NHL goalie tandem rankings: Why the Islanders reign supreme
Ranking the NHL’s goaltending tandems used to be a predictable process: Pencil in the Boston Bruins, Vegas Golden Knights, Dallas Stars and whoever the Tampa Bay Lightning have playing with Andrei Vasilevskiy at the top, and then figure out the rest.
Unfortunately for us, and fortunately for the rest of the NHL, the 2021 offseason was like a goaltending Big Bang. Long-standing duos were broken up. Goaltenders were dispersed throughout North America like space dust, including all the way to Seattle, where a new planet, er, franchise was formed.
“Look at all the changes this offseason. It was a goalie carousel,” said Stephen Valiquette, former NHL goaltender and one of the sport’s foremost analysts on netminders as CEO of Clear Sight Analytics.
Here are the goalie tandem rankings for the 2021-22 NHL season. They were formulated through discussions with a variety of goalie experts — coaches, analytics gurus, former players — as well as through stats from sites like Evolving Hockey, Money Puck and Hockey Reference. We also spoke to Valiquette at length for his take on some of them tandems.
Keep in mind that these are a combination of past performance and projections for the 2021-22 NHL season, including preseason rankings from Clear Sight Analytics. Organizational depth is listed in parentheses where relevant.
As easy as it is for a goalie to play for coach Barry Trotz, it’s equally as hard to be seen as something more than a product of his system. His four-season run in Washington saw the Capitals finish second in the NHL in goals-against average (2.45) during his tenure. During his three seasons with the Islanders, they’ve led the league in team defense (2.46 goals against per game).
Varlamov led the NHL in save percentage (.929) last season among goalies with at least 30 starts, and tied Philipp Grubauer with seven shutouts to lead the league. Grubauer got a Vezina Trophy nomination. Varlamov did not. Nor did Sorokin get any Calder Trophy love, finishing 15th in the voting. Varlamov also didn’t crack the top 10 in our ranking of goalies as voted on by NHL players, coaches and executives last spring.
So we’ll give them their due here. Both would be solid goaltenders on another team. Within this system, they’re the NHL’s best tandem. Varlamov is an athletic veteran whose underlying numbers from Clear Sight Analytics had him as the NHL’s third best goalie last season. His 0.961 expected save percentage on unblocked shots was best in the league last season. Sorokin looked better and better as his rookie season went on, and with a season in the NHL (and living in the U.S.) under his belt, he’s going to have an outstanding sophomore campaign.
The Trotz System is the NHL’s most effective defensive scheme. His Russian netminders are the foundation on which it’s built.
I think Valiquette summed this up perfectly last spring, when we ranked the playoff goalie tandems: “Vasilevskiy is elite everywhere. There, that’s Tampa. We don’t even have to waste time talking about them.”
OK, we’ll waste a little time talking about them. Vasilevskiy has entered that rarefied air of being considered the league’s best goaltender while also leading the league’s best team, but not simply being considered great because his team is. Patrick Roy was like this. Martin Brodeur was like this. He’s been a finalist for the Vezina Trophy for four straight seasons, winning in 2018-19 and finishing second to Marc-Andre Fleury last season. No shade on Nikita Kucherov, but Vasilevskiy (.937 save percentage) was probably the MVP of their Stanley Cup run.
This battery has gotten better with the addition of Elliott, the 36-year-old coming off four seasons in the Philadelphia goalie meat grinder. Neither he nor Curtis McElhinney, last season’s backup, were great shakes in 2020-21: Elliott had a minus-12.1 goals saved above average while McElhinney was at a minus-10.7. But Elliott, a former NHL starter, didn’t exactly have players like Victor Hedman and Ryan McDonagh in front of him in Philly. He’ll be fine as a spot starter behind the Big Cat.
Ask the goaltending community and they’ll tell you that Grubauer is not a product of the Avalanche’s greatness in front of him. From a technique standpoint, he’s got a lot of fans. From an analytics standpoint, he’s ninth in goals saved above average (29.9) over the last two seasons. The only knock on him has been his play during pressure situations. He wasn’t great down the stretch for the Avs last season, and his playoff numbers haven’t always aligned with his regular-season success.
“I’m really high on Grubauer, and they’ve got really good depth in net,” said Valiquette.
That depth includes Driedger, the former Florida goalie who was right behind Grubauer in goals saved above average over the last two seasons (26.1), while adding nearly five wins to his team. Add in Daccord, and the place to beware the Kraken most is between the pipes.
The Avalanche had to scramble after Grubauer bolted for Seattle in free agency. The offseason goalie merry-go-round had seemingly stopped, and they were left having to surrender a sizable trade package to the Coyotes to secure Kuemper, who is one year away from unrestricted free agency. The 31-year-old has built a reputation through the years as a goalie that’s played better than the team in front of him in Arizona, with 57.2 goals saved above average since the start of the 2017-18 season (12th in the NHL). But he’s 23rd in that department over the last two seasons (20.4) and posted a .907 save percentage in 2020-21 — his lowest in five seasons. He gave up a few too many rebounds and didn’t make the low-percentage saves he had made in the past.
“I worry that he’s coasting on his reputation a bit lately,” said one goalie analyst.
The good news for the Avalanche is that this season doesn’t rest on Kuemper alone. Francouz didn’t play the 2020-21 season due to a lower-body injury. But his rookie campaign in 2019-20 was strong: 21-7-4 with a .923 save percentage. As a tandem, with the team in front of them, this could be one of the best.
There are a few tandems on this list where the whole is greater than the sum of their parts, but this isn’t one. There’s a legitimate argument that Hellebuyck is the best goalie in the NHL, with 26.9 goals saved above average and having added 4.8 wins to the Jets last season. There’s no argument that he’s got the highest work rate in the league at the moment, leading the NHL in games played for the last two seasons and both shots faced and saves for three straight seasons.
But Hellebuyck is walking across the Grand Canyon without a net: Comrie, who replaces Laurent Brossoit, is a 26-year-old journeyman with eight starts in his career. The Jets drafted him in 2013 and he was in their system for three years, so there’s obviously a level of trust that goes beyond the stats. You can afford to have a cheap, unproven backup when your Vezina-winning starter can play 82% of the time.
The Rangers shocked some people when they handed Shesterkin a four-year, $22.7 million extension, which was the richest ever for a goalie on his second contract. New York goaltending legend Mike Richter was not one of those people: “Shesterkin was good enough to give them the ability to think that it’s OK not to sign [Henrik Lundqvist],” Richter told the NY Post in August. “Those guys don’t come along much. So when you have them, you hold on to them, and that’s why it was a wise signing.”
According to Clear Sight Analytics’ numbers, Shesterkin, 26, and Georgiev, 25, combined for the second most goals saved above average in the NHL last season. There are a few concerns here — a lack of experience playing in meaningful NHL games, Shesterkin’s propensity for lower-body injuries — but this is a solid duo on which new coach Gerard Gallant can build.
Lehner showed up to training camp looking slimmer than expected, with coach Pete DeBoer saying, “He walked in the door [and] looked like a different guy.”
That’s good news for the Knights, theoretically, because the 30-year-old is now the man in the net, with Fleury gone. “Lehner can be a wild card sometimes. If he’s focused and has a chip on his shoulder, I love [Vegas],” said Valiquette.
Coming in to back up Lehner is Brossoit, a 28-year-old who previously played for Edmonton and Winnipeg. He had an .918 save percentage in 14 games last season with the Jets. “I love Brossoit. I really do, even going back to when he was struggling to get his footing in the league. He came up under a Western Canadian goaltending model I like,” said Valiquette.
Fleury’s career renaissance in Vegas was one of the best NHL stories of the last decade. From 2017-18 to 2020-21, he had 75.2 goals saved above average, and added 14 wins to the Knights in the standings, capping that run with his first Vezina Trophy last season. He immediately makes the Blackhawks a better goaltending team than they were in 2020-21 (.903 team save percentage). The question is how good does he need to be in order to make up for their defensive shortcomings?
“Am I betting on a career year from Fleury again? I don’t think so. Chicago’s one of the worst defending teams in the league. Plus, Lankinen didn’t finish well at all,” said one goalie expert.
The Panthers are a tough one to figure out because their best goalie is 20 years old and has four regular-season games to his credit. But that’s what they have in Knight: a phenom who could manage to take the crease from a player that’s 13 years his elder and …well, a lot wealthier, contractually.
“Bob had been one of my favorite models to use, up until the last two years, as a coaching tool with young guys,” said Valiquette. “It was easy to see why he’s explosive and good with tracking. But now, he’s lowered his glove and I feel like he’s reaching back. But he’s a hard-working guy. Maybe the pressure of having Spencer there now allows him to stop worrying about his contract and focus on the game.”
Bobrovsky had a better second season in Florida than his first. If the Panthers can get both of them going behind a strong, Joel Quenneville-coached team, a top-10 tandem is an accurate projection.
Demko emerged from the shadow of Markstrom and delivered on the promise he showed in the bubble playoffs of 2020. His 23.7 goals saved above averaged were fifth in the NHL, and the 25-year-old finished with a .915 save percentage in 35 games played.
Behind him, the Canucks swap out Braden Holtby for Halak as the veteran presence. The 36-year-old should be a solid backup, but his numbers took a dip last season in Boston.
“Thatcher Demko is unreal. I really like him,” said Valiquette, who especially likes the fact that the Canucks and goalie coach Ian Clark were able to come to a new agreement. “I had one goalie coach say it to me this way: Ian Clark is a wizard. He can change you. Get you to buy in. He’s very demanding, but I’d say he’s probably the best goalie coach in the NHL.”
The Pekka Rinne Era is officially over in Nashville, and Saros has finally taken over “The Tonight Show” after guest hosting for five seasons. He showed he was ready for the big chair last season, with a stellar 23.9 goals saved above average and a 16-6-1 run through the last three months of the season that dragged the Predators to the playoffs. Rinne playing until he was 38 gave Saros the perfect amount of time to ripen on the vine.
We’re big fans of Rittich as a backup here, having previously been a “1-A” in Calgary from 2018-20.
For the sake of clarification: This ranking is for the regular season. Which means it’s assessing Price as the .909 save percentage goalie he’s been for the last four seasons, rather than “Playoff Carey Price,” who has a .928 save percentage in that same span.
Price is 41st in goals saved above average per 60 minutes (0.148) over the last two seasons, for goalies with a minimum of 1,000 even-strength minutes. Bringing Allen in as Price’s backup was one of GM Marc Bergevin‘s smartest decisions last season. He outplayed the Canadiens star for stretches last season, and started 48% of their games.
Ullmark made the best of a bad situation in Buffalo for six seasons. Sneakily, he was one of the league’s most effective goalies over the last two seasons, with 14.8 goals saved above average — the only regular Sabres netminder on the positive side of that metric in that span.
“Our model has really liked Ullmark over the years,” said Valiquette.
Ullmark signed a four-year, free-agent deal with Boston and joins 22-year-old Swayman in the crease, the latter of whom was 7-3-0 with a .945 save percentage in his first NHL season with the Bruins. It’s going to be an intense competition between the two, as coach Bruce Cassidy has called it a “month-to-month, performance-driven” contest.
Looming in the background here is Tuukka Rask. The 14-year pro and former Vezina winner had hip surgery for a torn labrum this offseason. He’s rehabbing it now and has stated a desire to return to the Bruins this season, even as he remains unsigned. “Can it get sticky? It could,” Cassidy said, via the Boston Globe, “and if it does get sticky, we have to do right by the guys who have signed here, and we’ll address it if it is.”
Talbot’s numbers were as scattered as a Minnesota snow flurry last season. He started 11 more games than he did in Calgary in 2019-20, but saw his even-strength numbers wilt under the workload. However, his rebound control was the best in the league last season, and overall he had 12.7 goals save above average in all situations. His .636 quality starts percentage was the best of his career. There were numbers that indicated he was playing at a near-elite level, and numbers that seemed to indicate the Wild’s goaltending wasn’t playing as well as the defense in front of them.
After getting rolled in the Vegas expansion draft, the Wild made it out of the Seattle draft without having to make a bad side deal to have the Kraken avoid Kahkonen. (Seattle opted for defenseman Carson Soucy.) The Wild like the young Finn a lot, and this tandem’s ranking has the expectation that he’ll improve on a rookie season that saw him play well below replacement level on a good defensive team.
When the Blues signed Binnington to a six-year extension in March — “through the meat of his career,” as GM Doug Armstrong carnivorously put it — they were paying for a known commodity in the regular season. He’s steady, if not the dominant goalie he was in his first season run to the Stanley Cup: Making the low-danger saves that he should, and playing consistently well in one-goal games, of which the Blues play their share. His mental toughness in the regular season makes his postseason struggles — he’s lost nine straight postseason games — all the more glaring.
Husso, 26, was a sub-replacement-level goalie in 17 appearances last season. It was his rookie season, so we’re not trying to judge too harshly. But where have you gone, Jake Allen?
The world is separated into two types of people: Those who believe Hart’s horrific third season in the NHL (.877 save percentage, league-worst minus-16.7 goals saved above average) was an aberration, and those who believe the Flyers’ tandem being ranked this highly is an absolute joke.
Well, much like Harvey Dent, we believe in Carter Hart. And Valiquette agrees.
“I think his struggle last year was mental,” said Valiquette. “Maybe the stress got to him or the load got to him or it was too much, too soon. It’s all consuming and eventually you implode. If we were talking about Carter at this time last season, we were talking about a potential Vezina candidate. His game didn’t fall apart. It was mental. And he pulled himself out of it at the end of the year.”
As for Jones, we’ve got two words for you: Kim Dillabaugh.
“Amongst the goalie coaches community, we all think he’s brilliant,” said Valiquette of the Flyers goaltending coach. “He had Jones in Manchester [AHL affiliate] when Jones was with the Kings. And when Jones was in Manchester, he was explosive and instinctive and athletic. Kim cleaned him up a little bit there, and I think Kim’s really going to help him [in Philadelphia]. Which is key, because Hart needs a safety net like Matt Murray needed a safety net with Marc-Andre Fleury in Pittsburgh.”
The Hurricanes stunned the NHL by making wholesale changes to their crease, allowing Petr Mrazek and James Reimer to walk as free agents and trading Alex Nedeljkovic to Detroit. Replacing them are Andersen, whom Carolina has been interested in acquiring for some time, and Raanta, an effective goalie for the Coyotes on the occasions that he was healthy.
“I like Freddie a lot,” said Valiquette. “His only thing is that he gives up goals when up by a goal or tied score, and that’s happened in the playoffs the last few years. But he’s a terrific goalie who can get super hot and steal [games] in the regular season. Carolina is really good defensively. So was Toronto last year. Truth is, I think Freddie is better when he faces a lot of crap being thrown at him, and steals a game facing 40 shots.”
It’s unbelievably sad that Matiss Kivlenieks is no longer with us. The 24-year-old, who died in a tragic accident during the offseason, would have been a factor for the Blue Jackets this season, both with his play and in their evaluation of their own goaltending depth.
For the first time since 2014-15, someone other than John Tortorella will be coaching the Blue Jackets, and no one named Seth Jones will be patrolling their blue line. How that impacts the overall team defense is anyone’s guess. What we do know: Merzlikins was the better goalie of these two last season, with a .916 save percentage and 7.1 goals saved above average. Korpisalo did nothing to build on his awesome postseason in 2020, finishing with a minus-10.7 goals saved above average and costing his team nearly two wins.
While Merzlikins signed a five-year extension, Korpisalo is in his walk year — with 22-year-old blue-chip prospect Daniil Tarasov waiting in the wings.
Campbell put up solid traditional stats (.921 save percentage and a stellar 17-3-2 record) behind an underrated defensive team in Toronto. Mrazek arrives from Carolina, taking over for Andersen. The Leafs actually finished sixth in the Clear Sight Analytics preseason goalie rankings, mostly due to Mrazek’s occasional goals-saved-above-average streaks. “You know him over the years: He gets on a roll and he can run hot. But he can run equally as cold,” said Valiquette.
Toronto has itself a good regular-season tandem, but Valiquette thinks that’s the limit.
“That’s not a Stanley Cup-winning tandem. I’d imagine that Toronto goes along with this as long as it can, and then makes a change before the playoffs,” he said.
Another goalie expert we surveyed felt that No. 19 was a reach. “I’m not a fan of Toronto tandem at all,” he said. “Campbell concerns me after 30 games, and Mrazek is a guy that always seems to get hurt at inopportune times.”
Petersen is one of the NHL’s quiet success stories, turning 35 games of .911 save percentage hockey last season into a primary starter’s job with the Kings and a three-year, $15 million contract extension through 2024-25. He had 18.8 goals saved above average last season and added 3.5 wins to the Kings.
Quick is … quick. The 35-year-old Conn Smythe winner is a model of inconsistency and was not very good at even strength last season (.898). But there are still some nights when that scrambling goalie who makes miraculous saves shows up. Just not enough of them to compel another team to take on the remaining two years of his contract, despite the Kings’ efforts to deal him this offseason.
As hockey fans, we spend a lot of time talking about young offensive stars whose careers are withering away on terrible teams. Perhaps we should spend more time talking about Gibson, 28, who has spent the last three seasons outside the playoffs on Ducks teams that have posted a combined .455 points percentage. (Hashtag: #SaveGibson.)
Gibson continues to outkick his coverage as an Anaheim goalie, having posted only one middling season analytically (2019-20) while well into double-digits on goals saved above average in his other recent campaigns. He’s in the third season of an eight-year deal he signed in 2018. Hopefully the Ducks given him a team worthy of his talents before that term ends.
Stolarz has only 34 games played since entering the league in 2016-17, but we figure on Gibson starting 60-plus games anyway.
There was speculation that GM Ron Hextall might make dramatic changes in goal after last season, following Jarry’s playoff meltdown and because Hextall would seem rather particular about who’s in his net. But the Penguins ran it back with Jarry and DeSmith.
These two were fine from a traditional stats perspective (.908 team save percentage, ninth in the NHL) but less so analytically (26th in goals saved above average per Real Clear Stats). DeSmith, it should be said, was the better goalie last season, but Valiquette is optimistic that a reunion between Jarry and Andy Chiodo, his goalie coach in the AHL, could do wonders for him. “Andy’s one of the hardest working guys in the league, and the smartest. I bet you Jarry has a much better season under Chiodo,” he said.
Please note that this ranking is no way connected to our lingering bitterness that the Penguins opted out of a possible Marc-Andre Fleury reunion tour.
It’s a tale as old as time in the NHL: a goalie signs a free-agent blockbuster contract and then immediately discovers their mobility to make saves has been hindered by the weight of it.
Markstrom signed a six-year, $36 million deal prior to 2020-21, and his numbers plummeted after finishing fourth for the Vezina Trophy in his walk year with Vancouver. But he wasn’t a disaster for the Flames — especially since he was facing an offensive barrage in the North Division on a disappointing team. His underlying numbers remained on the positive side, too.
“I love Markstrom. I love how much he plays and I think he’s going to thrive under [coach Darryl] Sutter,” said one goalie expert we surveyed, “but he’s got absolutely nothing behind him.”
Said another goalie expert: “I like Markstrom in Calgary but I wonder about that tandem. I’d think Darryl rides Markstrom hard. Will be interesting to see how he responds. That could be a disaster there if he’s not healthy. So they could be lower.”
Clear Sight Analytics has the Devils ranked No. 10 overall in the preseason, in combined goals saved above average. As a tandem, these two do have promise. Blackwood had a struggle last season after a bout with COVID, and the Devils struggled last season overall in goal, finishing with a .891 team save percentage, 30th in the NHL. Bernier is a solid fix for that, having braved the net in Detroit for three seasons. He’ll push Blackwood and replace him if necessary.
The Devils also improved their defense corps over last season, and their goaltenders should benefit from it.
“I think Blackwood is a stud, and I’d have that tandem around 20,” said one goaltending expert.
The Stars are a tough team to figure out because of their depth chart.
Is Bishop ever going to play again? He believes so, having missed 18 months after two knee surgeries. His goal is to return this season. If that happens, well, the Stars just added a three-time Vezina nominee to their crease.
Oettinger, 22, looked good in 29 appearances last season. Khudobin, 35, remains a battler, even if his stats took a tumble last season (.905 save percentage). “I really like Khudobin. He’s the competitor. Whatever it takes, he’s going to get it done,” said Valiquette.
But Holtby, who signed a one-year deal as veteran insurance due to Bishop’s injury … just doesn’t seem like Holtby anymore. “When I watched him last year, he didn’t seem like a hungry goalie anymore,” said one goalie expert. “You hope this isn’t a swan-song contract.”
The Capitals hope to see this duo together more than they did last season, when Samsonov was recovering from an offseason injury and then had two bouts with the COVID protocols to limit his season to just 19 games.
Vanecek stepped in and stepped up, going 21-10-4 in 37 games with a .908 save percentage, finishing sixth for the Calder Trophy. He was selected in the Seattle expansion draft and then traded back to the Capitals after a week, which is either an indication of the Kraken’s goalie depth or a nifty bit of goalie laundering by Washington.
Said one goalie expert: “I want to like the Washington tandem, and for some reason I feel they perform well this year. It’s just a hunch, but Samsonov has gone through constant issues the last couple years and I feel this is the year he gets his act together. If so, I think they could be mid-teens.”
Some aren’t so optimistic: “I don’t think he has a presence in the net. He doesn’t look to me to be that guy,” said another goalie expert. “And Vanecek moves way too much for an NHL goalie. I don’t like the Caps at all.”
Every goaltending expert we spoke with for this ranking remains baffled by the Oilers. Baffled that this duo is back for a third straight season. Baffled that they’re actually not that bad — a .910 team save percentage in the offensively explosive North Division in 2020-21, good for 8th in the league. Baffled at how Smith, now 39 years old, continues to defy the odds with performances like his .923 save percentage and 21-6-2 record last season.
But at least one expert thinks the magic is going to run out. “I expect a significant regression for them,” he said.
The success or failure of this tandem comes down to two basic questions: Can the Red Wings continue their year-over-year improvement as a defensive team, and were the Hurricanes right or wrong about Nedeljkovic? The Canes didn’t think he was worth a contract extension for three months of light-out, Calder Trophy-nominated hockey. The Red Wings were willing to give him two years and $6 million for it.
Greiss is one of the NHL’s best complementary goalies, playing to his fourth above-average campaign in the last five seasons. He had the misfortune of losing eight overtime or shootout games, tied for most in the league last season. This tandem could look better than expected if the defense can help them get their goals-against average under 3.00.
By swapping out Martin Jones and Devan Dubnyk, the Sharks made additions by subtractions. Given their salary cap restrictions, getting Reimer and Hill in as the new tandem isn’t a bad bit of business.
Reimer has had only one sub-replacement campaign in his last four seasons, although his quality of play has had an every-other-year oddity to it. (Let it be known that he’s “due” for another solid one for San Jose this season.) But it’s Hill on whom a few of the goalie experts are rather high. He showed flashes for the Coyotes in his 49 games in the NHL, and quietly had a better season than the much more heralded Darcy Kuemper last season.
Murray said he put on around 13 pounds in the offseason — 7,500 calories per day, on trainer’s orders — to bulk up his frame. So he’s now the big presence in goal that the Senators need, literally, if not figuratively. Whether crushing carbs translates into better success is anyone’s guess, after two sub-replacement seasons in a row with the Penguins and Senators. The 27-year-old has a new goalie coach in Zac Bierk, who appeared to get results late last season, but Murray has a long road back to respectability: His low-danger save percentage above expectation was third-worst in the NHL.
Forsberg has shown some competence in limited NHL action. Perpetual goalie of the future Filip Gustavsson remains in the mix.
“You know who the surprise is going to be this season? Craig Anderson,” one goaltending expert told us. “The team is going to be horrible, but he’s going to pull a rabbit out of his hat on a lot of nights.”
That’s conceivable, seeing as how that’s been Anderson’s M.O. for most of his career. The 40-year-old goalie was apparently retired (per his former team, the Capitals) before being compelled out of his easy chair to play in back of the Sabres, of all teams.
Dell had one above-average season in San Jose (2019-20), and that’s it.
Both goalies are placeholders for Luukkonen, the 22-year-old goalie of the future that the Sabres aren’t rushing to the big stage. If he earns a place in the NHL roster, this tandem could move up a smidge.
We’re all about the positive here in the goalie tandem rankings, so let’s take a moment and be happy for Hutton. The guy went 1-10-1 last season, his third season watching pucks fly by him while with the Sabres. Yet he managed to find another NHL starting gig at age 35. He’s paired with Korenar, a goaltender who has done absolutely nothing to indicate he belongs on an NHL roster this season.
The Coyotes have positioned themselves to be as terrible as possible to secure a high pick in next summer’s top-heavy draft. This tandem is part of that plan, to put it kindly.
For Mike Sullivan, the latest coach of the New York Rangers, there will be many priorities in taking over a team that missed the playoffs a season after winning the Presidents’ Trophy.
Foremost will be communication.
“I have spoken to every player on the roster over the last three days,” Sullivan said Thursday at his introductory news conference. “I think there is a fair amount of leadership in that room. There’s a lot of character in that room.”
Sullivan, the 38th coach in franchise history and fifth since 2018, agreed to lead the Rangers on May 2 after parting ways with Pittsburgh, with whom he won the Stanley Cup twice.
He replaces Peter Laviolette, who was fired April 19 after the Rangers slid 29 points to miss the postseason despite their raft of talent. It will be up to Sullivan to resuscitate a power play that fell from the league’s top echelon to 28th overall in 2024-25 and help the defense improve in front of elite goaltender Igor Shesterkin, who is coming off his worst NHL season.
Sullivan spent four seasons as a Rangers assistant under then-coach John Tortorella from 2009 to 2013. He also coached current Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury during that time. They also worked together through USA Hockey at the 4 Nations Face-Off in February and will be part of the U.S. contingent for the 2026 Milan Olympics.
Sullivan will have top scorers Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad and Adam Fox on his side after years guiding Penguins stars Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang in Pittsburgh, where he won the Cup in 2016 and 2017.
“I’ve grown so much respect over the years for the talent that the Rangers have,” said Sullivan, who lost a seven-game first-round playoff series to the Rangers in 2022. “I look forward to the opportunity to get to know these guys on a more personal level. I look forward to the opportunity to work with them, both on the ice and off the ice, to try to become the most competitive team that we can become.”
Also pressing for the 57-year-old Sullivan — who was drafted by the Rangers in 1987 and later played 709 NHL games for four other franchises — is how he will handle younger Rangers such as 22-year-old Brennan Othmann and 20-year-old Gabe Perreault, a first-round pick in 2023 who joined the team briefly at the end of last season.
“Part of coaching or the art of coaching, I guess, is trying to figure out what that daily recipe is that’s best for the player,” Sullivan said. “Sometimes it’s time in the American League as a young player, sometimes it’s time in the National League depending on the types of minutes that that player can play. What I will tell you is that I think it’s important that every player earns their opportunities, that no one’s entitled to an opportunity.”
Sullivan was joined Thursday by Drury, who was awarded a contract extension last month.
Drury’s previous two coaching hires — Laviolette and Gerard Gallant — each lasted two seasons. The 48-year-old executive expressed enthusiasm for the addition of Sullivan, the only U.S.-born coach with multiple Stanley Cup wins.
“The second Mike was available, we quickly and aggressively pursued him,” Drury said. “We are certainly thrilled that pursuit led us to this moment today. There’s a lot of work to be done.”
The battle between National League powerhouses for the No. 1 spot continues in Week 6.
The Dodgers, Mets and Padres are still duking it out for the title of best team in baseball, with Los Angeles retaking the top spot from New York on our list. The top five is rounded out by a new team, as well, with the Tigers breaking in at the No. 5 spot.
Detroit is the top American League team this week, with the Yankees coming in at No. 7, the Mariners cracking the top 10 and the Royals, the week’s biggest risers, at No. 11.
What else has changed in the span of one week?
Our expert panel has combined to rank every team based on a combination of what we’ve seen so far and what we already knew going into the 162-game marathon that is a full baseball season. We also asked ESPN MLB experts David Schoenfield, Jorge Castillo and Bradford Doolittle to weigh in with an observation for all 30 teams.
Record: 25-12
Previous ranking: 2
The Dodgers are suddenly scrambling in the outfield. Teoscar Hernandez was tied for the MLB lead in RBIs when he landed on the injured list because of a groin strain that manager Dave Roberts said would keep Hernandez out for “weeks.” James Outman replaced Hernandez on the roster and started in center field Tuesday with Andy Pages sliding over to right. Meanwhile, Michael Conforto continues to struggle. With Tommy Edman also out, Roberts says he sees a lot of platooning in the short term. At least Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman are both red-hot to carry the offense. — Schoenfield
Record: 24-14
Previous ranking: 1
When the Mets signed ex-Yankee Clay Holmes this past winter, it was a mild surprise. The bigger surprise was that he was inked to join the rotation. Holmes entered the 2025 season with four career starts, all during his debut season for Pittsburgh in 2018 — whereas he has played a relief role in 307 games over eight MLB seasons. Seven starts into his Mets career, Holmes looks like a bona fide rotation fixture. He’s 4-1 with a 2.95 ERA and 2.18 FIP. His strikeout and walk ratios are matches for what he posted last season as a reliever, and he has yet to give up a homer to 156 batters faced. — Doolittle
Record: 23-13
Previous ranking: 4
Michael King and Nick Pivetta continue to team for one of the best duos in the majors, going a combined 9-2 with a 2.12 ERA. King returned to the Bronx — where he played for the Yankees for four seasons — and pitched another gem Tuesday, giving up three hits and two runs in six innings (although the Padres’ bullpen had a rare meltdown and proceeded to give up 10 runs in the seventh inning). After a poor outing on Opening Day, King has a 1.71 ERA over his past seven starts. — Schoenfield
Record: 22-16
Previous ranking: 5
The Cubs’ offense has been a force, but the team is facing adversity among its starting pitchers. First, Justin Steele needed Tommy John surgery and was lost for the season. Then Javier Assad, out because of an oblique strain to begin the season, sustained another oblique strain during a rehab start and was shut down. Finally, on Monday, Shota Imanaga was put on the IL because of a strained hamstring. The Cubs haven’t provided a timetable for Imanaga’s return. It’ll be on Matthew Boyd (2.75 ERA), Colin Rea (2.43 ERA) and Jameson Taillon (3.86 ERA) to hold down the rotation for now. — Castillo
Record: 23-13
Previous ranking: 7
The Tigers have flourished in a number of ways during the season’s opening weeks but one thing that really stands out is the degree to which they have dominated at Comerica Park. They’ve started 13-3 at home with a net per-game differential of plus-2.81 runs, the best in baseball. To put it another way, that differential translates to an .819 expected winning percentage, or 133 wins over 162 games. Not unrelated: Detroit has also moved into the early lead in the chase for the AL’s top postseason seed, which of course carries with it home-field advantage in October. — Doolittle
Record: 24-14
Previous ranking: 6
Logan Webb just keeps rolling along as one of the most underrated starters in MLB. He led the majors in innings pitched in 2023, ranked second in 2024 and again ranks among the league leaders this season. He has given up only one home run in 48⅓ innings and is producing a career-high strikeout rate (up eight percentage points from last season). He has used his sweeper more this year, but his changeup has been much more effective than it was in 2024, perhaps because he’s throwing it less often. — Schoenfield
Record: 21-16
Previous ranking: 3
Max Fried has been exceptional as a Yankee, posting a 1.05 ERA through eight starts. Carlos Rodón has rebounded from a choppy early stretch and sports a 2.96 ERA in eight outings. Outside of those two, the Yankees’ rotation is iffy at best without Gerrit Cole and Luis Gil. Clarke Schmidt recorded his best start of the season Tuesday against the Padres after dealing with injuries. Will Warren has a 5.65 ERA. Carlos Carrasco was designated for assignment. Marcus Stroman is out indefinitely. While Gil is progressing in his recovery from a lat strain, the Yankees need Fried and Rodón to continue registering quality starts. — Castillo
Record: 21-15
Previous ranking: 8
Bryce Harper‘s homer during the Phillies’ wild 11-9 loss to Arizona on Tuesday ended a 13-game long-ball drought. That’s far from Harper’s longest homerless streak — he went 38 games without one in 2023 — but it still highlighted an uneven start for Philly’s marquee player. Harper has started every game thus far for manager Rob Thomson. Does he need a rest? Should the Phils be worried? Probably not. Harper’s BABIP has cratered but that’s one indicator that tends to regress to career norms. His power numbers are down but, per Statcast, his bat speed is actually up from 2024. He’ll be fine. — Doolittle
Record: 22-14
Previous ranking: 11
And finally Cal Raleigh rested … almost. Raleigh had started the first 34 games of the season, either at catcher or DH. His two-homer, five-RBI game Saturday against the Rangers helped power the Mariners to their eighth consecutive series victory. Against the Athletics on Tuesday, Raleigh was on the bench … until the ninth inning. Trailing 3-2 with the bases loaded and one out, Raleigh pinch hit for Mitch Garver and delivered a go-ahead two-run single in a 5-3 victory. His 12 home runs are tied with Aaron Judge and Kyle Schwarber for the MLB lead. — Schoenfield
Record: 19-18
Previous ranking: 9
Geraldo Perdomo continues to rake, including a 4-for-5 game with two doubles and three RBIs in Sunday’s wild 11-9 win over the Phillies. Perdomo has more walks than strikeouts, is 9-for-9 stealing bases, has a 99th percentile ranking in outs above average at shortstop and has already produced 2.2 fWAR compared to 2.0 all of 2024. That figure puts him in a five-way tie for the third-highest fWAR — behind only Aaron Judge and Pete Alonso. — Schoenfield
Record: 22-16
Previous ranking: 19
The Royals’ offense has been moving in the right direction, aiding a recent torrid stretch that was driven by elite run prevention. Bobby Witt Jr. has produced all along but, as good as he is, he can’t do it alone. Help has arrived in the form of Maikel Garcia, whose surge has brought his season numbers into lockstep with Witt. Garcia’s swing decisions have improved by leaps and bounds, lowering his already-solid strikeout rate and lifting his walk rate well over league average. Garcia, who has started at four different positions, will merit All-Star consideration if he maintains this pace. — Doolittle
Record: 19-19
Previous ranking: 10
Boston received a huge blow over the weekend, losing Triston Casas for the season because of a ruptured patellar tendon. Now the Red Sox have to figure out who will play first base. The current answer is a combination of Romy Gonzalez and Abraham Toro, but that probably isn’t permanent — and Gonzalez exited Wednesday night’s win after a collision on the base path and is day-to-day. Boston could move Rafael Devers to first base and have Masataka Yoshida, who hasn’t played this season because a shoulder injury is inhibiting his ability to throw, as its DH. The Red Sox could shift rookie Kristian Campbell from second base. They could seek external help. They could even call up one of their top two prospects, Roman Anthony or Marcelo Mayer, to play first. They have options. — Castillo
Record: 22-15
Previous ranking: 16
The Guardians have stayed afloat in the standings thanks to a spate of comeback wins and one-run victories. Eventually they’ll need some of their underperforming positions to produce. Steven Kwan has arguably been the best at his position in left field but his outfield partners have collectively been among the worst. Right fielder Jhonkensy Noel has sputtered along with a sub-.500 OPS while, in center, Opening Day starter Lane Thomas had an OPS under .400 before hitting the IL because of a bruised wrist. Cleveland needs numbers from both before the close-game luck begins to run out. — Doolittle
Record: 17-19
Previous ranking: 13
As a group, the Braves’ outfield ranks in the bottom five by wins above average. The fixes: get Ronald Acuña Jr. back, get Michael Harris II going and navigate the weeks until Jurickson Profar returns from suspension. On the latter front, a promising left-field platoon might be taking shape in Alex Verdugo and Eli White. For now, both are needed to man the outfield corners, but that will change when Acuña returns. At the plate, Verdugo has a career .783 OPS against righties; meanwhile, after struggling early in his career against southpaws, White has crushed them in limited time the past two seasons. — Doolittle
Record: 19-19
Previous ranking: 14
The Reds’ season continues to be strange. Their plus-30 run differential ranks eighth in the majors and suggests a 22-16 record. Instead, they remain tethered to .500 territory. The offense’s inconsistency is the main culprit. After scoring 22 runs in a three-game sweep of the Rockies in Denver, Cincinnati tallied three or fewer runs in six of their next nine games. Jose Trevino and Gavin Lux have been crucial contributors in their first seasons in Cincinnati, but the Reds need more from Elly De La Cruz, one of the sport’s most dynamic talents who has been about a league-average hitter so far. — Castillo
Record: 18-18
Previous ranking: 12
As the Astros struggle to score runs, it won’t help that Yordan Alvarez landed on the IL because of hand inflammation. The All-Star slugger was already off to the worst start of his career, hitting .210/.306/.340 with only three home runs and seven extra-base hits in 29 games, when he was scratched from Saturday’s lineup and then didn’t play Sunday before the Astros finally put him on the IL. Alvarez isn’t the only Astros hitter struggling as Yainer Diaz and Christian Walker have sub-.300 OBPs, and Jose Altuve is scuffling with sub-100 OPS+, his lowest since 2013. — Schoenfield
Record: 19-19
Previous ranking: 18
Joey Ortiz, acquired before last season in the trade for Corbin Burnes, put together a 3.1 fWAR rookie campaign in 2024, hitting 11 home runs with a 104 wRC+ and good defense at third base. That’s what makes his production in 2025 so shocking. Now playing shortstop as Willy Adames’ replacement, Ortiz has compiled -0.6 fWAR in 37 games this season. He’s batting .175 without a home run and a .206 slugging percentage. His 27 wRC+ ranks 160th out of 161 qualified players and has hampered the offense, which as a whole has a 90 wRC+, the seventh-lowest mark in the majors. — Castillo
Record: 20-18
Previous ranking: 20
The A’s got to within one game of first place and had a chance to tie Seattle on Tuesday but blew a ninth-inning lead. It was the second blown save in four games for the A’s. On Saturday, Mason Miller had a rare bad outing, serving up a walk-off grand slam to Miami’s Kyle Stowers. With Miller unavailable Tuesday after throwing 55 pitches over three days, Tyler Ferguson came on for the save — his fourth appearance in four days — and gave up a 3-2 lead. It was the first time an A’s pitcher threw four days in a row since 2015. — Schoenfield
Record: 18-19
Previous ranking: 15
Looking to turn around a moribund offense, the Rangers hired former All-Star Bret Boone as the team’s hitting coach, while firing offensive coordinator Donnie Ecker. At the time of the move, the Rangers ranked 25th in the majors in batting average, 25th in slugging and 29th in both runs and walk rate. Previous hitting coach Justin Viele and assistant hitting coach Seth Conner remain on staff. Texas then erupted for 16 hits Tuesday in Boone’s first game, winning consecutive games for the first time since April 17. Evan Carter returned to the majors and went 2-for-5. — Schoenfield
Record: 16-20
Previous ranking: 17
Steinbrenner Field has not been very kind to the Rays so far. They’re 9-15 in their temporary digs and 7-5 elsewhere. The stadium has played as expected, as a hitters’ haven. Opponents have taken better advantage of that with 35 home runs and a .256/.313/.418 slash line. Meanwhile, the Rays have hit 22 home runs at home. They’re built to win games with pitching and defense. That combination so far hasn’t been suited for Steinbrenner Field. — Castillo
Record: 16-20
Previous ranking: 22
The Blue Jays made four major offseason acquisitions. Three — Anthony Santander, Andres Gimenez and Max Scherzer — have been colossal disappointments. Santander has a 75 wRC+ as the team’s primary DH. Gimenez is a defense-first second baseman, but he began the year as the team’s cleanup hitter and has a 68 wRC+. Scherzer has thrown three innings. But Jeff Hoffman has established himself as one of the top closers in baseball after two teams nixed agreements with him during the winter due to concerns about his shoulder health. The right-hander gave up two runs over his first 14 appearances, recording a 1.10 ERA, until his three-run hiccup Tuesday against the Angels. — Castillo
Record: 17-20
Previous ranking: 21
A Twins offense that has floundered for much of the season received a much-needed boost when oft-injured Royce Lewis finally made his season debut. Lewis went down because of a hamstring strain in mid-March and sat out the first five-plus weeks. That was nothing new for a talented player whose career high in games is 82. When he has played, he has produced, posting a 124 career OPS+ with 35 homers and 110 RBIs per 162 games played. Now that Lewis is back, the spotlight falls on shortstop Carlos Correa, who continues to limp along with career-worst percentages. — Doolittle
Record: 19-19
Previous ranking: 24
By most metrics, the Cardinals have by far deployed the best defense in baseball. In the middle of it is center fielder Victor Scott II. Coming off a disastrous rookie season in 2024, in which he posted a 40 OPS+ in 53 games, Scott is thriving as a contact-first speedster with elite defense at a premium position. He’s tied for fourth in the majors in defensive runs saved and outs above average while batting .289 with 11 steals in 12 attempts. At 24, Scott is solidifying himself as a centerpiece of the Cardinals’ rebuild. — Castillo
Record: 17-21
Previous ranking: 25
In the middle of April, the Nationals’ bullpen performance was so off-the-charts bad that manager Dave Martinez called a meeting in his office just to address the relievers. Did it work? At the time, their relief ERA was an astounding 7.21. Three weeks later, that number is … 7.22. The irony is that closer Kyle Finnegan, who was non-tendered by Washington last fall before signing back late in the offseason, has been pretty good (3.07 ERA over 15 appearances with 12 saves in 14 chances). That tells you a little about how badly the rest of the bullpen has struggled. — Doolittle
Record: 13-22
Previous ranking: 23
General manager Mike Elias took blame for the team’s ghastly start and voiced his support for manager Brandon Hyde last Friday. Elias’ offseason decision-making and the subsequent injuries have tanked the starting rotation, but the vaunted offense isn’t doing its part. Cedric Mullins, Jackson Holliday and Ryan O’Hearn have been bright spots, but Adley Rutschman, Ryan Mountcastle, Heston Kjerstad and Jordan Westburg all have an OPS+ under 100. Gunnar Henderson, slowed by an intercostal strain to begin the season, isn’t playing like the MVP candidate he was in 2024. Tyler O’Neill is on the IL again. Baltimore ranks 23rd in runs scored and that isn’t good enough to overcome the rotation’s warts. — Castillo
Record: 12-26
Previous ranking: 28
It has been a disastrous season for the Pirates, on and off the field. There was the controversy surrounding the franchise’s decision to replace a Roberto Clemente logo with a hard iced tea ad at PNC Park. Last week, a fan broke his neck, clavicle and back when he fell from the 21-foot-high Clemente Wall onto the field. This week, a video of a PNC Park usher fighting a fan went viral. On the field, the Pirates are in last place in the NL Central again with one of the worst offenses in the majors. — Castillo
Record: 14-22
Previous ranking: 27
The Marlins have been competitive in some facets this season, but the area that decidedly does not fit that bill has been a glaringly awful starting rotation. Miami’s 6.35 rotation ERA ranks ahead of only the 6-29 Rockies. The Marlins have always been built on strong rotations when they’ve been good — but in 2025, they’ve produced only five quality starts in 36 games. Surely their starter ERA will move in the right direction from here (right?), but if it doesn’t, the franchise nadir (a 5.58 rotation ERA in 2007) could be in jeopardy. — Doolittle
Record: 15-20
Previous ranking: 26
Part of the problem with the slumping Angels: a defense that ranks second worst in the majors in defensive runs saved (ahead of only the A’s). Catcher Logan O’Hoppe, first baseman Nolan Schanuel and third baseman Luis Rengifo all rank as the worst at their positions via defensive runs saved. Schanuel and Rengifo also rank near the bottom in Statcast’s outs above average, as does center fielder Jo Adell. (Kyren Paris has been getting more time there of late.) The Angels back up that bad defense with the worst team OBP in the majors. — Schoenfield
Record: 10-27
Previous ranking: 29
The White Sox aren’t what analysts would label as “good,” but their record would be less terrible if not for an amazing 2-10 start in one-run games. Five of the losses were last-inning road defeats, including Tuesday’s debacle that featured rookie Chase Meidroth getting bonked on the head by a routine pop-up. Chicago’s saves leader is Brandon Eisert — with one. That’s right: After six weeks of the season, the White Sox have recorded exactly one save. The late-game failings undermine a club that, by and large, has cleared the low bar of playing better than it did in 2024. — Doolittle
Record: 6-29
Previous ranking: 30
The Rockies actually won two games in a row last week, beating the Braves 2-1 behind a solid outing from Chase Dollander and then beating the Giants 4-3 with two runs in the eighth inning. Alas, the losing picked right back up and the Rockies’ wRC+ fell to 64 (100 is average). The MLB low since 1901 is 68 (by the 1920 Philadelphia A’s) and even last year’s woeful White Sox came in at 75. So, yes, we’re looking at one of the worst offenses of all time. — Schoenfield
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Alden Gonzalez
We’re six weeks into the 2025 MLB season, long enough to gather some meaningful intel but short enough to wonder how much of it actually matters.
Pete Alonso has gone from unwanted free agent to MVP front-runner, only one team in the typically mighty American League East boasts a winning record, and some of the game’s best closers — Devin Williams, Alexis Díaz, Ryan Pressly and Emmanuel Clase, in particular — are suddenly not.
Those are just a few of the notable surprises through the first 23% or so of this season. Below are five others, and the reasons behind them.
Spencer Torkelson is suddenly hitting like a No. 1 pick
Spencer Torkelson was the Detroit Tigers’ No. 1 draft pick out of Arizona State University in 2020, billed as a can’t-miss bat. The 2024 season was supposed to be the stage for his breakout. Instead, he found himself back in the minor leagues.
Tigers manager A.J. Hinch texted Torkelson almost daily after the team sent him down to Triple-A in June. At one point, the two even met up for breakfast. Hinch wanted to assure Torkelson that the Tigers were thinking about him and still valued him. But what Torkelson might have needed most, some of those around him believe, was to see the team succeed without him. He needed the urgency to change.
“Coming out of college, I felt like I had it figured out, was the greatest hitter ever,” Torkelson said. “And I got humbled.”
Torkelson struggled so profoundly last year — a .669 OPS, 10 homers and 105 strikeouts in 92 games — that he entered 2025 without a clear path for playing time. Now, early in his age-25 season, he looks like the feared hitter so many expected to see. Through 36 games, Torkelson has already equaled last year’s home run total. He’s drawing walks at a significantly higher rate, OPS’ing .879 and ranking within the top 5% in expected slugging percentage — a stat in which he finished 211th among 252 hitters last year.
Torkelson entered this season with a 361-game sample of inconsistency, but scouts don’t see his sudden success as an early-season fluke — they see it as the result of an elite hitter making consequential adjustments.
Torkelson is more athletic and in rhythm in his stance this year, whereas previously he looked “statuesque,” in the words of one Tigers source. He has more bend in his knees, plants his feet closer together and has implemented a slight crouch. But it’s not really a change. It’s how he hit right up until the time he reached the majors.
“You watch any swing in my entire life,” Torkelson said, “I kinda look exactly the way I look right now.”
The taller stance Torkelson fell into at the big league level was what he described as “a Band-Aid.” The high fastball gave him trouble early on, so Torkelson did what felt obvious: make that high fastball seem less high.
“And it worked,” Torkelson said. “I got away with it. I hit 31 homers and I didn’t even feel that great.”
But those 31 home runs, accumulated in his second year in 2023, masked other deficiencies that showed up the following summer. Torkelson slashed just .205/.271/.337 through the end of May in 2024. Shortly after, he was sent back to Triple-A for what became an 11-week stint. He returned in mid-August, produced a more respectable .781 OPS over his last 38 regular-season games, then went into the offseason vowing to hit the way he used to. He took a lesson from studying one of his favorite hitters, Mike Trout, who has built a Hall of Fame career despite struggling against the high fastball.
“We don’t get paid to hammer the high fastball,” Torkelson said. “We get paid to hammer the mistakes.”
The Tigers signed veteran second baseman Gleyber Torres to a one-year, $15 million deal in late December, then announced Colt Keith would move to first base. Torkelson came into spring training having to fight just to get at-bats at designated hitter.
Then everything changed. Torkelson hit his way into a starting role at first base in 31 of the Tigers’ 36 games. His production — along with that of Javier Baez, who has produced an .827 OPS while transitioning to center field — has given the Tigers some much-needed right-handed power and helped them climb to the top of the AL Central.
“I’m seeing the ball better, and I feel dangerous at the plate,” Torkelson said. “As a hitter, that’s all you can ask for. You’re not going to hit 1.000. But when you’re feeling dangerous and you’re seeing the ball well, you feel like you can’t be beat. You’re going to get beat, but it gives you the best shot.”
The Angels’ lineup is trending toward the worst type of history
Last year, the lowly offenses of the Colorado Rockies and Chicago White Sox posted two of the 12 worst walk-to-strikeout ratios in major league history. Now the Los Angeles Angels, who entered 2025 with hopes of finally being competitive again, are making an early run at the all-time mark.
The Angels’ offense has accumulated 81 walks through its first 35 games this season, the lowest total in the majors. Their hitters have struck out 338 times (third most). Before tying their season high with six walks in a walk-off win on Wednesday night, their 0.23 walk-to-strikeout rate was on pace to be the worst in baseball history. It has since improved to a mere 0.24, tied with the 2019 White Sox for the lowest ever.
It’s probably not surprising to learn that the full-season bottom 10 in that category has taken place over the past dozen years, at a time when hitters strike out more often than ever. It’s probably also not surprising to learn that seven of those 10 teams lost at least 100 games.
The Angels’ offense has been that bad. Since putting up 11 runs at the spring training facility where the Tampa Bay Rays play on April 10, they rank 29th in batting average, 27th in slugging percentage, and last in each of the following categories: on-base percentage, strikeout rate, walk rate and runs per game.
And though there’s still plenty of time to turn this around, it’s hard to envision how that historically low walk-to-strikeout rate — an important barometer of success on both sides — significantly improves. (Their pitching strikeout-to-walk rate, ranked 27th at 1.90, isn’t much better.)
On Tuesday, the Angels were happy to welcome back Yoan Moncada, who is capable of drawing walks but also strikes out at an exceedingly high rate. A return from Mike Trout, whose latest knee injury is not considered serious, would certainly help, though he reached base at only a .264 clip during his first 29 games. Taylor Ward, meanwhile, is much better than a .180/.225/.376 hitter.
But then there’s Jo Adell, whose career .639 OPS ranks 100th among the 114 players in Angels history with at least 1,000 plate appearances. And Logan O’Hoppe, who had the fifth-highest strikeout rate in the majors last year. And Jorge Soler, a prodigious power hitter who naturally carries a lot of swing-and-miss. And, notably, Kyren Paris, who looked like a breakout star early on but lately looks overmatched; since a two-hit game put his OPS at 1.514 on April 11, Paris has eight hits, three walks and 32 strikeouts in 66 plate appearances.
The Angels’ coaches have been trying to emphasize a two-strike approach with their hitters, but there’s only so much they can do.
“When you’ve got guys that’s capable of hitting the ball out the ballpark, it’s hard to tell them to cut their swing down because they don’t know what that is,” Angels manager Ron Washington said. “And when you’ve got guys in the lineup that don’t have a lot of experience and you say, ‘Cut the swing down,’ they don’t know what that is. There’s a lot of baseball to be gathered around here, man.”
Washington paused for a moment and smiled. Before being hired by the Angels in November 2023, Washington spent seven years as the third-base coach and infield instructor on Atlanta Braves teams brimming with veteran, championship-caliber players. This Angels team is not that. It’s young and inexperienced, and Washington has to remind himself of that constantly.
He is a teacher at heart, and often that requires patience. His is being tested like never before.
The Brewers’ injury-riddled rotation has somehow found a way
Three Milwaukee Brewers starting pitchers — DL Hall, Tobias Myers and Aaron Ashby — landed on the injured list with soft-tissue injuries during spring training. Two more, Aaron Civale and Nestor Cortes, went on the shelf within the regular season’s first week. By that point, the list of starting pitchers on the IL stretched to seven. And yet, in the most Brewers way possible, their rotation followed with a miraculous run.
From April 6-22, the foursome of Freddy Peralta, Chad Patrick, Jose Quintana and Quinn Priester combined for a 1.55 ERA over 63⅔ innings. The Brewers began the season by allowing 47 runs in 33 innings, but since then, their starting rotation boasts the fifth-lowest ERA in the majors at 3.08.
Peralta is a bona fide top-of-the-rotation starter, but Quintana is a 36-year-old who signed for a mere $4 million in March; Priester is a failed first-round pick acquired in a minor trade early last month; and Patrick is a 26-year-old rookie who wasn’t on anybody’s radar when the season began.
But the Brewers have built a reputation for employing pitchers who overachieve. Because they can’t afford the high-ceiling arms who cost a fortune in free agency, they hammer their depth to raise their floor as much as possible. And to do so, they apply a simple concept: develop and acquire pitchers who fit their environment. More specifically, pitchers who benefit most from a strong infield defense.
Quintana, who can throw his sinker with more conviction with better defense behind him, posted a 1.14 ERA in his first four starts before allowing six runs to the Chicago Cubs on Saturday. Patrick, who boasts an elite cutter with two different shapes, has a 3.08 ERA in his first seven turns through the rotation. Priester, the 18th pick in 2019, had a 6.23 ERA in 99⅔ major league innings heading into 2025. But the Brewers were intrigued by a minor league track record in which he had roughly average strikeout and walk rates and kept more than half the batted balls against him on the ground. Priester maintained a 1.93 ERA through his first three starts before allowing 12 runs over his next 9⅓ innings.
That rough patch aside, Priester helped stabilize a Brewers rotation that was in dire straits when the season began. A key reinforcement could come by the end of this week, when Brandon Woodruff makes his long-awaited return from shoulder surgery. Woodruff has been fully healthy, pitching without restrictions, but his velocity has been down, his fastball sitting in the 92- to 94-mph range as opposed to the upper-90s heat he featured while pitching like an ace. When Woodruff returns, he might have to pitch differently.
The Brewers will probably figure it out.
The next hitting star on the Rays is actually … Jonathan Aranda?
The Tampa Bay Rays exceeded their international bonus pool in 2014, restricting them to signing players for no more than $300,000 over the next two years. And yet, leading up to the 2015 signing period, assistant general manager Carlos Rodríguez and then-international scouting supervisor Eddie Díaz traveled to Tijuana, Mexico, to watch a Cuban outfielder they could not afford: Randy Arozarena.
The trip proved to be beneficial years later, when the Rays acquired Arozarena from the St. Louis Cardinals and helped him become a star. But it was beneficial for another reason: It helped them discover Jonathan Aranda.
Rodríguez, at that time the director of Latin American scouting, asked Díaz to line up other prospects to see during the trip. Aranda was in that group and caught their eye. The Rays signed him for $130,000 in July 2015. Ten years later, they’re watching him blossom.
Aranda, a 26-year-old left-handed hitter, ranks third with 182 weighted runs created plus this season, behind only Aaron Judge and Alonso. He’s slashing .317/.417/.554 with 14 extra-base hits. And so far, at least, he’s stealing the spotlight from Junior Caminero, widely hailed as the Rays’ next hitting phenom. It’s easy to be skeptical — Aranda’s .971 OPS is 279 points higher than his career mark in 110 games going into 2025 — but those who know him best are adamant that this is real.
Aranda has always been an elite hitter. The question was how the Rays would fit him into their major league roster. He came up as a shortstop at around the same time Wander Franco surged through the system. By the time he was on the cusp of the major leagues, the likes of Yandy Diaz, Isaac Paredes, Brandon Lowe and Ji-man Choi occupied the other infield positions.
At one point, the Rays had Aranda try catching in hopes of getting his bat to the big leagues quicker. They felt he might have the arm and the hands for it. Aranda went back to Mexico and caught a handful of bullpen sessions but decided against it. He expressed confidence that his bat would eventually be enough to reach the majors.
It looked like it would in 2024. Aranda slashed .371/.421/.571 in 13 Grapefruit League games that spring and was primed to crack the Opening Day roster. But then he broke his right ring finger fielding a grounder, missed about five weeks and struggled for most of the ensuing season. It prompted a stint in winter ball, where he made small mechanical tweaks that have helped him thrive in the early part of 2025.
But mostly, Rays officials believe, Aranda’s success stems from finally having a pathway for consistent playing time, largely as the stronger half of a DH platoon. His splits are quite drastic — 1.066 OPS against righties, three hits in 18 at-bats against lefties — but Aranda profiles as a 20-plus home run hitter who can rack up doubles and control the strike zone. It just took him a bit to get there.
Max Muncy suddenly can’t hit home runs
Max Muncy went 106 plate appearances before finally hitting his first home run of 2025 on the final day of April. It marked the longest single-season homerless streak of his career, easily topping the 80-plate-appearance rut from 2022, according to ESPN Research.
His biggest issue was one that plagues many left-handed hitters who throw right-handed.
“He gets out on his front side pretty quickly,” Dodgers hitting coach Aaron Bates explained. “Part of the challenge for him is when he needs to start his leg kick and how to maintain balance as he’s striding forward. Because he throws with his right hand and hits lefty, the right side of his body kind of dominates his swing moving toward the pitcher, which is pretty common for a lot of guys. You look at Corey Seager, he’s pretty balanced. But a lot of times, when you have a lefty-righty-combo guy, they get kind of pulled that way. So that’s something that he has to constantly battle, and he has his whole career. When he’s synced up and he’s right, it’s great. And when he’s out of whack, he’s got to work to get it right.”
Muncy spent the better part of the first month working to sync up his timing, specifically when he drives his momentum forward. Few major league hitters stay on their back side through their entire load, Aaron Judge being a notable exception. But for most of this season, Muncy was getting to his front side too early, which resulted in fouling off hittable fastballs and struggling against breaking pitches.
“When you don’t trust yourself as a hitter, you don’t wanna get beat, and so you get off your backside sooner,” Bates said. “So it’s like the chicken or the egg.”
When Muncy settled into the batter’s box in the second inning on April 30, 305 players had already homered in the major leagues this season. Muncy, with four 35-plus-homer seasons on his résumé, was not one of them. That day, he debuted prescription eyeglasses he had been testing out during pregame workouts to combat astigmatism in his right eye. The hope, Muncy told reporters, was that the glasses would make him less left-eye dominant.
But the biggest issue was a swing he had tweaked to produce low line drives instead of fly balls but wound up making him drift forward too early. Getting his weight shift back to normal proved to be a slow process. But to Bates, an encouraging sign arrived two days before Muncy’s first home run — when he stayed back on a sinker and dumped an opposite-field line drive into left-center.
Muncy has produced just the one home run — putting him in the same boat as Alec Bohm, Bo Bichette and Xander Bogaerts, and one ahead of Joc Pederson, Tommy Pham and Gabriel Moreno — and still doesn’t seem fully in sync. But he’s carrying a slightly more respectable .750 OPS since the start of that game on April 30. He’s drawing walks, displaying some power, and at some point, Bates believes, the home runs will come in bunches.
“It can be any at-bat,” Bates said, “he’s homering.”
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