MLB Power Rankings
As the season is just over a quarter of the way through, where are teams stacking up early on in the season?
It has really been an unconventional start of the season. The Boston Red Sox are 25-17 and leading the AL East when most people thought they would be closer to last place than first. The projected 104 win team Dodgers are only 22-18, the projected middle-tier team Giants are first in the NL West, and the Angels and Twins, who were both supposed to be pretty good are having miserable starts to the season and are both sitting in last place in their respective divisions.
It is very early on and a lot can change. I don’t expect the Giants or the Red Sox to be atop of their divisions by my next power rankings and I don’t think the Angels and Twins will be in last place in their division in my next power rankings either.
Colorado Rockies
Why is Colorado sitting in 30th? Well, simply because they have no bright spots at all this season. Baltimore has John Means, Detroit has Casey Mize, Pittsburgh has Tyler Anderson. Colorado has Trevor Story and Charlie Blackmon. They should be good right?
Story isn’t his usual star self, hitting just under .270 with only 4 home runs to start the year while Blackmon is hitting just about .240 with only 2 home runs to start the year. Their pitching staff has been their usual awful self thanks to Coors Field, but their offense is always supposed to be their bright spot and it simply isn’t this year. Nothing is, unfortunately.
Baltimore Orioles
John Means is more than just the first Orioles pitcher to throw a no-hitter since Jim Palmer in 1969. He should have had a perfect game as he recorded 0 walks, but a strikeout that got past the catcher prevented him from getting it. Means, besides Jacob Degrom and Gerrit Cole, has arguably been the best pitcher in baseball as he owns a 4-0 record with a 1.21 ERA to start the season.
Once Baltimore brings up coveted catching prospect Adley Rutschman in the next month or so, they will be better and will start to look like a somewhat decent team instead of being consistently one of the worst teams in baseball for the past couple of seasons.
Pittsburgh Pirates
In my preseason rankings, I was pretty adamant about the 2021 Pirates being one of the worst teams of all time. I assumed they had no one even somewhat decent on their roster other than top prospect Ke’Bryan Hayes. Hayes has been out for most of the season and they have still managed to accumulate a 17-23 record without him, which is impressive considering this should be a 100 loss team.
The bright spot has been lefty Tyler Anderson who owns a 3.50 ERA in 46.1 innings pitched. J.T. Brubaker is also pitching fantastic as he’s compiled a 2.58 ERA in 38.1 innings pitched. The Pirates don’t have much and somehow they keep winning a game at least out of every series they play. Although I think they will be the worst team in the MLB by the end of the season, they have proven me wrong so far and I would not be surprised if they do it again.
Detroit Tigers
Top pitching prospect and former #1 overall pick Casey Mize has been exactly as advertised this season as he has been fantastic. Mize owns a 4.19 ERA, but only because of one miserable start he had out of five solid starts to start the year. He will continue to rise and so will Tarik Skubal and Matt Manning(when he gets to the bigs). Matthew Boyd is his usual self as he owns a 2.45 ERA in 47.2 innings pitched. The Tigers have a great future but don’t expect them to be good until Mize, Skubal, Manning, and Torkelson are all thriving in the MLB. Until then, they will consistently be one of the 5 worst teams in the MLB.
Los Angeles Angels
This team is absolutely terrible. Originally a top 10 team after the second week of the season, the Angels have barely won any games at all since. They have lost 11 out of their last 15 games, and although both Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout are MVP candidates, their pitching is absolutely abysmal.
Their team ERA to start the year 5.33 and this is only because of their somewhat improved bullpen, which is still one of the worst bullpens in the league. Their best starter ERA is owned by Dylan Bundy who has a 6.02 ERA to start the year. If your ace has a 6.02 ERA and it is the best among qualified starters then of course your team will suck regardless of how good the hitting is.
Their offense has also been inconsistent, thanks to Anthony Rendon who looks like an average third baseman, not a 250 million dollar player who the Angels expect to be a perennial All-Star. Things may get better, but what does this team expect to happen when they never prioritize pitching in free agency and in their farm system? Shohei Ohtani can’t hit and pitch every game. If he could, they’d be the best team in the league. The Angels won’t be good until they get pitching. Simple as that.
Texas Rangers
I really don’t know how the Rangers are only 4 games under .500. They are basically a one-man team. Joey Gallo. Or at least I thought they were. Adolis Garcia came out of nowhere and has 10 homers to start the year, while Nick Solak, Joey Gallo, and Nate Lowe have each hit 7. Whether or not this team is consistent on offense, they sure do hit a lot of home runs, which is indicative of their record being better than people expected.
Texas, even with its mediocre start, is not convincing me that they’ll be better than any of the four other AL West teams throughout the rest of the year. Texas is finishing last, but they are basically in rebuilding mode so it is okay.
Washington Nationals
Juan Soto hasn’t had the year he had hoped to be having at this point. Other than Trea Turner and Max Scherzer, no one has on this team. The Nats #2 and #3 starters Stephen Strasburg and Patrick Corbin both have ERA’s over 6 and -WAR. Since the Nationals do not have a good bullpen or a lineup with much depth besides their two starts, if their front-end starters can’t control the game and give them a chance to win, then this team will hover around last in the NL East all year.
If Corbin and Strasburg find a way out of their miserable slumps then this could be a very different team come midseason. I am not worried about Soto as he is arguably a top 3 hitter in baseball. He will figure it out. The bigger question is, can the Nationals as a team figure it out? It starts with the pitching.
Kansas City Royals
The Royals started off winning just about every game going 14-8 to start the year behind Danny Duffy’s dominant pitching and a lot of home runs from Salvador Perez, Carlos Santana, and Hunter Dozier. Danny Duffy is 4-3 with a 1.94 ERA and 48 Ks to start the year and it doesn’t look like he will slow down any time soon by the way he’s pitching.
However, the lineup has gotten cold and even though Andrew Benintendi, Salvador Perez, and Carlos Santana should be able to keep it going, the rest of their lineup has limited upside. Their pitching staff is also terrible besides Duffy. Thankfully, their bullpen led by Josh Staumont has been great, but without starting pitching this team is heading into a world of hurt for the rest of the season.
Miami Marlins
Sixto Sanchez is still rehabbing his arm in the minors after being hurt in the offseason. The Marlins have a really weak lineup, and their best hitter so far this year, Jazz Chisholm, is on the injured list right now. Sandy Alcantara and Trevor Rogers are fantastic, so when their ace Sixto Sanchez gets back to the bigs and starts dominating, this could look like a whole different team, even with one of the weakest lineups in baseball.
Minnesota Twins
The Twins should be a playoff team with one of the best records in the MLB, especially when Byron Buxton is hitting .370 with 9 home runs and 5 stolen bases to start the year. Buxton has missed the last week and a half but is going to return very soon.
José Berrios needs to pitch better along with Kenta Maeda, Matt Shoemaker, and the rest of the staff. Their pen is also solid, even though it has underperformed to start the year. They are in a huge slump sitting at 13-23, but it is a long season and this team should be at least .500 by the All-Star break.
Chicago Cubs
Kris Bryant already has 10 home runs and is hitting close to .320 to start the year. Even Javy Baez is hitting for big-time power, even though his strikeout numbers are very concerning. The pitching is a big-time concern as well, as ace Kyle Hendricks owns a 6.23 ERA to start the season. Let that sink in. How good can a team be if their ace has a 6.23 ERA and none of the rest of their staff is any good? Exactly. It’s a good sign that Kris Bryant is playing great, but the Cubs have serious issues and aren’t going anywhere this year.
Arizona Diamondbacks
Even though Madison Bumgarner looks rejuvenated and both Riley Smith and Luke Weaver are providing valuable starts at the back end of the rotation, the D-Backs lineup is terrible. Plain and simple. No one on the team has a batting average of .300 or over nor does anyone on the team have more than 7 home runs to start the year. This lineup is a joke, and thankfully their rotation, once Zac Gallen gets fully healthy, will provide them with just enough support to win 40 percent of their games at least.
Seattle Mariners
Jarred Kelenic’s first career hit was a home run that got out of T-Mobile park in a couple of seconds. He mashed that ball and it’ll be the first of many in his M’s career. Kelenic also doubled in that game and went 3-4. Mitch Haniger is playing fantastic hitting .258 with 12 home runs and 30 RBI’s to start the year as well. Kyle Lewis and Kyle Seager are just getting going, but with the addition of Jarred Kelenic and Haniger’s continued production, this lineup won’t be bad at all.
The Mariners rotation, which was supposed to be pretty good, hasn’t performed to its potential. James Paxton opted to get Tommy John surgery so he will miss all of this season, and young pitchers Justus Sheffield and Justin Dunn have struggled to get going with a 4.62 and 3.72 ERA respectively. Chris Flexen is pitching great as he owns a 3.46 ERA in 39 innings pitched, but it will be interesting to see how Logan Gilbert adapts to the big leagues.
The top arm in the Mariners farm system, Gilbert had a tough first outing. If he can show some of the star power that he has, then this Mariners team could potentially become dangerous in the AL West. Everyone knows that Kelenic is the future of this organization, so since he is now in the big leagues, the Mariners should be even better than they already are.
Cincinnati Reds
After a scorching start, the Reds have slowed down. They started off 6-1 behind Nicolas Castellanos’s power surge, but their pitching has been super inconsistent. Sonny Gray, Trevor Mahle, and Wade Miley have been good for the most part, but their supposed ace, Luis Castillo, has a 7.71 ERA to start the year.
The Reds are losing just about every game he starts. Once they get more consistency out of Castillo, they should be able to get above .500 consistently. Nick Castellanos is still playing out of his mind hitting around .330 with 10 home runs and Jesse Winker, Eugenio Suarez, and Tyler Naquin have provided some power numbers as well in a very good lineup.
Atlanta Braves
The Braves will not be sitting 16th in anyone's next power rankings. If a team has a rotation of Max Fried, Ian Anderson, Charlie Morton, and Huascar Ynoa, how bad can they be? Well, Mike Soroka had a setback in his recovery and won’t be back for a while, and both Fried and Morton are off to bad starts. Their lineup has been inconsistent as well. Freddie Freeman has had a very slow start as well hitting .221 to start the year. At least Freeman has hit for power though as he has 10 homers so far this season.
They also have Ronald Acuña Jr. who is hitting .305 with 12 homers and 24 RBI’s to start the year. Acuña is the best hitter in the National League this season, and with Freeman heating up alongside Ozzie Albies and Marcell Ozuna, this team should be in first place by next month as the Braves are still one of the top 3 most talented teams in the league. Just like the Dodgers, regardless of their record at the moment, this is a 90+ win team. Don’t let anyone tell you differently. They will hit their stride soon.
Tampa Bay Rays
Tyler Glasnow has been fantastic to start the year with a 2.35 ERA and 85 K’s in 57 innings to start the year. He is by far the best pitcher on the Rays and is becoming one of the most dominant pitchers in all of baseball. Luis Patiño has been great out of the pen, and Josh Fleming, Diego Castillo, and Peter Fairbanks have been fantastic as well.
Star reliever Nick Anderson is going to be at least half of the season with a partially torn ligament in his elbow, and that really hurts because they needed him to make another run at a World Series. The lineup isn’t great, but Randy Arozarena and Austin Meadows are starting to heat up. This will be a consistently good team that may slide in as a wild card, although their division is looking very strong right now so who knows.
Philadelphia Phillies
The Phillies have been a little bit better than expected thanks to their improved pitching staff. Even though Aaron Nola has had a couple of bad starts so far, he has still been pretty good with a 3.64 ERA and 61 K’s in 54 innings to start the year. Zack Wheeler has been fantastic with a 2.85 ERA and 56 K’s to start the year. Zach Elfin has been the story so far for this rotation as he owns a 3.85 ERA with only 5 walks in 52 innings. He has really stepped up for the Phillies.
Unfortunately for the Phillies, their #4 and #5 starters are the worst in all of the MLB, even worse than the Angels back end of the rotation. Chase Anderson owns a 6.96 ERA while Matt Moore owns an ERA over 7 to start the year. It is going to continue to be hard to win games when Moore and Anderson pitch.
The Phillies lineup has been okay but could be better. Bryce Harper is hitting .307 with 7 home runs to start the year while Rhys Hoskins is hitting .252 with 8 home runs to start the year as well. J.T. Realmuto has been his usual self with a .294 average and 17 RBI’s to start the season. This team will be good, but I don’t see them winning this division. The Mets or the Braves are going to win the NL East, not the Phillies.
Milwaukee Brewers
Corbin Burnes is something else huh? This guy came out of nowhere and became one of the most dominant pitchers in the MLB. Burnes has a 1.57 ERA, 58 K’s, and 1 walk in 34 innings pitched. This dude’s stuff is lights out. Complimenting Burnes at the front end of the rotation is Brandon Woodruff, who has a 1.64 ERA and 61 K’s in 49 innings pitched. It’s hard to be a bad team when you have two starters that dominant.
Christian Yelich started off the year hitting .360 but he has been hurt, leaving the lineup lacking star power. Keston Hiura has been terrible as he’s hitting .152 to start the year when he is supposed to be an above-average maybe even an All-Star second baseman.
Avisail Garcia has the highest qualified average on the team hitting .258 and he also has 5 home runs which leads the team. Without Christian Yelich, this lineup is the worst in the MLB so far this season. Hopefully, Yelich can return to his 2018 MVP form and turn this ball club into a playoff team, because they certainly have the pitching to compete with anyone.
Toronto Blue Jays
The Blue Jays have been a slightly above-average team this year thanks to Vladmir Guerrero Jr’s breakout season. Vlad Jr. is hitting .308 with 10 home runs while Bo Bichette already has 42 hits to start the year. Teoscar Hernandez has been great and so has Marcus Semien. Their pitching has been okay, but nothing special. Hyun-Jin Ryu has been his usual self as he owns a 2.95 ERA with only 5 walks in 40 innings pitched to start the year.
Steven Matz has 5 wins and owns a 4.29 ERA, while Robbie Ray seems to have finally bounced back as he owns a 3.38 ERA to start the year. This team should be in the mix for the division race throughout the year, but I don’t see them being anything better than an 87 win team. I believe that is their ceiling.
Cleveland Indians
Shane Bieber has been his usual Cy Young self with a 2.95 ERA and 85 K’s in 55 innings to start the year. Aaron Civale and Zach Plesac have both been good as well with a 3.40 and 3.56 ERA respectively. James Karinchak has been electric out of the bullpen with a 0.52 ERA and 33 K’s in just over 17 innings. Emmanuel Clase has also been dominant out of the pen as he owns a 1.06 ERA with 7 saves in 17 innings to start the year.
Their offense hasn’t been great, as no one on the team is hitting over .264. Jose Ramirez as expected is their best hitter with a .261 batting average and 11 home runs. Franmil Reyes has also produced some power with 9 home runs so far, but this is one of the weakest lineups in the American League. Luckily, the Indians have one of the best rotations and bullpens in the MLB to offset their mediocre lineup. Once Triston McKenzie gets going and is more consistently dominant on the mound, this team has a very good chance to be playing baseball in October.
Houston Astros
The Astros have a really good team this year as much as most baseball fans desperately want them to be bad. The Stros have one of the best lineups in the American League as Yordan Alvarez is hitting .348 with 7 home runs, Yuli Gurriel is hitting .330 with 7 home runs, Alex Bregman is hitting .305, and Kyle Tucker has 9 home runs. This team puts up runs, and both Carlos Correra and Jose Altuve are poised to play better when they hit their strides this season as well.
Zack Greinke has pitched okay to start the year with a 4.18 ERA and only 11 walks in 51.2 innings pitched. Lance McCullers Jr. has been great with a 3.10 ERA and 47 K’s in 40 innings pitched. Jose Urquidy, Christian Javier, and Luis Garcia all have ERA’s in the low 3’s producing surprisingly one of the best pitching rotations in the American League so far this season. We all know Houston’s bats will keep it up, but if their rotation can keep up its consistency, then Houston will have no trouble winning the division over the Oakland A’s.
San Diego Padres
The Padres are only a little bit worse than people expected. They have a better record than the only team that was expected to be better than them though(the Dodgers). The Padres pitching has been fantastic. Yu Darvish has a 2.08 ERA to start the year, Joe Musgrove has 2.86 ERA to start the year, and Ryan Weathers has a 1.37 ERA to start the year.
Both Blake Snell and Chris Paddack haven’t pitched to their potential, and Dinelson Lamet has been hurt. Once those guys get going, this Padres rotation will probably be the most dominant in the MLB. Fernado Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado haven’t lived up to the hype just yet, both hitting just about .240. This is a good sign because when Tatis and Machado get going to go along with Snell, Lamet, and Paddack, the Padres may become the best team in the MLB.
New York Yankees
Both Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Staton are on home run rampages. Judge has 12 and Stanton has 9. The rest of the offensive production is coming from D.J. LeMahieu, Gio Urshela, and Aaron Hicks. Gary Sanchez and Gleyber Torres are struggling at the moment, while Luke Voit is just returning from injury. On the pitching side, Gerrit Cole is back to his dominant 2019 form, flexing an ERA of 1.37 with 78 K’s in 52.2 innings. Corey Kluber has been a good pickup as he boasts a 3.48 ERA to start the year. After Cole and Kluber though, this Yankees rotation has had issues. Domingo German is pitching well lately, but even he is inconsistent.
Jameson Taillon owns a 5.40 ERA in 33 innings to start the year, while Jordan Montgomery owns a 4.75 ERA in 41.2 innings. Luckily for the Yankees though, their bullpen has been fantastic lead by Aroldis Chapman who has 9 saves and 31 K’s with a 0.00 ERA in 15 innings so far. Alongside Chapman are Luis Cessa, Chad Green, Jonathan Loaisiga, and Michael King who all have been fantastic as well. The Yankees are sitting at 22-18 right now, but they will definitely have a good shot at catching the Red Sox by the All-Star break.
Los Angeles Dodgers
The most talented team in the league by far has been one of the biggest disappointments this season. Yes, Cody Bellinger has been hurt for most of the year so far, which has obviously affected them tremendously, but Mookie Betts and Corey Seager are supposed to lead this lineup but are both only hitting around .260. These two players are supposed to be superstars, and just like the Padres with Tatis and Machado, both Betts and Seager have proven track records and should get out of their slumps relatively soon. Thankfully, Justin Turner, Max Muncy, and A.J. Pollock have been able to keep the lineup afloat to win a lot of games still.
Dustin May opting to get Tommy John surgery was a huge loss for this team, but Trevor Bauer, Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler, and Julio Urias have all been fantastic. Bauer has been the clear ace boasting a 2.20 ERA with 77 K’s in 57 innings pitched. However, other than Kenley Jansen, Victor Gonzalez, and Blake Treinen, the Dodgers bullpen has been atrocious.
Guys that were supposed to be key pieces to this bullpen like Joe Kelly(13.50 ERA in 2.2 innings) and Brusdar Graterol(20.25 ERA in 1.1 innings) have been so bad they aren’t even being used right now. David Price and Dennis Santana have also been awful. Once Betts and Seager start hitting and the bullpen finds more consistency, the Dodgers will be the best team in the National League. But as of now, the Giants are simply better.
New York Mets
The Mets started slow and have lost their last couple of games to the Rays relatively badly, but they still lead the NL East. Francisco Lindor has been horrible hitting .190 with only 3 home runs to start the year. For a man making 341 million dollars, he needs to be way better. He is the heart and soul of this team. Lindor is not alone though as no one on the team is hitting over .246. Pete Alonso, Michael Conforto, Brandon Nimmo, Jeff McNeil, and Dominic Smith haven’t been themselves either, just like Lindor.
Some good news for Mets fans though is that they are leading the division with one of the worst lineups in baseball to start the year. Obviously, Jacob DeGrom has been out of this world with a 0.60 ERA and 65 K’s in 40 innings so far, but Tajuan Walker has really stepped up boasting a 2.20 ERA in 41 innings to start the year. Marcus Stroman has also been fantastic with a 2.72 ERA to start the year. The bullpen has been okay but should continue to improve. Once the lineup clicks, it will be hard for the Braves and Phillies to beat the Mets for the division.
San Francisco Giants
The Giants have been the best team in the NL West to start the year with a 24-16 record because of their dominant pitching. Kevin Gausman has been the ace the Giants have needed him to be as he owns a 1.84 ERA with 59 K’s in 53.2 innings. Aaron Sanchez and Johnny Cueto have been fantastic as well. The biggest surprises in the rotation have been Anthony DeScalafani who owns a 2.14 ERA in 46 innings pitched and Alex Wood who owns a 1.75 ERA in 36 innings pitched. Taylor Rodgers has been probably the most dominant middle reliever in the MLB so far this season with a 0.76 ERA in 23.2 innings out of the pen.
The Giants lineup hasn’t been great as Evan Longoria who is hitting .241 is leading the team in average. That is, not counting Buster Posey’s .382 average in 89 AB’s which is not qualified. Brandon Crawford and Brandon Belt have 8 and 9 home runs each respectively, but Mike Yastrzemski is struggling so far this year. Thankfully, Posey has picked up the slack in the lineup to compliment some of the best pitching in the league this season. I don’t think the Giants can win this stacked division, but if their pitching continues to be as dominant as it has been, a wild card spot is a serious goal for a ball club that many expected to be rebuilding this year.
St. Louis Cardinals
With a duo as good as Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt what else can you expect other than the Cardinals being easily the best team in the weakest division in baseball. Crazy thing is that Arenado and Goldschmidt aren’t even playing to their level yet this season. Dylan Carlson, Tommy Edman, and Paul DeJong have picked up the slack on offense while Cy-young candidate Jack Flaherty is 7-0 with a 2.47 ERA to start the year. Adam Wainwright, John Gant, and Kwang Hyun-Kim have been fantastic in the rotation as well. Carlos Martinez has had a bad start to the year, but he has the second-best stuff of any of those guys(behind Flaherty) so the only way is up for this solid rotation.
Oakland Athletics
The A’s are as good as I expected them to be. No one in their lineup, rotation, or bullpen is standing out, yet they are winning 60 percent of their games based simply on team camaraderie and great coaching. They continue to do more with less than any other big-league ball club, and although Moneyball may get them to the postseason again, will they finally make it past the American League Division Series? This remains to be seen. They find ways to win and this year is no different. Houston is pretty good, but it seems like Oakland will hold this #1 spot for the rest of the season.
Boston Red Sox
I really wish I did not have to put the Red Sox at #2 since I don’t think they are as good as maybe any of the other top ten teams on this list, but you have to give credit when credit is due. They are playing like the best team in baseball. Even better than the White Sox. J.D. Martinez and Xander Bogartes have been leading this offense to prominence as they are both hitting around .350 to start the year. Their pitching has improved as well behind Nick Pivetta and Garrett Richards who have been pitching lights out out of the rotation. I think this is still an 85 win team, but who knows. If their offense can continue its hot streak, they may even be able to win 90-95 games.
Chicago White Sox
Even without Luis Robert and Eloy Jimenez, the White Sox are clicking on all cylinders. Yermin Mercedes has been fantastic alongside Nick Madrigal and Jose Abreu, but it’s been their rotation and pen that has won them a ton of games. Lucas Gilito is in typical ace form, while Dylan Cease, Carlos Rodon, Lance Lynn, and Dallas Keuchel have all been fantastic as well. The dark horse of this team is Michael Kopech, who has pitched in long relief and spot starts so far this season, and in 26.1 innings pitched, Kopech owns a 1.71 ERA with 40 K’s. Don’t be surprised when Kopech jumps into the rotation and becomes the White Sox’ number #3 pitcher this postseason. Liam Hendriks and Garrett Crochet have both been dominant as well. This is the most balanced team in the American League, no question.