What a difference a week makes! Last week, I was adamant that the top two teams would remain unchanged for the foreseeable future as they were head and shoulders above the rest of the pack. Well, that foreseeable future wasn’t quite as long as I had expected, and we had some major shifts in the rankings this week. It’s still early, so big moves aren’t exactly a surprise with five of the six divisions separated by 4 games or less from top to bottom, and every team in the league sitting between 6 and 11 wins except for the Dodgers. Spoiler alert, the Dodgers are still the best team in the game as they sit at 13-4 with a run differential of +40 through the first 3 weeks of the season. OK, let’s dive into the rest of this week’s MLB power rankings list.
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#30: Chicago White Sox
The Pale Hose remain at the bottom of the league for now with a 6-11 record and a league-worst -33 run differential. The recent call-up of Noah Schultz will make this Summer rebuild a bit more fun to watch, as we all are hoping that this is the second coming of Randy Johnson. While the 6’10” lefty may eventually blossom into a version of the Big Unit, I hate to tell ChiSox fans that it didn’t work out so well for the team that the original model debuted with. But hey, at least the Boston Red Sox know they’ll have a true ace in about 5 years, since this is their favorite spot to shop for tall lefty rotation anchors.
#29: San Francisco Giants
Down a spot from last week, the Giants are still a mess, sitting at 6-11 on the season after losing 3 straight games. They are 3-7 over their last 10 games, and overall, they rank dead last in runs scored in the league. Bryce Eldridge has gotten off to a hot start in AAA, so he may be up sooner rather than later to possibly give the lineup a shot in the arm.
#28: Boston Red Sox
The road has not been kind to Alex Cora and his squad as they are 3-8 away from Fenway, leading to an overall record of 6-11. They’ve just lost a couple in a row to the Twins at Target Field, including a complete meltdown by Garrett Crochet. I expect this team to figure things out eventually, assuming that Crochet’s last start was just a bad day and not a result of some sort of injury.
#27: Colorado Rockies
Much like Boston, the Rockies have struggled on the road while playing the majority of their games away from Coors Field. They sit at 6-11 overall, thanks to a 2-9 road record. The good news for Rockies fans is that the team will return home this weekend for a 7-game home stand. The bad news is that those 7 games will be against the Dodgers and Padres.
#26: Washington Nationals
Unlike the previous two teams, the Nats have been road warriors in the early going with a 7-4 record away from home. Unfortunately, they have only won one of their six home contests despite ranking in the top 5 in the league in most offensive categories. The pitching has been the culprit, as their team’s ERA of 6.09 and WHIP of 1.59 both rank 29th in the league.
#25: Houston Astros
Houston has plummeted 13 spots in my rankings since last week after losing 6 of their last 7 games. The offense is still clicking, but the pitching staff is in shambles without Hunter Brown, Josh Hader, and now Tatsuya Imai and Christian Javier. With those arms all on the IL, guys like Mike Burrows and Lance McCullers will have to step up to lead the Houston rotation.
#24: New York Mets
Houston’s drop in the rankings wasn’t the worst of the week, as the Mets haven’t won a game since last week’s article came out. The loss of Juan Soto has really affected this offense, as they have only scored 10 total runs over their recent 7-game losing streak, which also includes 3 shutouts. Soto could return next week, but the rest of this lineup better get things going in the meantime.
#23: Toronto Blue Jays
How bad have things gotten north of the border? The Blue Jays signed Patrick Corbin earlier in the month and had to call him up to fill in for their ailing pitching staff that is awaiting the return of Tre Yesavage, Shane Bieber, Jose Berrios, and, eventually, Cody Ponce. Heck, they may as well give Dave Steib a call and see how his arm is feeling. The offense also needs to get going as they currently sit ranked 24th in the league in total runs scored, which has led to the second-worst run differential in the league (-23).
#22: Kansas City Royals
The Royals sit at 7-10 after losing their last two games, as well as 5 of their last 7. Their offense hasn’t gotten in gear quite yet, with Bobby Witt, Vinnie Pasquantino, and Jac Caglianone all yet to hit a homer, and Salvador Perez is batting just .159. The starting pitching has been solid with 9 quality starts, led by Michael Wacha with 3. Things won’t get easier as they have a series coming up in Yankee Stadium after they finish in Detroit this week.
#21: Chicago Cubs
I picked them to win the Central, and they are currently sitting in last place. Figures. The good news is they are just 2 games out of first, and the offense hasn’t hit its stride yet. Michael Busch and Dansby Swanson have shown some recent signs of life, and I don’t expect either of them to bat .160 when all is said and done. Edward Cabrera leads the staff with a 1.62 ERA with a solid 1.17 WHIP despite allowing 9 walks in just 16.2 innings. This team isn’t going to stay down here for very long.
#20: St. Louis Cardinals
The Cards sit right in the middle of the Central at 9-8, and it feels like they are heading in the right direction. Jordan Walker has been a revelation, leading the league in home runs while leading the Redbirds in batting average and RBI as well. Riley O’Brien seems to have stabilized the back end of the bullpen, but the starting pitching is going to be a work in progress all season long.
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#19: Philadelphia Phillies
The Phils were another big faller from last week, dropping 11 spots from the top 10 down to the #19 spot. They are 4-6 in their last 10 games and have a total of 8 wins on the season. You can only play the teams on your schedule, but the fact that they are middling might have something to do with going just 5-4 against the Giants, Rockies, and Nationals (ranked 29, 27, 26, respectively).
#18: Detroit Tigers
They’re moving up after a recent 4-game winning streak, which has them in the shadow of .500 for the season. With their pitching staff, I expect the climb to continue through the summer, especially as they begin to play more games at home, where they currently have a 6-1 record. It should come as no surprise that Tarik Skubal leads the team in wins, ERA, and strikeouts.
#17: Seattle Mariners
They bounced back with a 4-game winning streak to begin this week to offset a 5-game losing streak that ended the previous week. Their pitching has been as advertised and will take them as far as they will go this year. Julio Rodriguez and Josh Naylor look like they may be waking up, and when Cal Raleigh joins them, this team is going to make some noise.
#16: Los Angeles Angels
We are right at the mid-point, and this team fits the bill perfectly. They sit at .500 and right in the middle of the AL West. They are 6-6 on the road and 3-3 at home and rank. Over their last 4 series, they have been alternating wins and losses while playing some of the better teams in the league, in the Yankees, Reds, Braves, and Mariners. Jose Soriano has led the way for their pitching staff so far and is an early-season favorite to be a Cy Young Award finalist.
#15: Arizona Diamondbacks
They’re 10-8 and sit in 3rd place in the NL West. Much like the Angels, they sit in the middle of the pack thanks to ranking around the middle of the league in most statistical categories like ERA (13th), Batting Average Against (15th), Runs Scored (14th), and Slug% (15th). The team isn’t fully healthy as players like Ketel Marte and Corbin Carroll have been shuffled in and out of the lineup, and now Pavin Smith and Gabriel Moreno have been placed on the IL. If they can manage to stay above .500 while they get healthy, they may have a postseason run in them at some point.
#14: Milwaukee Brewers
The Brew Crew fell from the 3-spot last week thanks to their current 6-game losing streak, which includes getting swept by the Nationals. Their pitching staff has been the main culprit here as they’ve allowed 35 runs over those 6 games (5.88 runs/game), and for the season, they rank in the bottom 10 in team ERA, WHIP, and Batting Average. Against and Quality Starts.
#13: Baltimore Orioles
The O’s have won 6 of their last 8 games and sit tied with the Yankees, just a half game behind Tampa in the AL East. Taylor Ward and Gunnar Henderson have led the Baltimore offense, which will be without Adley Rutschman for a couple of weeks as he nurses a sore ankle. Trevor Rogers has been their best pitcher, despite struggling to get past the 5th inning in his most recent start.
#12: Miami Marlins
The Fish have had a rough week, losing 4 of their last 5 on the road against the Braves and Tigers. They have been much better at home this season, winning 7 of their 10 games in Loan Depot Park as they sit at 9-9 overall in second place behind the Braves in the NL East. Sandy Alcantara was roughed up a bit in his last start after twirling two consecutive gems that totaled 17+ innings pitched between them. I doubt fatigue had anything to do with it, but I’d like to see him bounce back in his next start to be sure.
#11: Cincinnati Reds
Sal Stewart and Elly De La Cruz have been great, while the rest of the offense has been asleep. The Reds recently sent down the struggling Noelvi Marte, who was batting a putrid .138. Maybe that will wake up some of the others, as Eugenio Suarez, Matt McLain, TJ Friedl, Spencer Steer, Will Benson, and Tyler Stepheson are all batting below .210.
The pitching staff hasn’t been much better, with Brady Singer and Andrew Abbott carrying ERAs north of 5. Hopefully Nick Lodolo will be back soon to join Chase Burns at the top of the rotation. The bright side here is the fact that they are actually tied for 1st place in the Central despite their collective struggles.
#10: Tampa Bay Rays
The Rays sit in first place in the East thanks to a recent 4-game win streak, which included a sweep of the Yankees at Tropicana Field. Chandler Simpson has been on fire, riding a .400+ batting average to a spot at the top of a Tampa lineup that ranks 5th in the league in batting average and 8th in On Base%. The bullpen also seems to have settled down a bit with Bryan Baker locking down the 9th for Kevin Cash over the past week. The concern here is the rotation, which had previously lost Ryan Pepiot, will now be without Joe Boyle for the foreseeable future.
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#9: The Athletics
Hey Hey! the swinging A’s are in first place! They traveled to New York last week and took 5 of the 6 games from the Yankees and Mets, and have won 7 of their last 9 games overall. Jeffrey Springs has been the ace of this staff while “the other” Max Muncy has been their best hitter with a .308 average. When Nick Kurtz, Lawrence Butler, and Jacob Wilson join the party, this team is going to be a problem for the rest of the West.
#8: Cleveland Guardians
They’ve continued their winning ways despite not being very good at anything. They rank in the middle of the pack across the board in Runs Scored (16th), On Base % (18th), Batting Average (21st), ERA (14th), WHIP (13th), and Batting Average Against (16th). They sit at 10-8 on the season overall and return to Cleveland this weekend for a 7-game homestand against the Orioles and Astros.
#7: Minnesota Twins
The Twins sit atop the AL Central at 11-7 thanks to a recent tear where they’ve won 8 of their last 9 games. When a team’s offense is being led by the likes of Victor Caratini and Josh Bell while the pitching staff is anchored by Taj Bradley, you just have to tip your cap to the guys in charge. Skipper Derek Shelton has made the most of wunderkind G.M. Jeremy Zoll’s acquisitions, as this team is sitting pretty despite slow starts from Byron Buxton, Luke Keaschall, and Bailey Ober.
#6: Pittsburgh Pirates
The Bucs have kept plugging away and now sit in first place in the NL Central tied with the Reds at 10-7. The excitement over Konnor Griffin’s promotion may have inspired the rest of the lineup since the rookie hasn’t begun to contribute himself quite yet. O’Neill Cruz, Brandon Lowe, and Ryan O’Hearn have done the bulk of the heavy lifting for a Pittsburgh offense that’s ranked in the top 10 in the league in Runs, Batting Average, Slug, and On Base %. The pitching hasn’t exactly been slouching either, as the team has a run differential of +18 on the young season, which ranks as the 4th best mark in the league.
#5: Texas Rangers
Things haven’t been perfect in Arlington, but the Rangers are still plugging away and sit tied with the A’s atop the division. The two teams will play the rubber game of their 3-game series later today to determine who will sit atop the West as they head into this weekend. Texas has a team built to win now and when players like Corey Seager and Wyatt Langford heat up, they should separate themselves a bit from the rest of the pack.
#4: New York Yankees
Last week, I told you that the teams ranked in 3rd and 4th place were closer to falling to 15th than they were to climbing past the Yankees. A week later, here we are. The Yanks dropped 6 of their last 7 games and currently sit at 9-8 in second place behind the Rays in the AL East. I have them ranked ahead of Tampa for now since I’m worried about the injuries to the Rays pitching staff. The problem with the Bronx Bombers right now is the fact that they are doing the wrong kind of Bombing from an offensive standpoint.
The recent 11-run outburst, highlighted by 2 homers apiece by Aaron Judge and Trent Grisham, was nice to see, but they followed that up with a 1-run stinker the next night. Aaron Boone is going to have to figure some things out to get these guys to start scoring more runs, because they need production from more than just Aaron Judge and Ben Rice. The pitching has been stellar all season, despite allowing 17 runs over their last 2 games.
#3: San Diego Padres
Last week, I said the Padres need to figure out their pitching, and they responded with 6 straight wins with an average of 2.5 runs allowed per game. Nice job, boys. They will be without Nick Pivetta for some time as he was just placed on the IL with a dreaded sore elbow, so it will be up to Michael King and Randy Vasquez to keep things rolling.
The offense has been led by a couple of unexpected sources in Ramon Laureano and Xander Bogaerts, while Fernando Tatis, Jackson Merrill, and Manny Machado have sputtered a bit out of the gate. Overall, they sit at 11-6, which is good enough for first place in every division in the league, except the one they play in.
#2: Atlanta Braves
The Braves are in first place in the East at 11-7 thanks to winning 5 of their last 7 games. They lead the league with a +41-run differential thanks to an offense that is top 3 in baseball in Runs, Batting Average, and Slug %, and a pitching staff that leads the league in ERA and sits 2nd in Batting Average Against and WHIP. More help may be on the way as Spencer Strider is set to begin a rehab assignment in the coming week. The team offense has been great across the board, getting contributions from the usual suspects as well as hot starts from Drake Baldwin and Mauricio Dubon.
#1: Los Angeles Dodgers
As much as this list changed from last week, the two spots that stayed the same were the names at the bottom and at the top of the list. The Dodgers continued their winning ways, going 5-2 this past week to improve their record to a league-best 13-4 overall. The offense still leads the league in Batting Average, On Base and Slug % while the pitching staff carries a league best .201 batting average against.
If you need to see some cracks here, we can worry a little about Edwin Diaz, who seems to be dealing with a dip in velocity. Before you get too excited, Alex Vesia came on and worked a spotless 9th with 3 Ks. They also have Blake Treinan and Tanner Scott with over 150 career saves between them, so they have options if Diaz is going to miss time.
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