This ranking isn’t a ranking of the top ten pitchers. If it was then this list would look vastly different, this top ten is compromised of the pitchers who stood out the best in April. The top ten list is boring and controversial, this list is more unique.

#10 Marcus Stroman #10 could have gone to anyone, we had so many good pitchers it was hard to stick to a definitive top ten. But Marcus Stroman deserves to be on this list. Stroman went 3 starts of zero earned runs only Jake Arrieta in his cy young season reached that milestone in cubs history. He has been 88% better than league average and for his career season he is 70% better than his career stats. His era is still not even 3.00 but he’s started the most games this month. He isn’t the only cubs pitcher on this list.

#9 Joe Ryan A perfect record of 5-0 gets you on this list no doubt. He has come together well in his 3rd season, posting an ERA under 3.00 and 10k per 9, he is really impressing under the spotlight. He isn’t the only Twins pitcher who is outplaying themselves on the mound. He was top 5 in BAA(.186) WHiP(0.81) and wins (5) He was the #3 prospect in the Rays system back in 2021. Ryan is showing his value and here to stay.

#8 Wade Miley has historically had a good time dominating miller park in his past seasons as the visiting team. I knew it when I saw it that Miley was posed to break out. Over 5 starts Miley has an ERA under 2.00 and a record of 3-1 and a whip of 1.00 He flies under the radar for most but I think he will have a killer season this season. He will be having a tougher time with the NL central but I see bright lights this season from Miley.

#7 Zac Gallen Towards the top 5 it is a little tough to decide who is the top 5 in pitchers this month when we have so many different applicants. Any of these guys deserve to be top 5 but the top 3 have been elite of their craft. Zac Gallen is back to his elite pitching repertoire that has gifted him a 28 inning scoreless streak. This is his second longest scoreless streak, the other came in 2022. He leads baseball in strikeouts and has only 9 ERs over 6 games started. 4-1 with a 2.15 ERA gives him a strong push to be in the top 5.

#6 Luis Castillo He has made himself comfortable with the Mariners since coming over from the Reds last trade deadline. He has a perfect record (2-0) and an ERA under 2.00, WHiP under 1.00, BAA under .200 and almost 40 strikeouts. He is top 10 in all leading pitching categories. He is over 132% better than league average for pitchers, he is definitely having himself a year.

#5 Justin Steele has broke out this past month. He holds a perfect record of 4-0 and a 1.19 ERA. He ranks in the top 5 of all qualified NL pitchers in WHIP, ERA, OBA and Wins. He will be exactly what the cubs need to pair with Marcus Stroman.

#4 Shohei Ohtani He has been electric both on the mound and at the plate. He held batters pretty much scoreless for the first 5 games of the season. Hes had a 0.64 ERA for the first 5 and was looking to be one of the best pitchers this month until he gave up 5 ER to the Athletics his last start still managing 8 strikeouts. He has shown an early candidacy for the AL CY Young, he commands the fastball well going over 98 MPH he is electric and is top 3 in strikeouts(46) ERA (1.85) and BAA (.102) We are in store of another spectacular season from the Sho-Show

#3A (NL) Spenser Strider He is incredible. He can be one of the best strike throwers in Braves history if he keeps this ace level up this early. He has a perfect record 3-0 and an ERA under 2.00 (1.80) He has a remarkable FIP below 2.00 leading all of baseball with (1.72) Il excited to see what he can do this second season, already at 50 strikeouts in just 5 games pitched. He averages an MLB leading 14.9SO/9. He has done his best for this team and it’s paid off. He looks to be an early leading candidate for the CY Young. He is chasing Dwight Gooden for history once more as the youngest to win the CY Young after having over 200 strikeouts in their rookie campaign.

#3B (AL) Kevin Gausman I forgot to include Kevin Gausman in the rankings so I decided to give him partial ownership in the top 3. He has been a top 3 pitcher but so have the rest of the top 5, it’s hard to remove one of these players so they will share top 3. Gausman is having a terrific start to the season, he was scoreless for the first 2.5 starts in the season. He is the leading strike thrower for the AL and that includes Degrom healthy. His ERA is 2.84 but he has been one of the most dominant consistent starting pitchers for the AL. Top 3 in innings pitched and top 10 for ERA. He is at the front end of the struggling blue Jays rotation and has done all they could ask for.

#2 Gerrit Cole Gerrit Cole would be the clear #1 but another AL pitcher was having a little better month. Nonetheless Gerrit Cole has been out of this world and has limited the contact and HR rate that may have been up his past seasons with the Yankees. He has a perfect record 5-0 and an ERA just above 1.10, he leads all pitchers in WAR and wins. He has limited the long ball so much he has not even given up one hr yet in a league leading 41 innings pitched. Only 5 ER and 23 hits in 6 games started. One shutout and the best ERA for a Yankee pitcher’s first 5 starts. Gerrit Cole is taking back the crown as best pitcher in NY. He has been showing very clearly he has been worth every single cent of the contract, even with being caught cheating Cole has overcome many obstacles in his way and will come out as a top 3 CY contender.

#1 Sonny Gray The only pitcher left with an ERA under 1.00 for the entire month of April is Sonny Gray. Holy cow he is breaking out. A scoreless record of 3-0 and .62 ERA through 30 innings is a twins record. He has only given up 2 ER and zero home runs. His FIP is 2.14 so by statistical definition he is extremely over average for baseball pitchers. He is 603% better than the average pitcher. He has proven success before this is no surprise but he is dominant.

We have so many different pitchers who have excelled expectations this month but haven’t made the top ten. 2023 is the year of the pitching, each year after the next the pitching just seems to get a lot better for baseball. We are witnessing a new generation of baseball, fasting quicker and more aggressive. And I’m loving every second.