5 MLB starting pitchers who are impressing fans with their early season performances

Don't look now, but we're almost a month through the 2025 MLB season. We're getting larger sample sizes from players, helping us determine whose early-season breakouts are for real.

Let's take a look at five starting pitchers who appear capable of sustaining the high quality performances they've brought early this season.

5 MLB starting pitchers dominating early in 2025

Chris Bassitt, Toronto Blue Jays

The hound on the mound has sported a 0.77 ERA across four starts for the Toronto Blue Jays this season. But what's been the secret to his success? His effectiveness this season comes from his improved pitch location, enhanced movement on his pitches, and a focus on pitch efficiency.

He's generated more swing and misses (career-high 13.6% swinging strike rate). This is encouraging to see from Bassitt, who is a reliable workhorse and had a down season in 2024 with a 4.16 ERA.

Thanks to a repertoire that goes seven pitches deep, including his dominant slider that Bassitt uses 39% of the time, the righty has been able to keep hitters guessing and whiffing at his offerings more than ever before.

Hunter Greene, Cincinnati Reds

Greene has been taking it to the next level with his 2.35 ERA for the Reds this season, which falls to 0.99 if you take out his most recent start against the Baltimore Orioles.

Greene has done this by leaning hard on the pitch that makes him special: his fastball. He throws his heater over 60% of the time, up from 55% last year, and dares opposing batters to hit it.

Considering he was worth 6.2 WAR and finished inside the top ten in NL Cy Young voting last year, it'd be easy to think 2024 was Greene's breakout campaign. If he continues on this pace, though, 2025 will serve as the righty's official coronation.

Tyler Mahle, Texas Rangers

Tyler Mahle is the Texas Rangers ace that they didn't see coming. This season, he's sporting a 0.68 ERA through five starts and 26 2/3 innings.

He looks rejuvenated for the AL West-leading Rangers, who have needed his contributions among injuries and underperformance from his rotation mates. A lot of Mahle's early success is an impossibly-low .156 BABIP, but even as that regresses over the course of the season, the righy looks poised for the best campaign of his career.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Los Angeles Dodgers

The Dodgers' Japanese star is sporting a 0.93 ERA this season and has been stellar on the mound. Yamamoto has excelled this season because of a number of aspects, including his incredible control of the strike zone and improving ability to generate ground-balls.

He's also held an impressive strikeout rate of 35.2% and has only allowed two home runs this season. His "rookie" season in 2024 was impressive, but this is the version of Yamamoto the Dodgers were hoping to get when they spent $325 million on the 26-year-old.

Garrett Crochet, Boston Red Sox

Crochet signed a contract extension with his new team worth $170 million for six years earlier this season, and he's been earning every penny of it thus far in 2025. On the season, he's recorded a brilliant 1.13 ERA. He's especially shown success against his former team, the Chicago White Sox.

Crochet is posting worse strikeout and walk rates than he did in 2024, but he's succeeding thanks to a fastball that might literally be the best fastball in baseball. Thanks to his contributions atop the rotation, the Red Sox find themselves in the thick of the AL East race at 13-11.

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