We’ve reached the penultimate round of the postseason, and the stakes now entail the right to play in the World Series.
As baseball’s final four gear up for the League Championship Series, starting pitching in these playoffs -- which has ranged from traditional starters going deep into games to openers followed by bulk relief -- becomes ever more critical.
With that in mind, we asked several MLB.com staffers to rank the remaining October starters. Here are the latest Starting Pitcher Power Rankings, which include only healthy starters for the four remaining playoff teams.
1. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Dodgers
The reigning World Series MVP is at it again. Following another stellar regular-season performance for the Dodgers in his third Major League season, the 28-year-old right-hander has picked up right where he left off last October, when he delivered a 1.45 ERA over 37 1/3 innings -- including a pair of brilliant starts in the Fall Classic against the Blue Jays and an epic relief appearance to close out Toronto on no days’ rest in a thrilling Game 7.
All Yamamoto has done so far this postseason is toss a seven-inning gem in Game 3 of the National League Division Series against the Braves, in which he yielded just one run on four hits while walking one and striking out 10. The effort was monumental given the critical importance of a pivotal contest with the series tied at one game apiece. Our voters see no reason to think Yamamoto won’t continue to be the sterling ace of the best overall rotation in the LCS round -- and quite possibly in MLB overall.
2. Jacob Misiorowski, Brewers
It wasn’t the postseason opener the Miz would have drawn up when he took the mound for Game 1 of the NLDS against the Padres -- San Diego worked the 24-year-old flamethrower hard by seeing a ton of pitches, fouling off offering after offering to drive up Misiorowski’s pitch count. As a result, Milwaukee’s ace was out after just four innings in his first career playoff start. He gave up two runs on four hits, walking one and striking out six on 88 pitches.
Still, Misiorowski is the most electric hurler in the game today and the presumptive favorite for this year’s NL Cy Young Award. He put together a tremendous campaign during the regular season, leading the Majors with a 1.80 ERA and 252 strikeouts over 174 2/3 innings. He did all of that while shattering velocity records for a starting pitcher. When the Miz is locked in, nobody beats him, and his right arm could very well help the Brewers reach the World Series for the first time in 44 years.
3. Tarik Skubal, Dodgers
No starting pitcher has been more dominant over the past three seasons than Skubal, who won the American League Cy Young Award in each of the past two years with the Tigers. Skubal got his first taste of postseason baseball with Detroit in 2024, and then appeared in the playoffs for the Tigers again in '25. He was brilliant, pitching to a 2.04 ERA with 56 strikeouts and just six walks over six starts.
Skubal picked up where he left off when he gave his new club, the Dodgers, six strong innings in Game 1 of the NLDS against Atlanta. He yielded a run on two hits with two walks and seven strikeouts in L.A.’s 5-3 win. Although he faced adversity during the regular season with injury and a transition to a new team, here Skubal is, once again dealing in October as he prepares to start Game 1 of the NL Championship Series against the Brewers -- opposite Misiorowski.
4. Drew Rasmussen, Rays
Following a fantastic showing during the regular season, Rasmussen nearly made history in his second career postseason start, which came in Game 1 of the AL Division Series against the Yankees. The veteran right-hander turned in eight scoreless innings in which he walked two, struck out 10 and didn’t yield a hit until there were two outs in the eighth.
Rasmussen posted a 2.67 ERA and led the AL with a 5.44 strikeout-to-walk ratio during the regular season. The two-time All-Star is looking to help lead Tampa Bay to its first World Series berth since 2020, and the first World Series championship in franchise history.
5. Parker Messick, Guardians
Messick dazzled on the mound in his first full Major League season, pitching to a 2.56 ERA over 186 1/3 innings for Cleveland as a rookie. He was selected as an All-Star and should garner some AL Cy Young Award votes. Despite a below-average fastball in terms of velocity (he averaged 93.9 mph on his four-seamer during the regular season), Messick’s fastball-changeup mix has been incredibly effective.
The left-hander, who turns 26 later this month, hasn’t been particularly sharp over his first two postseason appearances -- in two ALDS starts against the White Sox (Game 1 and Game 4), he combined to give up four runs over 6 2/3 innings, walking six and striking out 11. But he has been one of baseball’s elite starting pitchers this year, and he still has an opportunity to contribute on the October stage.
6. Gavin Williams, Guardians
Williams was almost unhittable in his tremendous performance against the White Sox in ALDS Game 5, striking out 12 -- tying a franchise postseason record -- while giving up just one hit over 5 2/3 innings to help Cleveland reach the ALCS for the second time in three years. That came after he came in out of the bullpen to close out Game 4 two days earlier.
During the regular season, Williams led the AL with 248 strikeouts and finished with a 3.76 ERA over 184 1/3 innings. Armed with a devastating fastball/sweeper/knuckle-curve combination, the 25-year-old right-hander has established himself as one of the best starters in the league after posting a 3.06 ERA over 31 starts in 2025.
7. Logan Henderson, Brewers
When Milwaukee’s No. 2 starter, Kyle Harrison, saw his season take a turn for the worse in June, it was Henderson who stepped up to become the No. 2 to Misiorowski’s No. 1 in the Brewers’ rotation. After returning from a back injury in early July, the 24-year-old rookie right-hander posted a 2.39 ERA over 75 1/3 innings the rest of the way.
Although he’s had trouble staying healthy over his first two Major League seasons, Henderson is healthy right now, and that’s huge for a Brewers rotation with question marks at the back end. He’s already demonstrated his value in the postseason, making his first career playoff start in Game 2 of the NLDS against the Padres and going five innings while giving up two runs (one earned) on two hits with three walks and four strikeouts.
8. Blake Snell, Dodgers
Snell spent much of the regular season on the injured list after having loose bodies removed from his left elbow in May. But the two-time Cy Young Award winner is healthy at the most crucial time for the two-time defending World Series champs, and he’s been a dependable postseason performer -- over 19 career playoff appearances (16 starts), he owns a 3.23 ERA over 86 1/3 innings.
His struggles in last year’s World Series against Toronto (6.92 ERA in three outings) notwithstanding, sending Snell to the mound in October has generally paid dividends. But the Dodgers will hope he can go deeper in games than he did in Game 2 of the NLDS -- while he only gave up one run against Atlanta, he was out after walking five batters over 3 2/3 innings (90 pitches).
9. Freddy Peralta, Rays
There were some speed bumps following his trade from the Mets to the Rays in August, but once Peralta locked in, he was the Peralta Tampa Bay expected when it struck the deal. Over his first four starts with his new club, the veteran right-hander had a 7.17 ERA. But then it all clicked, and from there on out, he posted a 0.79 ERA in 34 innings.
Peralta carried that over into the playoffs, giving up a run on three hits over 4 2/3 innings in Game 2 of the ALDS against the Yankees. He’s come a long way from an underwhelming performance with the Mets after the Brewers traded him to New York.
10. Tyler Glasnow, Dodgers
Glasnow had a strikingly similar pitching line to Snell’s when he followed Snell’s NLDS Game 2 start with 4 2/3 innings in Game 4 -- he gave up one run, but he also walked five batters. Not exactly the result the Dodgers were looking for, and not one befitting L.A.’s star-studded rotation.
But Glasnow is still Glasnow, one of the game’s premier starters who can dominate an opposing lineup on any given night if he’s healthy. The 33-year-old right-hander also dealt with injuries during the regular season, missing more than half the campaign because of lower back spasms. In 13 regular-season starts, he had a 3.53 ERA and struck out 34% of the batters he faced. He was tremendous last October for L.A., turning in a 1.69 ERA across 21 1/3 frames, even picking up a save in Game 6 of the World Series.
Others receiving votes: Nick Martinez (Rays), Ian Seymour (Rays), Foster Griffin (Guardians), Robert Gasser (Brewers), Dustin May (Brewers)