2026 MLB Power Rankings: Spotlighting Every Team’s Ace So Far This Season

Last week, Phillies phenom Cristopher Sánchez completed a flawless May with his fifth scoreless outing of the month, increasing his scoreless streak to a franchise-record 44.2 consecutive innings. But Sánchez isn’t the only pitcher enjoying an incredible start to the 2026 season. Jacob Misiorowski wrapped up a similarly extraordinary May with the Brewers (0.23 ERA). Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani allowed one run over six hitless innings last Wednesday and actually saw his miniscule season ERA (0.86) rise in the process. Also last week, second-year Reds right-hander Chase Burns fired his eighth straight start of two runs or fewer, and Braves veteran lefty Chris Sale recorded his eighth straight start allowing two earned runs or fewer. Clearly, Pirates star Paul Skenes will have a lot of competition this year in what should be a thrilling National League Cy Young race the rest of the way. In this week’s Power Rankings, we take a look at every team’s best starting pitcher to this point of the season. Until Chase Dollander returns from injury, it might be best to skip this one. Tomoyuki Sugano has been the most consistent of the group with a 4.01 ERA over 11 starts. With Tarik Skubal down, Casey Mize has become the de facto ace. He has a 1.45 ERA over his past seven starts, but he can’t fix a Detroit offense that ranks 29th in runs scored. Michael Wacha leads Royals starters in ERA, strikeouts and wins, but that hasn’t been enough for a Kansas City team that has lost 16 of its last 19 games. José Soriano saw his ERA rise from 0.84 to 2.65 in May, but he still deserves recognition here. Keep an eye on Reid Detmers, though. His ERA starts with a 4, but he leads the team in strikeouts, and a week ago he fanned 14 in a start against the Rangers. Landen Roupp is the only Giants starter with an ERA under 4.00. His consistent production has been important for a San Francisco starting rotation that ranks 28th in ERA. Offseason additions Ranger Suárez (3.38 ERA) and Sonny Gray (3.06) have both pitched well, but the lowest ERAs in the Boston rotation belong to 24-year-old Connelly Early (2.95) and 23-year-old Payton Tolle (2.61). Among all MLB starters who’ve thrown at least 40 innings this year, Tolle ranks sixth in WHIP and fourth in opponents’ batting average. With much of the attention this year on Sandy Alcantara and Eury Perez, it’s Max Meyer who has been the best starter in the Marlins’ rotation. Even after surrendering six runs to the Mets over the weekend, Meyer is 5-0 on the year with a 2.97 ERA that is by far the best mark among Miami starters. He won’t get the same attention as other starters while pitching for the middling Twins, but Joe Ryan ranks in the top 10 among all qualified MLB starters in WHIP, opponents’ average and fWAR and has a 1.97 ERA over his past six starts. Someone needed to step up with all the injuries in the Astros’ rotation, and Spencer Arrighetti answered the call. He’s 7-1 with a 1.34 ERA in eight starts. Until he fractured his fibula last month, Clay Holmes had been the one consistent piece of the volatile Mets rotation. They need at least one of Nolan McLean (4.21 ERA) and Freddy Peralta (3.55) to go on a run quickly. The A’s are trending the wrong way, but it has been a career year for 2020 second-round pick J.T. Ginn, who took a no-hitter into the ninth inning on May 18 in Anaheim and leads A’s starters with a 2.87 ERA. Even after a few May clunkers that made Jacob deGrom’s ERA climb to 3.77, he is still the best pitcher in the Rangers’ rotation. But keep an eye on MacKenzie Gore, who has lowered his ERA from 5.18 to 3.96 over his past four starts. Orioles fans would probably hope the answer here would be Shane Baz, who just signed a $68 million extension, or Trevor Rogers. But it’s Kyle Bradish who has started the most games and has the most strikeouts and lowest ERA of anyone in the Baltimore rotation. Baz, however, has started to pick up some steam. Dylan Cease is currently on the shelf, but his hamstring injury appears minor. That’s a big relief as the Blue Jays try to claw their way into contention. Cease has lived up to the expectations of an ace after receiving a $210 million deal in Toronto, ranking first among qualified AL starters in strikeout rate. The Cease-Kevin Gausman duo atop the Toronto rotation is one of the best in the league. Chase Burns (7-1, 1.96 ERA) is one of just five qualified MLB starters with an ERA under 2.00. His work has been especially vital in a Reds starting rotation that has a 4.54 ERA as a group. The Nationals are one of the stories of the season. They just picked up impressive series wins against the Guardians and Padres, and former first-round pick Cade Cavalli is finding his form. Since April 18, he ranks eighth in the majors in strikeouts. The Diamondbacks’ pitching staff figured to be an issue this year, but veterans Eduardo Rodriguez (5-1, 2.31 ERA) and Mike Soroka (7-2, 3.25) are lifting the rotation. Even if the underlying numbers suggest regression ahead, Rodriguez currently ranks in the top 10 among qualified MLB starters in ERA. That’s a significant turnaround after he logged an ERA over 5.00 in each of his first two seasons in Arizona. The fact that you could make an argument for Braxton Ashcraft here says something both about Ashcraft’s season and Paul Skenes’ year so far, but the answer is still Skenes. His 2.89 ERA is about a run worse than either of his past two seasons, but his expected ERA is the best of his career, his walk rate is the lowest of his career, and his underlying numbers are all exceptional. Injuries have ravaged this rotation — Edward Cabrera, Matthew Boyd, Justin Steele and Cade Horton are all on the injured list — which helps explain Chicago starters’ 4.71 ERA. Ben Brown only joined the rotation in May, but since then he has been the star of the group with a 1.73 ERA over his last five starts. The Cubs desperately need Shota Imanaga to get back on track. Starting pitching isn’t the reason the Cardinals have stayed competitive in what is surprisingly the best division in baseball, but the group has been better than expected. Michael McGreevy’s expected ERA (5.63) is about double his actual ERA (2.98), but he’s the lone member of the rotation with an ERA under 4.00. Losing Munetaka Murakami to a hamstring strain hurts, but it’s not just power that has gotten the South Siders to this point. They’ve won 15 of their last 21 games with the help of a rotation that now ranks 11th in ERA. That group is led by Davis Martin, who has allowed one or no runs in eight of his past 10 starts. As Cristopher Sánchez continues to rack up scoreless outings, he’s now the NL Cy Young favorite. The Phillies southpaw just wrapped up a month of May in which he totaled 45 strikeouts and three walks without allowing a run over 39 innings, and he leads the majors in ERA and fWAR. That’s more like it. The Mariners have now won six straight games after sweeping the A’s and Diamondbacks, which was enough to move them to the top of the lowly AL West. Any one of Bryan Woo (3.44 ERA), George Kirby (3.77), Logan Gilbert (3.69) or Emerson Hancock (2.78) could claim the title as team ace this year, but it’s worth singling out Hancock’s consistent contributions to this point, especially as the team struggled early in the year. He has allowed three runs or fewer in all but one of his 11 starts and has the lowest ERA of the group. The Guardians’ momentum slowed last week with series losses to the Nationals and Red Sox, but their pitching still has them atop the AL Central. The Cleveland rotation ranks sixth in ERA led by rookie Parker Messick (6-1, 2.21 ERA), who could get both Rookie of the Year and Cy Young consideration. The regression appears to be starting now for a Padres team that has stayed well above .500 despite what is now a negative run differential. Michael King leads the San Diego rotation in every major category and will continue to be a critical piece for a team lacking pitching depth. It has been a remarkable year for 35-year-old veteran Nick Martinez, who has done far more than just solidify his role as an MLB starter. Martinez ranks third among all qualified MLB starters in ERA (1.62) and has not allowed more than two runs in any of his 11 outings this year. Cam Schlittler, the American League Cy Young favorite, leads the AL in both ERA (1.50) and WHIP (0.85). He has allowed three runs or fewer in every start and two runs or fewer in each of his past eight starts. Over six starts in May, Jacob Misiorowski allowed just one run and struck out 57, the most by any pitcher in any calendar month in franchise history. He leads all qualified starters in strikeouts (108), WHIP (0.79) and opponents’ average (.150). No other pitcher has 100 strikeouts. Among qualified starters, Cristopher Sánchez has the lowest ERA in MLB (1.47). But lower the minimum to 50 innings, and Shohei Ohtani’s mark (0.82) is about half of that. Ohtani won’t end up with the same number of innings as other top pitching contenders in his first full season on the mound in three years, but he looks like a potential Cy Young winner every time he takes the ball. The Braves have two of the top 10 qualified starters in ERA in Chris Sale (2.01) and Bryce Elder (2.50). At age 37, Sale remains one of the best pitchers in the game and should be in the Cy Young conversation as long as he stays healthy. Among all qualified MLB starters, Sale ranks seventh in ERA and fifth in both WHIP and opponents’ batting average. He’s also throwing harder this year than he did last year.