Just Google him: There’s more to Curt Cignetti than his viral moments
-
Adam Rittenberg, ESPN Senior Writer
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — About two hours before kickoff against Michigan, Indiana fans lined The Walk, a path from Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall to Memorial Stadium that the team traverses before games. Two fans standing near the start of The Walk wore T-shirts that read “Google Me” on the front and “Football School” on the back.
The areas south of the stadium were filled and festive, which was nothing new. Indiana has had a good tailgating scene before games. Getting those fans inside the stadium, meanwhile, has often been a chore.
Curt Cignetti has changed that and just about everything at Indiana. He came in saying things that would make even the most ardent Indiana fans blush as crimson as their sweaters. But he has backed up the bluster, not just winning games at a historic rate, but changing how people feel about Indiana football, where confidence is at an all-time high entering this week’s clash at No. 2 Ohio State.
“This is going to sound so cheesy,” said Cignetti’s son, also named Curt, “but just to see the sentiment change on Twitter, how these fans have gone from being doom and gloom or doubting to, suddenly, they’re super confident we’re winning every game, it’s unbelievable.”
Curt Jr. stood outside of the stadium before the Michigan game, tailgating with his mother, Manette, sisters Carly and Natalie and other family and friends. Not since 1968 had Indiana, the team with the most losses in FBS history (713), been favored against Michigan, the team with the most wins (1,009). But Indiana opened as a two-touchdown favorite — befitting a team that had won its first nine games by 14 points or more and leading the FBS in scoring margin.
Late at night, Curt Jr., 33, who lives in Ohio, and Carly, 31, who lives in New Orleans, will occasionally search the family name on Twitter. The scrolling doesn’t come from vanity or a search for validation. They knew their father was a great coach long before he stepped foot on the Indiana campus 356 days ago and lit it ablaze.
Cignetti’s kids aren’t the only ones doing vibe checks.
“I know for a fact he does, too, not Googling himself, but the Indiana community,” Curt Jr. said of his dad. “He sends stuff to our group chat. He sees that it’s not just players that are buying in, but the community, and that’s been his goal the whole time.”
This fall, college football has discovered Cignetti, a 63-year-old lifer in the sport, who was at Elon six years ago, IU-Pennsylvania eight years ago, has never had a losing season and has Indiana at 10-0 for the first time and in the College Football Playoff hunt.
“I think he’s been a good coach for a long time,” former Alabama coach Nick Saban said on “The Pat McAfee Show” before IU played Washington. Cignetti was on Saban’s first staff from 2007 to 2010. “He just had success at programs that … people didn’t pay that much attention to. But if you evaluate his success rate, it was very, very good. Now he’s at someplace people notice.”
Cignetti’s results aren’t new, but two things are: The stage he occupies at IU and the soundtrack to his success, the viral quotes that have sent shock waves through Bloomington and beyond.
“Hey, look, I’m super fired up about this opportunity. I’ve never taken a back seat to anybody and don’t plan on starting now. Purdue sucks! But so does Michigan and Ohio State! Go IU!” — Curt Cignetti, Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, Bloomington, Dec. 1, 2023
With 33 words in 25 seconds, interrupted by increasing bursts of roars, Cignetti changed the tenor at Indiana. Newly hired football coaches are often introduced at basketball games. They usually begin their remarks like Cignetti did that night. Sometimes they will poke at a rival.
But the pivot Cignetti made, not just to put down Purdue, which leads the all-time series with Indiana 77-42-6, but Big Ten heavies Ohio State and Michigan, which at the time were a combined 88-4-1 against the Hoosiers since 1968, was exceptionally bold.
“I was just shocked,” said Manette Cignetti, who joined her husband that night. “I did not expect anything like that. I just laughed. It was fun to be in the moment.”
Indiana athletic director Scott Dolson, a former student manager for Bob Knight’s basketball teams at the school, had heard a few spicy things said inside Assembly Hall through the years. Dolson had known Cignetti for only five days, connecting with him hours after announcing a coaching change.
During the interview and hiring process, Cignetti came across as “not arrogant, not cocky, but he’s extremely confident, he’s extremely authentic,” Dolson recalled. The declaration at center court didn’t directly connect with Cignetti’s personality, but it was done for a reason.
“Afterwards, he came up to me and said, ‘Hey, I got a little carried away, because I just wanted to see if our fans were asleep or were they dead,'” Dolson said. “And he said, ‘It’s good to see that they were just sleeping.’ From the start, he wanted to set a tone that it’s not the same doom and gloom. We can get this done.”
Cignetti needed only a few hours on campus earlier that day to assess the “hopeless” mood at IU. He had taken over a struggling program before, at Elon, an FCS team that was 12-45 in the five years before he arrived in 2017 and then proceeded to record consecutive top-20 finishes. When he arrived with Saban at Alabama in 2007, the program was coming off of a 6-7 season, and would go 7-6 in Saban’s first year before beginning its historic run.
Indiana seemingly had a steeper climb, both in its performance and confidence levels.
“It created a lot of buzz in Hoosier Nation,” Cignetti said of his basketball court battle cry. “I’m sure some people didn’t like it, and I’m sure people in Big Ten country thought I was a nut. But I think there was an excitement level before the season started. They were starving for success.”
Indiana offensive lineman Mike Katic wasn’t at Assembly Hall for Cignetti’s introduction, but he and his teammates soon got word of what their new coach had said. Cignetti’s message was for the fans — “something to turn their heads,” Katic said — but he struck a similar tone inside a locker room that had gone 9-27 during the previous three seasons.
Seven or eight players didn’t show for his first team meeting. Many had or would soon enter the transfer portal.
“I told them, ‘We’re going to win. We’ve won everywhere we’ve been. There will be no self-imposed limitations on what we can accomplish,'” Cignetti said. “They were listening. They were kind of slouched down in their chairs. They were probably beaten down a little bit.”
Katic and his teammates soon learned Cignetti-isms, phrases like “fast, physical, relentless” and “every play has a life of its own,” which the coach would pepper them with during the offseason.
“He took Saban’s process and made it his own,” one former Cignetti assistant said. “It’s a lot of the same foundational principles that Saban had. He’s not going to worry about anybody’s feelings.”
Cignetti brought seven assistants from James Madison, including all of his coordinators, and would add several key JMU transfers, including defensive linemen James Carpenter and Mikail Kamara, linebackers Aiden Fisher and Jailin Walker, wide receiver Elijah Sarratt, cornerback D’Angelo Ponds and running back Ty Son Lawton.
The newcomers helped shift the mood, but it started at the top.
“He had this swagger and this moxie to him that I hadn’t seen from a head coach in my career,” Katic said. “He didn’t say a whole lot, but we knew there was going to be a standard here, that it’s not going to be the old Indiana. This is a new Indiana. This is a whole new recipe and a whole new mantra to Indiana football.”
“It’s pretty simple. I win. Google me.” — Cignetti, signing day news conference, Bloomington, Dec. 23, 2023
Cignetti’s most famous line at Indiana, delivered in response to a question about how he would compile his first roster with key holdovers and talented transfers, is also instructive in understanding his life and career.
His father, Frank Cignetti Sr., is a 2013 College Football Hall of Fame inductee who went 182-50-1 at IU-Pennsylvania, twice reaching the Division II national title game. Frank was a high school coach before serving as an assistant at Pitt, Princeton and West Virginia, where he worked under Bobby Bowden and then replaced Bowden as head coach. Saban served as Frank Cignetti’s defensive backs coach at WVU in 1978 and 1979.
“We loved going to practice, we loved the games, oh my God, we loved being on the sideline, being in the locker room, being in the office,” said Frank Cignetti Jr., Curt’s younger brother and a longtime college and NFL coach. “Think about the people we were around, Bobby Bowden and Bowdens, Tommy, Terry and those guys.”
The Cignetti home on Dogwood Avenue in Morgantown, West Virginia, was a hub for athletic activity and competition. Frank Sr. never pushed his sons toward football, but they rushed to the sport.
In late 1978, Curt’s senior year of high school, Frank was diagnosed with lymphoid granulomatosis, a rare form of cancer.
“He was given his last rites twice,” Curt recalled. “But he beat it and lived 43 more years.”
Frank was fired after the 1979 season, despite a strong finish. He stayed out of football for two years to secure life insurance, Curt said, before taking the job at IUP, his alma mater, in 2011. Frank taught Curt that preparation breeds confidence, while lack of preparation breeds doubt and anxiety. Curt is a football grinder, arriving at his office before dawn, and ending his days watching film and devising schemes in the 35-year-old, teal beaded recliner that he has brought to his different coaching stops.
Frank Cignetti Sr. also taught the importance of positive energy and hope, which helped him as a coach and during his illness.
“We grew up in a household where there wasn’t much doom and gloom,” Frank Jr. said. “We had great belief in each other and ourselves.”
Curt has taken the Cignetti philosophy to the extreme at Indiana.
“If he was alive last year when I took this job, he’d have called me up [and said], ‘What are you doing?'” Curt said of Frank Sr., who died in 2022. “But my dad was a confident guy, hard worker, high character guy, would say what was on his mind. He’d think I’m half-crazy with some of the things I’ve said. I’d have been scolded. But it probably comes from him.”
After playing quarterback at West Virginia, Curt began his coaching career, making stops at Pitt, Davidson, Rice, Temple, Pitt again and NC State before joining Saban’s first Alabama staff in 2007 as wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator. He had jobs that he chose to pass up and was passed over for others.
As he approached his 50th birthday, he knew he didn’t want to be a career assistant, even for someone like Saban. The first opportunity to lead was a familiar one, IU-Pennsylvania, where his dad was a legend, his brother had played and where his wife had grown up. But there were risks.
“We had two kids that were in college, and it was a 60 percent [pay cut],” Manette Cignetti said. “It’s not about the money with me, but it’s: How do I make what [the kids] want to do happen?”
She told Curt: “You can’t take that job.'”
Saban had a similar reaction. You can get lost down there, he warned. But Cignetti had absorbed enough from the great coaches — Saban, Johnny Majors at Pitt, Frank Sr. — to know he was ready to be one. The pull eventually brought him back to IUP.
“You don’t see that move in this business,” he said. “I took a chance on me, and I woke up many mornings wondering what I’d done. But I was going to make it work.”
“Normally at these things, I stand up here and we’re picked to win the league. It’s just usually how it’s been. I have been picked next-to-last twice. We’re picked 17th out of an 18-team league, and I get it. The two times we were picked next-to-last, in 2022, we won the conference championship, and in 2017, we inherited an 8-45 team and … played for the conference championship. Now, I’m not into making predictions. That’s just a historical fact.” — Cignetti, July 25, Big Ten media days, Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis
Curt Cignetti didn’t always exude so much confidence. When he first got to IUP, he would come home after games and ask his family about players, playcalling and in-game strategy.
“I used to love that as a kid,” Natalie Cignetti, 28, said. “I feel like over time, he asked us less questions, because he gets it now and he doesn’t need anyone else’s opinion.”
Cignetti took over an IUP program that had slipped a bit, but quickly started winning. He won 12 games and reached the Division II quarterfinal in his second season and then won nine or more games in three of his final four seasons before leaving for Elon.
His next stop brought him to James Madison, a top FCS program. Percy Agyei-Obese, a James Madison running back for Cignetti from 2019 to 2022, remembered Cignetti saying how he had beaten JMU while at Elon, which had never defeated a top-5 team at the Division I level. Cignetti then led James Madison to the national final in his first season and then made the semifinals in consecutive years.
“Every year, he had the mindset of, ‘We’re going to win it all,'” Agyei-Obese said. “Whoever’s in front of us, we’re going to beat them, every single game. Even when we moved up to the FBS, it’s just like any team, we will beat them. He was not afraid, and that’s how my mindset was. Just him saying that game after game, that ‘We will beat this team, we’re going to win it all. They can put whoever they want. They can put Alabama in front of us. We will get the job done.'”
Former James Madison quarterback Cole Johnson said the Indiana version of Cignetti is the same guy who won big at JMU. The difference: Cignetti “wasn’t so outwardly confident” before.
“So much of that was kind of kept within the program,” Johnson said. “To see some of the stuff, ‘I win. Google me,’ I don’t think it’s him being cocky. It’s just the type of person he is.”
In 2022, James Madison transitioned to the FBS and the Sun Belt, and was picked to finish sixth in the seven-team East Division. The Dukes went 6-2 in league games, winning four by 22 points or more, and tying for first place.
Jeff Bourne, the longtime James Madison athletic director who hired Cignetti, recalled a decisive road victory in a game where the Dukes entered as a significant underdog. Before the bus ride home, Bourne approached Cignetti.
“We gave each other a big hug, and it’s like, ‘Can you believe that?'” Bourne said. “People didn’t give us a lot of credit that we could play at that level, and to dominate the way that we did was amazing.”
Bourne describes Cignetti as disciplined and organized, a “lifelong learner.” Cignetti didn’t hassle Bourne or complain about what JMU lacked, but spoke up about the things he really needed.
“He was never arrogant about it,” Bourne said. “It was just, ‘We need to be prepared in order to win.’ I just don’t think they come along often like him. He’s a really good leader, and good leaders can make some really special things happen.”
Cignetti thought he could keep winning at JMU and retire there. But when conversions accelerated at Indiana, including with Dolson and university president Pamela Whitten, he sensed the school wanted to change its trajectory.
The Big Ten’s media rights deal had caught his eye, and he believed that the mix of Indiana’s resources and his method and résumé would guarantee success. Indiana’s alumni network, one of the world’s largest, also got Cignetti’s attention.
“He said, ‘Scott, if I just have average resources, I will win,'” Dolson said.
There was another draw, too.
“People were like, ‘Don’t touch that job, you can’t win there,’ and that lit a fire in him,” Manette Cignetti said. “He was like, ‘Why can’t you win there? It doesn’t make any sense.’ He had a really good record, he likes his record, so that’s motivation to win, too.”
“I figured I had to make this trip up here, since we’ll be playing in this game next year.” — Cignetti, Dec. 1, Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, to Big Ten Network ahead of the 2023 league championship game
When the Hoosiers took the field against Michigan, a sellout crowd waved towels with Cignetti’s motto: “Fast, physical, relentless.” Many wore T-shirts and hoodies with “CIGNETTI,” modeled with the Marlboro cigarette logo and font, which are flying off the shelves at apparel stores near campus.
The scene looked different for Cignetti’s IU debut on Aug. 31. Indiana drew 44,150 for its opener but many left after the Hoosiers built a big halftime lead, leading Cignetti to wonder, “What’s going on here?”
The crowd actually dipped below 40,000 the following week but has swelled during Big Ten play. Indiana’s past three home games have been sellouts. The Michigan game drew 53,082 people.
“It just continues to grow and build,” Cignetti said. “It’s way over the top. It’s like a movement.”
Several hours later, Indiana clung to a 20-15 lead over Michigan, facing its first nail-biter of the season. Dolson and Whitten stood together on the Hoosiers sideline, watching nervously as fans roared and whipped their Cignetti-themed towels. The game carried extra tension for Cignetti and his family. Natalie’s boyfriend, Trent VanHorn, planned to propose to her on the field, ideally after a win. Curt learned of the plan the night before and, according to Manette, knew the pressure was on.
The Hoosiers prevailed, Natalie said yes and Curt tweeted a picture of the videoboard, which read: “Natalie, every day with you is 10-0. Will you marry me?” The good news continued during Indiana’s open week, as Cignetti agreed to a new eight-year, $72 million contract that more than doubled his annual salary.
Great way to cap off a gritty win!#GOIU pic.twitter.com/8xyr9Yov6H
— Curt Cignetti (@CCignettiIU) November 10, 2024
The coach reacted to the contract with another gem, telling Fox, “We’re the emerging superpower in college football. Why would I leave?”
Cignetti’s zingers are intertwined with his Indiana tenure, but, according to his family, also a bit misleading.
“You read people on the internet and they’re like, ‘I can’t stand Curt Cignetti. What an egomaniac,'” Carly Cignetti said. “That is like the complete opposite. But I get that it’s their impression of him if they’ve only seen the viral clips.”
Curt Jr. puts it this way: “When he got here, he just realized that everybody had this disproportionately negative view of what was possible. I honestly think it pissed him off. He’s very aware of: You need to change how people think. That’s why he did what he did.”
Curt Sr. also continues to be proven right. His proclamation with the Big Ten Network crew in December 2023 was greeted with chuckles and a clarification from host Dave Revsine, who asked Cignetti, “Are you willing to go on record with that prediction?”
“I am on record!” Cignetti replied.
No one is laughing now about Indiana getting to Indianapolis. The Hoosiers can essentially punch their title game ticket Saturday. Ohio State has won 29 straight against Indiana, the longest streak by a Big Ten team against a conference opponent. The Hoosiers are 12.5-point underdogs.
A win will all but guarantee Indiana’s first College Football Playoff berth. Even a competitive loss would make it tough for the selection committee to keep Cignetti’s crew out. Cignetti should sweep the national coaching awards.
The night before the Michigan game, Natalie Cignetti found her dad in his room, unplugging for a few minutes to eat dinner and watch TV. She asked him if he started to get excited about the playoff possibility. In typical coach fashion, Curt replied that he was only focused on the Michigan game.
If Indiana makes the CFP, though, Curt Cignetti won’t be surprised. He expected it and predicted it, and Hoosiers everywhere have listened.
“I’ve been around here a long time, and we’ve had some unbelievable moments,” Dolson said. “But relative to football, this is different. And it’s different because people’s confidence is different.”
ST. LOUIS — Pavel Buchnevich scored three goals for his first career playoff hat trick and added an assist as the St. Louis Blues beat the Winnipeg Jets 7-2 in Game 3 of their first-round series on Thursday night.
Cam Fowler had a goal and four assists, and Jordan Kyrou, Alexey Toropchenko and Colton Parayko also scored, and Robert Thomas had three assists to help the Blues cut the Jets’ series lead to 2-1. Jordan Binnington made 17 saves.
David Gustafsson and Neal Pionk scored for the Jets, who won the first two games in Winnipeg. Connor Hellebuyck gave up six goals on 25 shots before being pulled midway through the third period. Eric Comrie stopped two of the three shots he faced.
Game 4 is in St. Louis on Sunday, with Game 5 in Winnipeg on Wednesday.
Buchnevich, who had just one goal in 22 previous postseason games, gave the Blues an early lead with two goals in the game’s opening minutes. He got it going just 48 seconds in by kicking the puck off his stick and into the net, and then he tipped Thomas’ shot for a power-play goal at 3:11.
Fowler, who assisted on the first two goals, made it 3-0 with 4:09 left in the opening period.
Buchnevich and Fowler became the first Blues teammates with three points in a period of a playoff game since Al MacInnis and Chris Pronger in Game 3 of the 1998 West quarterfinals against the Kings.
Binnington robbed Cole Perfetti of a power-play goal midway through the second that would have gotten Winnipeg back in it. Perfetti and the Jets thought the puck crossed the goal line in Binnington’s glove, but after a lengthy league-initiated review, the save stood.
Buchnevich’s third goal, at 5:24 of the third period, came less than a minute after Gustafsson gave the Jets some momentum with his first of the playoffs.
Kyrou had a power-play goal at 7:56 and Toropchenko scored with 9:28 left to make it 6-1 and chase Hellebuyck.
Pionk had a power-play goal for the Jets 2 1/2 minutes later, but Parayko got the Blues’ third goal with the man-advantage with 3:43 remaining to close the scoring.
We’re just about at the one-month mark of the 2025 MLB season — meaning, yes, it’s still too early to give much credence to the standings, but there are quite a few surprises nonetheless.
Just 2.5 games separate four teams — three of which have winning percentages above .600 — in the NL West, as the National League is shaping up to be packed with many powerful playoff-contending squads. And in the NL East, the current basement dweller, in a division that includes the Marlins and Nationals … is still the Braves?!
Meanwhile, in the American League, while the Yankees are playing as well as projected, a number of teams are hovering around .500, the Orioles are scuffling and the Twins have the second-worst record in the league.
What will the month of May bring for these clubs? Will they be able to carry — or change — their momentum?
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 Jorge Castillo, Alden Gonzalez and Bradford Doolittle to weigh in with an observation for all 30 teams.
Record: 16-9
Previous ranking: 2
The Dodgers spent the offseason loading up their roster in hopes that they would become almost immune to the attrition that plagues teams throughout the season. Their pitching depth has been compromised nonetheless. Tony Gonsolin (back), Blake Snell (shoulder), Blake Treinen (forearm) and Michael Kopech (forearm) were added to the injured list before the end of the season’s first full month. And though none of their aforementioned injuries are considered serious — for now, at least — they offer yet another reminder of how delicate pitching depth can be. The Dodgers, meanwhile, have won in spite of that. Not at the rate many expected them to, perhaps, but enough to keep them among the sport’s elite. — Gonzalez
Record: 17-8
Previous ranking: 1
Any thought that the Padres’ deflating NL Division Series loss and the underwhelming offseason that followed it would weaken their resolve in 2025 has been grossly misplaced. They’ve stormed out of the gate with the second-best record in baseball, winning each of their first seven games and claiming five of their first six series. Nick Pivetta has been a revelation. Fernando Tatis Jr. is displaying a newfound patience that has made him look like the best player in the sport. The bullpen has been dominant. But what has stood out most is the energy of the Padres’ home environment and how their players continue to feed off it. They are 12-1 at Petco Park this season, a place that has seen their pitching staff post a 1.30 ERA. — Gonzalez
Record: 18-7
Previous ranking: 3
Don’t look now but the Mets are on fire — and the fans at Citi Field are getting very excited. The raucous atmosphere at the ballpark during the Mets’ extra-inning game against the Phillies on Wednesday came through even on the broadcast. That’s not surprising for a team that entered the season with high expectations and, so far, has more than met them. A starting rotation that seemed to lack star power when the season began has been one of the best units in the majors. The rotation’s average game score (56) ranks just behind MLB-leading Texas and its ERA (a sparkling 2.29) is easily the best in the majors. — Doolittle
Record: 15-10
Previous ranking: 7
If it wasn’t obvious last year, Aaron Judge is still proving he’s the best hitter on the planet — and it’s not particularly close. The two-time AL MVP has been Bondsian (should it just be Judgian at this point?) again to start the season. He leads the majors in batting average (.415), OBP (.513), slugging (.734) and OPS (1.247), and is tied for second in RBIs (26), to name a few categories.
Remember: Last season, he slashed .322/.458/.701 with 58 home runs — and won MVP — after a middling start through the beginning of May. In 150 games since May 3 last year, he’s batting .367 with 59 home runs, 152 RBIs and a 1.273 OPS. It has been an unreal stretch — going back, really, to his 62-homer season in 2022 — that we haven’t seen since Barry Bonds was splashing balls into McCovey Cove. — Castillo
Record: 16-9
Previous ranking: 4
When franchise icon Buster Posey assumed the role of president of baseball operations, he set out to build the Giants into a team that would win on the strength of pitching and defense. That, Posey said he believed, was key to thriving at a place like Oracle Park, which traditionally saps offense. But while that develops, the Giants have enjoyed a much-needed spark of offense from Jung Hoo Lee, who’s slashing .333/.388/.581 with 10 doubles. Lee’s rookie season of 2024 was plagued by a torn labrum. The Giants couldn’t truly catch a glimpse for how his elite bat-to-ball skills would translate within Oracle Park’s spacious outfield. They have now. — Gonzalez
Record: 14-10
Previous ranking: 8
When it comes to Arizona’s lineup, Corbin Carroll is the spark plug, Josh Naylor was brought in to provide punch in the middle of it and Geraldo Perdomo is one of its most crucial — yet unheralded — contributors. Their production was to be expected. But Pavin Smith‘s has been a welcomed sight. The 29-year-old left-handed hitter put together a really solid 60-game sample last season and has taken that to a new level in the first month, batting almost .400 while boasting the second-highest slugging percentage among those with at least 70 plate appearances. The D-backs never really replaced Joc Pederson‘s production at designated hitter with any outside acquisitions. Smith has shown they didn’t need to. — Gonzalez
Record: 16-10
Previous ranking: 6
On two occasions in five days, both teams scored at least 10 runs in a game at Wrigley Field. On Friday, the Cubs beat the D-backs 13-11 by scoring five runs in the seventh inning and six runs in the eighth. On Tuesday, they trailed the Dodgers by three runs heading into the bottom of the eighth and wound up beating them 11-10 in the 10th. It spoke to the early identity of this Cubs team. With Justin Steele out for the season and their bullpen a mess, the Cubs might have to slug their way to the top of the NL Central. And with the likes of Kyle Tucker, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Seiya Suzuki, Michael Busch and Carson Kelly off to strong starts, they just might. — Gonzalez
Record: 13-12
Previous ranking: 5
President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski has been able to cobble together contention-worthy bullpens for the most part during his time with the Phillies, but his wizardry in that area has been tested early. The Phillies have gotten solid enough work from the trio of Jose Alvarado, Matt Strahm and Tanner Banks, but pretty much every other reliever has struggled. Of particular concern is veteran right-hander Jordan Romano, who inked a one-year, $8.5 million free agent deal with Philadelphia over the winter. Romano’s early-season ERA is an unsightly 13.50 and he has given up two or more runs in four of his 10 outings. — Doolittle
Record: 15-10
Previous ranking: 9
It took longer than projected, but right-hander Casey Mize and first baseman Spencer Torkelson are finally realizing their potential together as former No. 1 overall picks in consecutive years. The 28-year-old Mize, the top pick in 2017, has been the best starter in a rotation featuring Tarik Skubal with a 2.22 ERA and 0.95 WHIP in four starts despite just a 18.9% strikeout rate after posting a 4.49 ERA last season. Torkelson, meanwhile, is slashing .264/.373/.571 with seven home runs in 25 games. The 2018 No. 1 pick has already accumulated 1.1 fWAR (his career high is 1.5, which he set in 2023 when he slugged a career-high 31 homers). — Castillo
Record: 14-10
Previous ranking: 10
The Rangers’ solid early pitching has helped them establish an early lead in the AL West despite a negative run differential. They will be hard-pressed to remain on that perch if their aggressive offense doesn’t start producing when it’s not hitting home runs. Texas is in the bottom five of the majors in swinging at first pitches, walks and scoring runs, and only four teams have relied more on homers to score. The ambush approach has worked for their attack in the past, but so far this year, it has not. — Doolittle
Record: 14-12
Previous ranking: 9
The Rafael Devers predicament is no longer an issue. The third baseman-turned-DH reverted to his usual self since that historically dreadful start (0-for-19 with 15 strikeouts), batting .253 with 13 RBIs and seven doubles since April 2. And yet, strangely, the Red Sox have struggled to consistently produce high-scoring outputs. Boston has scored four or fewer runs in 13 of 21 games this month. It’s baffling for a lineup with that much firepower — especially considering four regulars have an OPS of at least .820. — Castillo
Record: 14-10
Previous ranking: 11
It’s shaping up to be another year of the so-called experts (Who, me?) overlooking the Guardians and another year of the Guardians stomping on low expectations. At least so far. They’re 14-10 despite a minus-five run differential and closer Emmanuel Clase‘s 7.84 ERA. Steven Kwan is batting .337. Kyle Manzardo has seven home runs. Jose Ramirez has an .824 OPS with five homers and four steals. Logan Allen has a 2.11 ERA through four starts. Clase’s struggles after a historically great season are alarming, but Hunter Gaddis (no runs over 9⅔ innings), Cade Smith (1.38 ERA), Jakob Junis (1.64 ERA), Joey Cantillo (1.35 ERA) and Tim Herrin (2.00 ERA) have sparkled out of the bullpen. The Guardians just keep humming along in a very winnable AL Central. — Castillo
Record: 13-12
Previous ranking: 19
Things looked quite bleak for the Brewers early. They lost their first four games, during which their staff gave up a combined 47 runs. It looked like the start of a long year in Milwaukee. Then the Brewers did what they’re best known for — win, regardless of who’s gone or who’s hurt. Since the first day of April, they have won 13 of 21 games to keep pace with the Cubs in the NL Central. During that stretch, their rotation has put together a 2.34 ERA, second only to the Mets for the major league lead — even though seven starting pitchers currently make up Milwaukee’s IL. — Gonzalez
Record: 13-11
Previous ranking: 21
The Astros appear to have a new ace in Hunter Brown, who has been one of baseball’s best pitchers during the opening month. Brown has strung together three straight scoreless outings, lowering his season ERA to 1.16. The early-season star of Brown’s arsenal has been a four-seamer that has picked up 1.3 mph in average velocity over last season, per Statcast. Opponents are 2-for-35 against Brown’s heater in 2025 and the assigned run value of the four-seamer (plus-7) puts it in a tie with the slider of Miami’s Max Meyer as the most valuable pitch in all of baseball so far. — Doolittle
Record: 10-14
Previous ranking: 18
The Braves have more or less bounced back from their winless season-opening trip, a skid that dropped them from ESPN’s preseason No. 2 team to the middle of the pack. Yet all is not well in Cobb County. Good news: Spencer Strider made a triumphant return to the majors last week. Bad news: He made a frustrating return to the IL not long after. Luckily, his hamstring strain was classified as Grade 1 and if all goes well, his IL stint won’t be a long one. Still, his one-start return is apropos for an elite team that has struggled to build momentum. — Doolittle
Record: 13-11
Previous ranking: 15
The disconnect between the home and road versions of Seattle’s offense is reaching absurd levels. At T-Mobile Park, the Mariners remain punchless, hitting .226 as a team while scoring at a rate (3.6 runs) better than only three other teams in their respective home venues. On the road, they are the punchers, hitting .267 with a top five road scoring average in baseball.
An avatar in that is third baseman Dylan Moore, fresh off winning AL Player of the Week honors, boosted by the fact that the M’s are on a road trip. For the season, Moore is hitting .200/.333/.350 in Seattle with one homer. On the road, he’s at .311/.340/.600 with four homers. Maybe the Mariners’ hitters could petition to play all their games on the road? — Doolittle
Record: 12-13
Previous ranking: 13
The Blue Jays have enjoyed a solid first month, which registers as a success after last year’s last-place debacle. But the first month of the season will be remembered for their decision to give Vladimir Guerrero Jr. a $500-million contract. Whether that investment pans out will make or break the franchise’s future. Stringing together a few solid months to remain within striking distance at the trade deadline would be a good start. — Castillo
Record: 12-13
Previous ranking: 17
The Reds’ offense has mostly underperformed — minus a 24-run onslaught against the Orioles on Easter Sunday — but their pitching has been mostly solid. And the most encouraging signs have come from their two young frontline starters, Hunter Greene and Nick Lodolo, who have clearly taken big steps forward. The two have combined for a 2.56 ERA through their first 10 starts. Greene, whose fastball is averaging 99 mph, has struck out 35 batters and issued only six walks in 30⅔ innings. Andrew Abbott, meanwhile, was activated off the IL around mid-April and has given up only two runs in 11 innings. — Gonzalez
Record: 10-14
Previous ranking: 12
For all the work done to make Steinbrenner Field feel like home, the fact is that the Rays are still without one. That was obvious over the weekend when the Yankees traveled to Tampa to take three of four games as the visiting team in their spring training ballpark. The Rays have played all but five games at their temporary residence, going 9-10 after having their schedule changed to frontload home games to avoid the summer heat and rain. They’ll need to be better than that to make noise in the AL East. — Castillo
Record: 9-14
Previous ranking: 20
The Orioles’ chief concern entering the season was their starting pitching, and it’s proved to be a very real problem — one without an obvious solution. They have the highest starters’ ERA in baseball by nearly a half-run. Charlie Morton, their $15 million free agent addition, has a league-worst 10.89 ERA in 20⅔ innings through five starts. Dean Kremer has a 6.84 ERA after yielding eight extra-base hits to the Nationals on Tuesday. Cade Povich has a 6.38 ERA. Zach Eflin, their Opening Day starter, was put on the IL because of a lat strain after three starts. Grayson Rodriguez and Albert Suarez began the season on the IL because of shoulder injuries and their returns aren’t imminent. This is a weakness that could bury Baltimore in the standings before long. — Castillo
Record: 10-14
Previous ranking: 16
Kansas City ranks last in baseball in runs scored per game, averaging fewer than three. Bobby Witt Jr. is raking again and Maikel Garcia has been a pleasant surprise, but other than that, it has been ugly. Vinnie Pasquantino has a .186/.260/.314 slash line. Salvador Perez also has struggled with a .185 batting average and .528 OPS. This has all amplified the fan base’s cries for the club to call up top prospect Jac Caglianone as soon as possible.
Caglianone was the team’s first-round pick at No. 6 last year. He possesses perhaps the best raw power across the minors, but the first baseman has played only 16 games above Double-A. As an elite two-way player in college, he could be capable of playing the outfield, but he has played only first base as a pro, so there isn’t an obvious positional fit. But his bat could force its way to Kansas City soon enough. — Castillo
Record: 10-15
Previous ranking: 23
The Cardinals turned some heads with a season-opening sweep of the Twins, but now they’re right about where we expected — five games below .500 in the wake of a brutal 1-6 trip and battling the typical inconsistency of a mediocre-to-bad team. Brendan Donovan has been red hot; the likes of Nolan Arenado, Lars Nootbaar and Victor Scott II have provided encouraging signs; and key members of their staff, most notably Sonny Gray and Steven Matz, have pitched well. But there has been at least as much bad to counteract the good.
Case in point: Miles Mikolas took the mound with a 7.64 ERA on Wednesday afternoon and proceeded to throw six scoreless innings against the Braves. The Cardinals lost anyway. They scored only once. — Gonzalez
Record: 11-12
Previous ranking: 22
After a hot — and surprising — start, the Angels have started to level off, dropping back to .500 with a run differential well below break even. The bullpen has been a problem area despite a near-perfect start to the season from veteran closer Kenley Jansen. One glimmer of hope from that group is 27-year-old right-hander Ryan Zeferjahn, who, despite logging only 6⅔ innings this season, ranks fourth on the Halos with 14 strikeouts. He’s whiffing batters at a rate of 18.9 per nine innings — or more than two per frame. He also has given up a couple of homers, but the raw talent certainly seems to be there for Zeferjahn to work a high-leverage role. — Doolittle
Record: 11-13
Previous ranking: 26
For all the early talk about Sutter Health Park being a new hitter’s paradise in MLB, the Athletics’ immediate problem is that their opponents have done a much better job of playing to its conditions. The A’s lost eight of their first 10 home games in Sacramento, and while the ugly home/road splits of the pitching staff might be expected, the much bigger surprise is that their hitters have also been better on the road. The difference has primarily been homers: 13 long balls in 11 games at home; 22 in 13 games on the road. — Doolittle
Record: 11-13
Previous ranking: 25
The Marlins have held their own in the win column over the first month, though they hold one of the NL’s worst run differentials. Still, as long as Miami is hovering around .500, it’s probably not fair to turn the focus to what so many see as the inevitability of a Sandy Alcantara trade. Nevertheless, whether you’re tracking Alcantara for trade value purposes or you’re holding out hope that the Marlins can be a surprise contender, the better he pitches, the better off you’ll be. Alas, Alcantara is not yet back to his pre-injury, Cy Young form. A quality start against Cincinnati on Wednesday lowered his ERA to 6.56 but his K/9 (6.56, matching the ERA) and BB/9 (4.63) are both well off his presurgery standard. — Doolittle
Record: 9-15
Previous ranking: 24
The Twins couldn’t overcome injuries in 2024, collapsing down the stretch to fall out of postseason contention, and it looks as if they won’t be able to overcome injuries in 2025 either. Royce Lewis, the talented but oft-injured infielder, sustained a hamstring injury during spring training and hasn’t played in a game yet. Right-hander Pablo Lopez, the club’s Opening Day starter, landed on the IL because of his own hamstring injury after three starts. An oblique strain has kept utilityman Willi Castro, an All-Star last season, off the field since April 16. The Twins, meanwhile, have sunk to fourth place in the competitive AL Central, ahead of only the White Sox. — Castillo
Record: 11-13
Previous ranking: 27
Is it too soon to be on record watch? Probably, but the Nationals have lots of reasons to be excited about MacKenzie Gore, who is on pace to make a run at 300 strikeouts this season. He already has produced a pair of 13-strikeout starts and was leading the NL in whiffs after his last start against Colorado. The Nationals’ single-season mark is 300 on the nose, established by Max Scherzer in 2018. The champ from the Expos portion of the franchise’s history is Pedro Martinez, who struck out 305 in 1997. It’s heady company for Gore, long touted as an elite prospect who is on the verge of establishing himself as an elite big league pitcher. — Doolittle
Record: 10-15
Previous ranking: 28
The Pirates’ first month has been marked by controversy. The opening homestand was tainted by the removal of Roberto Clemente signage in the right-field portion of PNC Park. Then there were the personalized fan bricks that were extracted from outside the ballpark without an initial explanation. Then came this past Saturday — a day when fans lined the Clemente Bridge to receive a Paul Skenes bobblehead, then crammed into the ballpark and filled the air with “sell the team” chants for Pirates’ frugal owner Bob Nutting. Skenes, who will start at Dodger Stadium on Friday, continues to look dominant, posting a 2.87 ERA through his first five starts. But everything around him continues to be a mess. — Gonzalez
Record: 5-19
Previous ranking: 29
The White Sox are losing far more than they’re winning. That’s expected and won’t alter their long-term plans. But Luis Robert Jr. not being good could have a significant impact. Ideally, the veteran center fielder would have dashed to a fast start and had contenders throwing trade offers with top-end prospects at the White Sox to sort through before the trade deadline. But Robert is slashing .145/.267/.250 with 27 strikeouts in 22 games. That won’t attract the kind of haul the White Sox seek as they continue their painfully thorough rebuild. — Castillo
Record: 4-18
Previous ranking: 30
It was a mere three weeks into the season when the Rockies determined that a drastic change was necessary. On the afternoon of April 17, they announced the firing of hitting coach Hensley Meulens and replaced him with longtime manager Clint Hurdle, who had taken on an advisory role with the organization. The Rockies were in the midst of a six-game losing streak then, during which they had accumulated only 12 runs — seven of which had come the night before. Things have not gotten much better since. Hurdle, of course, is no wizard. The Rockies hold the third-lowest OPS in the majors and its worst record, all while playing in the sport’s most difficult division. It will be another long season in Colorado. — Gonzalez
OTTAWA, Ontario — Simon Benoit scored on a slap shot from the point at 1:19 of overtime to give the Toronto Maple Leafs a 3-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators and a 3-0 lead in the first-round series.
Auston Matthews won a faceoff back to Benoit at the left point, and the defenseman fired a low shot through traffic that beat goalie Linus Ullmark to far post.
Toronto also won 3-2 in overtime — on Max Domi‘s early goal- – at home Tuesday night. Game 4 is Saturday night in Ottawa.
Matthews and Matthew Knies also scored for Toronto, and Anthony Stolarz made 18 saves.
Brady Tkachuk and Claude Giroux scored for Ottawa. Ullmark stopped 17 shots.
Tkachuk tied it at 2 for Ottawa with 8:38 left in regulation. On a rush, he beat Stolarz with a low wrist shot from the high slot.
Matthews gave Toronto a 2-1 lead 32 seconds into the third, scoring from close range off Mitch Marner‘s pass from behind the goal.
The teams traded power-play goals in the second period. Giroux opened the scoring for Ottawa at 1:38, and Knies tied it at 8:31.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway