Power Ranking the Top Left-Handed Pitchers in MLB in 2013

There's an old saying that if you're left-handed and you can pitch, you'll have a long MLB career.

Some pitchers have dominant stuff that just overpowers you, while others have a lot of finesse and try to outsmart you.

Any way you look at it, some of today's southpaws are among the best in the game.

Here's a look at the top 15 left-handed pitchers in the big leagues.

15. Wade Miley

Wade Miley may just be starting his career with the Arizona Diamondbacks, but he has the potential to become one of the best lefties in the game.

With a fastball that sits in low-90s, Miley has the ability to mix in two breaking pitches to keep hitters off-balance.

Miley went 16-11 last year with a 3.33 ERA and 144 strikeouts.

The strikeout numbers need to improve a bit, but for the most part, Miley will continue to climb this list throughout the course of his career.

14. Mike Minor

Mike Minor struggled in the first half of last year for the Atlanta Braves.

He gave up four or more earned runs in 10 of 15 starts through the end of June, taking a 6.20 ERA into July.

Then something clicked.

Over his next 15 starts, Minor only gave up four earned runs once (2.21 ERA), finishing the year with an 11-10 record and a 4.12 ERA.

Minor is that left-handed pitcher the Braves have desired since Tom Glavine left town.

As he continues to develop, he'll only move higher on the list.

13. Matt Moore

Matt Moore is another young gun on this list.

He made his presence felt late in the 2011 season for the Tampa Bay Rays.

However, 2012 was a different story, as Moore went 11-11 with a 3.81 ERA and 175 strikeouts.

While not as dominating as he was at the end of 2011, Moore showed a lot of promise for the future.

It was that promise that allowed the Rays to move James Shields in the offseason.

12. Matt Harrison

Matt Harrison has come into his own since getting a full-time starting role with the Texas Rangers in 2011.

Since then, Harrison has gone 32-20 with a 3.34 ERA.

His strikeout totals are never high, but Harrison has good control that allows him to be successful.

He gave up five or more earned runs only four times in 2012, and gave up one or no runs 12 times. Granted, seven of those were away from the Ballpark in Arlington, but it's still an impressive stat.

Harrison is never going to be much of a strikeout pitcher, which will keep him lower on the list than others.

However, he gives the Rangers a chance to win every time he takes the mound and that's all that really counts.

11. Brett Anderson

Brett Anderson is one of the core group of young starters for the Oakland Athletics.

He underwent Tommy John surgery in 2011 and battled through the long road to recovery.

For what he showed at the end of 2012 and in spring training, Anderson was named the starter for the opener.

Anderson hasn't gone a full season since 2009, but has shown he has ace-type stuff.

10. Aroldis Chapman

Aroldis Chapman is the only reliever on this list.

And how can you leave him off the list?

The Cincinnati Reds closer no doubt ticked off a lot of fantasy baseball owners with his desire to close instead of start.

However, Chapman has to be considered one of the most feared closers in baseball, as he's around 100 mph multiple times during an at-bat.

While his control is still being worked on, Chapman definitely deserves to be ranked in the top 10 just on what we've seen so far.

9. Chris Sale

Chris Sale showed the rest of baseball he was the Chicago White Sox's ace of the present and ace of the future with his performance last year.

The 6'6" lefty went 17-8 with a 3.05 ERA and 192 strikeouts in 2012.

By mid-July, he had an ERA of 2.11, but fell off just a little in his final 11 starts of the season.

If the White Sox are to go anywhere this year, they need Sale to duplicate his numbers from a year ago.

8. Madison Bumgarner

It took him a while to get going for the San Francisco Giants. But once Madison Bumgarner did, he's been solid in the rotation.

Bumgarner has posted two straight seasons of 200-plus innings and 191 strikeouts.

He doesn't give up a lot of runs (3.15 lifetime ERA) and has a career 8.0 strikeouts per nine innings.

Bumgarner experienced a roller coaster last year. But when he was on...he was on.

He posted 15 straight starts of going at least six innings in 2012, and never had an ERA above 3.97 after his first start of the season.

The lefty gives the Giants a lot of hope for the future, as he looks like he'll be a cornerstone for the franchise.

7. Jon Lester

On Opening Day, we finally got to see what Jon Lester could do with a clear mind.

Last year, there was a lot that went wrong for the Boston Red Sox. There's no doubt that multiple players (including Lester) were likely affected by it.

Now, Lester doesn't have those distractions and can do what he does best...throw the daylights out of the ball.

From 2008-11, Lester was one of the more consistent pitchers in baseball, winning at least 15 games and having an ERA under 3.50.

What I love most about him is the fight in him. After his bout with cancer, he understands he's been given a second chance and is taking full advantage of it.

6. CC Sabathia

When it comes to pitchers who you could let throw every three days (instead of five), none come to mind more than CC Sabathia.

Before joining the New York Yankees, Sabathia showed what he could do when the Milwaukee Brewers made a playoff run in 2008.

And, with the way the Yankees are falling apart due to injuries, we just might see Sabathia have to go on one less day of rest at some point in the season.

But he can do it. In fact, Yankee fans might be happy for him to do it.

Sabathia went 15-6 last year with a 3.38 ERA and 227 strikeouts.

He doesn't mess around much on the mound, as was evident by his 44 walks one year ago.

5. Gio Gonzalez

Gio Gonzalez deserved to be the Cy Young winner in 2012.

There...I've said it.

While that argument is for another time and place, the fact remains that the Washington Nationals lefty dominated the National League last year.

In his first season in the NL, Gonzalez went 21-8 with a 2.89 ERA and 207 strikeouts.

He made the NL his toy and nearly won the Cy Young doing it.

With another year like last, there's no doubt Gonzalez will move up a few more spots on this list.

4. Cole Hamels

Cole Hamels finally got the respect he deserved by being named the Opening Day starter for the Philadelphia Phillies.

The only problem is, the Braves didn't get the memo and knocked him for five runs.

Still, that doesn't discount what Hamels has done over the course of his career, which includes a World Series MVP.

Hamels went 17-6 last year with a 3.05 ERA and 216 strikeouts.

A lot of times he gets overshadowed by the two bigger names in the Philadelphia rotation, but he's just as deserving to be in the conversation with them.

3. David Price

Last year's AL Cy Young winner, David Price has been everything the Rays have asked him to be.

He finished with a record of 20-5 in 2012 with an ERA of 2.56 and 205 strikeouts.

Price had three games in which he gave up five or more earned runs, and 13 starts in which he gave up one run or less.

Simply put, Price was stingy when it came to runs in 2012.

At 27, Price can still get better.

Before all is said and done, he should have at least two more Cy Young awards sitting in his trophy case.

2. Cliff Lee

Before all the hissing starts, one must remember that Cliff Lee got barely any run support last year from the Phillies.

Lee got 3.60 runs of support on average last year, which ranked 222nd out of all pitchers who made starts last year.

The lefty finished the year with a record of 6-9 with a 3.16 ERA and 207 strikeouts. In fact, he didn't pick up his first win until July 4.

Until Lee's ERA regresses past 4.00 for a season or he pitches less than 200 innings, he still ranks as one of the best lefties in the game.

1. Clayton Kershaw

I'm not going to lie.

Had it not been for Clayton Kershaw's performance to open the season, he likely would have been No. 2 on the list.

However, the Los Angeles Dodgers lefty showed why he is the best southpaw in the game.

Kershaw is likely on the verge of the largest contract for a pitcher in MLB history. And he's earned it.

He's done nothing but dominate hitters over the last four years, tallying ERAs of 2.79, 2.91, 2.28 and 2.53. Not to mention, he's struck out 874 hitters in that time.

Kershaw's performance to open the season was simply magnificent and gives the Dodgers a lot of hope for the future.