One of the newest members of the New York Yankees was the best lefthanded starting pitcher of the past half-decade.
Max Fried, who went 54-25 for the Braves between 2020 and 2024, signed with the Yanks earlier this month. He spent the first eight years of his career with Atlanta.
Fried posted the best earned run average (2.81) among all lefty starters over the five-year span. And he placed second to Houston’s Framber Valdez in wins. Valdez racked up 60 victories in the 2020-2024 period, followed by Fried with 54.
But the key to today’s rankings was Fried’s preeminence in overall base value (OBV), which matches a given pitcher’s performance against that of an average major leaguer.
Fried allowed opponents to reach 1,047 bases during the half-decade through hits, walks, hit batters, stolen bases, and sacrifices. A typical big-league pitcher would have yielded 1,353 bases under the same workload. Fried’s total was 306 lower, translating to an OBV of plus-306.
Valdez finished as the runner-up among lefty starters with a five-year OBV of plus-289, followed by Detroit’s Tarik Skubal at plus-184.
Today’s rankings are confined to lefthanded pitchers who worked at least 500 innings over the past half-decade. Their OBVs are determined by their total stats, including any relief appearances.
Scroll down to see the half-decade’s 10 best lefthanded starters. Each is listed with basic stats for 2020-2024: innings pitched, wins, losses, earned run average, and overall base value.
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1. Max Fried (IP 659.0, W-L 54-25, ERA 2.81) — OBV +306
2. Framber Valdez (IP 781.0, W-L 60-33, ERA 3.12) — OBV +289
3. Tarik Skubal (IP 571.1, W-L 41-31, ERA 3.37) — OBV +184
4. Julio Urias (IP 533.0, W-L 51-18, ERA 3.09) — OBV +177
5. Blake Snell (IP 590.2, W-L 38-30, ERA 3.15) — OBV +144
6. Ranger Suarez (IP 541.0, W-L 34-27, ERA 3.39) — OBV +114
7. Carlos Rodon (IP 557.2, W-L 46-32, ERA 3.63) — OBV +91
8. Sean Manaea (IP 690.2, W-L 42-34, ERA 4.17) — OBV +69
9. Jordan Montgomery (IP 685.1, W-L 35-34, ERA 4.06) — OBV +52
10. Tyler Anderson (IP 725.2, W-L 42-40, ERA 4.03) — OBV +16
