MLB Power Rankings: A new No. 1 and a top-5 debut
After three weeks in which Detroit ruled our rankings, the Dodgers are back on top in Week 13.
That’s not the only big change in our top 10, as the Mets fall from third to No. 7 after dropping 10** of their past 12 games and the Astros crack the top five for the first time this season. Plus, Milwaukee makes its top-10 debut as rookie pitcher Jacob Misiorowski continues his blazing start to his MLB career.
Our expert panel has ranked 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.
And with teams playing their 81st games this week — marking the official midway point of the 2025 season — we asked ESPN MLB experts Buster Olney, Alden Gonzalez and Jesse Rogers to define the first half for all 30 teams, whether that’s a stat, trend, player or moment. Here’s what they had to say.
Record: 50-31
Previous ranking: 2
The 2025 Dodgers have been defined by the same circumstances that defined the 2024 group: pitching injuries — and thriving in spite of them. The Dodgers hold the National League’s best record even though four key members of their rotation — Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Roki Sasaki and Tony Gonsolin — are out with injuries. Their bullpen also has been a mess at times. But they have found a way. Snell and Glasnow are working their way back. And Shohei Ohtani is taking regular turns — albeit short ones — on the mound. Their best baseball might be ahead of them. — Gonzalez
Record: 50-31
Previous ranking: 1
The Yankees’ Aaron Boone will be the manager for the American League All-Stars, and he has the option of picking his guy, Max Fried, to start the Midsummer Classic. Or he could consider Boston’s Garrett Crochet. But the numbers for Detroit’s Tarik Skubal are daunting: He leads the AL in fWAR at 3.8 and in expected fielding independent pitching (xFIP) at 2.46 and is second in fewest walks per nine innings (1.15) and strikeouts per nine innings (11.03). Skubal will take the ball against the Twins on “Sunday Night Baseball” this weekend. — Olney
Record: 47-33
Previous ranking: 6
When Pete Alonso‘s free agency dragged into spring training, Bryce Harper made it clear to his agent, Scott Boras (who also represents Alonso), that he was willing to move to the outfield if the Phillies had interest in signing a first baseman. Harper continues to communicate this to the front office: If the Phillies feel they can upgrade the team by adding a first baseman, Harper is prepared to move to the outfield. — Olney
Record: 47-33
Previous ranking: 4
May 23. That’s the day Pete Crow-Armstrong arrived on the national stage, hitting two home runs against the Reds, including a go-ahead grand slam in the seventh inning. It was one moment in a highlight-reel first half for Crow-Armstrong, who has done it with his power and speed, both on the bases and in the outfield. In another defining moment, he made a diving catch to end a threat from the Brewers in a one-run game then followed it by leading off the next inning with a monster 452-foot home run. He has been the complete package so far for the Cubs. — Rogers
Record: 47-33
Previous ranking: 8
The one constant in a season of change for the first-place Astros is lefty Framber Valdez. If his latest outing — a seven-inning shutout performance versus Philadelphia — wasn’t his signature moment, that’s only because he has had a few of them. Perhaps none was better than his 83-pitch complete game against the Rays in late May. He struck out nine that day then followed it up with 11- and 12-strikeout outings. But he also is successful when producing weak contact; he only whiffed three in each of his past two starts, both wins. Valdez has defined the Astros’ journey to first place; they’ve won his past nine starts. — Rogers
Record: 46-34
Previous ranking: 5
Aaron Judge has been the center around which the Yankees — and baseball, really — have orbited. He finished the month of May in a legitimate chase for .400, all while amassing 21 home runs and putting up an absurd OPS of 1.268. June has seen Judge go from godlike to merely great in slashing .265/.382/.566. Behind that, the Yankees have gone just 11-12 and seen a once-massive lead in the AL East shrink to almost nothing. In their past 14 games, they have accumulated three runs or fewer on nine occasions. — Gonzalez
Record: 47-34
Previous ranking: 3
When the Mets met with Francisco Alvarez on Sunday morning to say he was being demoted to the minors, the message was simple: In so many words, manager Carlos Mendoza told Alvarez to get some reps and to find himself. That would mean rediscovering the power that distinguished Alvarez as he rose through the minor leagues and initially established himself in the big leagues. In his first full season in the majors in 2023, the then-21-year-old blasted 25 homers and accumulated a .437 slugging percentage. At the time of his demotion, his slugging percentage was .333. — Olney
Record: 44-36
Previous ranking: 7
It was all about Buster Posey, the new head of baseball operations, heading into the season; and it’s all about Rafael Devers, the premier slugger acquired from the Red Sox, at the moment. But in between, it’s the pitching that has made the Giants one of this season’s most pleasant surprises. Logan Webb and Robbie Ray have combined for a 2.66 ERA out of the rotation, making them one of the best one-two punches in the sport. The bullpen, meanwhile, continues to be the best in the majors. If Devers can help their offense match their pitching, the Giants might just vie for a championship. — Gonzalez
Record: 45-35
Previous ranking: 9
A lot was made about the potential of a healthy Rays rotation heading into 2025, but clearly not enough was made about the potential strength of their lineup. Jonathan Aranda has been one of the season’s biggest impact performers while ranking fifth in the majors in weighted runs created plus. But in June — a month that has seen the Rays win 15 of 22 games and outscore opponents by a combined 35 runs — Yandy Diaz, Christopher Morel and Junior Caminero have joined him, making this one of the most well-rounded teams in the sport. — Gonzalez
Record: 45-36
Previous ranking: 11
Jacob Misiorowski pitched 11 innings before giving up a hit to begin his MLB career, and he is the latest in a line of promising hurlers to come through the Brewers’ system over the past few years. Beating Paul Skenes on Wednesday was just another step to potential stardom for the 23-year-old Misiorowski. A second-round pick in 2022, he has been lighting up the radar gun since getting called up earlier this month, coinciding with a nice run by the Brewers, who are now in the wild-card hunt and threatening the Cubs for the division lead. — Rogers
Record: 44-37
Previous ranking: 16
In mid-December, it became known that Nolan Arenado had turned down a trade to the Astros. His staying in St. Louis perhaps cemented what the Cardinals wanted to do in 2025: compete for a playoff spot. And compete they have. They haven’t been flashy while moving into wild-card contention; they simply do a lot of things well, including hitting home runs (Arenado has 10 of them), which they’ve hit more of as the season has gone on. Over just the past two weeks, they’ve hit more than all but four teams. The trade that didn’t happen might be the difference for the Cards this season. — Rogers
Record: 44-36
Previous ranking: 10
Star players have come and gone while others have run hot and cold, but Manny Machado continues to set the tone. Since the start of May, he often has seemed to carry this offense single-handedly. He is a shoo-in for his seventh All-Star Game, is on pace to tie the highest full-season batting average of his career (.298) and sits just nine hits away from 2,000 for his career. The Padres need to get Yu Darvish and Michael King back healthy, and they need Fernando Tatis Jr. and Xander Bogaerts to produce more consistently. In the meantime, Machado has helped to keep San Diego relevant. — Gonzalez
Record: 41-38
Previous ranking: 14
One name has defined the Mariners’ first half: Cal Raleigh. The 28-year-old catcher has taken the league by storm, leading all hitters in home runs and RBIs. He is just one of three players with an OPS over 1.000, but he’s doing it at a position that isn’t known for its offense. That clearly isn’t the case for Raleigh, who has been really good at pitcher-friendly T-Mobile Park, with 14 home runs. The rest have come on the road, where his OPS is well over 1.100. There’s seemingly no hole in his swing, as pitchers have come to realize so far. — Rogers
Record: 42-37
Previous ranking: 12
The Blue Jays find themselves in the thick of a suddenly tight AL East race, thanks in large part to an offense that does something increasingly difficult in this sport. It puts the ball in play. The Blue Jays boast the lowest strikeout rate in the majors at 17.8%, with Alejandro Kirk, Ernie Clement, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette leading the way. In the midst of that, George Springer is having somewhat of an offensive renaissance, with 11 home runs and an .825 OPS. But Toronto still needs to get Anthony Santander healthy. — Gonzalez
Record: 42-39
Previous ranking: 13
The Reds’ rotation has an ERA of 3.76, which ranks in the top half of the NL. And that’s with just one outing from Chase Burns, the No. 2 pick in the 2024 draft who looked dominant before giving up some late runs in his first MLB start on Tuesday. The starting staff has proved to be the strength of the Reds as they look poised for a second-half run. Lefty Andrew Abbott might be the least talked about elite pitcher in either league simply because he doesn’t stay in the game for more than two times through the order. Still, his 7-1 record and 1.79 ERA are impressive. Abbott and Hunter Greene make for a sneaky good one-two punch in Cincinnati. — Rogers
Record: 41-39
Previous ranking: 15
The D-backs have mostly been defined by injuries to key players throughout this first half. First, it was Corbin Burnes undergoing season-ending elbow surgery, the absolute last thing an underperforming starting rotation needed. Then Justin Martinez and A.J. Puk, the two most important members of the bullpen, suffered the same fate. More recently, Corbin Carroll, who had been putting up MVP numbers, was diagnosed with a chip fracture in his left wrist. General manager Mike Hazen keeps fielding calls about his pending free agents, but he isn’t ready to give up on the 2025 season. If Carroll doesn’t return quickly, though, Hazen might have to. — Gonzalez
Record: 40-38
Previous ranking: 20
Cleveland is slogging through what has been a difficult June, with the offense really struggling; the Guardians have averaged about three runs per game this month, while dropping 12 of the first 21 games. Here are some of the players who are batting under .200 for June: Carlos Santana, Angel Martinez, Gabriel Arias, Bo Naylor, David Fry. Cleveland won’t emerge from the AL mud bog unless that changes.— Olney
Record: 40-42
Previous ranking: 17
The Red Sox have spent the better part of the past four months engulfed in drama, most of it centered around their former franchise player, Rafael Devers, who frustrated team officials over an unwillingness to be a more public-facing figure and, more so, a refusal to play first base. The Red Sox parted ways with Devers — and his massive contract that runs through 2033 — by sending him to San Francisco. And now, after following that up by going 3-6 on a three-city trip, the Red Sox are simply a team mired in mediocrity. They believe they can win, but they’re running out of time. — Gonzalez
Record: 37-42
Previous ranking: 21
When Ronald Acuna Jr. has participated in the Home Run Derby, he has distinguished himself with his all-fields approach. Most of the Derby sluggers try to focus on hitting the ball in one part of the strike zone and driving it to a particular part of the park. But when Acuna was in the Derby in 2019 and again three years later, he sprayed deep drives in all directions, hitting the ball wherever it was thrown in the strike zone. With the All-Star Game in Atlanta next month, Acuna has become the first player to formally commit to participating in the Derby. (He was eliminated by Pete Alonso during the 2019 and 2022 editions.) — Olney
Record: 40-41
Previous ranking: 19
For two seasons now — since winning the World Series in 2023 — the Rangers simply haven’t been able to score enough runs to be ultracompetitive. At just 3.64 runs per game, they rank 26th in MLB. There’s plenty of blame to go around, but veterans Joc Pederson (.131 BA), Marcus Semien (.229 BA) and even Corey Seager (.715 OPS) stand out**. Some of the younger players are holding their own, but none of them appears near the top in any statistical category. Josh Smith‘s .764 OPS is 72nd in MLB — and that just isn’t good enough for the hitting-starved Rangers. — Rogers
Record: 38-42
Previous ranking: 22
With this year’s trade market expected to be incredibly thin in talent, teams will be tempted to be opportunists and take advantage of the dealer’s market. Seth Lugo is 35 and has a $15 million player option for 2026, so it would make sense for him to look for a new deal. If the Royals continue to fade — they are 14-26 since May 10 — it would be logical to attempt to extend Lugo or dangle him in the market and weigh interest. — Olney
Record: 40-40
Previous ranking: 23
Christian Moore deserves recognition for what he did Tuesday. The 22-year-old second baseman, a 2024 first-round pick, tied the score against the Red Sox with an eighth-inning home run then walked it off with another one while his team was trailing 2-1 in the 10th. His three RBIs was all the scoring L.A. got — and needed — in the improbable win. It was just one game in a surprisingly good first half for the Angels, who field a team littered with their own recent draft picks. It remains to be seen if they can keep it up, but more strong play from Moore certainly will help. — Rogers
Record: 38-42
Previous ranking: 18
There have been signs this month that Brooks Lee, the eighth player taken in the first round of the 2022 draft, is finding traction in the big leagues. Lee is batting .364 with a slugging percentage of .519 in June. Over the course of his four professional seasons, he has been getting the ball in the air much more consistently; he had a 2.23 ground-ball-to-fly-ball rate in the minors 2022, and that ratio has improved to 0.93 in MLB this year. — Olney
Record: 34-46
Previous ranking: 24
There is no bigger disappointment through this season’s first half than the Orioles, and it probably isn’t even close. They fired manager Brandon Hyde less than two months in. A starting rotation that was inadequately addressed by the front office over the winter has been a mess, with three starters — Cade Povich, Charlie Morton and Zach Eflin — each contributing ERAs over 5. Most surprising of all, an offense that was supposed to dominate has vacillated between mediocre and bad — even though Jackson Holliday has rebounded from a difficult rookie season and Ryan O’Hearn is producing like an All-Star. — Gonzalez
Record: 33-48
Previous ranking: 25
Last summer, the Nationals listened to offers for reliever Kyle Finnegan before deciding to keep him rather than flip him for an uninspiring trade return. He has had a good season so far in 2025, leaving the team in a similar position with the veteran right-hander as the trade deadline nears. Presumably, they will hope some contending team steps up and makes an intriguing offer. But if that doesn’t happen, Finnegan won’t cost the Nationals much to keep; he’s making $5.38 million this year, before reaching free agency in the fall. — Olney
Record: 32-50
Previous ranking: 26
Paul Skenes‘ ERA rose to 2.12 on Wednesday after he gave up four runs in four innings, but that shouldn’t take away from his dominant first half after being named NL Rookie of the Year last season. He continues to be about the only reason to watch the lowly Pirates these days as, once again, they find themselves far from the playoff race after having fired manager Derek Shelton last month. Skenes leads the majors in innings pitched and is one of just three qualified starters with a WHIP under 1.00. The Cy Young Award might be his next honor after a sure-thing All-Star appearance. — Rogers
Record: 33-45
Previous ranking: 28
Contending teams try to turn over every rock to find help around this time of the season, and it stands to reason that some will ask the Marlins about Ronny Henriquez, their 25-year-old right-handed reliever who was plucked off waivers from the Twins in February. Henriquez has taken on more responsibility as the campaign has played out, picking up a couple of saves while working in higher-leverage situations. Over 23⅓ innings since the start of May, he has struck out 33 batters and walked just six. He also has pushed his average fastball velocity to a career-best 96.2 mph. — Olney
Record: 33-49
Previous ranking: 27
5.41. That’s the season ERA of the A’s pitching staff after a horrendous stretch from late May into June led to a double-digit losing skid — and it ranks just ahead of the Rockies for worst in baseball. The past month or so has been especially bad, highlighted by a WHIP figure that has been far and away the worst in the majors at over 1.50. — Rogers
Record: 26-55
Previous ranking: 29
Andrew Benintendi has the sort of experience that might intrigue other teams before the trade deadline, and his production against right-handed pitching is OK, with an OPS over .700. His contract, however, discourages interest. He is owed about $40 million over the remainder of his contract (through 2027), meaning the White Sox probably would have to eat a huge portion of his future salary in order to deal him or take on a bad contract themselves in any proposed deal. — Olney
Record: 18-62
Previous ranking: 30
The Rockies went the first 30 years of their franchise’s quirky history without succumbing to a 100-loss season. Then they did it back-to-back, in 2023 and 2024. Now, they’re trending toward a much bigger low: the most losses in major league history. Despite two — yes, two — winning streaks of three-plus games this month, the Rockies are on pace for 126 losses, five more than the White Sox dropped in 2024 to set the new single-season loss record. The biggest culprit has been a familiar one: The pitching staff ranks dead last in the majors with a 5.54 ERA. — Gonzalez
Sports
A famous dad, the perfect swing and elite Fortnite skills: Meet MLB’s most fascinating hitter
Warning: What you’re about to read is Jacob Wilson‘s opinion. He is a professional baseball player — a very good one — and not a medical expert, but there are some things he is convinced are true, and this is one of them.
The 23-year-old Wilson, the Athletics’ wunderkind shortstop, is wise enough to understand that the sort of success he has found on the baseball field — a .347 batting average and a near-certain invitation to the All-Star Game coming — comes from a multitude of areas. He is the son of a longtime big leaguer, so certainly genetics helped, and he works relentlessly at his craft, which goes a long way. But the special sauce that built the American League Rookie of the Year favorite, he believes, included a secret ingredient.
Fortnite.
“Kids are going to love this one. Parents are going to hate me,” Wilson said. “I am a big believer in video games. It’s fast decision-making strategy. I think that gets me ready for the game, because when you’re in the box, you have to process a lot. So there’s some days where I’ll wake up and I’ll play video games and then I’ll go to the field, and I’ll have a good day. Some days I won’t play and don’t see the ball well. I think it really helps me train kind of the decision-making that I have to make six, seven hours later at the baseball field.”
Yes, one of the best hitters in the major leagues, a contact maven who strikes out with the infrequency of Tony Gwynn, swears that he’s as good as he is at a kid’s game because of his aptitude at another kid’s game. After Wilson wakes up, he deploys to his living room and parks in a chair. On the table in front of him sit a PC and a controller. He logs in to Fortnite — the 8-year-old game still played by millions every day — hops on the Battle Bus and systematically disposes of those with the misfortune of sharing a map with him.
“If we play a game with me and him and guys we know and you kill him once, you’re like, ‘That’s a good day,'” A’s infielder Max Muncy said. “You could play 50 rounds. Just once is good.”
Muncy has known of Wilson’s Fortnite exploits since they were teammates at Thousand Oaks (California) High, where Wilson’s father, former Pittsburgh shortstop Jack Wilson, coached. Back then, Jack actually questioned whether the game was interfering with Jacob’s baseball growth — though he understood his son’s reasoning. Over his 12-year big league career, Jack earned a reputation as one of the best pingpong players in the major leagues. It was pure reaction, not unlike hitting, and he complemented his pregame work in the batting cage with the brain training found in a paddle and hollow ball.
He saw the same opportunity in video games for his son — with a caveat.
“I do believe in the hand-eye coordination that video games give — as long as you do your homework,” Jack said. “Kids, if you’re reading, do your homework.”
The Wilsons are not alone in their belief that unconventional methods off the field can lead to success on it. Studies back up the suggestion that video games can be beneficial for brain activity. And considering the recognition being lavished on Jacob Wilson — he is more than a quarter-million votes ahead of Kansas City star Bobby Witt Jr. in All-Star balloting to be the American League’s starting shortstop — the benefits can be pronounced.
Of course, dropping into Anarchy Acres does not a big league hitter make. The story of Wilson’s ascent actually starts in his backyard, where he spent countless hours figuring out how to thrive in a game that simply isn’t built for hitters like him anymore.
Heaven for the Wilson family is a regulation-sized turfed infield with a FungoMan ground ball machine, a fence covered with famous retired numbers and stadium logos, a full dugout on the third-base side — and a grill stationed in center field in case someone gets hungry. The backyard of the family’s home is a testament to form and function, and it’s where Jacob learned how to be — and how not to be — like his father.
“It was a place built for guys who just love the grind of wanting to get better every day,” Jack said.
Jack’s bat was never as adept as his glove, and to last a dozen years in the big leagues, he needed countless reps to keep his fielding at a level that, according to Baseball-Reference, produced the fifth-most defensive wins above replacement this century, behind only Andrelton Simmons, Yadier Molina, Adrian Beltre and Kevin Kiermaier.
“You know that idea about being able to write a letter to your former self on what would you tell yourself now?” Jack said. “I get to do that with Jake. And I said, ‘You know, this is the way I hit. I don’t want you to hit like this.’ Because there were so many things I wish I could have done differently. If I were to build a perfect hitter, what would I do?”
He started with Miguel Cabrera. Wilson always admired how tall he stood in the batter’s box before sinking into his legs. Then it was Mike Trout. The simplicity of his swing has always been a marvel, but in particular Wilson appreciated the speed at which he loads his hands, allowing Trout to be on time even for 100 mph fastballs. The final lesson was Albert Pujols’ bat path, which was so flat and stayed in the zone for so long that it allowed him to sting the ball from foul pole to foul pole while maintaining strikeout numbers that were well below league average.
To hone that Voltron of a swing, a teenage Wilson would grip a custom wood bat with a 1½-inch barrel — an inch less than a standard big league barrel — and face his dad, who stood 45 feet away and ripped 85 mph fastballs and sliders using a tennis ball. If he didn’t catch the ball on the meat of the barrel, it would spin sideways, forcing him to learn to maneuver his bat with special dexterity.
The skinny bat made a regulation-sized model feel twice as big. When he took regular batting practice, Jacob always started by peppering the right side of the field on his first dozen swings. Even though Jacob was bigger than his father — at 6-foot-3, he is a comparatively imposing presence — Jack didn’t want him to fall into the trap of always trying to pull the ball. While that approach works for some hitters, Cabrera, Trout and Pujols embraced and embodied an all-fields approach.
By Wilson’s junior year in high school, the work started to pay off. Wilson didn’t strike out once all season. He didn’t punch out during his COVID-shortened senior season, either, then continued that trend at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, where his sophomore year he whiffed seven times in 275 plate appearances and his junior season had five punchouts in 217 times at the plate. Twice, he received a plaque from the NCAA for being the toughest hitter to strike out in college baseball.
The A’s took Wilson with the sixth pick in the loaded 2023 draft. Last year, he hit .433/.473/.668 with just 15 strikeouts in 226 plate appearances across three minor league levels and, just a year and 10 days after being drafted, he debuted in the big leagues.
In a world of launch angle and exit velocity, Wilson arrived in the majors wanting to be more like Luis Arráez and Nico Hoerner, contact artists nonpareil who value batting average and are allergic to strikeouts.
“I just take strikeouts so personally,” Wilson said. “It’s the one thing in this game that makes me more mad than anything. So I’ll go up there and I’ll swing at a pitch that’s maybe a couple inches off and take a base hit to right. So I think batting average definitely is a stat that should be seen and should matter for most hitters.”
Wilson’s swing is kinetic, with a wide-open stance that closes as he moves his legs and flaps his arms — a little Chicken Dance, a little Cabrera-Trout-Pujols. While he hasn’t always been this twitchy — “I’ve got to keep my muscles moving a little bit,” Wilson said — it works for him. He keeps the knob of the bat in the direction of the ball longer than most hitters, reminding himself to “stay inside the baseball,” a lesson preached ad nauseam by Jack. Aiming to strike the inside of the ball, Jacob said, keeps him from rolling over it. He lives by the old axiom “good hitters get jammed” and doesn’t shy away from flipping a duck snort between the infield and outfield.
The approach has served him well. After starting the year in the No. 9 hole, Wilson has hit first or second every game since May 7. Only Arráez has a lower strikeout rate than Wilson’s 6.8% — and Wilson has nine home runs compared with Arráez’s one. Of all the strikeout-averse hitters in the game, the one with a line most comparable to Wilson’s.347/.388/.487 is Cleveland third baseman Jose Ramirez, who is primed to play in his seventh All-Star Game this season.
“It’s not even his hits,” said Nick Kurtz, the A’s first baseman and fellow rookie. “I’ve seen multiple times where there’s a sinker up and in that was going to hit him, and he hit it to second base. Sometimes they’re a hit, sometimes they’re not. Every time, though, I’m like, ‘How the hell did he do that?’ Being able to touch it, not break your bat and go the other way with it? I’m at a loss for words.”
On April 5 at 11:13 p.m., Jack Wilson’s phone dinged. He had texted his son to congratulate him on a good team win by the A’s. Jacob didn’t want to hear it. He was mad. He had gone 1-for-4 with a two-run double, but that wasn’t good enough.
“I’m not a .250 hitter,” Jacob texted.
Jack laughed. He batted .265 in his career. It was enough to earn him more than $40 million playing. His son wants to be better — not because he’s greedy but because he’s capable of it.
“That’s a good thought process,” Jack said. “Because when I was a rookie and I got a hit, I was pumped. I always tell him, ‘Man, hitting is freaking hard.’ It’s just not going to be every day where your swing is on point and you match up. It’s just the way it is. So this has been a real learning experience. And it will be for a long time. The more he learns now, the better off he is in the future and hopefully spends a long time as an Athletic.”
The A’s are counting on their star shortstop as a linchpin of their impressive offensive core. Wilson is the fulcrum, Kurtz the powerhouse with a propensity for late-inning heroics. Designated hitter Brent Rooker and outfielder Lawrence Butler are both sluggers locked up to long-term deals. First baseman Tyler Soderstrom and catcher Shea Langeliers provide additional home run thump. Denzel Clarke is going to win multiple Gold Gloves in center field. If they can build a pitching staff to match, the team scheduled to move to Las Vegas for the 2028 season will be among the most exciting in baseball.
And it all starts with the kid who is definitely not a .250 hitter and definitely does take strikeouts personally.
“I mean, I’ve studied his swing,” Muncy said. “There’s things that he does so well that other guys don’t do that leads to that. And I think one of the things is probably just his mentality. He has always thought he could put it in play. I don’t think there’s ever been a guy where he is like, ‘I can’t put it in play.’ When you have that supplemental edge — I can put it in play no matter what — that helps.”
Every edge helps, be it bat-to-ball skills, burgeoning power or the ability to no-scope someone from 300 meters. Wilson has no plans to abandon his Fortnite reps. It’s part of his training now, and even if it doesn’t work for everyone, he sees Victory Royales leading to victories for the A’s.
“Everybody has their own approach and everybody’s here for a reason,” Wilson said. “This is the big leagues. Everybody is the best in the world at what they do.”
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