Best Lefty Starting Pitcher: Max Fried, Carlos Rodon, Julio Urias?

It’s very valuable in MLB to have a high-end left-handed starter in your rotation, which has made us highlight some of the league’s best.

Below, we dive into three of the top lefties in the league, Max Fried, Carlos Rodon, and Julio Urias.

The Atlanta Braves’ star left-hander has established himself as one of the game’s best starting pitchers. He entered the league in 2017 and has improved with each passing year. Fried is coming off his best season in the big leagues, which saw him finish as the runner-up for the National League Cy Young award. He posted a 14-7 record for the second consecutive year and finished with a sparkling 2.48 ERA. In addition, he won his third straight Gold Glove award and continues to have electrifying stuff. The overall consistency he’s brought to the table when he’s been healthy has elevated the Braves into contender status in the National League, which included a World Series victory in 2021. 

If someone told you that Carlos Rodon had posted consecutive seasons with an ERA below 2.70 and also had 24 or more starts, you’d be surprised. I know I am. This shows you how underrated Rodon has been, who’s figured things out over the past two seasons with the Chicago White Sox and San Francisco Giants. The prized left-hander signed a deal with the New York Yankees in the offseason but isn’t expected to begin the regular season on time with an injury. It says a lot that Rodon has made his presence felt in this conversation as one of the top lefties in MLB, and it will be interesting to follow how he adapts to pitching in the daunting AL East. 

If you want to talk about overall consistency, look no further than what Julio Urias has done with the Los Angeles Dodgers over the past four seasons. The Dodgers’ lefty has posted an ERA below 3.72 every season and has been an integral part of the team dominating the NL West. In 2022, he finished in the top three in NL Cy Young voting, and there’s no reason to expect anything less from him moving forward in 2023. If you’re looking for overall consistency, there’s a solid case to be made for Urias. 

In this type of conversation, focusing on two things stand out here. One is the player’s upside, and two is the consistency and the track record they’ve shown. It’s not that Rodon is far off here, but our overall debate came down to Urias and Fried. Ultimately, we sided with the pitcher we’d want to start Game 7 of the World Series, and that had us landing on Fried. His overall consistency and high upside to pitch a gem on any given night really gives us the confidence to label him the best left-handed starter in baseball.