
MLB Power Rankings: Where every team stands entering June
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adminMove over, Atlanta — Texas has entered the top three!
With Memorial Day in the rearview mirror, we’re officially more than two months into the season, meaning teams have had time to play enough games to give credence to what we’re seeing in the MLB standings.
Yes, that means the Rangers and Orioles are for real — and not to mention the Rays, whose hot start, thought by some to be the result of an easy early schedule, has proven to be no fluke. Can these teams keep up this level of success? And will other preseason contenders be able to turn their struggles around?
Our expert panel has combined to rank every team in baseball 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, Bradford Doolittle, Jesse Rogers, Alden Gonzalez and Joon Lee to weigh in with an observation for all 30 teams.
Record: 40-18
Previous ranking: 1
It’s hard to understate the continued impact of Wander Franco in this Rays’ lineup. The superstar shortstop is far and away the best position player in baseball this year, posting a 3.5 bWAR, nearly a half win above the second-place position players, Rangers second baseman Marcus Semien and Blue Jays shortstop Bo Bichette. Franco already has 20 stolen bases this season and with seven homers in 55 games, a 20-20 season seems easily possible — perhaps a 30-30 season is even within grasp. — Lee
Record: 34-23
Previous ranking: 2
Freddie Freeman accumulated six hits in his last two games against the Nationals and is currently riding a 20-game hitting streak. The Dodgers’ first baseman is enjoying an MVP-caliber season thus far, slashing .346/.420/.588 while leading the National League in OPS. The Dodgers lost a lot of talent via free agency this offseason, but they boast the best record in the NL largely because their best players — Mookie Betts, Will Smith and especially Freeman — are performing up to expectations. Max Muncy and J.D. Martinez have also provided plenty of production, giving their lineup more length than what might have been anticipated heading into the year. — Gonzalez
Record: 35-20
Previous ranking: 4
Texas is on a roll, thanks, in part, to third baseman Josh Jung. He’s finally making fans forget about what the team lost when Adrian Beltre retired. Jung had a .917 OPS month of May, including a big final week where he hit .450 with four extra base hits. He’s in the top 15% of all hitters in average exit velocity while also in the bottom 15% in strikeout percentage. He’s been particularly good against fastballs, hitting .317 on the season off of them. The Rangers withstood a hard charge from the Astros last month but held firmly at the top of the division as the calendar turned to June. — Rogers
Record: 33-23
Previous ranking: 3
Great to see Michael Soroka — note that he’s no longer “Mike” — make his first major league start since 2020, though he allowed four runs in six innings while picking up the loss against the A’s on Monday. “Today was a big one,” he said, “a day like today and the people that believed in me. I always said I was going to be back here for the people that believed in me, not the ones that said I couldn’t.”
Soroka was 13-4 with a 2.68 ERA as a rookie in 2019 but then tore his Achilles in his third start of 2020 and tore it again while rehabbing in 2021. Still just 25, Soroka still has the 92-mph sinker he used as his primary pitch as a rookie, although he equally mixed in his other three pitches (four-seamer, slider, changeup) against Oakland. He had a 4.33 ERA in eight starts at Triple-A before his recall. — Schoenfield
Record: 34-24
Previous ranking: 7
The Yankees lost three straight games — two against the Orioles and one against the Padres — in the last week but then turned around and pulled out wins in their last four games against the Padres and Mariners. One potential point of concern for New York: Gerrit Cole has struggled in his last five appearances, posting a 5.67 ERA with just one quality start. The Yankees also placed Harrison Bader on the injured list with a right hamstring strain, making this the second time this year he’s landed on the bench with health issues. — Lee
Record: 35-21
Previous ranking: 5
The Orioles put together a strong road trip against American League East rivals, the Blue Jays and Yankees, with a 5-1 record. The biggest variable for Baltimore’s success this season will be the strength of the rotation. At the center of that is veteran pitcher Kyle Gibson, who put together a strong week, allowing three runs in 12⅔ innings across two starts. The 35-year old is putting together a solid season for Baltimore, posting a 3.89 ERA in 12 starts with 1.4 bWAR. — Lee
Record: 32-23
Previous ranking: 6
Remember when the Astros were 17-18 and seemed to be falling off the pace in the AL West? It actually wasn’t that long ago, and while you figured Houston would get going at some point, the Astros’ current 15-5 tear reminded everyone that they are, indeed, the champs.
While the Astros ramp up towards a summer-long battle with in-state rival Texas in the AL West, they also figure to have high-ranking entrants in the major award races. Yordan Alvarez looks poised to again put up MVP-like numbers, Framber Valdez is one of a cluster of early AL Cy Young favorites and rookie righty Hunter Brown is well positioned in the AL Rookie of the Year derby. The Rangers (Semien, Nathan Eovaldi, Jung) also have strong contenders in each of those races, which makes all of this that much more fun. — Doolittle
Record: 33-23
Previous ranking: 9
A lot is going right for the D-backs, who came off Memorial Day weekend with a 31-23 record and a plus-13 run-differential that put them only 1½ games behind the Dodgers within a highly competitive NL West. But their top pitching prospect needs to get right. Brandon Pfaadt, 24, posted an 8.37 ERA through his first five major league starts, allowing eight home runs in a stretch of 23⅔ innings. The D-backs optioned Pfaadt back to the minor leagues on Saturday. They’re hopeful this was just a rough start to what will blossom into a great career, but they need him to get on track pretty quickly. They’re still looking for starting-pitching depth beyond Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly. — Gonzalez
Record: 29-27
Previous ranking: 8
A huge potential positive for the Blue Jays is that Jose Berrios again looks like the pitcher they traded for at the 2021 deadline. Over the course of his last five starts, Berrios has a 2.30 ERA in 31⅓ innings, a stark departure from the 4.56 ERA he’s posted in 55 starts for Toronto. While the Blue Jays currently sit behind the Rays, Orioles and Yankees in the division race and 3.5 games out of the final wild-card spot, a rejuvenated Berrios would go a long way for their playoff hopes. — Lee
Record: 29-27
Previous ranking: 15
Mariners fans have been waiting all season for Julio Rodriguez to get going and he finally did, earning AL Player of the Week honors after hitting .467/.484/.800 with two home runs and four doubles in seven games against the A’s and Pirates, raising his average from .204 to .242. He then followed that up with two hits and a home run against the Yankees on Monday. His overall numbers remain well below last season as he still needs to improve his swing decisions. His chase rate is still around 35% — slightly higher than it was his rookie season. You want to see a young player improving in that area, not stagnating or getting worse. Until that happens, he’s going to continue to go through these hot and cold streaks. But the hot streaks sure are fun. — Schoenfield
Record: 28-27
Previous ranking: 10
The Red Sox took two of three games against the Diamondbacks, but the offense has been struggling a bit over the last week or so. While Boston’s offense ranks fourth in baseball in runs scored, its run differential is just +9, and the pitching staff has allowed the sixth-most runs in the major leagues. Someone to watch will be lefty James Paxton, who is pitching for the first time since the 2021 season and has allowed eight runs in 14 innings pitched across three starts so far this season. — Lee
Record: 29-27
Previous ranking: 11
The Twins mostly treaded water during the month of May, holding on to the AL Central lead while continuing a pattern of winning their share of blowouts but losing more than their share of close games. So while they still have many of the markers of a team that is good enough to win in the low- to mid-90s, their actual record remains perilously close to .500.
Royce Lewis is back after his long recovery from a torn ACL. In his first game back, Lewis clubbed a three-run homer and added an RBI single. Meanwhile, unsung outfielder Matt Wallner suddenly became one of baseball’s hottest hitters by getting hits in six straight at-bats on May 27 and 28. It’ll be awhile before we can buy into Wallner’s numbers, but Lewis has long been a top prospect whose lift off has too often been slowed by injuries. He figures to get a long look at third base for a club that needs offensive impact. — Doolittle
Record: 29-27
Previous ranking: 12
Kodai Senga‘s first season with the Mets has been a little inconsistent, but he had his best outing so far with seven scoreless, one-hit innings against the Phillies on Tuesday. It was his first start going more than six innings, and he recorded nine K’s with no walks (which has been a problem), inducing a season-high 22 swings and misses. He’s already simplified his repertoire, basically ditching the sweeper that he was throwing 20% of the time early on and sticking with three pitches: four-seamer, forkball and cutter. Next up: Perhaps his first start on four days of rest on Sunday against Toronto. — Schoenfield
Record: 29-26
Previous ranking: 13
Milwaukee is barely hanging on to first place in the NL Central but that’s mostly because the division is so weak. After winning a series against the Astros last week, the Brewers got hammered at home by the Giants, scoring a total of two runs in the first three games of the series before avoiding a sweep by winning the finale on Sunday.
Catcher William Contreras was the only player to hit a home run (he had two) over the course of five games last week, while the rest of the infield contributed to the poor offensive showing. It didn’t help that shortstop Willy Adames was placed on the seven-day concussion IL after getting hit by a foul ball on Friday. At least Milwaukee continues to be the best team in a bad division. There’s some solace in that. — Rogers
Record: 30-27
Previous ranking: 14
The Angels began their most recent home stand by winning five of six against the Twins and Red Sox. Then they got swept by the Marlins over the weekend and won two of three to the White Sox in Chicago. In the process, they might have found another playmaker for their bullpen. Ben Joyce, a third-round pick in the 2022 draft, made his major league debut on Monday and turned in a scoreless inning. He threw 12 pitches, and 11 of them were clocked at 100-plus mph, including one that reached 102.2. In Joyce, Sam Bachman, Chase Silseth and Reid Detmers, the Angels are currently rostering four pitchers who were drafted since 2020. All except Detmers are being used out of the bullpen. — Gonzalez
Record: 28-28
Previous ranking: 20
The Giants have gone 17-12 this month and have been red-hot of late, winning 11 of their last 16 games despite navigating a pretty tough portion of their schedule. Their bullpen in particular has been lights out during that stretch, allowing only eight earned runs in 72⅓ innings while striking out 92 batters. The Giants’ back-end combo of Camilo Doval and Tyler Rogers have combined for a 2.05 ERA and a 1.01 WHIP for the season. — Gonzalez
Record: 25-30
Previous ranking: 16
One of the hallmarks of Manny Machado‘s career has been his availability, but the Padres’ star third baseman has missed the last two-plus weeks with a fracture in his left hand. During that time, the Padres — who were already struggling mightily beforehand — have gone 5-8 while combining for a .688 OPS that ranks 24th in the major leagues. Machado is expected back during the Padres’ upcoming homestand, which will undoubtedly be a major lift for a high-profile offense that has fallen well short of expectations. But Machado needs to turn it around himself. He was slashing only .231/.282/.372 before landing on the IL for the first time in nearly nine years. — Gonzalez
Record: 25-30
Previous ranking: 18
Tuesday’s 2-0 loss to the Mets dropped the Phillies to 10-15 in May with a minus-36 run differential. In other words, it’s been an ugly month. The Phillies ranked in the bottom five in the majors in OPS and ERA in May. They did manage to split four games over the weekend with the Braves, including Zack Wheeler‘s gem on Saturday: 8 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 12 SO, 22 swings and misses. Via the game score method, it was the fifth-best start for the Phillies over the past three seasons. Craig Kimbrel also recorded his 400th (and 401st) career save, just the eighth pitcher to reach that mark. His Hall of Fame case remains a little unsure, however. He had that dominant run from 2011 to 2018 but has been up and down since and barely has 700 career innings. — Schoenfield
Record: 25-32
Previous ranking: 17
St. Louis is treading water after a nice run that got them back in the NL Central race. An offense that kept them afloat most of the season dried up last week, as the Cardinals scored just 15 runs over the course of seven games. Their .524 OPS was second worst in baseball over that timeframe. Nolan Gorman followed up his player of the week honors by hitting just .095, while no Cardinal drove in more than two runs for the entire seven days. The good news is that Miles Mikolas has seemingly turned his season around. He won both his starts last week while giving up just eight hits in 15 innings — a huge accomplishment for a pitcher that led the league in hits given up until recently. — Rogers
Record: 29-27
Previous ranking: 23
Luis Arraez continues to rake, hitting .376 through Tuesday. Obviously, .400 is off the books, but let’s put .376 in perspective — assuming he can stay there over the final four months. The last player to hit .370 was Ichiro Suzuki, who hit .372 the year he set the all-time record with 262 hits. The last player to hit higher than .376 was Larry Walker in 1999 at .379. The last player to hit higher than that, who didn’t play at Coors Field, was Tony Gwynn at .394 in the shortened 1994 season.
But the hitting climate in 1994 is much different than 2023: The NL hit .267 that year, compared to .250 so far in 2023. If we use the neutralized batting tool at Baseball Reference and put Arraez, Ichiro and Gwynn all in a 2023-era neutral park, we get .380 for Arraez, .370 for Ichiro and … .397 for Gwynn. OK, Tony Gwynn was pretty good. — Schoenfield
Record: 28-27
Previous ranking: 19
The slide many predicted for the Pirates arrived in May, as they went 12-19 on the month. Pitching has become a concern, with Pittsburgh plagued by injuries and ineffectiveness. The team’s staff compiled a 6.18 ERA last week, ahead of only Colorado in all of baseball. Mitch Keller finally gave up some runs as the Mariners got to him for six last Friday. Rich Hill also got hit hard, giving up six on nine hits in six innings. On offense, second-year player Jack Suwinski caught fire, hitting four home runs while producing a whopping 1.056 slugging percentage in the week ending on Wednesday. — Rogers
Record: 25-30
Previous ranking: 21
May marked the Guardians’ second-straight losing month. This past week did not feature many signs that the flailing offense is finding itself, but Cleveland does have some good pitching news as the new month dawns. Aaron Civale is slated to pitch against Minnesota on Friday after missing several weeks with an oblique injury. Meanwhile, Triston McKenzie (shoulder) is on a rehab assignment in the minors and may not be far away from a return to the big-league rotation. Besides the injuries, the Guardians’ rotation has dealt with subpar campaigns from Cal Quantrill and Zach Plesac. Rookies have helped plug the holes and now it looks like the youngsters will be getting some veteran assistance. — Doolittle
Record: 24-31
Previous ranking: 22
A volatile homestand was salvaged with a series win over the Rays, but that came after getting swept by the Reds. Cincinnati pounded Cubs pitching by scoring 25 runs in three games, but then came the turnaround — Marcus Stroman and Kyle Hendricks held Tampa Bay to a single run over two games. Hendricks is starting to look like his vintage self after just his first two starts in 11 months. His changeup and sinker are moving away from lefties as they always have. His return could be a big boost to a team that has probably played better than their record shows. A 10-game, West Coast road trip will be critical in keeping their march back to .500 alive. — Rogers
Record: 26-28
Previous ranking: 24
The Tigers have been one of baseball’s more pleasant surprises thus far, posting a winning May while hovering near the top of the division in the AL Central, though that may be damning Detroit with faint praise. Either way, now things are really about to get tough. The Tigers are entering a fairly difficult stretch of their 2023 schedule, and they’ll have to navigate it without arguably their best position player (Riley Greene) and pitcher (Eduardo Rodriguez).
Greene suffered a stress fracture in his left fibula and went on the IL (he’s out indefinitely) just as he was riding the wave of a hot streak. Meanwhile, the resurgent E-Rod, who has been one of the AL’s top hurlers over the last couple of months, will be out for an extended period with “a ruptured pulley in his left index finger.” Raise your hand if you were heretofore unaware that “pulleys” were part of the human anatomy. — Doolittle
Record: 26-29
Previous ranking: 26
Are the Reds coming together or just having a nice run? The former question is a legit one because it’s not aging veterans that helped them to a weekend road sweep of the Cubs — it was their farm system finally producing. Cincinnati compiled the second highest OPS in baseball last week thanks to players like Jonathan India, Jose Barrero and Spencer Steer. The latter player hit .409 with a 1.144 OPS last week, giving him some rookie of the year buzz. In fact, that OPS was the highest among all NL rookies over the past seven days. For the season, he’s one of three qualified rookies with an OPS over .800. Cincinnati is making noise in a mediocre NL Central. — Rogers
Record: 23-35
Previous ranking: 25
The White Sox are coming off a week of mixed news to close out what was largely a solid rebound month for the club. The good news was really good, with Eloy Jimenez returning from the IL and Liam Hendriks making an inspirational return after missing the first part of the season in treatment for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. On the field however, the White Sox suffered a dip, losing four of five just when things seemed to be lining up for them. All in all though, Chicago followed its horrific 7-20 April with a winning month, keeping hopes alive that it can salvage the season. However, it has to happen over the next few weeks because if it doesn’t, the White Sox will have some hard thinking to do in advance of the trade deadline. — Doolittle
Record: 24-32
Previous ranking: 27
Let’s check in on some of the Nationals top prospects, with Kiley McDaniel’s preseason ranking in parenthesis.
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James Wood (No. 13): He hit .293/.392/.580 with eight home runs at High-A and just got promoted to Double-A at age 20. The K’s are a little high, but he’s one of the top prospects in the game.
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Robert Hassell III (No. 57): He broke his hamate bone in the Arizona Fall League and has struggled with just one home run in 143 at-bats. He’s drawing walks (32 in 38 games) and has hit .267 in 23 games at Double-A, but may no longer be on a fast track to the majors.
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Cade Cavalli (No. 69): He underwent Tommy John surgery in spring training.
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Jarlin Susana (No. 85): He’s being handled very slowly in A-ball with 23 innings in seven starts. He has 30 K’s — but 19 walks.
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Brady House (just missed): He’s hitting .304/.385/.518 as he repeats Single-A after playing just 45 games last season but has moved to third base and could get promoted to High-A.
— Schoenfield
Record: 24-33
Previous ranking: 28
The Rockies have dropped eight of their last 13 games, and Kris Bryant, their high-priced free-agent signing from two offseasons ago, hasn’t been helping them turn their season around. Bryant is mired in a 4-for-35 skid and has been slugging just .256 over his last 20 games. He continues to fight his mechanics in the batter’s box. “I’m kind of on the train track, and then I’m kind of off the train track,” he told MLB.com recently. “And sometimes, you can’t even see the train tracks.” — Gonzalez
Record: 17-39
Previous ranking: 29
The Royals perhaps made some progress during May, posting a run differential not far below break even after putting up one in April that was reminiscent of the pre-Walter Matthau “Bad News Bears.” Make no mistake though, Kansas City looks very much like a team likely to off-load veteran talent at the deadline and the weeks leading up to it.
Aroldis Chapman has already become a hot name on the whisper mill, but for the Royals’ front office, the question becomes: Who else? Zack Greinke has been good and could help a contender but his one-year deal has full no-trade protection, per Cot’s Contracts, and he seems intent to fulfill his plan to finish up his Hall of Fame career where it began. Salvador Perez has been very good, but he has 10-and-5 rights, and it seems exceedingly unlikely that neither he nor the team will be pushing for a trade. So, who else? It’s a good question. — Doolittle
Record: 12-46
Previous ranking: 30
Oakland snapped an 11-game losing streak by winning two games against the Braves, but the team already made MLB history by becoming the team with the most losses before June 1. In the latest chapter of the proposed move to Las Vegas, the team is receiving pushback on public funding for the new stadium. In a vote of public opinion on Tuesday morning, the bill received a 78% opposition. Local lawmakers have also pointed out that while the A’s hope to receive public funding, the NHL’s Golden Knights did not ask for any taxpayer money when they launched as an expansion franchise in Vegas. — Lee
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Schmidt’s 7 hitless innings help Yanks blank O’s
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1 hour agoon
June 21, 2025By
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Associated Press
Jun 21, 2025, 04:30 PM ET
NEW YORK — Clarke Schmidt pitched seven hitless innings and the New York Yankees held the Baltimore Orioles to one hit in a 9-0 rout on Saturday.
JT Brubaker gave up a single to Gary Sánchez to open the eighth for the Orioles’ only hit.
Schmidt (4-3) was bidding to throw New York’s first no-hitter since Domingo German threw the Yankees’ major league-leading fourth perfect game on June 28, 2023. The Yankees had not thrown a no-hitter at home since David Cone’s perfect game on July 18, 1999, against the Montreal Expos.
Baltimore was nearly no-hit for the first time since Aug. 12, 2015, in Seattle by Hisashi Iwakuma.
Schmidt struck out five and issued both walks in the first inning when he threw 27 pitches. The right-hander threw first pitch strikes to 16 of 24 hitters and exited after tying his career high of 103 pitches.
After consecutive walks to Jordan Westburg and Gunnar Henderson, Schmidt struck out Ryan O’Hearn and retired Ramon Laureano to end the first. He permitted one other runner the rest of the way.
Schmidt exited after throwing 21 pitches in the seventh. Brubaker allowed a two-strike single to Sánchez and some in the crowd of 46,142 lightly booed.
Brubaker pitched the final two innings to finish New York’s second one-hitter this season.
Trent Grisham, JC Escarra, Ben Rice and Anthony Volpe hit solo homers as the Yankees finished with 14 hits and won for the second time in nine games.
Volpe finished with three hits after going hitless in his previous 25 at-bats, raising his average eight points to .236. It was the shortstop’s third three-hit game this season and first since May 24 in Colorado.
Baltimore’s Zach Eflin (6-4) allowed six runs and 10 hits in three innings.
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Who has the best lineup in MLB? We ranked all 30 teams
Published
1 hour agoon
June 21, 2025By
admin
Every week, we gather a panel of our MLB experts to rank every team based on a combination of what we’ve seen so far and what we knew going into the season. Those power rankings look at teams as a whole — both at the plate and in the field.
But, how different would those rankings be if we were to look only at major league offenses?
We’ve seen a number of offensive explosions so far in the 2025 season — from torpedo bats taking the league by storm on opening weekend thanks to the Yankees’ barrage of home runs to Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani each putting together yet another all-time campaign at the plate.
The latest offensive shake-up came in the form of a blockbuster trade, with the Red Sox sending All-Star slugger Rafael Devers to the Giants in a deal that reverberated around the league. How did it impact the two teams’ offensive outlooks?
Our MLB power rankers came together to sort baseball’s lineups based on what they’ve seen so far and where teams currently stand. We also asked ESPN MLB experts Jeff Passan, David Schoenfield and Bradford Doolittle to break down the top 10 offenses in baseball, from each team’s catalyst to the lineup’s biggest weakness.
Top 10 lineups
Why it’s so fearsome: You start with the second-best hitter in the world in Shohei Ohtani, add in the National League’s leading hitter for average in Freddie Freeman and the NL’s OBP leader in Will Smith, mix in Mookie Betts, and finish with power up and down the lineup — and you might have the best lineup in Dodgers history. Indeed, their current wRC+ of 124 would be the highest in franchise history. There is just no room for opposing pitchers to breathe, and the Dodgers have a nice balance of left- and right-handed hitters who make it difficult for opposing managers to optimize their bullpen matchups.
One weakness: Michael Conforto has been a big disappointment as a free agent, hitting .170 with only four home runs while playing nearly every game so far. The bench was weak to start the season, but the Dodgers jettisoned longtime veterans Chris Taylor and Austin Barnes and called up Hyeseong Kim and top prospect Dalton Rushing. Kim has been outstanding, hitting .382 in his first 30 games, while Rushing has played sparingly as the backup catcher.
Player who makes it all click: As the leadoff hitter, Ohtani’s presence sets the tone from the first pitch of the game — and he already has hit seven first-inning home runs in 2025. With 73 runs in the Dodgers’ first 72 games (he sat out two of them), Ohtani is on pace for a remarkable 164 runs scored, which has been topped only twice since 1900 — once each by Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. (They also each have the only other seasons with at least 160 runs scored.) With Ohtani making his 2025 pitching debut Monday, we’ll see if that affects his offense, but it didn’t during his final season with the Angels in 2023 when he posted a 1.066 OPS while pitching. — Schoenfield
Why it’s so fearsome: The Yankees homer more than any team in the American League. They walk more than any team in all of MLB. They don’t strike out excessively. They punish fastballs. Judge, the best hitter in baseball, anchors their lineup. Seven other regulars are slugging at least .428 in an environment where the leaguewide slug is under .400. There are 100 more reasons the Yankees’ lineup induces such anxiety in opposing pitchers, but it can be encapsulated this way: It’s a lineup without a real weak link, filled with professional hitters who take quality at-bats, at a time when so few make that a priority.
One weakness: Calling this a weakness is a stretch, because the most important point about the Yankees’ lineup is that it doesn’t have a weakness, but they have been worse with runners in scoring position than in situations without runners on second or third. The Marlins have more home runs with players in scoring position than the Yankees. New York’s slugging percentage in such situations dips from .451 to .407 — good for 13th in MLB. It’s also 140 points below the Dodgers’ mark. But fear not: Slugger Giancarlo Stanton, who epitomized clutch for the Yankees last postseason, is back after sitting out the season’s first 2½ months. As if the rich need to get any richer.
Player who makes it all click: What, were you expecting J.C. Escarra? The answer, of course, is Judge, the two-time AL MVP whose combination of power and plate discipline is gifting the Yankees another potential all-time season. It’s not simply the .378 batting average — which is 56 points higher than his career best — or the resplendent home runs he hits, to left and center and right, making the whole field his playground. Even after a miserable series against the Red Sox over the weekend, there is an expectation that Judge will rebound because he hits the ball so hard and so consistently makes contact. The Yankees without Judge are good; the Yankees with him are undeniable. — Passan
Why it’s so fearsome: The lineup depth has been ridiculous, and that trait has been even more stark since Matt Shaw returned from an early-season demotion and began contributing. The Cubs’ collective OPS from spots seven through nine in the batting order is more than 50 points better than the second-best team. Some of that stems from Pete Crow-Armstrong hitting seventh early on, but Chicago has maintained its top-to-bottom consistency all season. This keeps the plate full for run-producers Crow-Armstrong, Kyle Tucker and Seiya Suzuki.
One weakness: The Cubs have been good at just about everything that goes with producing runs. They rank in the top 10 in all three slash categories, are fifth in homers and second in steals. You really have to squint to find a weakness. You can point to a big disparity in road production (.808 OPS) compared to what the Cubs have done at Wrigley Field (.702 OPS). But that too might even out as the weather factors in Chicago work more consistently in favor of hitters.
Player who makes it all click: Crow-Armstrong might be the Cubs’ best MVP candidate, but Tucker is the best hitter and the best exemplar of Chicago’s good-at-everything attack. Tucker leads the team in runs created and OPS+, and though he’s not Crow-Armstrong on the bases, he has swiped 18 of 19 bags. None of this is out of scale with Tucker’s track record. This is who he is — except maybe a little better, as he has walked more than he has struck out. If Tucker’s power bat heats up with the summer weather, look out. — Doolittle
Why it’s so fearsome: The Diamondbacks do a little bit of everything. They already have two 20-homer hitters in Corbin Carroll and Eugenio Suarez, plus Ketel Marte, who sat out a month because of injury but could still reach 30 home runs. They are fourth in the majors in walks and fifth in on-base percentage, so they get on base. Geraldo Perdomo has been a solid contributor the past two seasons but has added some power. He has more walks than strikeouts and has already established a career high in RBIs, adding depth. Josh Naylor is hitting around .300 while replacing Christian Walker’s production at first base.
One weakness: Center fielder Alek Thomas is the only regular with a below-average OPS+, and even then, he’s not awful. The bench is a little thin beyond Tim Tawa and Randal Grichuk, as backup catcher Jose Herrera has provided little offense. The Diamondbacks’ biggest potential weakness is their struggle against left-handed pitchers. (They have an OPS more than 100 points lower than against right-handers.) Carroll, Naylor and the switch-hitting Marte have each been significantly better against righties.
Player who makes it all click: As explosive as Carroll has been at the top of the order, Marte is the team’s best all-around hitter. Like Perdomo, he has more walks than strikeouts, making him a tough out with his ability to put the ball in play and also take free passes. He has the power (36 home runs in 2024) to clear the bases, but he also excels as a baserunner and can have Naylor and Suarez drive him in. When the Diamondbacks reached the World Series in 2023, Marte was the offensive leader, hitting .329/.380/.534 that postseason. — Schoenfield
Why it’s so fearsome: The Mets’ lineup runs sneaky deep, boasts a combination of average and power, and has the fourth-lowest strikeout rate in the major leagues. Low strikeouts often equate to decent batting averages, but the Venn diagram with contact orientation and power is sparsely populated. Beyond the overall numbers, the Mets’ lineup is packed with stars: Juan Soto, Francisco Lindor and the team’s best hitter this season, Pete Alonso. A resurgent Jeff McNeil deepens a group that hasn’t received quite the expected output from Soto. He’s starting to find his rhythm, though, and once that happens, the Mets are bound to be even better.
One weakness: Considering the Mets have multiple options at third base, the quest for an internal solution isn’t banking on the fortunes of a single player. It could be Mark Vientos, the postseason star last year who’s set to begin a rehab assignment next week after a disappointing start to the season. It could be Brett Baty, who has shown plenty of power but still sports a .267 on-base percentage. It could be Ronny Mauricio, the rookie whose pop — and allergy to getting on base — is similar to Baty’s. Regardless of who it is, manager Carlos Mendoza has time to figure out how to maneuver his lineup so that other offensive holes at catcher and center field (when Jeff McNeil isn’t playing there) aren’t nearly as glaring.
Player who makes it all click: The Mets have been clicking without the best version of Soto, so it’s no surprise that in the past 16 games — in which Soto has hit .333/.507/.685 with five home runs — they have scored at least four runs 15 times. As good as New York is without Soto performing, he is their double-click — the catalyzer who brings about action. Even at his lowest points this season, he was managing to get on base, and that’s what makes Soto such a transformative player: His floor is extremely high. When he’s feeling his swing and unleashing shots to all fields, he’s capable of reaching a ceiling higher than all but a handful of hitters in the game. — Passan
Why it’s so fearsome: The Phillies have veterans with big names who have all been productive hitters at various points in their careers — although not necessarily in 2025. Kyle Schwarber has been the lynchpin so far, moved out of the leadoff spot and leading the team in home runs, runs scored and RBIs. Trea Turner is having his best season since joining the Phillies in 2023, with a .364 OBP that would be his highest since 2021. Alec Bohm has been on his usual roller coaster — homerless in April but hitting .331 with seven home runs since the beginning of May.
One weakness: Catcher J.T. Realmuto has carried a huge workload through the years but is now 34 years old and showing some signs of age with career lows in batting average, slugging and OPS. Bryson Stott was an above-average hitter in 2023 before dipping last season, and he has been even worse in 2025 with an OPS+ of just 75. Part-time center fielder Johan Rojas provides speed and defense, but not much offense, and as usual, the bench is pretty weak. Yes, that’s more than one weakness.
Player who makes it all click: As important as it is to have Turner getting on base, this lineup will always revolve around Bryce Harper and his ability to go on hot stretches. He hasn’t had one yet this season and is currently on the injured list because of a right wrist injury. His .446 slugging percentage and .814 OPS are his lowest since 2016. Harper has always been an outlier of sorts — he ranks in the second percentile in swing-and-miss rate in 2025 but in the 67th percentile in strikeout rate — so these aren’t necessarily signs of a decline. Philly just needs him to get hot once he returns. — Schoenfield
Why it’s so fearsome: It’s not. That’s the thing about the Tigers. One gander at their lineup cards — manager AJ Hinch has used 60 different variations over 71 games — and it doesn’t exactly strike fear. And yet that’s the beauty of the 2025 Tigers: They’re managing to score oodles of runs without a single hitter sporting a slugging percentage higher than .500. It’s not like the Tigers are particularly good at avoiding the strikeout (24th in MLB) or taking walks (18th). They don’t hit home runs in bunches (10th) or steal bases at all (30th). They’re simply solid, almost from top to bottom, replete with enough hitters who are league average or better to cobble together runs.
One weakness: The strikeouts are problematic — and a third of Detroit’s regulars struggle to counterbalance them with walks. Kerry Carpenter (52 strikeouts, seven walks), super-utility man Javier Baez (48 strikeouts, eight walks) and catcher Dillon Dingler (56 strikeouts, five walks) constitute one-third of players in all of MLB with at least 48 punchouts and fewer than 10 walks. Riley Greene’s 93 strikeouts lead MLB. And in the postseason, where the pitching gets better and every out is valuable, giving away at-bats by swinging and missing too much is a distinct no-no. Even with the strikeouts, the Tigers won’t be an easy out in October. But among the teams with legitimate playoff aspirations, only Boston punches out more, and it’s the sort of thing that could haunt Detroit.
Player who makes it all click: There isn’t one player, per se. One night it might be outfielder Greene, and another one first baseman Spencer Torkelson, and sometimes outfielder Carpenter, and maybe even infielder Zach McKinstry or outfielder Wenceel Perez. But if there’s one player whose skills differ from his teammates’ and set the table, it’s second baseman Gleyber Torres. Operating on a one-year deal, Torres has been the Tigers’ most consistent hitter this season, getting on base at a .377 clip and walking more than he strikes out. He exemplifies Detroit’s lineup — its team, really — in that nothing he does is particularly sexy but it’s unquestionably effective. — Passan
Why it’s so fearsome: “Fearsome” might be a stretch, but after a horrible April (.656 OPS), the Blue Jays did follow up with a strong May (.785 OPS). June has so far split the difference (.709 OPS), so maybe that’s the true level here, which makes this more of a league-average offense — and, indeed, that’s where the Jays currently stand in runs per game. But there is potential for more here, with Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Anthony Santander, Bo Bichette and Andres Gimenez all capable of more offense than they’ve offered so far.
One weakness: Power. George Springer leads the team with 10 home runs, and the Jays have been outhomered by their opponents 99-70. Left field has been a problem all season, as seven different players have started there, combining to hit .223 with only four home runs. Gimenez was acquired for his defense at second base, but he has been a flop at the plate, hitting .212/.291/.327 with four home runs (and that’s after homering three times in the first five games). Lately, he has even been benched against left-handers.
Player who makes it all click: The $500 million man is hitting more like a $50 million man right now (.275/.375/.414, eight home runs) — but when he’s hot, the offense runs through him. Guerrero had a monster season in 2021 — but that was the year the Jays played more than half of their games in minor league parks because of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. Guerrero had a 1.418 OPS in their spring training park and a 1.180 OPS in Buffalo (and a .935 at Rogers Centre). He was great again last season — thanks to a .342 BABIP. This season, it’s back down to .299, right around his career mark, but even that doesn’t explain the decline in power. The Jays need Guerrero to start mashing. — Schoenfield
9. Athletics
Why it’s so fearsome: They hit home runs and they hit for average, ranking in the top 10 in the majors in both categories. Jacob Wilson has been the breakout star with a .362 average in his rookie season, Brent Rooker is on his way to a third straight 30-homer season, Lawrence Butler is heating up and looking like the hitter he was in the second half of 2024, and rookie first baseman Nick Kurtz has also added another power bat to the lineup (after a slow start, he has hit .286 with six home runs in his past 11 games). What we don’t fully know yet, based on a small sample size, is how Sutter Health Park is helping. The A’s have hit for a higher average at home (.268 to .240) but have hit more home runs on the road (53 in 38 games compared to 39 in 36 games at home).
One weakness: JJ Bleday had a solid 2024 season, with 20 home runs and a 120 OPS+ in 159 games, but struggled out of the gate in 2025, earning a short demotion to Triple-A. Rookie Denzel Clarke replaced him, and though he has been a defensive wunderkind, he has been overmatched at the plate, hitting .209 with 34 strikeouts and one walk. Overall, the A’s rank 29th in the majors in OPS from their center fielders, ahead of only the Guardians.
Player who makes it all click: Wilson has been amazing, showcasing rare bat-to-ball skills with only 18 strikeouts in 289 plate appearances. The big surprise has been the 23 extra-base hits, including eight home runs, after going homerless in 92 at-bats during last season’s call-up. He has also been drawing a few more walks after beginning the season without one in his first 22 games, so his OBP is over .400. Now that he appears entrenched in the No. 2 spot, he’s going to give the middle of the order a lot of RBI opportunities. — Schoenfield
Why it’s so fearsome: In the Cardinals’ case, the fear factor is probably pointed in the wrong direction — as in their own fear of regression. I suspect their ranking is more a product of what they’ve done than what they are likely to do going forward. Ultimately, a team like the Braves, or even the reshuffled Giants or Red Sox, might be better placed here — but you never know. It’s a lineup with batting average and baserunning as the standout traits. The average part of it can be a house of cards — no pun intended — but the underlying expected stats backstop St. Louis’ offense so far.
One weakness: Only six clubs have a lower secondary average than the Cardinals — mostly a who’s who of the worst offenses in the majors. Secondary traits tend to be more stable than BABIP-related indicators, so St. Louis will need to continue to churn out its admirable strikeout and line-drive rates — a good formula for an average-based offense. But if the average falls, the Cardinals don’t draw enough walks or mash enough homers to make up the difference.
Player who makes it all click: Brendan Donovan‘s career year serves as an avatar for what the St. Louis offense is all about. He leads the Redbirds in runs created, and because he’s doing that while mostly playing in the middle of the infield (which boosts positional value), he’s far and away the team leader in offensive bWAR. The question is will it last? On one hand, even though Donovan has a career BABIP of .319, his 2025-to-date figure of .355 is going to be tough to maintain. On the other hand, Donovan’s 31% line drive rate is tied for second in the NL with teammate Willson Contreras. — Doolittle
Teams 11-30
11. Boston Red Sox
12. Seattle Mariners
13. San Francisco Giants
14. Atlanta Braves
15. Tampa Bay Rays
16. San Diego Padres
17. Cincinnati Reds
18. Minnesota Twins
19. Houston Astros
20. Baltimore Orioles
21. Milwaukee Brewers
22. Los Angeles Angels
23. Washington Nationals
24. Cleveland Guardians
25. Texas Rangers
26. Kansas City Royals
27. Miami Marlins
28. Chicago White Sox
29. Pittsburgh Pirates
30. Colorado Rockies
Sports
Rangers place 1B Burger (oblique) on 10-day IL
Published
1 hour agoon
June 21, 2025By
admin
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Associated Press
Jun 21, 2025, 03:42 PM ET
PITTSBURGH — The Texas Rangers placed first baseman Jake Burger on the 10-day injured list Saturday with a strained left oblique.
Burger was injured on a swing during Friday night’s 6-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Infielder Justin Foscue was recalled from Triple-A Round Rock and was in uniform for Saturday’s game.
Utility player Ezequiel Duran is expected to be the primary first baseman while Burger recovers.
“I want to give Zeke some runway here,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said.
This is the third straight season that Burger has gone on the IL with a side injury. However, Burger is optimistic that he will not be sidelined long.
“I’ve dealt with this before, and it’s been quick [to heal],” Burger said. “My mind is on coming back on the 11th day, getting back as soon as I can.”
Burger was acquired from the Miami Marlins in an offseason trade. He is hitting .220 with 10 homers in 65 games after going deep 29 times last season. He was demoted to Triple-A for a week in May.
Also Saturday, Nathan Eovaldi threw a simulated game of 50 pitches and three innings and Jon Gray had a 35-pitch bullpen session. Eovaldi and Gray are coming back from injuries.
Eovaldi could rejoin the rotation next week when Texas plays a three-game series at Baltimore that begins Monday night. He has been on the injured list since June 1 due to right posterior elbow inflammation. Eovaldi has a 4-3 record and 1.56 ERA in 12 starts this season.
“Everything went well,” he said. “I threw all my pitches. I feel like I’m ready to come back.”
Gray has yet to pitch this season after fracturing his right wrist during spring training. There is no timetable for his return.
Center fielder Wyatt Langford was out of the lineup for a second straight game because of back spasms. Bochy expects him to play Sunday in the finale of the three-game series.
Foscue made his major league debut last year and hit .048 in 15 games with Texas. At Round Rock this season, he was batting .269 with 10 homers in 50 games.
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