Inside Nick Saban’s school of QB development, from practice field trash talk to Sunday morning film sessions
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Alex Scarborough, ESPN Staff Writer
Greg McElroy recalled waiting until after his freshman year in 2007 to ask Alabama coach Nick Saban for a favor. McElroy figured Saban didn’t need the whole backstory about his dad’s lifelong dream to see him wear Joe Namath’s number, so he pulled Saban aside one day and asked him straight up for the change to No. 12.
“You know,” Saban said, “that’s the number I wore.”
McElroy said he shot back, “Yeah, that’s of course why I want to switch to it. Namath, [Kenny] Stabler, those guys have nothing to do with it. It’s really about you.”
Saban obliged, but the accommodation came with expectations. Because Saban not only wore No. 12, he wore it while quarterbacking his high school to a state championship in 1968. It’s a fact that every Alabama quarterback who spoke to ESPN said they were aware of — even Bryce Young, who wasn’t born until three decades later. Young grinned and said Saban will “tell you about the West Virginia days, for sure.”
A former Monongah High teammate, Walter Baranski, said Saban was “the top dog out there.” Jim Pulice, another teammate, added, “He could walk out on the field and see a defense and catch it all.”
Tua Tagovailoa said Saban would boast that “he’s the best athlete.” Saban was well rounded, all-state in basketball and baseball as well. If he wasn’t a few hairs shy of 6-feet, he might have lasted longer as a quarterback at Kent State before making the switch to defensive back. “I couldn’t see as well, especially in the pocket,” Saban recalled of the transition to college. “But if it just came to throwing the ball and doing that stuff, I was OK.”
While he never switched back to offense, instead developing into one of the preeminent defensive minds in football, his background playing quarterback informed his relationship with the position as a head coach. We spoke to seven current or former starters at Alabama to learn more about their day-to-day interactions. Together, they told the story of a coach who invests his time in order to build trust and ultimately benefit the team. There are regular one-on-one meetings that can range from discussion of X’s and O’s and personnel to how to handle interpersonal relationships and the grind of a long season — all made lighter by Saban’s occasional ribbing.
“I threw a good spiral,” McElroy said. “But in the rare instance if I threw a ball that wasn’t perfect or wasn’t pretty, you were going to hear about it from him.”
Blake Sims, who started 14 games for Alabama in 2014, can picture Saban now, running behind him after the stretch period of practice and chiding him, “Hey 6, I bet you can’t throw the ball like this.” Saban would then gather the defensive backs for individual drills, planting his right leg and tossing passes to them as they ran down the sideline. Always a good loft, almost always a tight spiral.
“Hey 6,” Sims remembers Saban bellowing, “you need to come over here and throw like this.”
Jake Coker, who followed Sims as the starter, laughed at his version of the same story. He said it’s a shame most people don’t get to experience Saban’s sharp sense of humor, including some “legendary jokes” he says aren’t fit for print.
“There’s something funny about seeing a 70-year-old in a straw hat throwing the ball around and cussing 20-year-olds out,” Coker said.
While Saban was never shy about dolling out a tongue-lashing in public, in private Coker and other former Alabama quarterbacks paint a different picture of the coach. Coker said Saban met with him often while he battled Cooper Bateman for the starting job early in 2015. Saban sensed Coker getting in his own way — too worried about messing up and agonizing over his reads instead of letting the ball go.
“He’d talk to me and get me to a place where I was going out there and reacting instead of overthinking each moment,” Coker said. “A lot of our conversations were tailored toward the mental aspect.”
He added, “I would say he’s the best at managing emotions of any coach I’ve been around. I mean, when he gets mad, you know you deserve it. And when he pats you on the back, you deserve it.”
This year’s starter, Jalen Milroe, has felt both the sting of disappointment and the joy of success with Saban — and often in a public setting.
Along the way, as Alabama recovered from an early-season loss and found its way back to the College Football Playoff, Saban challenged Milroe.
“Embrace hard,” Milroe recalled Saban telling him, “and embrace the role of being a quarterback and being a leader of the team.”
SIMS AND OTHERS describe Saban as something of a clairvoyant, knowing exactly the right buttons to push at exactly the right time. It certainly looked that way at halftime of the 2017 national championship when Saban benched former SEC Offensive Player of the Year Jalen Hurts in favor of a true freshman, Tagovailoa. And it worked again this season when he sat Milroe a week after he threw two interceptions in a loss to Texas. Milroe responded by finishing sixth in the Heisman Trophy voting and leading Alabama to the playoff, where it will face Michigan in the Rose Bowl presented by Prudential on Monday (5 p.m. ET, ESPN).
Sims said he’s asked all the time about what makes Saban different — how can he bench an accomplished starter and not lose them for the rest of the season? Hurts sat most of the 2018 season behind Tagovailoa but was ready to go when his number was called in the SEC championship game, coming off the sideline to beat Georgia after Tagovailoa was hobbled by an ankle injury. Sims said that’s possible only because Saban makes a point of getting to know his players, so he understands how to keep them motivated and engaged.
“I was that type of player that if you tell me I won the position, maybe I might slack off a little bit. But if I knew I was always in competition, I played to the top of my ability,” Sims said. “And maybe Coach Saban knew that. …’Just as quick as I named you the starting quarterback, I can take it from you.'”
Go back to the 2014 season after Sims came out of the gates hot, throwing for 445 yards and four touchdowns against Florida in a pivotal Week 4 matchup. He went from a former receiver no one expected anything from to one of the most exciting players in the SEC.
And then Saban stopped him in the hallway one day.
“I had nothing but rat poison all on me. He could just smell it and everything,” Sims said. “And he just pulled me in his office and just gave it to me. I can’t remember his exact words, but he just gave me an ear full.
“When I walked out of there, man, I think I went straight to the weight room.”
Sims laughed.
“How he finds things out, I don’t know,” he said. “I still wonder to this day.”
But go back a few weeks earlier, the morning of the Florida game that put Sims on the map, and you get another side of Saban’s mentorship.
Sims was nervous — it being his first start in Bryant-Denny Stadium — as he headed to breakfast at the team hotel. That’s when strength coach Scott Cochran growled at him, “Walk around that corner. Coach Saban wants to talk to you.”
Saban was waiting for him and said, “So Sims, what do we need to do to get you going? For you to be comfortable?”
Sims decided to be honest.
“Coach,” he said, “when I go fast it gets me in my rhythm where I don’t have to think. Let’s just go.”
Saban asked, “So NASCAR?” which is shorthand for the hurry-up offense.
Sims said yes.
Saban shook his head and said, “OK.”
That Saban wanted his input was humbling, Sims said. That he was open to shifting from a ball-control style of offense to more uptempo was a lesson Sims said he thinks about a lot now, coaching at Mt. Bethel Christian Academy in Marietta, Georgia.
“Seeing him do that lets you know even when you’re at the top of your game, you still need help,” he said. “You can’t do it by yourself.”
Sims cherishes his relationship with Saban. He went from being unsure about whether Saban knew his name to being comfortable tossing barbs back and forth.
Saban told Sims often about his Monongah days, specifically how he was given the freedom by his coach to call plays.
“But we let him know, ‘Hey, Coach, you play in this day and time and we’ll smack you,'” Sims said.
Speaking to Milroe earlier this season, Saban leaned on his hoops background, advising the dual-threat QB to “be a point guard with the ball and get the ball to playmakers to allow explosive plays.”
“Initially, you’d probably think it was just Coach Saban talking, but it’s also an opportunity for me to talk,” Milroe said of their conversations. “A lot of times, we just talk about life. He’s helped me with some personal things, and he’s been there for me throughout the season. The main thing is that we both talk, what we see in games, feedback from games. He sees a lot of things I don’t see, and he’s always willing to listen if I see something.”
Young enjoyed two seasons starting for Saban and “being able to have a conversation about some bigger picture stuff — about the team, about stuff he’s feeling, what he sees, what he needs from us as leaders, and us, our side.”
“We’re all kind of working towards that same goal,” he said. “So it was really cool just coming as a freshman, proving myself. That’s something you have to earn at Alabama. You have to earn that trust, earn everything. And then getting to that point definitely my last two years of building our relationship and then being to where it is now, I’m super grateful.”
AJ McCARRON REMEMBERS his Sunday morning one-on-one debriefing sessions with Saban.
“He was always up there early,” he recalled. “We would sit there and watch the film from the game, and most of the time we’d watch the whole film, kind of just see the flow of the game, talk about the flow, talk about their defense, what else they could have done, what we could have done as an offense, in my opinion.
“But I liked doing that as a freshman just because I got to learn a lot, even from the defensive side, what’s their thought process on things and how they see certain formations and how they plan to cover certain routes and stuff.”
Sometimes, McElroy said, you’d look forward to those meetings. Other times, not so much.
“You could kind of tell where the meeting was going to go based on how you played,” McElroy said.
Asked if he was thinking of a specific meeting, McElroy groaned.
“One in particular,” he said. “It was awful.”
It was the Sunday after playing Ole Miss in 2009. It was McElroy’s first truly hostile road environment, Alabama was undefeated, and the Rebs were ranked. And McElroy was off from the start. Coaches called “Boom,” which McElroy said is a “smash concept with a guy in the flat and a guy running a corner.”
The first time, he threw it into double coverage to Julio Jones for an incompletion.
The next time, on the opposite end of the field, he again threw it into double coverage to Jones for an incompletion.
It just so happened that both times the receiver in the flat was wide open.
McElroy woke up Sunday morning dreading going to Saban’s office.
“I knew he would say, ‘Why didn’t you take the flat?’ And I didn’t really have a reason,” he said. “You can’t say I was looking at the rush.”
Never mind he had a good excuse.
“Greg Hardy cleaned my clock on the first play of the game,” he said.
So McElroy thought about it and came up with an admittedly “ridiculous excuse” about Julio being open.
Saban wasn’t buying it.
“He was so disgruntled, he wanted me to go down and get checked for a concussion because my reads were so bad,” McElroy said. “I know it was his way of jabbing at me. He said, ‘You need to go down and see [head trainer Jeff Allen] and get checked. That’s ridiculous.’
“Jeff was a good sport about it, Coach was a good sport about it. After the fact we can laugh about it. But at the time, it was like, ‘Oh, God. I can’t believe I made the same mistake twice.’ Because the one thing was, he could live with a mistake. That happens. But you make the same mistake twice, you need to tighten it up.”
In games, McElroy and other quarterbacks described Saban as mostly hands off. The only time they’d hear from him is if they committed a mental error — like the time Coker didn’t throw the ball away at the end of the first half of a blowout win and cost the team a field goal.
“That was one of those headset-tearing-apart moments where he got me pretty much from the sideline all the way to the tunnel,” Coker said. “It was one of those where as soon as I did it I thought, ‘Oh my God, you’re such a dumbass. I know I’m going to hear about this all the way back to the locker room.’ And I did. He lost his mind.”
Coker couldn’t remember exactly what Saban said, it was such a blur of expletives. Coker muttered “Yes, sir” again and again in hopes it would end the conversation quicker.
“If it’s within your mental control, I mean, he’s going to be mad about it,” he said. “But if you’re going 100% and you just screw it up, then he can live with that. If you screw up, he moves on. And if you throw a good ball, he is high-fiving.”
It turns out that backups get worn out a lot more than starters, McElroy said, and with good reason.
“He didn’t want to affect the starter’s confidence and he wanted to just make sure the starter felt good,” he said. “And the backup, if you make a mistake, you’re very much in developmental mode at that point, so your confidence isn’t quite as important.”
So much of playing quarterback is what happens between the ears, and Saban is careful to keep that in mind.
When Coker met with him, they didn’t spend a ton of time going over the playbook, he said. It was more about situational awareness — “on and off the field.” Coker said Saban gave him good advice on how to “maneuver through the season” and handle personal relationships on the team.
Together, they won a national championship.
And, like Milroe, it started with Coker riding the bench early in the season.
Would he have liked to avoid the stress of all that? Sure.
But he can’t argue with the results.
“I don’t know, maybe if I was named the starter and I knew that everybody that had my back I would’ve gone in and played with a lot more confidence and played with no restraint as well,” Coker said. “But I know benching me made me that way for sure.”
ESPN reporters Ben Baby, David Newton and Marcel Louis-Jacques contributed to this story.
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Buster Olney
Most of the MLB players given a preview of our Top 100 player ranking were polite, and some were even deferential, suggesting they didn’t feel qualified to assess the relative strengths of the players across the broad spectrum of Major League Baseball.
It’s a fair concern — for the players and for us as writers and rankers. We are not perfect, which is why we presented our list to current players for feedback over the past few weeks. We work daily to evaluate the work of players, and in this case, we want to know what they think — to give unvarnished opinions about how we ranked the best players in the sport.
And once niceties were set aside — and with some players feeling more comfortable speaking on the condition of anonymity — it became clear that many of them believe that ESPN’s ranking is constructed too heavily on hype, rather than actual achievement.
“You have [Roki] Sasaki” — the Los Angeles Dodgers‘ rookie pitcher who’s ranked No. 60 — “over J.T. Realmuto?” asked one player, who called attention to Realmuto’s nearly decade-long standing as one of the best catchers. “In what world does that make sense?”
Weighing possibility over production seemed to be the biggest concern across the board when we spoke to 15 MLB players about our ranking.
“I’m not going to call out anybody by name, but there are guys on this list who have had a good two months over players who had good years,” Pittsburgh Pirates veteran outfielder Tommy Pham said. “You’re basing [a ranking] on two months? I can’t get on board with that.”
Longtime reliever Adam Ottavino was also surprised by this fact, pointing to Francisco Lindor and Elly De La Cruz being ranked back-to-back at No. 16 and 17, respectively.
“I feel like there’s a huge separation in actual production at this moment between Lindor and De La Cruz,” he said. “I know [De La Cruz’s] ceiling is insane and he’s so fun to watch, but he’s just not anywhere close to Lindor yet, in my mind.”
Tangible major league production was a sticking point for players, and so was position.
“Paul Skenes has amazing stuff,” said another player about the fifth-ranked young Pirates pitcher. “But he’s ahead of Francisco Lindor? Like, a shortstop who plays every day and just finished second in the NL MVP race?”
Andrew McCutchen, playing in his 17th year in the big leagues with Pittsburgh this season, believes that you cannot fairly rank position players and pitchers on the same list because the demands of their work are so completely different.
“Shohei [Ohtani] hits and he pitches, and you have him at No. 1,” McCutchen said. “But you guys have Paul Skenes at [No. 5], but Paul Skenes doesn’t hit. That skews the list for me. … To me, that’s like ranking offensive and defensive [NFL] players on the same list. It doesn’t work.”
Ottavino, now back with the New York Yankees, found it interesting that you don’t see as many pitchers mixed in near the top of the list — outside of Ohtani, who is expected to return to a two-way role at some point this season. There are just three starting pitchers in the top 20.
“Position players are out there day in and day out,” Ottavino said. “But you see Chris Sale at No. 32, and you see him behind Brent Rooker, a DH. Rooker is a great player, but I just feel like a true ace has so much impact.”
Veteran infielder Manny Machado felt similarly, making the case for Tarik Skubal (No. 10) and Zack Wheeler (No. 9) to be higher on the list, saying, “Zack is the No. 1 pitcher in the league right now, by far.”
Ottavino also noted how players’ rankings on our list do not match with how positions are valued in the free agent market.
“First baseman, first baseman, first baseman,” he said, noting players near the top of the list. “And yet the market doesn’t value first baseman.”
Max Fried, No. 27 on our list, just signed a deal with the Yankees for $218 million this winter. Longtime New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso, ranked just a few spots behind Fried, got a third of that after struggling to come to terms on a deal all offseason.
When looking at position players and where they should rank, Ottavino favored those who bear a wider range of skills, saying, “I would have Gunnar [Henderson] higher than some of these others because of overall impact.”
Maybe no major league player has as much impact as Aaron Judge, who ranked fourth on our list. Multiple players were surprised that the star slugger wasn’t No. 1 or No. 2.
“I like Bobby Witt [Jr.]‘s skill set, and he did some great things last year,” McCutchen said of the young Kansas City Royals star who secured the second overall ranking. “But what Judge did for a couple of years running, it’s hard for me to put [Witt] above him.”
“You’ve got Judge as the fourth-best player?” Pham exclaimed. “Am I tripping here?”
Hearing his teammate, McCutchen added, “The people who put together these lists think this game is easy.”
Well, I responded, I did bat over .300 in junior varsity and pitched a scoreless inning with my slowball in Little League. (No, I didn’t actually say that to these two players who have almost three decades between them in the majors.)
“Look at Judge’s numbers,” Pham continued. “Judge can’t be that low. With all due respect, everybody above him on the list is a great player — Mookie [Betts], Bobby, Ohtani is a unicorn. But Judge had a Barry Bonds season last year.”
And Pham isn’t wrong — Judge’s adjusted OPS+ of 223 in 2024 is the highest ever for a right-handed hitter.
“See?” Pham said. “I can’t work with this.”
Machado agreed, saying that “It should be 1, 4, 2, 3.” Translated: Ohtani, Judge, Witt and then Betts.
“There is a lot of hype around Paul [Skenes],” the San Diego Padres third baseman continued, perusing the list. “But he is nasty. I’m glad we missed him last year.”
Seeing his former teammate Corey Seager at No. 21, Machado said, “I don’t know why Seager is so low. I love Seager.”
There were a number of big-name stars whose rankings players were surprised to see.
Atlanta Braves infielders Matt Olson and Austin Riley were looking at the list together outside the Braves clubhouse when they saw fellow teammate Ronald Acuña Jr. was No. 20. While Acuña is recovering from a second ACL tear that sidelined him for the majority of the 2024 season, he’s not far removed from a 2023 campaign that saw him hit 41 homers and steal 73 bases en route to the National League MVP Award.
“That’s a little tough,” Riley said of the ranking.
Los Angeles Angels star outfielder Mike Trout was someone who players we spoke to last year about our list thought was ranked far too low at No. 19. They were equally surprised by his ranking of 33rd this year.
“I said it last year, too, but Trout is too low,” Olson said. “And Sale is too low.”
Riley took issue with Teoscar Hernandez‘ ranking at No. 53, after a season in which he won the Home Run Derby and helped the Dodgers win the World Series. Perusing, Riley turned to Olson, who’s ranked No. 41, and said, “You’re too low.”
“I think once you get past No. 30, it’s a free-for-all,” he said.
Their teammate Marcell Ozuna, who carried Atlanta’s offense at times last season as it dealt with injuries, slotted in at No. 78 on our list, which didn’t make sense to Olson.
“If he’s going to be that low, you’re going to say it’s a discount for being a DH and not playing the field,” he said. “But if that’s the case, Yordan [Alvarez] can’t be at [No. 7].”
And yes, Juan Soto‘s placement one spot down at No. 8 caught the attention of a few players.
“Are you f—-ing kidding?” asked one.
Please tell us how you really feel.
We’re just one week into the 2025 MLB season — and what a ride it has been already.
Torpedo bats are taking baseball by storm. Both the Dodgers and Padres are undefeated, while another National League team with lofty expectations in the Braves are winless to start the season.
We’ve also seen both great individual performances — Aaron Judge‘s three-homer game over the weekend; Mookie Betts‘ walk-off three-run blast; MacKenzie Gore‘s 13-strikeout Opening Day performance — and not so great ones — Rafael Devers‘ historic strikeout streak — across the league.
Is your favorite team off to a dominant start — and more importantly, will it last? Or are you hoping the first week’s returns aren’t a glimpse of the future?
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, Alden Gonzalez and Buster Olney to weigh in with an observation for all 30 teams.
Record: 8-0
Previous ranking: 1
The Dodgers have played eight games this season. Either Freddie Freeman or Mookie Betts — or, in two instances, both — have been absent for six of them. And yet it hasn’t really mattered. The Dodgers’ offense has hummed right along.
Betts has found some surprising home run power since sitting out the Japan series because of a debilitating illness that prompted him to shed nearly 20 pounds; Tommy Edman has continued to be a crucial part of the lineup, no matter where he hits; and the likes of Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez, Will Smith and Michael Conforto have shown just how deep this offense can be, even when it is without one or two of its three best players. — Gonzalez
Record: 4-1
Previous ranking: 3
Cristopher Sanchez was one of the most talked about pitchers of spring training, as he added even more velocity to a sinker that already had more velocity in 2024 than in 2023. His first start backed up what everyone saw in the Grapefruit League as he gave up one run in 5⅓ innings with seven strikeouts in a no-decision against the Rockies. His sinker averaged 96.5 mph — up from 94.5 mph in 2024. The sinker isn’t going to induce a lot of whiffs, but if Sanchez can improve the batting average against it (.345 last season), he could have a big season in store. — Schoenfield
Record: 7-0
Previous ranking: 10
Jackson Merrill, the Padres’ 21-year-old budding superstar, signed a nine-year extension Wednesday morning that guarantees him at least $135 million. Later in the day, he crushed his second home run in a 5-2 win over the Guardians, pushing the Padres to a 7-0 start — the longest season-opening winning streak in franchise history. A continuation of this early surge will hinge largely on their superstars, a list that includes Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr., Xander Bogaerts, Luis Arraez, Dylan Cease and Yu Darvish. But Merrill is squarely in that group, too. — Gonzalez
Record: 3-2
Previous ranking: 7
To put Judge’s start into perspective: At the outset of 2024 — what turned out to be one of the greatest seasons ever for a right-handed hitter — it took Judge 19 games to reach 11 RBIs. This season, it took him three games, in what was the best start to any season in his career. Judge began 4-for-6 with three homers against left-handers, and with runners on base, he started 5-for-9 with a walk. A big question coming into this season was how much Judge would be affected by the departure of Juan Soto from the No. 2 spot, and in a very small sample, the initial answer is: not at all. — Olney
Record: 4-2
Previous ranking: 5
Last year, Eugenio Suarez slashed just .196/.279/.312 through the first three months. It wasn’t until July that he really got going. His slump coincided with that of Corbin Carroll. The D-backs’ offense languished until the pair got going. So if there’s one major sign of encouragement that can be gleaned from this first week, it’s that Suarez clearly isn’t waiting around this year. The D-backs’ third baseman has already homered five times and driven in 11 runs while putting up a 1.312 OPS through his first six games. And given the hot starts of the Dodgers, Padres and Giants in the NL West, Suarez’s hot start has been crucial. — Gonzalez
Record: 5-2
Previous ranking: 8
Jacob deGrom pitched only 10 innings against major league competition in spring training and gave up five runs and two home runs, so nobody knew quite what to expect in his 2025 debut, but he delivered five scoreless innings against the Red Sox, giving up two hits with five strikeouts. Though it wasn’t quite vintage deGrom, he averaged 96.7 mph with his four-seamer while relying more on his slider and changeup than he traditionally has (he threw 29 sliders and 11 changeups out of 73 pitches), but it worked. The Red Sox went 1-for-11 with six strikeouts against those two pitches. — Schoenfield
Record: 3-3
Previous ranking: 6
Baltimore is going to hit, especially once Gunnar Henderson returns to the lineup and joins a rejuvenated Adley Rutschman and the powerful Tyler O’Neill. The barometer all season for the Orioles could be the performance of their starting pitchers, and whether they can limit opponents and also assume enough innings to take pressure off what could be a good bullpen. In the first pass through the rotation this season, Baltimore’s starters combined for a 6.26 ERA, which ranks 28th in the majors. Zach Eflin had a good first outing though, giving up two runs over six innings. — Olney
Record: 3-3
Previous ranking: 4
It has been a rough start for the Mets’ offense, which scored only 17 runs in the first five games — 10 of those coming in one game against the Marlins. Juan Soto’s start has been fine, homering in a 3-1 victory over the Astros in the second game of the season. He’s also taking his walks, no surprise there. He did strike out to end the season opener, representing the go-ahead run with two runners on base in a 3-1 loss, whiffing on a nasty 3-2 slider from Josh Hader. Mets fans will be ready to give him a loud ovation for the home opener Friday. — Schoenfield
Record: 4-2
Previous ranking: 16
Rival managers in the AL East talked up the Rays in spring training, but as always with Tampa Bay, the team operates with a small margin for error, and this is why Shane Baz‘s first start of the season was such a big deal. At a time when the Rays are without Shane McClanahan because of a triceps injury, Baz — a former first-round pick — threw six scoreless innings against the Pirates, striking out 10 without issuing a walk. The first time through Tampa Bay’s rotation, every Rays starter threw at least five innings, with the starters giving up only four earned runs in 29 innings. — Olney
Record: 2-4
Previous ranking: 11
Spencer Arrighetti‘s first start might be a sign of great things to come. He gave up only one hit and one run in six innings in a win over the Mets. As a rookie last season, Arrighetti struggled in the first half (5.63 ERA, 1.60 WHIP), but the Astros stuck with him, and he came on strong with a 3.18 ERA and 1.17 WHIP over his final 11 starts. His sweeper and curveball were big weapons as a rookie, so the key will be fastball command — and he had it against the Mets, who went 0-for-10 with three K’s against his four-seamer. — Schoenfield
Record: 0-7
Previous ranking: 2
Everyone knew a season-opening road trip to San Diego and Los Angeles was going to be a tough one, especially with no Spencer Strider and no Ronald Acuña Jr., but the Braves stumbled their way to seven losses in a row to begin the season. Their nine runs in the first six games is tied for the fourth-fewest runs scored through a team’s first six games in the wild-card era (since 1995). The .137 average was also fourth lowest in that span. Oh, and along the way, Jurickson Profar was suspended for 80 games for a PED violation. — Schoenfield
Record: 5-1
Previous ranking: 22
The Giants, under new direction with Buster Posey, blitzed through spring training with a 21-6 record and drew praise from scouts who noted how sharp they looked. That has carried over into games that matter. Coming off a sweep in Houston, the Giants are 5-1, somehow keeping pace with the Dodgers and Padres in the NL West. A few of their key guys haven’t fully clicked yet — though Heliot Ramos surely has — but collectively they have an OPS of .941 with runners in scoring position. And their relievers have combined for a 1.74 ERA. — Gonzalez
Record: 2-4
Previous ranking: 9
Devers’ struggles in his first full week as a designated hitter are front and center for the Red Sox, which is understandable, given Boston’s investment in a star who thought he was the franchise’s third baseman. But Devers’ play has overshadowed the slow starts of others on the team, including Alex Bregman, who didn’t score or drive in a run in his first five games with the Red Sox; Walker Buehler, who gave up four runs and seven hits over 4⅓ innings in his first start; and first baseman Triston Casas, who had one hit (and no extra-base hits) in the first week of the season. — Olney
Record: 5-4
Previous ranking: 16
Justin Steele has acted as a steadying presence in the Cubs’ rotation over the past three years, winning 25 games, posting a 3.10 ERA and accumulating 427 innings. But the early part of this season has been a struggle. Through three starts, Steele leads the majors in hits (18), earned runs (12) and homers allowed (five). But that’s not entirely fair. He began his season before almost everyone else, on March 18 in Japan. None of his three starts — against the Dodgers, D-backs and A’s — have been terrible. It’s just that none of them have been all that good, either. — Gonzalez
Record: 2-4
Previous ranking: 11
With the team inhabiting a league that has strong lineups like that of the Yankees, Rangers and Orioles, Kansas City’s front office worked in the offseason to improve its offense. The Royals added Jonathan India to be their leadoff hitter, and just before the start of the season, traded for right-handed-hitting Mark Canha to help balance what appeared to be a left-handed heavy lineup.
In the first week of the season, the results are mixed: India is getting on base, but Hunter Renfroe, MJ Melendez and others manning the outfield have started slowly. So far, the Royals’ outfielders have a wRC+ that ranks in the bottom half of the majors. In a related note: Jac Caglianone, who showed big power in spring training, is starting this season at Double-A. — Olney
Record: 3-4
Previous ranking: 12
The Mariners scored only 15 runs in starting the season 2-4 while hitting .166 and getting five or fewer hits in five of the games. Here’s how bad things have been: Of those 15 runs, only two came on a non-home run RBI hit. They had two sacrifice flies, an RBI groundout, a run on an error and nine runs via the home run. The Mariners play 13 of their first 16 games at home, so they better figure it out, but it already looks like 2024, when they just hit .214/.307/.358 at home (only the White Sox had a lower OPS at home). — Schoenfield
Record: 2-4
Previous ranking: 18
With Parker Meadows out indefinitely because of a nerve issue, Matt Vierling on the injured list because of a rotator cuff injury and Gleyber Torres out because of an oblique problem, scoring runs will be a challenge on many days for the Tigers. The emergence of Spencer Torkelson has been a big help early, after Torkelson worked extensively in the offseason on his hitting mechanics. Torkelson had seven hits, including a home run, in his first 18 at-bats, plus five walks. This is a team with an opportunity for standouts to emerge in the everyday lineup, from Manuel Margot to Zach McKinstry. — Olney
Record: 2-4
Previous ranking: 20
.
Elly De La Cruz was a popular MVP pick at the start of the season, and it’s already clear why. Through his first six games, we’ve seen him turn in an impressive sliding catch in foul territory, produce 11 batted balls hit harder than 95 mph, steal two bases and launch four homers — including two Monday night, while debuting his torpedo bat.
“Elly is really good at baseball,” new Reds starting pitcher Brady Singer said afterward. He sure is. And he’s just starting to show it. — Gonzalez
Record: 4-2
Previous ranking: 25
Nolan Arenado spent all offseason thinking he was probably going to be traded. Then he wasn’t. Then he showed up to Busch Stadium on Opening Day wearing a Cardinals uniform, homered in the eighth inning and came out to a curtain call. Since then, Arenado has looked a lot like the guy who generated MVP votes in 2022, not the one who struggled in the two seasons thereafter, slashing .391/.500/.609 while turning in some solid defensive plays. At some point, he’ll be elsewhere — unless the Cardinals surprise us all and keep on winning. — Gonzalez
Record: 5-2
Previous ranking: 20
The question of whether the Blue Jays and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. will agree to a long-term deal has dominated Toronto’s spring, but shortstop Bo Bichette is in a similar situation as Guerrero: Bichette is eligible for free agency at season’s end, and has a ton riding on his 2025 production. So far, so good. Bichette came out of the gate with a league-high nine hits. If Bichette plays well in the first half of the season, he’ll have value for the Jays no matter the direction of the team — if Toronto decides to make trades in July and reload for the future, there would be a market for Bichette (hello, Atlanta?), and if it wants to retain homegrown anchors, it could take a run to sign him to a long-term deal. — Olney
Record: 2-4
Previous ranking: 19
Cleveland did this offseason what it has had to do so often — proactively manage its payroll. This is part of the reason why the Guardians shed Andres Gimenez and Myles Straw in separate deals with the Blue Jays, and why they moved Josh Naylor to the Diamondbacks. The trade of Naylor left rival evaluators wondering who, if anyone, would be able to make up for the loss of the first baseman’s production. Early on, DH Kyle Manzardo — acquired from Tampa Bay two seasons ago — is getting a chance to be that guy. He has done some damage, with four extra-base hits, three walks and three strikeouts to start the season. — Olney
Record: 4-2
Previous ranking: 27
One of the more interesting Opening Day roster decisions for any team was the Angels promoting reliever Ryan Johnson even though he never pitched in the minor leagues after getting drafted in the second round last year out of Dallas Baptist. Johnson’s debut was a disaster, as he gave up five runs and two home runs in the season opener, but in his next two outings he was pressed into service in extra innings and picked up a save and a win. Johnson is a 6-foot-6 right-hander with a funky delivery who dominated as a starter at Dallas Baptist (2.21 ERA, 151 K’s in 106 innings). He touched 100 mph in college but has averaged 94.2 mph on his sinker with the Angels, using a cutter that he has thrown 55% of the time as his primary pitch. — Schoenfield
Record: 2-5
Previous ranking: 23
The initial returns are Sutter Health Park might be a big test for A’s pitchers. After holding the Mariners to eight runs in splitting a four-game series in Seattle, the A’s gave up 25 runs in their first two games in their new home park. To be fair, the wind was blowing out in both of the games. But the game-time temperatures were also just 52 and 55 degrees — much cooler than it will be during the summer.
“I think it’s still too early to tell,” Brent Rooker said. “There have been guys who have hit some balls good, and it’s been windy. We’re going to need several more games before we can really tell how it’s playing. There’s been a lot of offense. Where that credit lies, I’m not really sure.” — Schoenfield
Record: 2-4
Previous ranking: 15
On Tuesday night, Chad Patrick, Jared Koenig, Abner Uribe, Joel Payamps and Trevor Megill took the mound at American Family Field in Milwaukee and combined to shut out the Royals. It was a welcomed sight. For the previous four games, a Brewers pitching staff that had been severely compromised by injury, with three starting pitchers added to the injured list last month alone, was suffering from a case of whiplash. The pitchers gave up a whopping 45 runs in 33 innings, including 20 in one game against the torpedo-bat-swinging Yankees. Opposing batters compiled 17 home runs against the Brewers. — Gonzalez
Record: 2-4
Previous ranking: 17
The constant refrain around the Twins in recent years has been that the team has potential if it can consistently field Carlos Correa, Byron Buxton and Royce Lewis, a trio of players who’ve had difficulty staying healthy. Lewis again got hurt late in spring training, pulling a hamstring, and while Correa and Buxton have been on the field, both had a rough first week. The pair combined to go 6-for-42 with three extra-base hits, three RBIs and nine strikeouts — though went 4-for-8 with a home run and a double in Wednesday’s win. Not surprisingly, the Twins are slow out of the starting gate, with two wins in their first six games. — Olney
Record: 4-3
Previous ranking: 29
The cardiac Marlins are back. Remember 2023, when they went 33-14 in one-run games, 7-3 in extra-inning games and had nine walk-off wins on their way to a surprising wild-card berth? Well, the Marlins had three walk-off wins in their opening series against Pittsburgh, rallying from a 4-2 deficit in the opener, winning 5-4 in 12 innings and then 3-2. Some shoddy Pirates defense certainly helped, but Kyle Stowers and Dane Myers delivered the walk-off hits with the other winning run coming on a wild pitch. For a team many predicted to lose 100 games, it at least has been a fun start. — Schoenfield
Record: 1-5
Previous ranking: 26
The Nationals received two strong performances on their first trip through the rotation. Gore fanned 13 Phillies in a brilliant Opening Day start, giving up only one hit and no runs in six innings. He became just the ninth pitcher with at least 13 strikeouts in a team’s first game (Randy Johnson did it twice, both times with 14). But it was not an Opening Day record for a Washington pitcher: Camilo Pascual of the Senators fanned a record 15 in 1960. Mitchell Parker then tossed 6⅓ scoreless innings to beat the Phillies. He’s coming off a rookie season in which he went 7-10 with a 4.29 ERA. — Schoenfield
Record: 2-5
Previous ranking: 24
Paul Skenes was profiled alongside his famous girlfriend, Livvy Dunne, in GQ on Wednesday morning, then he went about dominating the Rays, allowing three baserunners and an unearned run in seven innings to bring his ERA to 1.46. The Pirates absorbed the unfortunate news last month that fellow budding ace Jared Jones is nursing a UCL sprain, and though at this point it doesn’t seem as if surgery will be required, Jones will be reassessed Friday. Eventually, Skenes, Jones and Bubba Chandler will form a devastating rotation trio. For now, though, the Pirates will settle for employing the “it” pitcher in baseball. — Gonzalez
Record: 2-4
Previous ranking: 30
On the way to making ignominious history, the 2024 White Sox didn’t pick up their second win until the 11th game of the season. This year, they split their first four games, an early sign the White Sox are bound to be better. Andrew Benintendi, starting his 10th season on the roster, is among the most experienced White Sox players, and he’s off to a good start, with a couple of homers and six hits (.353 average) in his first five games. You’d assume that if anyone called the White Sox looking for outfield help, Chicago would be open to moving Benintendi. But he’s owed about $50 million over this season and the two that follow. — Olney
Record: 1-4
Previous ranking: 28
The Rockies’ propensity for strange is already showing itself. Case in point: Their starting pitchers have combined for a 1.61 ERA through their first five games, and yet they’ve won only once. So while German Marquez, Antonio Senzatela, Kyle Freeland and Ryan Feltner have combined to given up only five runs in 28 innings, Colorado’s bullpen has fashioned an ERA over 10.00. And its offense has combined for only a .184 batting average. — Gonzalez
The final day of the regular season is exactly two weeks away, but the race for the final Eastern Conference wild-card spot remains open for five contenders.
Two of those teams are in action Thursday night. The Montreal Canadiens host the Boston Bruins (7 p.m. ET, ESPN+), and the Columbus Blue Jackets welcome the Colorado Avalanche (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN+).
As play begins Thursday, the Canadiens hold the second wild card with 79 points and 25 regulation wins through 74 games; the New York Rangers are tied in standings points (and ahead in RW, with 32), but have played more games. The Blue Jackets are two behind in points, and one behind in regulation wins. The idle Detroit Red Wings (75 points, 26 RW) and New York Islanders (74 points, 25 RW) round out the quintet.
The Stathletes projection model likes the Canadiens’ chances to make the playoffs the most, at 51.7%, followed by the Blue Jackets (25.5%), Rangers (19.0%), Islanders (3.1%) and Red Wings (2.3%). How will this all shake out? Thursday’s pair of games featuring these teams will provide our next set of clues.
With the regular season ending April 17, we’ll help you track it all with the NHL playoff watch. As we traverse the final stretch, we’ll provide details on all the playoff races, along with the teams jockeying for position in the 2025 NHL draft lottery.
Note: Playoff chances are via Stathletes.
Jump ahead:
Current playoff matchups
Today’s schedule
Yesterday’s scores
Expanded standings
Race for No. 1 pick
Current playoff matchups
Eastern Conference
A1 Toronto Maple Leafs vs. WC1 Ottawa Senators
A2 Tampa Bay Lightning vs. A3 Florida Panthers
M1 Washington Capitals vs. WC2 Montreal Canadiens
M2 Carolina Hurricanes vs. M3 New Jersey Devils
Western Conference
C1 Winnipeg Jets vs. WC2 St. Louis Blues
C2 Dallas Stars vs. C3 Colorado Avalanche
P1 Vegas Golden Knights vs. WC1 Minnesota Wild
P2 Los Angeles Kings vs. P3 Edmonton Oilers
Thursday’s games
Note: All times ET. All games not on TNT or NHL Network are available to stream on ESPN+ (local blackout restrictions apply).
Boston Bruins at Montreal Canadiens, 7 p.m.
Tampa Bay Lightning at Ottawa Senators, 7 p.m.
Colorado Avalanche at Columbus Blue Jackets, 7:30 p.m.
Pittsburgh Penguins at St. Louis Blues, 8 p.m.
Nashville Predators at Dallas Stars, 8 p.m.
Los Angeles Kings at Utah Hockey Club, 9 p.m.
Anaheim Ducks at Calgary Flames, 9:30 p.m.
Winnipeg Jets at Vegas Golden Knights, 10 p.m.
Edmonton Oilers at San Jose Sharks, 10:30 p.m. (ESPN+/Hulu/Disney+)
Wednesday’s scoreboard
New York Rangers 5, Minnesota Wild 4 (OT)
Carolina Hurricanes 5, Washington Capitals 1
Toronto Maple Leafs 3, Florida Panthers 2
Colorado Avalanche 3, Chicago Blackhawks 2 (SO)
Seattle Kraken 5, Vancouver Canucks 0
Expanded standings
Atlantic Division
Points: 96
Regulation wins: 38
Playoff position: A1
Games left: 7
Points pace: 105.0
Next game: vs. CBJ (Saturday)
Playoff chances: 100%
Tragic number: N/A
Points: 93
Regulation wins: 38
Playoff position: A2
Games left: 8
Points pace: 103.1
Next game: @ OTT (Thursday)
Playoff chances: 99.9%
Tragic number: N/A
Points: 92
Regulation wins: 35
Playoff position: A3
Games left: 7
Points pace: 100.6
Next game: @ OTT (Saturday)
Playoff chances: 99.9%
Tragic number: N/A
Points: 84
Regulation wins: 30
Playoff position: WC1
Games left: 8
Points pace: 93.1
Next game: vs. TB (Thursday)
Playoff chances: 98.6%
Tragic number: N/A
Points: 79
Regulation wins: 25
Playoff position: WC2
Games left: 8
Points pace: 87.5
Next game: vs. BOS (Thursday)
Playoff chances: 51.7%
Tragic number: N/A
Points: 75
Regulation wins: 26
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 8
Points pace: 83.1
Next game: vs. CAR (Friday)
Playoff chances: 2.3%
Tragic number: 13
Points: 70
Regulation wins: 26
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 8
Points pace: 77.6
Next game: vs. TB (Saturday)
Playoff chances: 0.1%
Tragic number: 8
Points: 69
Regulation wins: 23
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 7
Points pace: 75.4
Next game: @ MTL (Thursday)
Playoff chances: ~0%
Tragic number: 5
Metro Division
Points: 105
Regulation wins: 41
Playoff position: M1
Games left: 7
Points pace: 114.8
Next game: vs. CHI (Friday)
Playoff chances: 100%
Tragic number: N/A
Points: 96
Regulation wins: 41
Playoff position: M2
Games left: 8
Points pace: 106.4
Next game: @ DET (Friday)
Playoff chances: 100%
Tragic number: N/A
Points: 87
Regulation wins: 35
Playoff position: M3
Games left: 6
Points pace: 93.9
Next game: vs. NYR (Saturday)
Playoff chances: 99.8%
Tragic number: N/A
Points: 79
Regulation wins: 32
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 7
Points pace: 86.4
Next game: @ NJ (Saturday)
Playoff chances: 19%
Tragic number: 15
Points: 77
Regulation wins: 24
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 9
Points pace: 86.5
Next game: vs. COL (Thursday)
Playoff chances: 25.5%
Tragic number: 17
Points: 74
Regulation wins: 25
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 8
Points pace: 82.0
Next game: vs. MIN (Friday)
Playoff chances: 3.1%
Tragic number: 12
Points: 71
Regulation wins: 20
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 7
Points pace: 77.6
Next game: @ STL (Thursday)
Playoff chances: 0.1%
Tragic number: 7
Points: 71
Regulation wins: 20
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 6
Points pace: 76.6
Next game: @ MTL (Saturday)
Playoff chances: ~0%
Tragic number: 5
Central Division
Points: 106
Regulation wins: 40
Playoff position: C1
Games left: 7
Points pace: 115.9
Next game: @ VGK (Thursday)
Playoff chances: 100%
Tragic number: N/A
Points: 102
Regulation wins: 40
Playoff position: C2
Games left: 8
Points pace: 113.0
Next game: vs. NSH (Thursday)
Playoff chances: 100%
Tragic number: N/A
Points: 96
Regulation wins: 38
Playoff position: C3
Games left: 6
Points pace: 103.6
Next game: @ CBJ (Thursday)
Playoff chances: 99.9%
Tragic number: N/A
Points: 89
Regulation wins: 33
Playoff position: WC1
Games left: 6
Points pace: 96.0
Next game: @ NYI (Friday)
Playoff chances: 93.7%
Tragic number: N/A
Points: 89
Regulation wins: 30
Playoff position: WC2
Games left: 6
Points pace: 96.0
Next game: vs. PIT (Thursday)
Playoff chances: 96.9%
Tragic number: N/A
Points: 80
Regulation wins: 26
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 7
Points pace: 87.5
Next game: vs. LA (Thursday)
Playoff chances: 0.7%
Tragic number: 6
Points: 62
Regulation wins: 23
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 7
Points pace: 67.8
Next game: @ DAL (Thursday)
Playoff chances: 0%
Tragic number: E
Points: 52
Regulation wins: 18
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 7
Points pace: 56.9
Next game: @ WSH (Friday)
Playoff chances: 0%
Tragic number: E
Pacific Division
Points: 98
Regulation wins: 42
Playoff position: P1
Games left: 8
Points pace: 108.6
Next game: vs. WPG (Thursday)
Playoff chances: 100%
Tragic number: N/A
Points: 93
Regulation wins: 37
Playoff position: P3
Games left: 8
Points pace: 103.1
Next game: @ UTA (Thursday)
Playoff chances: 99.9%
Tragic number: N/A
Points: 91
Regulation wins: 31
Playoff position: P2
Games left: 8
Points pace: 100.8
Next game: @ SJ (Thursday)
Playoff chances: 99.9%
Tragic number: N/A
Points: 82
Regulation wins: 26
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 8
Points pace: 90.9
Next game: vs. ANA (Thursday)
Playoff chances: 6.4%
Tragic number: 10
Points: 81
Regulation wins: 26
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 7
Points pace: 88.6
Next game: vs. ANA (Saturday)
Playoff chances: 2.4%
Tragic number: 7
Points: 74
Regulation wins: 23
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 8
Points pace: 82.0
Next game: @ CGY (Thursday)
Playoff chances: 0%
Tragic number: 2
Points: 70
Regulation wins: 26
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 6
Points pace: 75.5
Next game: @ SJ (Saturday)
Playoff chances: 0%
Tragic number: E
Points: 50
Regulation wins: 14
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 8
Points pace: 55.4
Next game: vs. EDM (Thursday)
Playoff chances: 0%
Tragic number: E
Note: An “x” means that the team has clinched a playoff berth. An “e” means that the team has been eliminated from playoff contention.
Race for the No. 1 pick
The NHL uses a draft lottery to determine the order of the first round, so the team that finishes in last place is not guaranteed the No. 1 selection. As of 2021, a team can move up a maximum of 10 spots if it wins the lottery, so only 11 teams are eligible for the No. 1 pick. Full details on the process are here. Matthew Schaefer, a defenseman for the OHL’s Erie Otters, is No. 1 on the draft board.
Points: 50
Regulation wins: 14
Points: 52
Regulation wins: 18
Points: 62
Regulation wins: 23
Points: 69
Regulation wins: 23
Points: 70
Regulation wins: 26
Points: 70
Regulation wins: 26
Points: 71
Regulation wins: 20
Points: 71
Regulation wins: 20
Points: 74
Regulation wins: 23
Points: 74
Regulation wins: 25
Points: 75
Regulation wins: 26
Points: 77
Regulation wins: 24
Points: 79
Regulation wins: 32
Points: 80
Regulation wins: 26
Points: 81
Regulation wins: 26
Points: 82
Regulation wins: 26
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