skenes, Pittsburgh has the steady Mitch Keller and one of the top pitching prospects in baseball with Bubba Chandler. Given the stuff Chandler showed in his brief taste of the majors (21.8 percent K-BB rate and .214 batting average allowed), he could quickly become Pittsburgh’s No. 2 starter. Meanwhile, with Jared Jones returning from UCL surgery last May, the Pirates will have to ask a little more from Braxton Ashcraft and Jose Urquidy. The Skenes-Chandler duo could be phenomenal during stretches of the 2026 season and Keller is a fine No. 3 starter, but there’s something left to be desired behind them.
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10. New York Yankees
Gerrit Cole won’t rejoin the New York Yankees rotation until the end of May, and he’ll be on an innings limit in his first season back from Tommy John surgery. Carlos Rodón (3.09 ERA and 1.05 WHIP in 195.1 innings last season) is also returning early in the season from elbow surgery, and Clarke Schmidt’s surgery will keep him out for a majority of the year. Those three injuries are primarily responsible for New York landing 10th in our MLB rotation rankings, even with Max Fried (2.86 ERA in 195.1 innings) being a Cy Young contender and the hopes the fan base has for Cam Schlittler to build off his outstanding rookie success (2.96 ERA and 1.22 WHIP in 73 innings). Unsurprisingly, with so many starters on the IL for Opening Day, there’s depth to the Yankees rotation (Ryan Weathers, Luis Gil, Will Warren and Paul Blackburn). The risks of underperformance from Cole and Rodón in their first season back from elbow surgery also need to be kept in mind.
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