2023 Fantasy Baseball Top 5 MLB Free Agent Starting Pitchers

The Houston Astros rode starting pitching to the 2022 World Series title. Several teams will be looking to copy that format by signing top starting pitchers in free agency. Nathan Eovaldi, Andrew Heaney, and Martín Pérez don't make the top-five options. Clayton Kershaw isn't listed as he was finalizing a one-year deal to stay with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Jacob deGrom has opted out of his contract with the Mets. He hasn't topped 100 innings in the last two full innings he's pitched for the team. DeGro is interested in pitching for Texas Rangers. He's the best starting pitcher in baseball. His 3.08 ERA is the second-highest mark in his career.

2023 Fantasy Baseball Top 5 MLB Free Agent Starting Pitchers are:

Verlander is coming back from Tommy John surgery and is likely to be the AL Cy Young Award winner. He is opting out of his contract and will be available on the open market. Verlander's ERA is the lowest since 2011 and his xERA is second-best of career. Max Scherzer's contract from last year is worth $42 million a year.

Rodon is a free agent. He is going into his age-30 season and has proven to be an elite starting pitcher for the last two years. Rodon signed a prove-it-type contract with San Francisco in the original deal. If he wants to sign with a team that can compete right away, he could go back to Chicago and make a 1-2 tandem with Dylan Cease or a few others.

Bassitt declined his $19 million mutual option for 2023 with the Mets. He was a solid option in the rotation for the New York Mets and in Oakland. The division and the park made the difference between his ERA and his ratios. If he lands in another pitcher-friendly park, he should improve his ratio. He should be an innings-eating number-2 or -3 starter.

Walker is a free agent. He is available because he didn't get a Qualifying Offer from the Mets. Walker had a good season in 22nd year with a 12-5 W-L record. His ERA dropped to 3.00 on the year, his K/9 jumped to nearly 8.0 per nine and his walk rate fell to 2.2 per 9. For fantasy, Walker is an SP3 with an uptick in strikeouts and a slight drop in ERA and WHIP.

Koudai or Kodai Senga is being posted this winter for MLB teams to start negotiating with for his services. He comes stateside following his age-29 season with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks. The right-hander has a 2.59 ERA in 224 games with a 10.3 K/9 rate and 1.11 WHIP.