MLB Network began rolling out their annual Top 10 positional rankings earlier this week, and deemed Red Sox ace and ’25 AL Cy Young runner-up Garrett Crochet the No. 6 starting pitcher in the game.

Reigning AL and NL Cy Young winners Tarik Skubal (Tigers) and Paul Skenes (Pirates) took the first and second spots, respectively.

That was to be expected. The No. 3 and No. 4 spots going to a pair of NL pitchers who are coming off significant injuries, less so. Phillies ace Zack Wheeler, who made 24 starts totaling 149.2 innings before requiring thoracic outlet decompression surgery, ranks third. Chris Sale slotted in fourth even though a fractured left rib cage limited him to 21 games for the ’25 Braves.

Phillies’ Cristopher Sánchez took the fifth spot. He led the majors with 8.0 WAR last season, a year in which he pitched to a career-bests of 2.50 ERA and 202 innings.

Crochet ranked in the 99th MLB percentile in Pitching Run Value, led the AL with 205.1 innings and a 11.2 strikeouts-per-nine-innings last year, and topped the majors with 255 strikeouts. He also outdid the five pitchers ranked ahead of him in innings and win-loss record (18-5), and he, Skenes, and Sánchez co-led MLB with 32 starts apiece.

Somehow, that’s only good enough for No. 6.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s placement at seventh was also surprisingly low, given his contributions to the Los Angeles Dodgers’ second consecutive World Series championship last fall.