Jacob deGrom is not the best starter in baseball, so who is?

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We will be compiling a list of the top three players at each position including designated hitter leading into Spring Training. These MLB best lists are based on career stats/accomplishments, 2018 statistics, and especially their projections going into 2019. Today we continue with the final position which is the Starting Pitchers.

Yesterday I wrote about the best relievers in the game , an today we move to perhaps the most important position in terms of marketing, the starting pitcher.

Without further ado, there are only three spots on the list, so let’s go through the catchers that were just short:

Just Missed

Aaron Nola (Philadelphia Phillies)

I am a huge fan of Aaron Nola. He finished third in NL Cy Young voting last year, posting a 2.37 ERA in 212 innings with his first All Star Game appearance.

The Phillies did the right thing, and locked up Nola for another four years, paying him $45 million to be their ace for many years to come.

I can’t put him on the list though because there are Cy Young winners ahead of him.

Corey Kluber (Cleveland Indians)

Corey Kluber had another great season, also finishing third in the Cy Young vote, with a 2.89 ERA in over 200 innings for the fifth straight season.

Last year he made it to his third straight All Star Game, and marked his third straight season of finishing in at least the top three in the Cy Young voting (won it 2014 and 2017).

I am not putting Kluber on the list because the past two seasons, he has an ERA of over 7 in the postseason, and in 2018 he had an ERA north of 12, which is not a top three pitcher in the game.

Justin Verlander (Houston Astros)

Justin Verlander got traded from the Tigers to the Astros, and went and won them a championship in 2017, putting him back at Hall of Fame status as a starting pitcher.

In 2018, he led the American League in games started, strikeouts, and strikeouts per win, so he showed his dominance in his first full season in Houston, but is not making my list because that ALCS against Boston is still in the back of my head. in those two starts he gave up two home runs, six earned runs, and walked six, which you can’t do in the playoffs.

Clayton Kershaw (Los Angeles Dodgers)

Clayton Kershaw is one of the best pitchers in MLB history, but he has been sidelined with back injuries the last couple years, and that does concern me especially when he isn’t getting any younger.

The Dodgers have faith in him though, signing him to a three year extension, to keep him as the ace of that staff for the next few seasons.

I can’t put him anywhere near the top of the list because he can’t pitch well in October. In the World Series last season against the Red Sox, he was 0-2 with a 7.36 ERA in 11 innings. In those eleven innings, he gave up 14 hits with nine earned runs and three home runs.

I am sorry, but I can;t be putting someone on the list that can’t pitch in October.

Now let’s get to the three pitchers on the list, starting at #3. He was the opposing pitcher against Clayton Kershaw in the postseason last year…

3. Chris Sale (Boston Red Sox)

Ever since 2012 when he was with the Chicago White Sox, Chris Sale has been in the All Star Game and has placed in at least the Top 6 in Cy Young Voting, finishing fourth in 2018.

In 158 innings, he posted a 2.11 ERA with 13.5 strikeouts per nine, along with 237 strikeouts.

The thing that stands out to me were his good postseason numbers, unlike Clayton Kershaw. In the American League Division Series last season against the New York Yankees, he went 6.1 innings with only two earned runs, giving up just five hits, and striking out nine batters.

Then, if he went into the ALCS against the Astros, and surrendered the same amount of earned runs (2), and gave up only one hit with five strikeouts.

See, there is a difference between great pitchers and good pitchers. For me at least, Sale has been a great pitcher the last couple of years, but Kershaw has been a good pitcher because he can’t pitch in October.

In a combined two starts in the World Series, he gave up just five hits, allowing three earned runs, and struck out ten Dodgers batters.

As you can see, Sale is a consistent pitcher, and is doing it in the American League East when he has to face Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Gary Sanchez, and Didi Gregorius in the Yankees lineup, and an aggressive Rays lineup.

In 2019 Sale is projected to strikeout 209 hitters in 161 innings with a 2.91 ERA in addition to a 11.7 strikeouts per nine.

The #2 starting pitcher in the big leagues has a pretty solid argument to be the best pitcher right now and is coming off of one of the most impressive seasons in MLB history…

2. Jacob deGrom (New York Mets)

Jacob deGrom went into 2018, as arguably not the best starting pitcher on his own pitching staff, but he ended 2018 being the best pitcher of the season.

In the 2018 season, he went 10-9 with a 1.70 ERA in 32 starts and 217 innings pitched. He only gave up 10 home runs and had an 11.2 strikeouts per nine (better than Clayton Kershaw).

Before last season, his ERA never got under 2.50, and had to deal injuries along with the rest of the Mets rotation.

He also had another injury in 2018 after hyperextending his throwing elbow while swinging a bat, and he was out for two starts. It started a whole conversation on whether or not pitchers should hit, and is most likely a huge reason why Major league Baseball have discussed a Universal DH rule.

But that wasn’t the only barrier deGrom had to face. On average, he only had 3.49 runs of support, which is detrimental to having any sort of success in baseball, especially when you have to face batters in the NL East like Bryce Harper, Freddie Freeman, and J.T. Realmuto.

When comparing deGrom’s run support last season with the top pitchers in the game, it is virtually not comparable.

Clayton Kershaw: 5.42 runs

Chris Sale: 4.88 runs

Max Scherzer: 5.42

Kershaw gets to pitch on a team with guys like Max Muncy, Cody Bellinger, and Justin Turner. Chris Sale pitches on a team with guys like MVP Mookie Betts, J.D. Martinez, and Xander Bogaerts. Max Scherzer got run support from Bryce Harper, Anthony Rendon, and Trea Turner.

Then you look, at who was in the Mets lineup last season. deGrom got run support (not much) from a washed up Adrian Gonzalez, Todd Frazier, and Brandon Nimmo.

I am sure if you put deGrom on the mound for the Red Sox, Dodgers, or Nationals, he would have had the best year from a starter in MLB history.

So, deGrom was the best pitcher in the league with one of the worst lineups in baseball, and other elite pitchers struggled Hall of Famer’s in their lineup.

I know he will get much more run support this year though with the additions of Robinson Cano, Jed Lowrie, and Wilson Ramos.

In 2019 he is surprisingly projected to have the same record of 10-9 with a 2.76 ERA in 189 innings pitched.

You would think he would be the #1 pitcher then right, but the best starting pitcher in baseball has been consistently dominant for many years now…

(Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /

1. Max Scherzer (Washington Nationals)

I just went on about Jacob deGrom about his great ERA and his great season, but Scherzer is another animal. He has had an ERA of under 3 for four straight years, and five out of the last six seasons.

More from Call to the Pen

He has made it to six All Star Games in a row, with three Cy Young Awards in that span, and finishing right behind deGrom for the 2018 award. If you want a model of consistency, I don’t know another pitcher in the game better. In fact, last night he was named the #5 player in all of baseball in front of Jacob deGrom by MLB Network in the Top 100 Players Right Now.

In 2018, Scherzer led the National League in innings (220.2), strikeouts (300), and strikeouts per nine (12.2). He had a 2.53 ERA in 33 starts, and averaging only 6.1 hits per nine innings.

He became just the fourth pitcher in MLB history with five 250 strikeout seasons (Randy Johnson, Nolan Ryan, Roger Clemens).

I enjoy watching Max Scherzer throw a baseball because of his desire to compete to the fullest regardless of if he is pitching against the Reds on Opening Day or in Miami in front of 10,000 people in August.

On Thursday, according to Jamal Collier, Max Scherzer threw his first bullpen of 2019 in a voluntary workout session. Scherzer was on the mound in February “grunting”, calling out a multitude of counts, and “getting angry at himself” when he did not execute a particular pitch.

That is not normal. You don’t see somebody that dedicated, throwing his first bullpen but acting like he was in the postseason. His greatness every season starts in Florida on a Spring Training mound, when nobody else is taking a bullpen that serious. That’s why he is the best pitcher in the game.

The Starting Pitchers are the last position of the series, so let me know what you think, and thank you for being with me as we took a look at the best players right now at every position.