The hardest pitch of Tarik Skubal’s career left his hand with two outs and two strikes in the ninth inning of Sunday’s matinée, darted past the bat of a swinging Gabriel Arias and completed a performance for the ages.
The first complete game of Skubal’s career was also the first ever Maddux — a complete-game shutout on fewer than 100 pitches — in which a pitcher recorded at least 13 strikeouts. Skubal needed only 94 pitches to finish the job, the last of which clocked in at 102.6 mph.
Skubal’s pristine work prevented a Guardians sweep and provided a reminder of the Tigers ace’s place atop MLB’s pitching pecking order.
In honor of Skubal’s historic work, this week’s power rankings include one pitching standout from every club.
Speaking of rookies, Shane Smith has the same ERA as Paul Skenes (2.36).
And speaking of Skenes, the Pirates have somehow only won four of his 11 starts despite the ace’s typically terrific work. Pittsburgh has gotten more help in the rotation from Bailey Falter, who has allowed just three earned runs in 29.1 May innings. Falter’s 0.92 ERA this month trails only Zack Wheeler for the lowest mark in the National League.
Not much has gone right in the Orioles’ rotation — or anywhere with the club, really — but Tomoyuki Sugano has a 3.07 ERA through his first 10 career big-league starts.
Edward Cabrera struck out 10 batters in 5.2 scoreless innings Sunday to secure a series win against a scorching Angels squad. It was his most strikeouts in a game since last year’s season debut and continued a strong month for Cabrera, who has a 2.53 ERA in four May starts.
MacKenzie Gore still leads MLB in strikeouts and has the highest year-over-year increase in strikeout rate of any qualified starter in MLB. That the Nationals still rank in the bottom half of the league in strikeouts despite his rise tells you something about the state of their pitching staff.
Jeffrey Springs held the Dodgers to one run in seven innings in an 11-1 win on May 13. The A’s then lost their next 11 games, despite two more quality starts from Springs during that stretch. He has a 2.05 ERA in five May starts.
Rookie Logan Henderson has a 1.71 ERA with 29 strikeouts in his first 21 career innings. The Brewers have won each of his first four MLB starts.
The Angels were cooking. They won eight straight games behind a dramatic offensive turnaround … and then dropped a series to the Marlins while scoring two runs in the final two games of the weekend. The Angels got the win Friday, though, behind 5.2 scoreless innings from Yusei Kikuchi. The big offseason pitching signing has a 1.91 ERA in five starts this month and a 3.17 ERA on the year.
Reliever Braydon Fisher has made six appearances since getting called up for the first time earlier this month. The 24-year-old has struck out 10 of the 22 batters he has faced while allowing just three hits and no runs.
Andrew Abbott has allowed just two earned runs in five May starts — his 0.70 ERA this month is third lowest among all MLB starters with at least 20 innings pitched — yet the Reds lost two of those five starts. Hunter Greene’s return from the injured list should provide a boost to a club that just can’t seem to get on a run.
Nathan Eovaldi (1.60 ERA), Tyler Mahle (1.80) and Jacob deGrom (2.33) all rank in the top 10 in MLB in ERA. However, while the Rangers’ starting pitchers rank third in ERA, their lineup ranks third to last in OPS. The underachieving offense continues to be a problem.
After a shaky start to the year, reigning Cy Young Award winner Chris Sale has found his form; he has a 2.30 ERA with 61 strikeouts in 47 innings over his last eight starts and ranks in MLB’s top five in strikeouts. However, neither Sale’s seven innings of one-run ball nor Ronald Acuña Jr.’s auspicious return to the lineup were enough to capture a series win this weekend against the Padres.
It’s been another disappointing year for an Arizona pitching staff that ranks 24th in ERA, but Corbin Burnes is starting to perform the way the D-backs had hoped. Burnes has a 1.44 ERA over his last five starts, though his seven innings of three-run ball weren’t enough to secure a series win in L.A. last week or prevent a 1-5 road trip.
The pitching staff limits this club’s ceiling and is preventing Boston from gathering any momentum, but that’s not the fault of Garrett Crochet, who has a 1.98 ERA and has allowed five runs over four May starts. While his four-seamer is down a tick this year, opponents are hitting .056 with 21 strikeouts against his sweeper.
Drew Rasmussen (2.60 ERA) tossed six shutout innings for the second straight start to begin a weekend sweep of the Blue Jays. The Rays have now won five straight, and the pitching staff — which has a league-leading 2.00 ERA over the last week— is a major reason why.
Cole Ragans has the highest strikeout rate among all qualified MLB starters, and yet he has not been the best starter in an elite Royals rotation. That honor goes to Kris Bubic, who spent last year in the bullpen after recovering from Tommy John surgery and has returned to the rotation with a 1.45 ERA — the second-best mark among all qualified MLB starters — through 11 starts. He’s 3-0 with a 0.56 ERA in May.
Over the last full year — from May 25, 2024 to May 25, 2025 — the lowest ERA among qualified American League pitchers belongs to Hunter Brown. The sinker he brought back to his repertoire last season has helped him post the lowest hard-hit rate among qualified starters, while his four-seamer has been virtually untouchable this year.
It was a big week for the Guardians, who went to Detroit and took three of four from the American League leaders. Tanner Bibee started the series on the right foot, tossing seven scoreless innings Friday. Starters Bibee, Gavin Williams and Ben Lively have combined for a 1.98 ERA this month.
Bryan Woo has starred for the shorthanded rotation, but we all know what Seattle’s starters can do when healthy. Let’s talk about closer Andres Muñoz, who is tied for the MLB lead in saves and hasn’t surrendered an earned run in 23 appearances.
Traded to the Cardinals as part of the 2020 deal that sent Randy Arozarena to the Rays, 2018 first-round pick Matthew Liberatore is putting it all together this year in St. Louis. The 25-year-old has a 1.91 ERA over his last eight starts and ranks in the top 15 among all qualified MLB pitchers in fWAR.
Joe Ryan ranks second in WHIP and fourth in both strikeout-to-walk ratio and opponents’ batting average among all qualified MLB starters. He has 67 strikeouts and just eight walks allowed in 57 innings this year and has gone at least five innings in all 10 starts.
Nick Pivetta tossed six innings of one-run ball for the second straight start Friday, helping the Padres end a six-game skid and sparking a series win in Atlanta. Pivetta (5-2, 2.72 ERA) was still available for any team to sign until February, which many pitching-starved clubs might now be regretting.
Robbie Ray is 7-0 with a 2.56 ERA in his second year back from Tommy John surgery, but I’d be remiss not to mention some of their relievers here. The Giants have the lowest bullpen ERA in baseball, and Randy Rodríguez, Tyler Rogers and Camilo Doval rank fourth, fifth and seventh, respectively, among qualified relievers in WHIP. That trio has combined for a 1.28 ERA with 73 strikeouts and 14 walks.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto (1.86 ERA, 0.91 WHIP) pitching like a Cy Young contender has been more important than the Dodgers could have known. After another offseason of significant spending, the pitching staff is decimated again. The Dodgers have dropped 11 of their last 20 games, their starters rank 22nd in ERA, and their relievers have thrown more innings than any team in baseball. A daunting schedule awaits over the next few weeks, but at least Shohei Ohtani is back to facing hitters.
Matthew Boyd (3.42 ERA) and Colin Rea (3.28) weren’t the most attention-grabbing additions of the Cubs’ offseason, but they’ve been vital pieces for a beleaguered rotation that just needs adequate performances to support a juggernaut lineup. The Cubs have the best run differential in the National League behind the highest scoring offense in baseball, and the bullpen has looked much improved over the last couple of weeks.
Last postseason, a diminished version of Kodai Senga struggled to produce against the Dodgers. On Sunday, he held the reigning champions to one run in 5.1 innings to secure a series win for the Mets…and actually saw his ERA on the year rise slightly from 1.43 to 1.46, which is the lowest mark among all qualified NL starters.
What more is there to say about Skubal? A unanimous Cy Young Award winner last year, he has an even higher strikeout rate and an even lower walk rate this season. Needless to say, he has, by far, the best strikeout-to-walk ratio among qualified starters this season.
Max Fried is 7-0, has not allowed more than two earned runs in a start this season, and leads all qualified starters with a 1.29 ERA. The Rockies stood little chance against him this weekend as the Yankees won their sixth straight series.
Their win streak ended at nine games on Sunday, but the Phillies had already done enough to vault into the top spot here for the first time this year. Sure, it helps that their competition lately has been less than stellar, but winning 21 of 27 games is noteworthy nonetheless. The José Alvarado suspension stings, but the offseason acquisition of Jesús Luzardo (5-0, 2.15 ERA) has turned an already terrific rotation into arguably baseball’s best.
Rowan Kavner is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the L.A. Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved back to the West Coast in 2014. Follow him on X at @RowanKavner.
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