The Tigers made an unexpected splash on Wednesday, agreeing with left-hander Framber Valdez on a three-year, $115 million contract. The move is significant for a club with lofty expectations on the heels of a crushing postseason exit last October.
On paper, pairing Valdez with Tarik Skubal gives the Tigers one of the best 1-2 punches in all of baseball. But is it the best? According to FanGraphs’ depth chart projections, yes, it is. Skubal (6.3 WAR) and Valdez (3.6 WAR) are projected to combine for 9.9 fWAR in 2026. That’s the highest projected combined WAR of any two starting pitchers who will share a rotation this season. (Again, this is going by fWAR).
There are plenty of other formidable 1-2 punches, too. Some are well-regarded by FanGraphs’ depth chart projections, while others profile as more of a dark horse candidate. Let’s take a look at some of the top duos we’ll see in 2026.
1) Tigers: Tarik Skubal and Framber Valdez (9.9 WAR)
Detroit was always going to be near the top of this list, because Skubal is just that good. The two-time defending AL Cy Young Award winner led all pitchers with 6.6 WAR last season, and he was even better in ’25 than he was in ’24: He posted a lower ERA and a lower FIP, while increasing his strikeout rate. But the addition of Valdez is really the story here. Since 2022, only four pitchers have tallied more WAR than Valdez. In that four-year span, he’s pitched the second-most innings and posted a top-20 ERA (3.21) and FIP (3.29), relying on a heavy sinker that keeps the ball on the ground. This duo is as battle-tested as any 1-2 punch out there: Valdez brings plenty of postseason pedigree thanks to 16 career playoff starts.
2) Red Sox: Garrett Crochet and Sonny Gray (9.5 WAR)
Crochet is a bona fide, old-fashioned ace. Last season, he led the Majors with 255 strikeouts and finished second with 205 1/3 innings pitched, eclipsing his previous single-season high by nearly 60 innings. He’s the best pitcher in baseball not named Skubal or Skenes.
At the onset of the offseason, Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said that the team wanted to acquire someone who could start a playoff game, creating a 1-2 punch with Crochet. Sure enough, Boston landed two arms that fit that profile, trading for Gray and inking Ranger Suárez to a five-year, $130 million deal. The projections favor Gray, a 13-year MLB veteran with a seven-pitch mix and consecutive 200-strikeout seasons. But you could also make a convincing argument for Suárez, whose pinpoint command and versatile arsenal fueled the first 4-WAR season of his career in 2025.
3. Phillies: Cristopher Sánchez and Jesús Luzardo (8.3 WAR)
These two lefties headline one of baseball’s consistently great rotations. Sánchez emerged as a legitimate ace last season, finishing as the runner-up for the NL Cy Young Award and tallying the third-most WAR among all pitchers. Meanwhile, Luzardo’s first season in Philadelphia exceeded any reasonable expectations. A new arm slot helped him avoid recurring back injuries, allowing him to set career highs in strikeouts (216) and innings pitched (182 2/3).
The wild card here is Zack Wheeler, whose status for Opening Day is unclear after undergoing thoracic outlet decompression surgery last September. FanGraphs’ depth chart projections have Wheeler pitching just 127 innings in ’26, which would be his lowest single-season total since 2017 (excluding 2020). That’s why Wheeler’s projected WAR (2.9) trails Luzardo (3.5). But it wouldn’t be shocking to see a healthy Wheeler blow past that total; after all, he’s been the most valuable pitcher in baseball since 2021.
4. Pirates: Paul Skenes and Mitch Keller (7.7 WAR)
Skenes is doing the heavy lifting here — FanGraphs projects the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner to rack up 5.4 WAR in ’26. That is the third-highest projected total of all pitchers, and it’s easy to see why. The 6-foot-6 righty wields a seven-pitch mix and 95th-percentile fastball velocity, a combination that helped him produce the lowest single-season ERA (1.97) by any Pirates pitcher in the Live Ball Era. Oh, and he’s still just 23 years old. Keller is projected to have the highest WAR of any Pirates pitcher not named Skenes, and he’s a quality, durable arm, having made 95 starts across the last three seasons.
5. Braves: Chris Sale and Spencer Schwellenbach (7.2)
Even entering his age-37 season, Sale is an unquestioned ace. Last year, in between a lengthy stint on the IL for a fractured rib, the left-hander pitched to a 2.58 ERA with an 11.8 K/9 ratio, the second highest among pitchers to throw at least 120 innings. Behind Sale, the projections see Schwellenbach edging past Spencer Strider as Atlanta’s No. 2 starter.
Schwellenbach’s career 3.27 FIP is a top-15 mark in the Majors since the start of the 2024 season (min. 230 innings). The 25-year-old touts a versatile pitch mix and experienced a significant velocity bump last season, which helped his fastball shapes play up. Strider, on the other hand, didn’t quite look like himself — at least not consistently — after returning from major elbow surgery. He had the lowest strikeout rate (24.3%) of his career and his fastball velocity (95.5 mph) fell a few ticks from where it sat in ’23. While FanGraphs still projects Strider for a solid 2.8 WAR, it tabs Schwellenbach for 3.2. Regardless, this is another strong duo.
6-T. Blue Jays: Dylan Cease and Kevin Gausman (6.8)
Toronto made the first splash of the offseason in November when it signed Cease to a seven-year, $210 million deal. Between Cease and Gausman, the Blue Jays now boast two of the four most valuable pitchers in baseball over the last five years; only Zack Wheeler (26.7 WAR) and Logan Webb (23.2 WAR) have accumulated more WAR than Toronto’s new 1-2 punch since 2021. Surface-level stats don’t quite tell the full story of Cease’s bizarre 2025 campaign, when the right-hander still posted strong underlying metrics, like a league-best 11.52 K/9 ratio. Gausman, meanwhile, has plenty left in the tank as he enters his age-35 season. He showed as much during Toronto’s magical postseason run last October, pitching to a 2.93 ERA in 56 1/3 innings.
6-T. Mariners: Bryan Woo and George Kirby (6.8)
Seattle’s stable of young arms is as good as any team’s, with Woo now leading the way. Last year, in his age-25 season, the right-hander pitched to a 2.94 ERA in a career-high 186 2/3 innings, relying on one of baseball’s elite — and funky — four-seam fastballs. At one point, Woo had a stretch where he threw at least six innings in 25 consecutive starts. Behind Woo, FanGraphs likes Kirby over Logan Gilbert, though both have the stuff to be a frontline starter. Kirby, 28, is one of baseball’s premier command artists, owning a career 3.6% walk rate. The 28-year-old Gilbert has expanded his mix to induce more swing-and-miss, bumping his strikeout rate from the 80th percentile in ’24 to the 94th percentile in ’25.
8. Royals: Cole Ragans and Kris Bubic (6.7)
If he isn’t already a household name, the 28-year-old Ragans will be one soon. Injuries limited the left-hander to just 13 starts last season, though he continued to impress. He recorded 98 strikeouts in 61 2/3 innings — a 14.3 K/9 ratio — with an expected ERA in the 96th percentile of MLB. A healthy Ragans is a Cy Young contender, as he was in 2024, when he finished fourth in AL voting. Then there’s Bubic, a high pick in the 2018 Draft who finally put it all together in a surprising All-Star campaign last season. The southpaw succeeds with a complete arsenal, headlined by a hoppy fastball and two plus breaking balls. A rotator cuff strain ended his season in July, but if these two southpaws stay healthy, Kansas City will have an elite top-of-the-rotation duo.
9. Rangers: Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi/MacKenzie Gore (6.6)
deGrom is 37 now, and he looks a little different on the other side of his second Tommy John surgery. But the two-time Cy Young Award winner is still elite: Last season, he threw 172 2/3 innings, his highest single-season total since 2019, while compiling a 2.97 ERA and a +33 pitching run value that ranked in the 98th percentile of MLB. Behind deGrom, FanGraphs sees Eovaldi and Gore each tallying 2.9 WAR in ’26, though they’re bound to reach that point in different ways. Texas parted with a five-prospect haul to land Gore in a trade with the Nationals, and the Rangers’ brass is excited to help the first-time All-Star “level up.” Meanwhile, Eovaldi is coming off a quietly spectacular season, posting a 1.73 ERA in 22 starts; that’s the lowest ERA of any pitcher to throw at least 100 innings. The 35-year-old veteran also owns a career 3.05 postseason ERA and is a two-time World Series champion.
10-T. Dodgers: Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Blake Snell (6.5)
The defending champions have a stacked rotation coming off a historically dominant run last October. So, why aren’t the Dodgers higher on this list? The answer has a lot to do with quantity. The projections don’t see any L.A. starter exceeding 155 innings. Shohei Ohtani, for example, is projected to throw 116 innings in his first full season back from Tommy John surgery, which is part of the reason why FanGraphs tabs him for just 2.3 WAR (pitching, not hitting).
Remember, the Dodgers have shown a tendency to play the long game with their most valuable arms, stressing the importance of innings in October, as opposed to innings in April. It’s a luxury that most teams don’t have, and a lesson they’ve learned in recent years. Already, Snell is taking a deliberate approach to his ramp-up after a taxing workload in the postseason. These cautious workloads are mostly to blame for good-but-not-great projected WAR totals for their top arms.
10-T. Reds: Hunter Greene and Andrew Abbott (6.5)
A groin strain sidelined Greene for more than two months in 2025, limiting the right-hander to a career-low 107 2/3 innings. When healthy, Greene continued to dominate with a four-seamer that sits at 99.5 mph, making him the hardest-throwing starting pitcher in baseball. The big story here, though, is Abbott taking the leap from middle-of-the-rotation arm to frontline starter. The crafty lefty nearly slashed his ERA by a full run, going from 3.72 in ’24 to 2.87 in ‘25, succeeding in spite of 24th-percentile fastball velocity. These All-Stars complement each other nicely.
As a bonus, here are three dark horse candidates — duos not in the top-10 of projected WAR — who could emerge as legitimate 1-2 punches during the 2026 season.
18. Orioles: Trevor Rogers and Kyle Bradish (5.5)
Here’s a fun note: From July 1 through the end of the season, Paul Skenes pitched to a 1.76 ERA. That was the second-lowest mark among qualified pitchers. The only pitcher with a lower ERA than Skenes in that span? It’s Rogers, the same pitcher who had a 7.11 ERA in four starts after the Orioles landed him at the Deadline in 2024. Is this success sustainable? Maybe not to that extent, but, at the very least, the left-hander added a sweeper, regained velocity, and restored his strength with at trip to Driveline. Then there’s Bradish, a Game 1 starter for the Orioles in the 2023 postseason, who returned from Tommy John surgery last summer with encouraging velocity and pitch shapes. This is a sneaky duo with plenty of upside.
20. Mets: Freddy Peralta and Clay Holmes (4.9)
By trading for Peralta, the Mets landed the sort of ace that they badly missed last season. The righty has tallied at least 3.0 WAR in three of the last five seasons, including 3.6 WAR with the Brewers in 2025. Behind Peralta, Holmes has the next-highest projected WAR total on the Mets’ staff. But the real intrigue here belongs to rookie right-hander Nolan McLean. McLean, MLB Pipeline’s No. 8 overall prospect, sure looked the part of a frontline starter during an eight-start cameo late last season, pitching to a 2.06 ERA in the thick of the pennant race. With an army of high-spin breaking balls and multiple fastball shapes, McLean certainly has the stuff to exceed his projected 1.9 WAR. And, if he does, the Mets will have the sort of 1-2 punch that other teams would envy.
22. Marlins: Sandy Alcantara and Eury Pérez (4.9)
Alcantara survived a year’s worth of trade rumors and, more importantly, is another year removed from Tommy John surgery. He showed flashes of his former Cy Young self down the stretch of the 2025 season, pitching to a 2.68 ERA across his final eight starts. Might that be a sign of what’s to come in 2026? The 6-foot-8 Pérez had fewer hiccups in his own return from Tommy John, showcasing the elite stuff that made him the organization’s top prospect as recently as 2023. Still 22 years old, Pérez is just getting started.
