Shortly after pressing the right buttons in a 4-0 victory at the All-Star Game last week, Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider marveled at the quality of pitching options available to him.“That’s the game now,” Schneider said. “Guys’ stuff is unbelievable.”The pitchers from both leagues overwhelmed the hitters at the Midsummer Classic, combining for 27 strikeouts on a night in which many of the game’s elite arms did not take the mound. The evening served as further evidence that the state of major-league pitching in 2026 is quite strong. Trying to decide who is the best of the best, though, is not so easy.For the past seven years, The Athletic has tried to do just that. We call it the Aces Project. Every spring, we gather a panel of 20 executives, scouts and analysts. We provide a list of pitchers and ask our respondents to rate them on the scouting scale from a No. 1 starter to a No. 5. For 2026, we had five pitchers qualify as an ace: Paul Skenes, Tarik Skubal, Garrett Crochet, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Cristopher Sánchez. Both Skenes and Skubal were unanimous.It is a fun exercise, but also an imperfect one. We can’t get to every pitcher. As a longstanding policy, we leave off players returning from major injury, which is why Philadelphia Phillies starter Zack Wheeler and New York Yankees starter Gerrit Cole, both former No. 1s in previous years, were not mentioned this spring. As the second half cranks into gear, we thought it would be worthwhile to highlight how some veterans from our list are performing and where some newcomers might fit into the bigger picture.A quick refresher: we put the pitchers into tiers. Those are as follows:TierScoreDescription1 —The Inner Circle100The unanimous No. 1s.2 — Aces99.5-90The pitchers you can trust all regular season and again in October.3 — The Doorstep Knockers89.5-80The pitchers who fall just short of being aces.4 — No. 2s and No. 3s79.5-60Those with lower ceilings, but still elevated floors. It should be noted — these guys are awesome at baseball.5 — No. 4s and No. 5s59.5-belowEveyone else.With that in mind, here are 21 pitchers who could experience some significant movement on the next edition of our Aces Project. We’ve listed each player’s 2026 score and ranking, followed by our prediction for our panel’s evaluation in 2027.2026 Aces Project update: MLB insiders rank starting pitchersAndy McCulloughThe return of the king(s)PitcherTeam20262027Zack Wheeler, RHPPHINRTier 2First half: 10-1, 2.13 ERA, 93 IP, 2.95 FIP, 10.5 K/9Wheeler stored in a closet the rib that was removed during surgery to fix his thoracic outlet syndrome. He is pitching like the operation never even happened. He might be the best in the game. He is undoubtedly a No. 1. The only question is whether it will be unanimous among our panelists.PitcherTeam20262027Gerrit Cole, RHPNYYNRTier 4First half: 3-4, 4.04 ERA, 49 IP, 4.04 FIP, 8.6 K/9In his first months back from Tommy John surgery, Cole is showing some of the rust typical for those who undergo elbow reconstruction. He can still generate good fastball velocity, but the shape of his curveball and slider have diminished. It takes time for a pitcher to sharpen his arsenal after the surgery. Cole has the aptitude and ability to get there, but he will turn 36 in September, and our panelists tend to study actuarial tables.The perils of injuryPitcherTeam20262027Garrett Crochet, LHPBOSTier 2 (97.0)Tier 4First half: 3-3, 6.30 ERA, 30 IP, 4.30 FIP, 11.1 K/9Crochet came close this spring to receiving unanimous ace status from our respondents. But he may be one of the toughest players to evaluate for next year’s list. After an ugly start to the season, Crochet landed on the injured list with inflammation in his left shoulder. He experienced a setback in the form of a lat strain in May. He has yet to resume a throwing program. If he can’t make it back this season, we may stick with our policy and hold him off the list altogether.PitcherTeam20262027Tarik Skubal, LHPDETTier 1 (100)Tier 1First half: 5-5, 3.09 ERA, 75.2 IP, 3.06 FIP, 10.6 K/9You can add a rapid return from the “Skubal Scope” to his growing list of accomplishments. Skubal missed less than two months after undergoing the surgery and has looked like himself since coming back. His Savant page is still dripping with crimson. He may not be able to three-peat as American League Cy Young winner, but he will generate plenty of interest at the trade deadline and will sign a lucrative new contract this winter.PitcherTeam20262027Cole Ragans, LHPKCTier 4 (68.5)NRFirst half: 1-4, 4.84 ERA, 35.1 IP, 6.19 FIP, 11.5 K/9Heading into 2025, Ragans posted an 86 score, tied for seventh-best pitcher on our list. More than a quarter of our panelists viewed him as an ace. But a strained rotator cuff limited him to 13 outings last season, and his future is now in peril after undergoing surgery to repair his ulnar collateral ligament earlier this month. The surgery marked the third major procedure on his elbow. The Royals hope he can pitch again next summer.The sophomore classPitcherTeam20262027Jacob Misiorowski, RHPMILTier 4 (64.0)Tier 2First-half: 10-4, 1.62 ERA, 111 IP, 2.09 FIP, 13.5 K/9At this point, the only thing standing in the way between the Miz and certification as a No. 1 starter from our panel is good health. That’s no small factor, given his slender frame and outrageous velocity. The Brewers skipped his final start of the first half to give him extra rest for the second half. If he can keep it up, and avoid an injury, Milwaukee will enter October with a bonafide ace leading its staff.PitcherTeam20262027Cam Schlittler, RHPNYYTier 4 (60.5)Tier 3First half: 9-5, 2.05 ERA, 118.2 IP, 2.81 FIP, 10.4 K/9When this year’s list came out, we wondered aloud if Schlittler was really a better pitcher than his teammate Carlos Rodón, who finished one spot behind the youngster from Massachusetts. Well . . . I guess we have an answer. Schlittler continues to bully hitters with his four-seamer, cutter and sinker. Some questions about his curveball may dissuade some of our panelists from rating him as a No. 1. But his production this season has been superb.PitcherTeam20262027Nolan McLean, RHPNYMTier 4 (71.0)Tier 4First half: 6-6, 3.52 ERA, 107.1 IP, 3.44 FIP, 10.5 K/9Expectations ascended to the clouds after McLean’s tremendous eight-start cameo in 2025. All things considered — he is only 24 and still qualifies as a rookie, the defense behind him stinks, the vibes in Flushing cannot be described as “good” — this has been a successful year.PitcherTeam20262027Trey Yesavage, RHPTORTier 4 (63.0)Tier 5First half: 4-4, 3.72 ERA, 75 IP, 4.11 FIP, 8.3 K/9Like McLean, Yesavage received a lot of love from our panel despite a limited big-league track record. Like McLean, he has experienced some growing pains. A shoulder injury cost him the first month of the season, and might dim his prospects a tad for next year’s list.Fading veteransPitcherTeam20262027Freddy Peralta, RHPNYMTier 4 (70.5)Tier 5First half: 5-8, 4.66 ERA, 104.1 IP, 4.39 FIP, 9 K/9The nightmare first half in Flushing has engulfed Peralta, who the club trumpeted as a front-line starter upon acquiring him from Milwaukee last winter. He was always prone to abbreviated outings and home runs, but this year he has suffered the consequences of missing fewer bats. He started calling his own pitches this month, but he still walked five batters in his first-half finale and failed to finish the fifth inning for the sixth time in 20 starts.PitcherTeam20262027Framber Valdez, LHPDETTier 4 (76.0)Tier 5First half: 5-6, 4.10 ERA, 107.2 IP, 4.09 FIP, 7.3 K/9Detroit thought it struck a short-term bargain in signing Valdez. Instead, he has looked closer to the pitcher he was in the second half of last season — 5.20 ERA in 12 starts — than the mid-rotation stalwart he was for most of six years in Houston’s rotation.PitcherTeam20262027MacKenzie Gore, LHPTEXTier 5 (58.5)NRFirst half: 5-8, 4.63 ERA, 105 IP, 3.62 FIP, 9.9 K/9The Rangers hoped to unlock another level for Gore, who collapsed in the second half for Washington last season. So far, no dice.PitcherTeam20262027Paul Skenes, RHPPITTier 1 (100)Tier 1First half: 8-8, 3.57 ERA, 108.1 IP, 2.88 FIP, 10.8 K/9Is Paul Skenes . . . washed?