In preparation for my annual Top 400 Starting Pitchers ranking article in February 2026, I spend the fall and winter months thoroughly reviewing every team’s rotation, taking the time to analyze every piece of the pitcher and write my analysis months in advance. I usually don’t share these publicly until then, and the last two years I elected to share them exclusively with PL Pro members.
PL Pro members get four major benefits inside these articles:
1. Early Ranking Access
As I go through each team, I rank each pitcher relative to the other pitchers I have already covered inside a Google Spreadsheet. While I often change these throughout the winter even after completing their write-up, PL Pro members have access to view the progress of those rankings before they are made public.
Exclusive Look At Nick’s Updated 2026 SP Rankings:
2. 2026 Player Projections, powered by PLV
At the start of each write-up, you can view each player’s Pitcher List player projection for 2026, powered by PLV. These projections matched hitters alongside BatX in 2025, and performed exceptionally well across the Top 200 SP. They even beat me in the daily streamer challenge by one. So close.
3. Nick’s Starting Pitcher Sheet – The One Sheet for all Pitcher Research
With the help of Kyle Bland, I have a Team SP one-sheet that provides all the relevant data on every pitcher for each team featured in these articles. Here is the example for the Arizona Diamondbacks:
It’s the ultimate resource for your personal SP research. I cannot express enough how helpful it is to have everything in one place.
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One Sheet Of All Yankees SPs:
Expected Starters
Max Fried (LHP)
2025 Stats: 195.1 IP | 2.86 ERA | 1.10 WHIP | 23.6 K% | 6.4 BB%
2026 PL Projection:
Fried is as safe as they come. He’s not going to wow you with a strikeout an inning, but those cutters inside to RHB carry genuine surprise cut and the sinker to LHB is a weak-contact machine. With Cole and Rodon sidelined, he’s the foundation of this rotation, and the Wins will flow accordingly.
The curveball at 75 mph with 99th percentile drop is the putaway to both sides, though it’s almost too big, which limits its strike rate. The missing piece? His changeup fell from a 19-20% SwStr in 2022-23 to 14% last year against RHB, and the sweeper is not the elite breaker we normally see to LHB, returning under 60% strikes and distant from the tighter slider we saw earlier in his career. If either the changeup or slider/sweeper take a step forward, Fried has the potential for a 26%+ strikeout season. Until then, he’s your ratio rock. Pair him with a K-forward arm and enjoy the quality ratio floor with a boatload of dubs.
Quick Take: Fried’s cuttter to RHB and sinkers to LHB provide elite ERA stability and great home run suppression. The changeup and sweeper need to take a step forward for Fried to flirt with the champions, but you’ll be hard-pressed to find an unhappy manager with Fried on their roster.
Cam Schlittler (RHP)
2025 Stats: 73.0 IP | 2.96 ERA | 1.22 WHIP | 27.6 K% | 10.2 BB%
2026 PL Projection:
Sometimes you just want pitchers on your team who are fun. Cam is one of those arms, even if there are reasons for skepticism – recent back inflammation/lat soreness aside, which he’s outlined as a “non issue”.
He wasn’t overwhelming initially, making us wait for a breakthrough outing in Tampa Bay where Schlittler figured out the optimal mix: four-seamers, cutters, curveballs. That cutter at 91-92 mph separates from his 96 mph heater with dramatic movement while the velocity stays close enough that hitters can’t distinguish them out of the hand. That’s the tunnel. When he locates it, the results are devastating.
The problem is he hasn’t consistently located it, particularly to RHB where a 38% zone rate produced sub-60% strikes. The curveball carries similar potential with similar inconsistency: just 6% SwStr to RHB at 21% usage. That really needs to get better, as I don’t believe Schlittler should be able to cruise through outings just with his four-seamer for a full season. There’s also the workload question. 150+ innings through minors and majors, plus playoff starts pushing toward 165 total. That’s significant volume for a young arm who added velocity rapidly, and the spike still nags at me.
If health holds, the growth trajectory is real. His four-seamer is obviously a fantastic foundation (whiffs to both sides of the plate and constantly upstairs!), and there’s room for growth via cutter approach, curveball command, and improved sinker usage inside to RHB, plus the Yankees are sure to lean on him heavily as a staple throughout the season. Among the “Hype 7” as Eno likes to call them, Schlittler stands out as the safest of the sophomore arms. Just stay healthy. Please.
Quick Take: Schlittler’s four-seamer is a great foundation, though I expect a touch of regression that will put more weight on the cutter to find the zone more often and the curve to return more whiffs. Expect gains among the arsenal to help withstand some of the regression, while the situation in Pinstripes is lovely enviroment for continued production.
Will Warren (RHP)
2025 Stats: 162.1 IP | 4.44 ERA | 1.37 WHIP | 24.1 K% | 9.1 BB%
2026 PL Projection:
Last year was a journey. Warren was initially a sinker/sweeper arm with a good changeup and skepticism brought to you by the Council of Sinker/Sweepers: We Need A Fastball For LHB. However, Warren flipped the script, featuring more vert than expected on his four-seamer, and embraced the movement with his flat attack angle and seven feet of extension to become a four-seamer/sinker arm to both LHB and RHB. And get this: That four-seamer returned a ridiculous 18% SwStr rate to RHB. Incredible.
Oddly enough, the four-seamer that would appear to be the answer to his sinker/sweeper problems was terrible against LHB. At 50% usage, it returned an abysmal 7% SwStr rate, receiving little help from his curveball limping to the occasion with a 46% strike rate. Without the sinker to mix as effectively with the four-seamer, it makes sense that there is less confusion and an easier time at the plate (let alone, better equipped to handle the lively sweeper), and yet, the four-seamer with curves + changeups should be better. Sadly, the changeup isn’t consistent enough and Warren doesn’t have the ability to favor the sinker down-and-away, either.
The good news? He has a rotation spot and you don’t need to spend an expensive draft pick. If Warren is able to wrangle his secondaries, he’s Michael King 2.0. That’s a huge IF, of course, and you’re in a good spot to monitor the first two starts, searching for clues to determine if his LHB approach has improved and if he’s freed himself from the two-headed attack of fastballs to RHB. Just jam that sinker inside, throw good sweepers, elevate, and nail down the change. IS THAT SO MUCH TO ASK?! It’s a lot to ask. Oh. Well, I’m still going to ask it.
Quick Take: Warren went from a sinker + sweeper approach to four-seamers first in a shocking turn of events, and I’m not sold that he has the command in his secondaries to be the best of both worlds. He certainly has the stuff to excel with a ton of movement on breakers and the slowball, but the jury is out if he can find an approach he can consistently execute. A great upside flier given the runway if he’s locked in early, just don’t get too dependent on a breakout.
Ryan Weathers (LHP)
2025 Stats: 38.1 IP | 3.99 ERA | 1.28 WHIP | 22.3 K% | 7.2 BB%
2026 PL Projection:
Weathers may scare some based on the volume and lack of breakout performance when on the mound, but for a guy going well past the point of This Needs To Work, Weathers is exactly the arm you’re looking for. He has the perfect recipe of health risk and growth potential that outlines a late pick who you can confidently hold or drop early.
The first adjustment is simple. He has a sinker with 18 inches of horizontal break that looks like a legitimate weapon to fend off LHB, and he threw it 7% of the time last year. Meanwhile, the four-seamer to LHB posted a 57% strike rate, and I’m laughing at how obvious of a change that will be. We even saw Luzardo go from Miami to Philly and make the same effective tweak last year and I’d be floored if we don’t see it in 2026. Sweet.
The bigger issue is his sweeper feel to LHB, which may still be present in 2026. It’s a necessity for lefty-on-lefty and Weathers hasn’t nailed down any version of the breaker across his career. The good news? His changeup has been called upon to fill the secondary void and it has worked wonders to LHB across 18% usage, matching the 20%+ SwStr rate it features against RHB. Lefties aside, his approach to RHB speaks “SWATCH” at higher velocity, whose biggest hurdle is staying on the field. Well, he’s on the field now and likely starting opening weekend. That means your SP #6 – you know, the pitcher you draft who normally is off your team within a month – could be a rock for the entire year if he evades the injury bug, with quality being a lesser question than others at his range. Yes, that is exactly who you want to draft.
Quick Take: Weathers has actionable fixes (last year’s 7% sinker usage to LHB is criminal) that should make him a beneficial addition to your squads as long as he’s on the field, with potential growth if he can sort out a proper breaker to keep down-and-away to LHB. With health as the biggest concern, grab him now and hope his value sticks for months.
Luis Gil (RHP)
2025 Stats: 57.0 IP | 3.32 ERA | 1.40 WHIP | 16.8 K% | 13.5 BB%
2026 PL Projection:
Effectively wild. That’s the whole story with Gil, and it’s both the appeal and the frustration wrapped into one maddening package.
A 12% walk rate is untenable, and yet he’s posted a 3.50 ERA across 200+ innings. How? A 37% ICR and the fact that being unpredictable cuts both ways. Hitters can’t time him because the sequencing is genuinely chaotic. They don’t know if they should swing or take, and that indecision generates enough weak contact and chase to keep the run prevention afloat while the WHIP bleeds.
The 2025 season didn’t help. He lost a tick of velocity, SwStr rates declined, and the slider and changeup command wasn’t there. There’s a charitable read that a healthy offseason resets things. Sure. I don’t think it’s the most likely outcome. Late-round flyer territory.
Quick Take: Elite stuff, terrible command, and an ERA that somehow defies the 12% walk rate. No concrete evidence a command breakthrough is coming. A late-round dart throw, nothing more.
On The Fringe
Gerrit Cole (RHP)
2024 Stats: 95.0 IP | 3.41 ERA | 1.13 WHIP | 25.84 K% | 7.4 BB%
2026 PL Projection:
I’m optimistic about Cole, and let me explain why with one very specific, very correctable adjustment. In 2022, Cole used his slider as a two-strike weapon to LHB 65% of the time, producing a 27% put-away rate and 28% SwStr. When he returned in 2024, that usage cratered to 33% in two-strike counts, and the put-away rate fell to 12%. He lost the feel of throwing it down-and-in. The fix is straightforward: restore the slider to its two-strike role, lean into the cutter (a wonderful new addition), keep the four-seamer elevated, and use the sinker inside to RHB. The cutter gives him something he didn’t have before, a legitimate count pitch that frees the slider to be the finishing blow again.
The 7% walk rate was anomalous. The arm likely hurt. Tommy John, when pitchers aren’t rushed back (looking at you, Strider), tends to be a straightforward recovery for elite arms. A June return is realistic. Among all IL stashes, Cole is the one I’d target first.
Quick Take: Cole’s slider fell from a 27% put-away rate as a two-strike weapon in 2022 to 12% in his return, a deployment issue, not a stuff issue. With the cutter providing a new count pitch, a return to elite K rates is realistic. The top IL stash.
Carlos Rodón (LHP)
2025 Stats: 195.1 IP | 3.09 ERA | 1.05 WHIP | 25.7 K% | 9.3 BB%
2026 PL Projection:
The talent has never been the question with Rodón. The question is whether a bone spur procedure and a mid-May timeline (likely drifting later) disrupts the feel enough to matter.
I worry it does. Pitchers who enter the year on the IL with non-Tommy John ailments have a frustrating history of timelines pushing back and returns being bumpy. Rodón, who already fights his command, is exactly the type to suffer from a disrupted spring. And the changeup to RHB was inconsistent even when healthy. He’ll be productive when he’s back. I don’t doubt that. But 28-30% strikeout rates? That depends entirely on changeup and slider feel, and I wouldn’t bet on it.
At pick 200, I’m interested. At pick 140 with spring training hype, I’m out.
Quick Take: Mid-May bone spur return carries typical IL-start risks: timeline drift, disrupted feel, and a changeup that was already inconsistent to RHB. Value at pick 200, an overpay much earlier.
Cade Winquest (RHP)
2025 Stats: 106.0 IP | 3.99 ERA | 1.36 WHIP | 23.9 K% | 8.5 BB% – All in A+ and AA with Cardinals
2026 Projection:
A Rule Five pick from the Cardinals, the 28th overall, and the lesson I learned last year is that these guys deserve attention as potential starters. Because Rule Five picks must remain on the 26-man roster all season, Winquest will be in the majors from day one as the stretched-out SP6.
The four-seamer is the draw: 94-97 mph with up-and-arm-side movement, giving it two-plane action that should work particularly well against LHB. He’s reportedly working on a sinker. The breaking balls are less developed at 84-85 mph, but this is where the Cardinals-to-Yankees pipeline matters. The Yankees’ pitch design infrastructure could unlock sweeper or cutter shapes that the Cardinals’ system didn’t.
The first rotation opening that arises (and one will, because it always does) belongs to Winquest. A free waiver-wire add waiting to happen.
Quick Take: Winquest’s 94-97 mph four-seamer with two-plane movement is legit, and Rule Five status guarantees major-league presence all season. The first rotation spot that opens is his.
Names To Know
Clarke Schmidt (RHP)
Don’t chase this. Schmidt underwent an internal brace procedure with a July-August timeline. By then, the Yankees will have seven rotation options healthy, plus Winquest and prospect options. The necessity won’t be there.
The cutter was becoming a legitimate weapon before the injury, and his feel for spin gives him a foundation. He’s a solid pitcher. I just wouldn’t invest a roster spot waiting for a back-half return into a crowded rotation. File him as a September waiver-wire add if circumstances align.
Quick Take: A July-August return into a crowded rotation makes Schmidt a non-factor for draft purposes. Monitor late-season, not before.
Ryan Yarbrough (LHP)
Yes, the Yankees have signed The Fratty Pirate once again and with the lack of depth in this rotation until the big guns return, you may see him as a bulk arm for a game or two. It’s not out of the question he can steal a Win here or there, but y’all know
Osvaldo Bido (RHP)
Ah yes, Bido has a new landing spot for the sixth time this off-season. But it makes sense for the Yankees! Why? Because they have nothing solid after Luis Gil, their fifth starter. Sure, they could go with Cade Winquest or even Ryan Yarbrough, or maybe they get stoked and call up Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz or Carlos Lagrange, but let’s be real, the Yankees want to find another Carlos Carrasco to fill in for a few frames to start the year…or maybe they actually sign Lucas Giolito if another arm goes down. ANWAY, with Bido, he has some lovely stuff, but horrific control and given his interpretation of a pinball this winter, there’s little faith he’ll suddenly find the zone aplenty.
Paul Blackburn (RHP)
Oh right, he’s with the Yankees, too. This ain’t it, y’all. He’s the ultra back-up if something goes terribly wrong, which should only apply to the Yankees, not your fantasy teams.
Relevant Prospects
Thanks to MLB.com and Eric Logenhagen’s work at FanGraphs for many insights into these prospects. I also used our PLV Minor League Player App for additional data I couldn’t find elsewhere.
For pitchers in Triple-A, our PL Pro MiLB app was an invaluable resource, gathering all velocity, movement, extension, and HAVAA marks with ease. For example, here’s Kohl’s Drake’s Triple-A slider card this season inside the app. Unlock this app and many more with PL Pro.
Baron Stuart (RHP, 26, AAA) – Watch Video
He’s pretty meh. Stuart gets a fair amount of run on his 94/95 mph sinker, but he doesn’t jam RHB enough, and his gyro slider comes in around slower than I’d like to see at 84/85 mph. There’s a changeup to deal with LHB that he locates well + a four-seamer with lackluster movement, and the whole thing is…meh. I have to believe the Yankees would go with Elmer or Lagrange instead.
Chase Hampton (RHP, 24, AAA) – Watch Video
We’re waiting for Hampton to return after undergoing TJS before the start of the 2024 season. He had a shortened 2024 season after fanning 145 batters in 106.2 IP in 2023, and we’re just hoping he gives us something interesting when the time comes. Don’t expect him to be killer right away.
Elmer Rodríguez-Cruz (RHP, 22, AAA) – Watch Video
This is good, but not quite as stellar as I was hoping for once I saw his #97 ranking in MLB’s top 100 prospects. Lagrange’s stuff is lightyears better, but ERC has better control, even if he’s not spotting his sinker inside to RHB and floating the sweeper a bit too much. He’s hurling 96 mph sinkers at average extension and 16″ of ride (meh), but the 89/90 mph gyro slider/cutter is solid and could become a bigger whiff pitch in time. I’m intrigued and his feel for spin is solid, though I’m not banging the table for more. If the sinker gets inside and starts really jamming batters to set up the secondaries, and he flexes an alternate fastball to deal with LHB, then we’re talking.
Ben Hess (RHP, 23, AA) – Watch Video
He throws 92-96 mph with a mid-to-high 70s curveball and that’s just not it for me. He struggled in Single-A before settling into 36 frames of Double-A last season and I need moar. It’s not the holidays right now, so I don’t suggest picking up your Hess trucks quite yet. Maybe next winter.
Bryce Cunningham (RHP, 23, A+) – Watch Video
We haven’t seen a whole lot of Cunningham, who was drafted in 2024 and only pitched 54.1 innings in 2025 due to an undisclosed injury before some games in the AFL. He apparently has a good fastball and a super legit changeup + a decent sweeper, but without more experience, there’s little reason to believe he’ll make an appearance in 2026. Let’s wait for more exposure to pro ball before jumping on this.
Carlos Lagrange (RHP, 22, AA) – Watch Video
I’ve been covering a lot of these prospects and watching the video above is just pure JOY. Peaking at 103 mph, Lagrange is no stranger to strikeouts, sending 104 batters to the dugout in just 78.1 frames in Double-A last season + another 64 in A+ ball in 42.2 innings. That’s nearly 170 strikeouts in 120 innings, which is flat out absurd. He does so with the heater and a 88-90 mph slider/cutter, mid 80s sweeper, and low 90s changeup, though his long limbs create timing issues that can cause phases where he can’t find the zone. That may ultimately force Carlos into a reliever role, but if he can discover control, boy oh BOY is he going to be fun to watch as a starter. I was cackling away and hope he gets his shot soon. JUST FIND THE ZONE KID.
Brock Selvidge (RHP, 23, AA) – Watch Video
He sure looks like a SWATCH, though he doesn’t strikeout enough batters for me to get all too excited. It could be that the slider works best against LHB, with the changeup failing to make RHB quiver in their boots often enough to keep them off his decent fastball. Fanning under a strike-per-inning in Double-A does little to get me excited for a potential time in the Yankee rotation, but if the velocity and/or changeup improve, there could be more.
Henry Lalane (LHP, 21, A) – Watch Video
He can be a legit arm and despite his young age and low volume in the minors (under 130 innings), Lalane was available in the Rule-5 draft and wasn’t selected, likely due to his health issues and lack of experience. If Lalane is healthy this year, the Yankees may be encouraged to give him a fast call-up and not waste any more bullets (a shoulder injury is a scary thing), looking like a SWATCH with a sloooow changeup flirting 80 mph, and a fastball around the mid-90s. At 6’7″, there’s hope he fills out with some extra giddy-up, too. He could fade into the unknown or rise quickly.