To win the MLB World Series, you’re going to need a top-tier pitching staff. Therefore, many teams haven’t shied away from spending the big bucks to put together a top-shelf pitching staff with an ace pitcher or two at the top of the rotation.
Let’s look at the highest-paid pitchers in 2023 and see if some of these guys are worth the while at MLB betting sites.
10. Zack Wheeler ($24.5M)
Zack Wheeler was worth every penny. He went 13-6 with a 3.61 ERA and earned 212 strikeouts with a WHIP of 1.08.
He was a top-ten pitcher in the MLB and was paid like it.
In his career, Wheeler has a 3.45 ERA but has improved ever since he signed this contract with the Phillies in 2020.
8b. Yu Darvish ($25M)
Yu Darvish’s season was short after he was shut down for the remainder of the season with an elbow injury.
Darvish finished 2023 with an 8-10 record to go along with a 4.56 ERA. His 1.30 WHIP was very high, and he only struck out 141 batters.
Darvish wasn’t even the best pitcher on the Padres this season. His contract is one of the reasons why the Padres had to change their approach heading into 2024. They no longer have Juan Soto, for example.
8a. Marcus Stroman ($25M)
Stroman added a 10-9 record with a 3.95 ERA with the Cubs last season. His WHIP went up to 1.26, and it was the worst season for Stroman since 2019 with Toronto.
Stroman even got demoted to the bullpen for a couple of games due to his injury history.
7. Chris Sale ($27.5M)
Chris Sale’s contract has been one of the worst in the MLB for a while. Sale threw nine games in 2021, just two in 2022, and added only 20 games started last year.
But last year, the so-called ace had a 6-5 record with a 4.30 ERA in just 102.2 innings pitched.
Sale hasn’t pitched more than 158 innings since 2017.
5b. Shohei Ohtani ($30M)
Shohei Ohtani still counts for this list. He’s a pitcher and hitter, so that’s why he earned a lot of money in his first contract.
He most recently signed an extension that will make him the highest-paid player in the MLB, where he’ll earn $70 million per season.
However, in the 2023 season, Ohtani earned $30 million for his services. He held batters to a 3.14 ERA and went 10-5 in 23 games pitched. He won’t pitch in 2024 due to surgery. But he’ll be back on the mound in 2025 to showcase why he’s one of the best pitchers in the MLB.
5a. Jacob deGrom ($30M)
Jacob deGrom made $30 million to pitch barely. He had a 2-0 record with a 2.67 ERA with 45 strikeouts and a WHIP of .76 in six starts. However, his elbow flared up and deGrom, like most seasons, only threw 30.1 innings.
deGrom hasn’t thrown at least 200 innings since 2019. But the Rangers still gave him a lucrative offer to leave the Mets and pitch for the Rangers.
Of course, deGrom won a World Series but never pitched in the World Series.
4. Stephen Strasburg ($35M)
After not seeing the mound in 2023, Stephen Strasburg has retired.
He threw just eight starts since 2020 and allowed 25 runs in those eight starts and 31.1 innings.
Strasburg had an amazing career ahead of him until injuries took place.
3. Gerrit Cole ($36M)
I’d say paying $36 million for the AL Cy Young is worth it. That’s what the Yankees did last year.
Cole won the Cy Young with a 15-4 record where he had a 2.63 ERA and 222 strikeouts. His WHIP of .98 was the best in the MLB this season.
This is one of the few big contracts that has worked out for the team.
2. Max Scherzer ($43.3M)
Max Scherzer signed with the Mets in 2022. However, when things weren’t going well in 2023, Scherzer asked to be dealt to a contender. He went to the Rangers and helped them win a World Series.
However, Scherzer was injured for most of the second half of the season and won’t even pitch for the first half of the 2024 season. He wasn’t the reason why the Rangers won the World Series.
Still, he added a 13-6 record with a 3.77 ERA on the season. That’s still ace material. You’d just expect more from a guy like Scherzer.
1. Justin Verlander ($43.3M)
The Mets gave Justin Verlander the same amount of money as Max Scherzer. But again, in 2023, when things weren’t going well, Verlander was traded to the Houston Astros mid-season.
He pitched better than Scherzer but certainly wasn’t the best pitcher in the MLB.
With New York, he was on the sideline due to an injury for most of the first half of the season.
When he got to Houston, he performed just as well as he had been with the Mets. Verlander led the Astros into the playoffs but was booted out by Texas.
