Mid-Season Report Cards 2026: Top-of-their-Class Pitchers
Published 7/27/2026
Welcome to part 2 of our series taking a look at the mid-season report cards for players in 2026. In part 1 we took a look at the 11 A+ hitters in the first half, but it didn’t take long at all for those names to start changing. Now a couple weeks into the second half, Ben Rice and Willson Contreras both lost a few points on their grades, netting them A’s instead of A+’s, and Pete-Crow Armstrong continues his out-of-this-world MVP campaign with a red hot 2 weeks that have earned him an A+. We could spend a the whole story talking about top hitters again, but to avoid becoming redundant, let's move on to the top pitchers of the first half. We’ll take a look at the top starters first, then relievers.
As usual, if you would like a refresher on what each grade means, check out our grades explainer.
A+ Starters
Starters had a harder time cracking the A+ level than hitters, mostly because there are fewer starters than hitters, so the curve favors a smaller group of players, but also because, believe it or not, pitching is hard. As a result, we only have two qualified starters with A+’s to start 2026 and two non-qualified starters. Shocking no one, Jacob Misiorowski is leading that first duo and thus will be our first stop.
Putting the Mis(s) in Misiorowski
Bounding onto the scene in 2025 with absurd strikeout stuff (sporting a 31% K% in 66 innings), Misiorowski was one of the big stories for the Brewers in the off-season; what could they expect from the lanky fireballer in 2026? The answer? Something that absolutely no one, except for maybe Misiorowski himself, could have predicted. A little over 100 innings under his belt in 2026 and he is putting together a season that will go down in history as one of the most dominant starting performances anyone has ever witnessed. With a fastball that sits comfortably at 103(!!!), an exceptionally deceptive curveball, and a slider/cutter combo that gives hitters fits, he is slicing through the majors right now, rocking a 39% strikeout rate, and doesn’t show any signs of stopping. With an A+ in stuff and arsenal, he might have the most dangerous tool belt of pitches we have seen since The Big Unit himself. His control is nothing to scoff at either, sitting nicely at a B, he balances his blistering speed with a reasonable ability to prevent walks that forces hitters to try and hit the ball. What may be surprising, but is also a testament to how good his raw stuff is, is Misiorowski’s D+ in location. What this essentially means is Misiorowski puts the ball in normally hittable or easy-to-layoff locations in and around the zone. For a pitcher with just solid stuff, like Slade Cecconi, this might pose a problem, but Misiorowski’s pitches are so difficult to pickup and then actually hit that he could throw his fastball right down the middle (which he often does) and it wouldn’t matter. Will this come back to bite him as hitters become more and more used to seeing 103 mph? I have no idea, but for now we should all just sit back and enjoy this A+ ace.
Cease-less Strikeouts
You would be forgiven if, given the fanfare and constant attention, you thought Misiorowski was the only qualified A+ pitcher this season, but there is another arm that is right on his tail. Dylan Cease has had a tumultuous career, he’s always had amazing stuff, in the form of a wicked fastball and nasty slider, along with a menagerie of other pitches to keep hitters guessing, but has struggled with preventing good contact from season to season. No more, in this his 7th season, Cease has decided that barrels are a thing of the past, he has seemingly figured out his inconsistencies of seasons yore and is now a terror on the mound. He uses his slider to make righties look silly and a change-up/knuckle-curve combo to a similar effect on lefties; coupled with a 97 mph heater, he has more than earned his A+ stuff and A arsenal. Unlike Misiorowski, he spends more of his time out of the zone and has a harder time limiting good contact, with a C and C+ in each respectively, but he makes up for an average performance in those with a B+ in location, doing an excellent job keeping the ball close to the zone and luring hitters bats out of it. All-in-all an exceptional re-breakout season for Cease thus far and a very well-earned A+.
It's inarguable that these two pitchers are the leading Cy Young candidates this season, but that doesn't mean they are the only pitchers putting in great work.
Qualify This
Mis and Cease are the entirety of our qualified A+ starters, but I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge two nearly qualified arms with unofficial A+’s. I imagine a fair number of people could guess these two pitchers are Tarik Skubal, reigning back-to-back AL Cy Young, and Zack Wheeler, reigning “why doesn’t he have a Cy Young yet?”. Both of them will probably be qualified by the time this story comes out, but until then they will have to settle for unofficial versions of these very unofficial grades.
Skubal had a brief injury scare earlier in the season, but both before and after his IL stint he has reminded people why he has one of, if not the best, starter pedigree in the league. He has an amazing ability to rack up strikeouts (to the tune of a 31% strikeout rate), while being one of the best starters in the league at preventing the walk, at only a 3.7% walk rate! Couple that with his above average groundball rate and an exceptional ability to prevent barreled balls and he truly doesn’t have a hole in his game. All of this results in a very strong report card, with A’s and B’s across the board. His A+ is something that is very likely to stick around for the rest of this season and many others.
Wheeler, on the other hand, had to delay the start of his season after recovering from surgery, but has come back as electric as ever. Probably the single most consistent ace in the league, with a sub-4 ERA since 2018, he is making a strong argument that Justin Verlander isn’t the only one who can flash ace stuff at 36 years old. He started the year alluding the fact that this one could be his last, but unsurprisingly he has started to consider his options more seriously now that he’s shown everyone and himself that his clean A’s and B’s (and one C+) report card is as impressive now as when he first took the bump.
The Rest of the Best (Starters)
Reminiscent of prime Max Scherzer, minus always being angry, Cam Schlitter is a name we will all be saying for years.
There are 11 more starters in the A's that we could talk about, but let's focus in on three: Shohei Ohtani, Cam Schlitter, and Cristopher Sanchez.
We have to talk about Ohtani, because no matter how many times he does this, he is still one-of-a-kind. With an A going into the second half, he is having the best pitching season of his career, that is he was, until some lingering issues have sidelined his trips to the mound until further notice. That doesn't change the fact that, with an A-, he has the best contact management of (nearly) qualified pitchers this year, coupled with a solid strikeout rate and fantastic stuff, he would have been in the running for the Cy, an award you have to imagine he covets more than anything at this point, if not for his injury and very careful load management from Dave Roberts. Regardless, he has had a sterling first half and can hopefully come back for some more excellent pitching in the second.
Cam Schlitter, on the other hand, has had no issues getting work in. He lead in the league in games started at the half, at 20, and has made great use of each of those starts. With A+ stuff, a B in contact management, and a B+ in limiting walks, which lets him go deep into games, he is giving young Max Scherzer vibes, which is a comparison that doesn't get thrown around lightly. He has set himself up nicely to be the ace of the future for the Yankees and I expect him to be going toe-to-toe with Cease for that AL Cy Young.
On the other side of the league, Misiorowski's biggest competition for the NL Cy is this man, Cristopher Sanchez. Having his big breakout last year, with glimpses of it in 2024, he has made it clear to the league that he's the new ace to beat in the NL. He doesn't have an A in any of the sub-categories, but also has no obvious weaknesses either. His worst category, balls in-play, is a C-, but that is quickly negated by the fact that he has an amazing ability to keep the ball on the ground, always limiting serious damage. That provides a level of consistency that is only magnified by his ability to limit walks and get key strikeouts seemingly on command. He's not going to blow a hitter's socks off, but there are few pitchers in the league I would rather have against a tough lineup than the King of Consistency.
A+ Relievers
There have been a lot of great relievers this year, some old, some new, all of them dominant. Unlike starters though, with seven relievers with A+'s and at least 25 innings pitches, it makes sense to just focus on the top of the ticket reliever report cards. With that in mind, a quick shoutout to some of our A's that won't be mentioned: Jhoan Duran, Bradgley Rodriguez, Juan Morillo, and Jacob Latz.
Yes, Mason Miller has an A+
Maybe the least surprising A+ of the first half, Mason Miller is just a stupid good closer. This is his third year in a row of absolute dominance in the 9th and he casually adds a few extra points to his strikeout rate every season like he's an accountant at Enron. Sitting now at 48.5%, hitters seem to just be helpless against his slider and the second they try to adjust, he hits them with a 101 mph fastball that can't be hit, unless you're looking for it. With no true weaknesses in his report card--his lowest grade is a C+ in control for an average walk rate--he's the best reliever in baseball and that's all there is to it.
A+'s Abound
Mason Miller may be the best reliever in baseball, but that doesn't mean the other A+ relievers aren't very close behind him. One reliever in particular has pitched to devastating effect this year, while also assuming a workload that would break lesser men. Louis Varland started his career as a starter, but his fantastic stuff and difficulty being consistent with it, quickly convinced the Jays to give him a chance as a reliever instead. He took that opportunity and ran with it. With no other A+ relievers within 5 appearances of Varland, he has been the both the workhorse and the ace-in-the-hole of the Jays' pen. Similar to Miller (and honestly most of the A+ relievers) he has not true holes in his game and is going to continue to strike fear in hearts of hitters when he steps on the mound, until further notice.
These next two relievers we'll do rapid fire, because we already talked about two A+ Braves hitters in part 1 and we don't want other teams to start getting jealous of all these A+'s. Robert Suarez and Dylan Dodd have been a righty lefty wombo combo in the 7th and 8th for the Braves, making that bullpen reminiscent of the good ol' days of a Royals pen with Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis, and Greg Holland. Similar to the Royals, not only are the setup men more impressive than the closer, but it is basically a death sentence to be trailing the Braves in the 7th. Both of these relievers have amazing stuff to backup their success and are evidence that groundballs aren't required to dominate as a pitcher. If the Braves make a deep playoff push this season, expect these two to be a major reason why.
Two of the final three of our A+ relievers are experiencing their first full years of reliever dominance. Jonathan Bowlan is an unexpected name to find among the games' best relievers; he had a reasonably fine year as a reliever last year, his rookie season, but worked hard in the offseason to tweak his breaking pitches, add a couple miles per hour to his fastball, and improve his command. The result: a near-peerless performance as the Phillies' setup man. His performance in particular is special, because he is the only reliever without a grade lower than a B-, meaning while we talk about other pitchers not having any weaknesses, Bowlan truly hasn't had any this year. That being said, he has suffered in one category we will never be able to quantify. Unlike most of the other relievers with A+'s, Bowlan's numbers are perfectly aligned with his peripherals, meaning he hasn't gotten an ounce of luck so far this year. That means while his ERA or stat of your choosing may not seem on the same level has his compatriots, I assure you, his season is equally as impressive as any of the relievers on this list.
The other reliever experiencing newfound dominance is Bryan Baker, the Rays closer. A steady middle-reliever for four years, 2026 is something complete unexpected from him. With two pitches and many peripherals that match his previous seasons, it's understandable if you don't think this performance is sustainable, but Baker has mastered the art of deception. After tweaking his release points and adjusting his delivery, his fastball and changeup are now exceptionally difficult to tell apart, resulting in much more manageable contact and an impressively low WHIP. Whether or not he is hear to stay is hard to say, but Baker is certainly giving us a masterclass in the myriad of ways a pitcher can adjust his game to dominate.
Our last, but certainly not least, A+ reliever is Garret Whitlock. An A reliever last year, he is no stranger to backend dominance, but he has taken things up a notch in 2026, by improving on his weakest spot last year, walks. With his walk rate now in half (bringing him around league average for relievers), his sinker slider combo has really started to shine. He has done a fantastic job inducing hitters to chase out of the zone and when it doesn't result in a swing and miss, it does often end up as a weak groundout or lazy flyball. One of the relievers with no true dominance in his game, but a solid foundation that he uses to devastation effect, Whitlock is setting himself up as one of the premier closers for many years to come and a very deserving A+ recipient.
Up Next
With our top hitters wrapped up in part 1 and now our top pitchers fully covered for the first half, it's almost time to move on to everyone's favorite topic, players flunking their classes. In the next part of our four-part series, we'll look at the worst hitters of 2026's first half and follow that up with some poor performing pitchers.
- Top-of-their-Class Hitters
- Top-of-their-Class Pitchers
- Flunking Hitters
- Flunking Pitchers