RHP Zac Gallen
Gallen broke out in the second half of the 2022 season and has been at the top of the Arizona Diamondbacks rotation ever since. Over that stretch, he's made 93 starts with a 3.20 ERA and was a key contributor in their National League pennant run in 2023.
While he might not be as dominant as that one-year stretch between July 2022 and July 2023, Gallen is still one of the game's most effective starters when healthy. Hamstring issues held him to 28 starts and 148 innings in 2024, but he logged 184 and 210 innings in the previous two years.
He's not as dominant as Cease or Valdez in terms of missing bats or inducing ground balls, but he was better than the league average at both in 2024, with a 25.1% strikeout rate and 46.2% ground ball rate according to his Baseball Savant page.
The one area of concern for Gallen has been the quality of contact he's allowed. While he's done a solid job of missing bats, when batters do make contact they've had success. In the past three years, his expected ERA (xERA) has significantly lagged behind his ERA, suggesting some fortuitous luck and sequencing. His hard-hit rate, or batted balls with an exit velocity of at least 95.0 MPH, has been over 40% in each of the past two years, which has caused him to be homer-prone when he gives up barrels.
Gallen will turn 30 just two months before hitting the market. He could be looking at a six-year, $160 million deal in free agency.