Which team has the best one-two punch starting pitcher in the major leagues?

On the 16th (Korean time), MLB.com, the official major league media outlet, announced the news that the Yankees had acquired Carlos Rodon and analyzed the major league’s best starting one-two punch.

The best starting one-two punch in the major leagues for the 2023 season selected by MLB.com is Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander of the Mets. Scherzer signed a three-year, $130 million contract ahead of the 2022 season, and Verlander signed a two-year, $86 million contract with the Mets this winter.

Scherzer and Verlander are special aces representing the major leagues. The two pitchers won a whopping 6 Cy Young Awards (3 Scherzer and 3 Verlander). Scherzer recorded 11 wins and 5 losses with a 2.29 ERA in 23 games (145⅓ innings) this year, and Verlander recorded 18 wins and 4 losses with a 1.75 ERA in 28 games (175 innings).

MLB.com said, “DeGrom left, but Verlander came. The Mets still have the best ace duo in 2023. Scherzer and Verlander have six Cy Youngs. Verlander is 39 and Scherzer is 38, but they’re still the most dominant pitchers in baseball. Two pitchers who played together in Detroit met again in New York,” he explained of the Mets ace duo.

The Yankees’ Gerrit Cole and Rodon were named second. Cole signed a 9-year, $324 million (approximately 425.1 billion won) contract with the Yankees, the largest ever for a pitcher. Here, the Yankees brought Rodon for 6 years and 162 million dollars (approximately 212.5 billion won) to strengthen the starting rotation.

Cole went 13-8 with an ERA of 3.50 in 33 games (200⅔innings) this year. Rodon recorded a career high with a 2.88 ERA in 31 games (178 innings) with 14 wins and 8 losses.

MLB.com said, “The Yankees compete with the Mets for first place. And since Cole (32) and Rodon (30) are so much younger compared to Verlander and Scherzer, it won’t be hard to see them becoming the best one-two punchers one day. The Yankees already had some of the best starting pitchers since Cole and Nestor Cortes led the rotation. Now, with the arrival of Rodon, a power pitcher with a 2.67 ERA and 12.2 strikeouts per 9 innings over the past two seasons, it has become a more powerful one-two punch. Cole struck out 257, the most in the majors last season, and Rodon finished second with 237. The total number of strikeouts by the two pitchers reached 494.” 스포츠토토

The total contract size between Cole and Rodon amounts to 486 million dollars (approximately 637.6 billion won). Scherzer and Verlander cost 216 million dollars (approximately 283.4 billion won). However, the average annual salary of Scherzer and Verlander is 36 million dollars (about 47.2 billion won), which is more than Cole and Rodon’s 32.4 million dollars (about 42.5 billion won).

Tampa Bay Shane Mcclanahan and Tyler Glasnow finished third. 4th Milwaukee (Corbin Burns-Brandon Woodruff), 5th Atlanta (Max Fried-Spencer Strider), 6th Philadelphia (Aaron Nola-Zack Wheeler), 7th Toronto (Alec Manoa-Kevin Gaussman), and 8th San Diego. (Darvish U-Blake Snell), the 9th Dodgers (Clayton Kershaw-Julio Urias), and the 10th Houston (Pramber Valdes-Christian Javier) followed.