Fantasy Baseball Pitcher Rankings: Week 26 (2024)

Welcome to the FantasyPros Week 26 starting pitcher rankings for 2024. On Fridays, we view the upcoming week and rank starting pitchers based on their talent and the team they play against. These rankings are for Monday, September 23 through Sunday, September 29. You have officially made it to the last week of the season. Congratulations.

These rankings use expert consensus rankings (ECR) as a starting point. Matchup information can be found on the helpful Pitcher Planner’s resource for probable pitchers.

As usual, remember that some starts are projected over a week in advance. Dates can change due to rain, injuries or anything else. Two-start weeks often end up as one-start weeks.

Be sure to check the FantasyPros Pitcher Planner for the most up-to-date information.

Top 50 Starting Pitcher Rankings: Week 26

Best Matchups

  • Shota Imanaga has been one of the best pitchers in baseball across the last few weeks. Outside of a few road bumps, the rookie has had an utterly dominant season. Imanaga has a 2.73 ERA, 0.83 WHIP and 9.0 K/9 since August 20. Start the Cubs ace with complete confidence for one last ride against the Reds.
  • Sean Manaea might be performing even better than Imanaga. The Met has a spectacular 2.63 ERA, 0.68 WHIP and 10.5 K/9 in the last month. He was not a likely candidate to dominate the fantasy baseball playoffs, but here we are. Fantasy managers must take advantage of this performance as Manaea steps on the mound in Atlanta.
  • Joe Musgrove is back from his injury and better than ever. Since returning from a three-month injury, Musgrove has a 3.27 ERA, a 0.89 WHIP and 10.0 K/9. The 31-year-old has played a core role in the Padres winning 18 of their last 30 games and competing for first in the National League West. Start Musgrove, albeit against the Dodgers.

Unfavorable Matchups

  • Michael King pitching against the 90-62 Dodgers and 84-68 Diamondbacks is probably not the schedule fantasy managers dreamed of. King is a great pitcher. The Padre has been charged with three unlucky losses, though, in his last five starts and is not on the best streak. Start him, but level expectations.
  • Jack Flaherty made it through only three innings in his last start, walking four Braves and allowing four runs on five hits. He was extremely inefficient. Unfortunately, the Dodger must recover from a rough outing to face the hot Padres, who have scored the sixth-most runs out of any MLB team in the last 30 games.
  • Tanner Houck missed a few weeks with what Red Sox manager Alex Cora described as a shoulder injury and a “dead arm.” Houck made his long-awaited return in Tampa Bay but only threw 60 pitches. The pitcher was efficient with these pitches, making it through four innings with only four hits and one run allowed. These reassuring results should convince fantasy managers to start Houck. Just remember he can only go so far on a limited pitch count.

Top 50 Pitchers (9/23 – 9/29)

Rank Pitcher Matchup(s)
1 Tarik Skubal (DET) TB
2 Zack Wheeler (PHI) @WSH
3 Chris Sale (ATL) NYM
4 Blake Snell (SF) STL
5 Paul Skenes (PIT) @NYY
6 Shota Imanaga (CHC) CIN
7 Logan Gilbert (SEA) @HOU
8 Pablo Lopez (MIN) BAL
9 Framber Valdez (HOU) SEA
10 Aaron Nola (PHI) CHC, @WSH
11 Corbin Burnes (BAL) @NYY
12 Bowden Francis (TOR) BOS, MIA
13 Michael King (SD) @LAD, @ARI
14 Dylan Cease (SD) @LAD
15 Cole Ragans (KC) @WSH, @ATL
16 Jack Flaherty (DET) SD
17 Sonny Gray (STL) @COL
18 Sean Manaea (NYM) @ATL
19 Seth Lugo (KC) @ATL
20 Freddy Peralta (MIL) @PIT, NYM
21 Logan Webb (SF) @ARI
22 Gerrit Cole (NYY) BAL
23 Michael Wacha (KC) @WSH
24 Bailey Ober (MIN) MIA, BAL
25 Zac Gallen (ARI) SF
26 Carlos Rodon (NYY) PIT
27 Jose Berrios (TOR) BOS
28 Bryce Miller (SEA) @HOU, OAK
29 Joe Musgrove (SD) @LAD
30 Bryan Woo (SEA) OAK
31 George Kirby (SEA) OAK
32 Yusei Kikuchi (HOU) SEA
33 Jacob deGrom (TEX) @LAA
34 Justin Steele (CHC) @PHI, CIN
35 Luis Gil (NYY) PIT
36 Zach Eflin (BAL) @NYY
37 Cristopher Sanchez (PHI) CHC
38 Kevin Gausman (TOR) BOS
39 Hunter Brown (HOU) SEA
40 Yu Darvish (SD) @ARI
41 Tanner Bibee (CLE) CIN
42 Nathan Eovaldi (TEX) @OAK
43 Taj Bradley (TB) @BOS
44 Spencer Schwellenbach (ATL) NYM, KC
45 Ryan Pepiot (TB) @DET, @BOS
46 Tanner Houck (BOS) TB
47 Max Fried (ATL) KC
48 Shane Baz (TB) @BOS
49 Luis Severino (NYM) @ATL
50 Clarke Schmidt (NYY) BAL


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