Here are my updated NPB starting pitcher rankings as of August 14, 2025. These are essentially rest-of-season rankings, not power rankings. In other words, I’m ranking pitchers based on where I believe they truly belong moving forward, not just on season-to-date results. Recent performance is a major factor, but track record, underlying metrics, and overall stuff carry more weight in projecting the future. Click here for the full 2025 NPB pitching stats leaderboard.

The Top 25
Player Tags
Key Injuries
Prospects Coming Soon
Complete Rankings

Player Tags

The Top 25

#1 Livan Moinelo (SoftBank)

#WhiffMachine, #Consistent, #Loaded, #Workhorse, #PlatoonGod

#2 Tatsuya Imai (Seibu)

#WhiffMachine, #Loaded, #Flamethrower, #PlatoonGod

#3 Jon Duplantier (Hanshin)

#WhiffMachine, #Loaded, #PlatoonGod

#4 Hiroya Miyagi (Orix)

#WhiffMachine, #Consistent, #Loaded, #PlatoonGod

#5 Foster Griffin (Yomiuri)

#WhiffMachine, #Consistent, #Loaded, #DeepMix, #PlatoonGod

#6 Chihiro Sumida (Seibu)

#Consistent, #Loaded, #Workhorse, #PlatoonGod

#7 Hiromi Itoh (Nippon-Ham)

#HomerProne, #Workhorse, #DeepMix

#8 Iori Yamasaki (Yomiuri)

#GroundballMerchant

#9 Haruya Tanaka (Lotte)

#WhiffMachine, #Wild, #Loaded, #Rookie

#10 Koki Kitayama (Nippon-Ham)

#Consistent, #DeepMix

#11 Shoki Murakami (Hanshin)

#Consistent, #DeepMix

#12 Haruto Takahashi (Hanshin)

#GroundballMerchant, #InjuryProne

#13 Haru Matsumoto (SoftBank)

#PlatoonGod, #Rookie

#14 Katsuki Azuma (DeNA)

#HomerProne, #Consistent, #Loaded

#15 Kota Tatsu (Nippon-Ham)

#Consistent, #Loaded, #Rookie

#16 Hiroto Saiki (Hanshin)

#Wild

#17 Haruto Inoue (Yomiuri)

#HomerProne, #Loaded

#18 Andre Jackson (DeNA)

#Consistent, #Wild, #Flamethrower

#19 Ryuhei Sotani (Orix)

No Applicable Tags

#20 Kosei Shoji (Rakuten)

#GroundballMerchant, #Loaded, #PlatoonGod

#21 Hiroto Takahashi (Chunichi)

#WhiffMachine, #GroundballMerchant, #Flamethrower

#22 Atsuki Taneichi (Lotte)

#HomerProne

#23 Anthony Kay (DeNA)

#GroundballMerchant, #Consistent, #Flamethrower

#24 Tomohisa Ohzeki (SoftBank)

#Consistent

#25 Takato Ihara (Hanshin)

#DeepMix

Key Injuries (relative rank if healthy)

Shunpeita Yamashita (Orix) – Back (1-10)
Injured in the spring. Now rehabbing on the farm.

Ruei Yang Gu Lin (Nippon-Ham) – Oblique (10-20)
Injured on June 3. Yet to make a rehab appearance.

Keiji Takahashi (Yakult) – Lower Body (30-40)
Injured on July 5. Yet to make a rehab appearance.

Carter Stewart Jr. (SoftBank) – Abdomen (30-40)
Injured in the spring. Yet to make a rehab appearance.

Kodai Umetsu (Chunichi) – Shoulder (30-40)
Injured in the spring and underwent surgery. Out for the season.

Yuji Nishino (Lotte) – Forearm (60-70)
Injured on June 11. Now rehabbing on the farm.

Taichi Yamano (Yakult) – Unspecified (70-80)
Injured on June 6. Now rehabbing on the farm.

Takahisa Hayakawa (40-50) and Shoma Kanemura (40-50) are not injured but were removed from the list. Hayakawa was demoted to the farm while Kanemura was moved to the bullpen.

Prospects Coming Soon (farm stats)

Ren Mukunoki (Orix) – Age 25, 114 ERA+, 22.2 K-BB% in 44.1 IP

Hayato Tsunehiro (Hiroshima) – Age 23, 69 ERA+, 5.8 K-BB% in 76.1 IP

Ren Fukushima (Nippon-Ham) – Age 22, 136 ERA+, 13.5 K-BB% in 67.0 IP

Yuta Matsukihira (Chunichi) – Age 22, 103 ERA+, 8.7 K-BB% in 76.0 IP

Yi-Lei Sun (Nippon-Ham) – Age 20, 205 ERA+, 18.5 K-BB% in 47.2 IP

Kyosuke Saito (Orix) – Age 20, 63 ERA+, 2.4 K-BB% in 56.1 IP

Kaisei Toumatsu (Orix) – Age 20, 146 ERA+, 16.1 K-BB% in 35.0 IP

Reo Shibata (Nippon-Ham) – Age 19, 176 ERA+, 23.5 K-BB% in 13.2 IP

Hibiki Shinohara (Seibu) – Age 18, 160 ERA+, 14.2 K-BB% in 59.1 IP

Here are 85 pitchers who have made at least two NPB starts in the past 30 days and/or currently hold a rotation spot, ranked. The change column indicates their movement from the previous list made on July 8.