Jacob Misiorowski has held the mound’s top seat all summer, and with the postseason close enough to hear the gates opening, the Brewers’ 24-year-old right-hander remains the standard. Milwaukee set a franchise record for single-season victories with Misiorowski starting on Sunday, even though his appearance was brief. He heads into the final weekend with a chance to reach 250 strikeouts, a mark achieved by only Spencer Strider, Gerrit Cole and Garrett Crochet over the past six seasons.
The latest October-minded starter rankings focus on clubs that have either secured a berth or remain in the race. Health matters in this snapshot, leaving out Jesús Luzardo as he deals with a troublesome left shoulder. Statistics are through Tuesday’s games unless a later outing is noted.
The result
Misiorowski has been No. 1 for seven straight editions dating to mid-June. His 1.86 ERA, .180 opponents’ average and 247 strikeouts lead qualified Major League starters. The Milwaukee right-hander has little left to establish in the regular season, but the 250-strikeout chase gives his final turn some extra juice.
Cam Schlittler stays second after turning his first full Yankees season into a 1.94 ERA campaign, second among qualified starters. The 25-year-old leans heavily on multiple fastball looks, using heaters 89.3% of the time, the highest rate for a starter. His October profile will bring back memories of his breakthrough against Boston last fall, and a possible Yankees-Red Sox postseason meeting would add another layer.
Chris Sale remains third, still pushing the boundaries of what a 37-year-old left-hander can do. He is throwing harder than he has since his 2010 rookie season, an exceptional late-career velocity run in the tracking era. Sale fanned 10 Reds on Wednesday to reach 200 strikeouts for the ninth time. That moved him past Steve Carlton for sole possession of second place among left-handers in Major League history, trailing only Randy Johnson’s 13 such seasons.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto climbed four places to fourth behind another strong second half for the Dodgers. Since the All-Star break, he owns a 1.98 ERA across 10 starts. His .180 average allowed is third best in the Majors, behind Misiorowski and Toronto’s Dylan Cease, while his 0.87 WHIP is second only to the Milwaukee ace.
Tarik Skubal, now fifth, has posted a 2.95 ERA and 60 strikeouts in 55 innings through nine Dodgers starts since the Deadline deal that brought the two-time reigning Cy Young Award winner to Los Angeles. It has been excellent work, though not quite his most overwhelming version. October has often brought that gear: Skubal recorded a 2.04 ERA with 56 strikeouts over 39 2/3 postseason innings from 2024 through 2025.
Drew Rasmussen’s sixth-place standing comes after a defining night in the Rays’ 6-1 clinching win at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday. With Tampa Bay needing one victory to take the AL East, Rasmussen carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning and finished with 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball. He struck out 11, threw a career-high 114 pitches, and the Rays have now won all 12 of his starts since the break.
Cristopher Sánchez is seventh after reaching 200 innings for a second consecutive year. He worked 6 1/3 innings and allowed two runs against the Mets on Sunday, becoming the first Phillies lefty since Cole Hamels to log 200 innings in back-to-back seasons. Hamels did it five years running from 2010-14. Sánchez’s formula remains direct: a premium changeup, a heavy sinker and a 58.1% ground-ball rate, fifth best among qualified pitchers.
Max Fried enters at No. 8 despite a recurring bone bruise in his left elbow that has held him to 20 starts in the second season of the seven-year deal he signed in December 2024. When available, the Yankees left-hander has continued to keep contact in check with a seven-pitch repertoire. He has surrendered just seven barrels all year, producing a 2.2% barrel rate in the 98th percentile. Opponents are batting .169 against his cutter.
Parker Messick slots ninth amid a rookie season that deserves a louder conversation. The Guardians left-hander has made 31 starts with a 2.55 ERA. No rookie had combined at least 30 starts with an ERA below 3.00 since Dwight Gooden’s 1984 Mets season. Messick gave up one run in five innings at Fenway Park on Tuesday, his 15th outing this season of at least five innings with one earned run or fewer.
Zack Wheeler rounds out the top 10 after reshaping his September. His low point came Aug. 24, when Seattle scored eight runs and hit four homers against him in four innings. Since then, Wheeler has gone 4-1 with a 1.71 ERA in five starts and allowed only one homer. He also set a Phillies record Tuesday by striking out the first seven Brewers he faced in Philadelphia’s 6-4 victory.
| Rank | Starter | Club | Previous rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jacob Misiorowski | Brewers | 1 |
| 2 | Cam Schlittler | Yankees | 2 |
| 3 | Chris Sale | Braves | 3 |
| 4 | Yoshinobu Yamamoto | Dodgers | 8 |
| 5 | Tarik Skubal | Dodgers | 10 |
| 6 | Drew Rasmussen | Rays | 9 |
| 7 | Cristopher Sánchez | Phillies | 5 |
| 8 | Max Fried | Yankees | Not ranked |
| 9 | Parker Messick | Guardians | 7 |
| 10 | Zack Wheeler | Phillies | Not ranked |
The rotation next
Yamamoto was set to face the Padres on Wednesday, another chance to sharpen the Dodgers’ October picture. Misiorowski’s final regular-season assignment comes this weekend, with the 250-strikeout milestone within reach.
Still in the picture
The next group includes Gavin Williams of the Guardians, Sonny Gray and Payton Tolle of the Red Sox, Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow of the Dodgers, Jacob deGrom of the Rangers, Logan Henderson of the Brewers, Ranger Suárez of the Red Sox, Hunter Brown of the Astros, Nick Martinez of the Rays, Carlos Rodón and Gerrit Cole of the Yankees, Tyler Mahle of the Braves, Michael King and Nick Pivetta of the Padres, Shota Imanaga of the Cubs, and Sean Burke of the White Sox.
