Who is the Best Starting Pitcher in Baseball?

Recently it has been mentioned that the Blue Jays would be willing to listen to trade offers for their ace Roy Halladay. Many sports writers are saying that teams in contention should give up whatever it takes to get Halladay because he is one of the best pitchers in baseball. While the Toronto star is certainly in the discussion of the games best starting pitchers, is he the best starting pitcher? If it is not Roy Halladay, then who is the best starter in the majors?

Halladay is 10-2 this year with a 2.79 earned run average. The 11 year veteran has a cy-young award, 6 selections to the all-star team, and was the Sporting News pitcher of the year in 2003. This pitcher is an absolute workhorse that will go out there every fifth day guaranteed. Earlier this year he had a game in which he threw 133 pitches and recorded 14 strikeouts, both of these were career highs.

As good as Roy Halladay may be, he is only the second best starter in his division because of Boston’s Josh Beckett. If I have one game to win, there is no doubt that I would choose any pitcher other than the Red Sox’s ace. The 2003 World Series MVP is 10-3 with a 3.62 era. While there may be other pitchers who are more dominant, Beckett makes this list because there is nobody in the league that performs better in the clutch than Josh Beckett. He is 7-2 with a 2.90 era in the postseason. I don’t feel that he is the best pitcher for an entire season, but for one game I’ll take Beckett every time.

When talking about pitchers everyone wants to talk about the overpowering fastball that lights up the radar gun. It’s interesting that the 2008 World Series MVP relies not on his fastball, but rather on his change-up. With a 4.7 era and a 5-5 record, Cole Hamels is having a disappointing season, but he still is one of the best pitchers in baseball. Hamels made this list because he came up big last season in the postseason. Cole showed that he has what it takes to be a star in this league and that he is able to pitch his best, when the stage is biggest.

Jake Peavy is a very good pitcher, but lacks the mental toughness necessary to win in the clutch. Peavy has posted era’s of less than 3 four separate times during his 7 year career. He won the Cy Young award in 2007 and is constantly in the discussion about who is the league’s best pitcher. The problem with Peavy, however, is that he chokes under pressure. Although he only has two postseason starts, he has been awful in both of them. He has pitched a total of 9.2 innings and given up 13 earned runs. His 12.10 postseason era shows that while the San Diego right hander is excellent from April to September, there are plenty of other pitchers I’d rather have in October.

Matt Cain has quietly been developing into one of the best pitchers in the game. He has struggled to gain attention in years past because the Giants anemic offense was unable to provide him the necessary run support to get some wins. This year Cain is 10-2 with a 2.42 era. He leads the National League in complete games and is headed to the All-Star game this year. The only thing that keeps Cain from getting more attention is that he happens to be on the same team as the best pitcher in Major League Baseball.

The reigning National League Cy Young award winner is the frontrunner for the award again this year. Tim Lincecum in tied with Cain for complete games, leads the league in strikeouts, has a 9-2 record, and has a 2.23 era. The 170 pound right hander has phenomenal stuff and absolutely dominates hitters pretty much every time he takes the mound. He goes into tonight’s start with a 23 inning scoreless streak. Lincecum seems to get better and better and while there are a lot of good pitchers who get wins and have low earned run averages, few dominate the way Tim does. To be the best one not only has to win, but has to do so in ways that no one else does.