Where does Cole Ragans rank amongst the best starters in MLB?

Cole Ragans didn’t just arrive in 2024, he erupted. After showing flashes of potential in 2023, the Kansas City Royals’ lefty put together a dominant campaign last season that firmly established him as one of the game's rising stars. Yet somehow, when Major League Baseball released its Top 100 player rankings heading into the 2025 season, Ragans' name was nowhere to be found.

In 2024, Ragans posted an 11-9 record with a 3.14 ERA, racking up 223 strikeouts across 186.1 innings. It was the first time in his career he crossed the 100-inning threshold, and he did more than just hold his own.

His strikeout numbers were elite. Since the beginning of 2024, only Chris Sale has a better K/9 than Ragans (11.32 vs. 10.99). That’s not just good company, that’s elite.

Ragans also finished fourth in the 2024 AL Cy Young voting, trailing only breakout Tigers ace Tarik Skubal, his teammate Seth Lugo who also had a career season, and Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase. He was also named the American League Pitcher of the Month in August 2023.

Cole Ragans’ low ranking in ESPN's MLB Top 100 makes no sense

Since 2024, Ragans ranks fourth among all pitchers in Wins Above Replacement (WAR) with 5.5. Only Chris Sale (6.7), Tarik Skubal (6.0), and Zack Wheeler (5.8) have been better.

But despite his resume, ESPN barely has him scraping the top 50 players list for 2025. A list that includes 13 pitchers in front of Ragans — many of whom he outperformed.

Sure this list is talented but here’s a quick look at the pitchers:

• Shohei Ohtani, SP/DH – Los Angeles Dodgers (Rank: 1) — Hasn’t pitched since 2023, but we all know why he’s listed here.
• Paul Skenes, SP – Pittsburgh Pirates (Rank: 5)
• Zack Wheeler, SP – Philadelphia Phillies (Rank: 9)
• Tarik Skubal, SP – Detroit Tigers (Rank: 10)
• Corbin Burnes, SP – Arizona Diamondbacks (Rank: 24)
• Max Fried, SP – New York Yankees (Rank: 27)
• Dylan Cease, SP – San Diego Padres (Rank: 31)
• Chris Sale, SP – Atlanta Braves (Rank: 32)
• Blake Snell, SP – Los Angeles Dodgers (Rank: 34)
• Garrett Crochet, SP – Boston Red Sox (Rank: 37)
• Yoshinobu Yamamoto, SP – Los Angeles Dodgers (Rank: 42)
• Aaron Nola, SP – Philadelphia Phillies (Rank: 45)
• Framber Valdez, SP – Houston Astros (Rank: 46)
• Cole Ragans, SP – Kansas City Royals (Rank: 48)

The case for the Royals ace as a top 5 MLB starter

Ragans hasn’t slowed down one bit in 2025. Through his first three starts, he’s tossed 16 innings with a 2.81 ERA, 24 strikeouts, and a ridiculous K/9 of 13.5 — second only to Jesús Luzardo. His early-season WAR (0.6) already ranks alongside names like Hunter Greene, Paul Skenes, and Logan Webb.

So why is he still being overlooked? If you look purely at performance — both last season and to start this one — it’s hard to argue that Ragans doesn’t belong in the top tier of starting pitchers.

Let’s set aside Shohei Ohtani for now since he still hasn’t thrown since 2023, and rank based on body of work since 2024:

1. Tarik Skubal — 2.50 ERA, 208.2 IP, 244 K, 10.52 K/9
2. Paul Skenes — 2.14 ERA, 151.1 IP, 190 K, 11.3 K/9
3. Cole Ragans — 3.11 ERA, 202.1 IP, 247 K, 10.99 K/9
4. Garrett Crochet — 3.33 ERA, 164.2 IP, 226 K, 12.35 K/9
5. Zack Wheeler — 2.64 ERA, 218.1 IP, 249 K, 10.52 K/9

You can certainly debate the order, and there are for sure some honorable mentions — but Ragans is in this conversation. At worst, he’s the second-best left-handed starter in the American League behind Skubal. At best? He might be right at the top.

MLB may have missed the mark with the placement of Ragans in it's Top 100, but he's making it harder and harder to ignore him. If he keeps this up, it’ll be a legitimate question of how high he ascends the list.