What did we get wrong in MLB Rank? Snubs, overrated and underrated players
Our ranking of the top 100 MLB players in 2024 is here! And you know what that means: It’s time to talk about what we got right — and wrong.
We asked five of our voters — Buster Olney, Jeff Passan, Jorge Castillo, Bradford Doolittle and David Schoenfield — to take a look at our MLB Rank list and tell us what they and their colleagues messed up and what surprised them the most. Who did we leave out? Who’s too high or too low? And what players will crack the top 100 — and even the top five — in the future?
Let’s hear what they had to say.
What surprised you most on this year’s list?
Olney: The presence of relievers, as well as their collective impact, is growing in MLB. But it was Atlanta Braves reliever A.J. Minter who noted, as he looked over our Top 100 list, how few relievers we had on it. Devin Williams, who could be one of the most important players to move before this year’s trade deadline, is at No. 99. Given the volume of innings that individual relievers throw, the lack of bullpen guys makes sense, but it doesn’t square with the collective impact that bullpens have in the game in this era.
Passan: Just how few starting pitchers populate the top of the list. Gerrit Cole is the only one in the top 10. Just four are among the top 30: Cole, Spencer Strider, Corbin Burnes and Zack Wheeler. Of the top 50 players, 22% are starting pitchers; on the whole list, it’s 28%. The degradation of the starting pitcher is one of the biggest stories of the last 20 years in baseball, and the consequence is evident when the person who dictates the game — the one standing on the mound — is seen almost as an afterthought by those weighing its best players.
Castillo: Seeing just one catcher in the top 45 and just six overall. Adley Rutschman, the Baltimore Orioles’ franchise cornerstone, is the first catcher on the list at No. 11. Next up? Will Smith at No. 46. Catchers, for good reason, usually don’t put up the huge offensive numbers stars at other positions produce. The position is a grind; the physical toll and daily responsibilities are tiresome. You could argue they should be graded on a curve. The best teams often feature a standout behind the plate. But this list doesn’t attach the necessary value to the position. If it did, Smith, J.T. Realmuto and Sean Murphy — a trio of starting catchers for playoff clubs in 2023 — would undoubtedly be higher.
Doolittle: We get very excited about good, young players but sometimes the thrill we get from watching them seems to overwhelm our empirical sense. So, we’ve got a few too many very young players who have flashed their potential at the big league level but probably shouldn’t be counted among the top 100 just yet. There are exceptions — Corbin Carroll and Gunnar Henderson, among last year’s rookies — but we’ve probably gotten a bit over our skis on others, especially Eury Perez, Elly De La Cruz and Anthony Volpe.
Schoenfield: Name recognition still matters a lot — even if some of the statistical evidence doesn’t always back up the ranking. Bryce Harper has missed time each of the past two seasons and is moving to first base on a full-time basis, a position that requires a higher offensive threshold and which we’ve only seen him play 36 games at. He still comes in at No. 13. Trea Turner didn’t have his best season and is a below-average defensive shortstop but is still at No. 20. Mike Trout, while one season removed from slugging .630, was injured and had the worst rate stats of his career with a .263/.367/.490 in 2023. He’s one spot ahead of Turner. All three could absolutely end up justifying those rankings, but they all feel a little high to me.
Who is the biggest snub from our list?
Olney: Jose Ramirez is going to go down in history as one of the most underrated players ever, and this is reflected in his standing at No. 17 on our list. Since the start of the 2020 season, these are the leaders among position players (Shohei Ohtani not included, because of his special circumstance): Aaron Judge, Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts. Maybe it’s because he plays in a small market or maybe it’s because he seems to shy away from the spotlight, but his numbers don’t speak for him in the way they should: Every year, he carries the Cleveland Guardians lineup with a bunch of extra-base hits and stolen bases, while playing well defensively. We have done him wrong.
Passan: It’s understandable that Cole Ragans didn’t make the list. At 26 years old, he has started all of a dozen big league games. At one point, he didn’t throw a professional pitch for three years because of injuries. He also plays for the Kansas City Royals, not exactly a team anyone with functional eyes cared to watch last season. Well, do yourself a favor this season: Watch one start. See the 100-mph fastball from the left side. And the cutter. And changeup. And slider. And curveball. And do so knowing that as long as he stays healthy — no sure thing — he’s a lock for this list next year.
Castillo: Yainer Diaz was a force in the batter’s box when he was in the Houston Astros’ lineup last season. The problem was that, as the team’s backup catcher, he didn’t get regular at-bats. As a rookie, Diaz batted .282 with 23 home runs and an .846 OPS in just 104 games. Now, after Martin Maldonado’s departure, Diaz will be the Astros’ starting catcher. The 25-year-old Dominican will need to work more walks — he accumulated just 11 last season — but he’s primed for a big season with increased playing time.
Doolittle: Jung Hoo Lee. We should be at the vanguard ringing the bell for the “Grandson of the Wind.” His projections justify a top-60 slot but, I get it, that’s based on KBO translations and Lee doesn’t have anywhere near the same level of Pacific Rim-based hype as Yoshinobu Yamamoto or Ohtani. But as a career .340 hitter in Korea with a miniscule strikeout rate, Lee is the kind of player I want to overtake baseball. We’ve got Luis Arraez on the East Coast; now we need a peer for him on the West Coast. Then we can work on the middle of the country. Is it too late for Nick Madrigal?
Schoenfield: I’ll go with the player with the highest WAR last season not to crack our top 100: Mariners shortstop J.P. Crawford at 5.1, which ranked tied for 20th among position players. He hit .266/.380/.438 in 2023 while leading the American League with 94 walks, and he also added more power to his game, hitting 19 home runs and 35 doubles. I’m buying the swing change will stick as he hit for a much higher exit velocity and a more optimal launch angle.
Which player in the top 100 is most underrated?
Passan: Over his first two seasons, Julio Rodriguez produced more than 11 wins above replacement by FanGraphs and Baseball-Reference. Both agreed that he ranked among the eight most productive position players in baseball. To see Rodriguez ranked 18th then — below a number of players he has outplayed — feels like an oversight.
Certainly there’s a case to be made for all of those who rank higher than Rodriguez, but add the fact that he’s 23 years old and on the upswing in his career, and it’s difficult to peg him below some of those ahead of him. In the last two years, only one player has hit at least 60 home runs and stolen at least 60 bases: Rodriguez. An elite center fielder who hits for power and runs like a madman feels a lot better than the 18th-best player in baseball.
Castillo: Not often (maybe never?) do you see an uninjured reigning Cy Young winner in his early 30s ranked 59th on a list of the best players in MLB. Blake Snell is one of 22 people to have ever won the Cy Young award twice. He is one of just seven to earn it in both leagues. But here we are. The skepticism surrounding Snell is understandable. It’s March and he has yet to sign with a team, which could especially hinder someone who historically has been a slow starter. The highest ERA+ he’s posted outside of his two elite seasons is 113. He hasn’t logged more than 180 ⅔ innings in a campaign. He even led the majors in walks in 2023. But results are results. The point is to stop the other team from scoring. Snell has shown he can be one of the best — and certainly better than the 17th-best starting pitcher in the majors.
Doolittle: Kyle Tucker, at No. 28, still doesn’t get enough recognition for how good he is. Maybe it’s the team, as Jose Altuve and (the also underrated) Alex Bregman were already there when he became a regular in Houston. Both are still playing at an All-Star level. Then Yordan Alvarez came around and immediately morphed into perhaps baseball’s best all-around hitter. But there are a number of teams — good teams — on which Tucker would be the best player. He’s one of the best 15-to-20 hitters in the game, plays elite defense and stole 30 bags in 2023. This year marks his age-27 season. It’s time for Tucker to take his place under the spotlight.
Schoenfield: Marcus Semien was third in the AL MVP voting in 2023. He was third in 2021. Over the past three seasons, he’s averaged 33 home runs, 95 RBIs and 113 runs scored while ranking second behind only Andres Gimenez in fielding runs at second base. In that time frame, he ranks third among all hitters in extra-base hits, second in runs and second in WAR, behind only Judge … and yet comes in just 24th on our list. He’s missed one game in three years. Durability is a skill and it makes Semien one of the most valuable players in the league.
Which player in the top 100 is most overrated?
Olney: Luis Robert Jr. has the ability to be an MVP candidate, but he should not be at No. 23 on this list. He’s played one season of 100 games, and in that year, 2023, he had an on-base percentage of .315. He had 30 walks and 172 strikeouts. He is clearly improving, especially on defense, but he shouldn’t be that high on this list merely because of his potential. Blame injuries, blame inconsistency, blame the Chicago White Sox’s seasons of weirdness lately, but he shouldn’t be ahead of Semien, Manny Machado, Altuve and others.
Passan: Maybe this one is a little unfair. Kodai Senga, after all, is currently on the injured list with a strain in the posterior capsule of his right shoulder — an injury that concerns even the best orthopedists. Elbow issues tend to be pretty straightforward. Shoulders, with their tangle of muscles and ball-and-socket joints, present far more complicated cases. Still, the voting was going on after the New York Mets had shut down Senga, so really there’s no excuse. He may wind up just fine, of course, in which case he warrants a spot in the range of No. 75. Add a heaping helping of uncertainty, though, and his case for any spot on the list is questionable at best.
Castillo: The truth is nobody knows where Yamamoto belongs on this list, but No. 45 — above the likes of fellow starters Kevin Gausman, Aaron Nola and Snell — seems high for someone who hasn’t thrown a pitch in the majors. The Los Angeles Dodgers obviously disagree. The organization chose to invest $325 million in Yamamoto, their likely Opening Day starter, for a reason. The right-hander is just 25 years old, and his pitching resume in Japan is unparalleled for someone making the jump to the United States.
The Dodgers believe he’ll be elite right away, but there will be a learning curve. He’s on a new team in a new league in a new country. He’ll throw a different, slicker ball. He’ll face better hitters. He’ll be occasionally asked to pitch every fifth day for the first time. And yet, he might end up being better than his spot on this list. But for now, 45th is aggressive.
Doolittle: Adolis Garcia is fun to watch and he was awesome during the Texas Rangers’ playoff run. But No. 34 is way too high for him. He’s still a player with a baseline OBP that barely cracks .300 and who strikes out too much. He’s very much a winning player, with an adjusted OPS that should be at least 10% better than the league average, excellent defense, a few steals and a competitive demeanor. But he just turned 31 years old and any kind of decline with his power bat exposes his lack of secondary skills at the plate. Garcia is a very good player but more 80-to-100 good, not No. 34.
Schoenfield: I mentioned him earlier and it’s possible Turner will hit all season like he did the final two months of 2023, when he hit .339 with a 1.069 OPS. He’s obviously a good, valuable player and one of the most exciting in the game, but I also see a player who has gone from 6.4 WAR in 2021 to 4.9 to 3.4 and is now 31 years old with declining defensive metrics (and who hit just .242/.296/.387 on the road). He’s definitely worthy of the top 100 and maybe the top 50, but I’m not sure about the top 20.
Which player could make the biggest jump on our list next year?
Olney: Triston Casas is going to be an absolute monster, something he showed in the second half of last season, and in the years to come, he’ll be the sort of player for whom you can pencil in 35 homers and a .400 on-base percentage. Between his command of the strike zone, his strength, his bat-to-ball skills and the inherent advantage of being a talented left-handed hitter in Fenway Park, he will soon become one of the game’s pre-eminent sluggers. A perfect candidate for the Home Run Derby.
Passan: Ten days after his 21st birthday, Evan Carter made his major league debut for the Rangers. In 75 regular-season plate appearances, he OPS’d 1.058. He chased that with one of the best Octobers for a neophyte in recent memory, wrecking Tampa Bay in the wild-card series and finishing the month with a .300/.417/.500 line. Carter ranks 92nd on the list, and with full-time at-bats coming his way for the first time, he is a Kyle Tucker starter kit, with a sweet left-handed swing that goes for average and power, savviness on the basepaths and plenty of glove to be one of the best all-around outfielders in baseball.
Castillo: Being named the New York Yankees’ starting shortstop out of spring training as a 21-year-old rookie came with outsized pressure. Add being a hometown kid who idolized Derek Jeter growing up and that pressure turned up a notch. Volpe adeptly handled the assignment in 2023. He became the first Yankees rookie to ever post a 20-20 season. He won a Gold Glove. He played in 159 games. But he hit just .209 with 167 strikeouts. To improve those numbers, he’s implemented swing adjustments to better cover the plate and handle high fastballs. Better contact should generate better results. That, in combination with his speed and power, should make him a more dangerous weapon at the bottom of the Yankees’ lineup in 2024 — and a riser on the 2025 list.
Doolittle: I think we’ve probably underrated Henderson this season and it’s not far-fetched that he could go from No. 37 to top 10 (or better) by this time next year. If he can make a leap against lefties and cut his whiffs just a tad, all while continuing to produce defensively at a Gold Glove level, that’s superstar stuff. Even if he doesn’t quite get there in 2024, I suspect we’ll know he’s on the cusp of it when we make our picks next year.
Schoenfield: I’m still on the Michael Harris II bandwagon and I think he’ll climb a lot higher than this year’s No. 53 ranking. He started off slow last season, landed on the IL and was hitting .163 on June 3. He still finished at .293 with 19 home runs after slashing .335/.360/.552 over his final 100 games. He’s still just 23 years old, has good range and a plus arm in center field. I’d like to see a few more walks and a little less chase. If he can do that, there’s top-25 potential here.
Predict the top five for 2027
Olney:
1. Shohei Ohtani
2. Julio Rodriguez
3. Ronald Acuña Jr.
4. Juan Soto
5. Bobby Witt Jr.
My list effectively parrots the opinion of some players who looked over our Top 100 list — they view J-Rod as a monster talent who is zooming into superstardom with his broad range of skills. It didn’t surprise me that other players recognized J-Rod’s ability; what’s surprising is how adamant they already are about his preeminence.
Passan:
1. Shohei Ohtani
2. Ronald Acuña Jr.
3. Julio Rodriguez
4. Bobby Witt Jr.
5. Corbin Carroll
All of this is subject to Ohtani returning as a starting pitcher, of course, but if he does and is even just a league-average performer, he will top this list ad infinitum. While putting Acuña second when he’s going to be 29 years old is iffy, he’s leaps and bounds better than the other position players today, and the king must be usurped. It could be any of the Millennium Trio: Rodriguez, Witt and Carroll all were born in 2000, and they’ll all be 26, smack in the middle of their prime.
Castillo:
1. Shohei Ohtani
2. Juan Soto
3. Aaron Judge
4. Julio Rodriguez
5. Bobby Witt Jr.
This list starts with two assumptions: Ohtani has another monster season as a hitter in 2024 and is 100% ready to pitch in 2025. Wherever Soto ends up in 2025, he’ll be fresh off thriving in the Bronx hitting in front of Judge — giving the Yankees the best one-two punch in the majors for at least one season. Rodriguez and Witt will each take another leap in Year 3 to cement themselves as two of the game’s best all-around players. Wondering where Acuña is? He would’ve made the cut had it not been for the ominous knee trouble that surfaced early in spring training.
Doolittle:
1. Shohei Ohtani
2. Julio Rodriguez
3. Bobby Witt Jr.
4. Juan Soto
5. Ronald Acuña Jr.
This is tough. I wanted to include Carroll, who, like Soto, Rodriguez and Witt, will be at a career-peak age in 2027. But Ohtani is Ohtani and may deserve to be here even if he gives up pitching before then because, at that point, he could become a Gold Glove outfielder. And Acuña is just too good to leave off even though he’ll be closing in on 30. Meanwhile, I’m assuming Judge and Betts are starting to age out. I could see injuries becoming even more of a problem for Judge. As for Betts … I certainly wouldn’t want to put any money down that he’ll fall out of the top five. And there are others — Rutschman, Fernando Tatis Jr, Henderson. The future is hard to predict — but is looking bright.
Schoenfield:
1. Ronald Acuña Jr.
2. Gunnar Henderson
3. Julio Rodriguez
4. Jackson Holliday
5. Bobby Witt Jr.
Enjoy it, Orioles fans.
-
Jorge Castillo
NEW YORK — After Francisco Lindor began the season 0-for-11 and his slow starts of the past continued to haunt him, the Mets shortstop was asked what he needed to do to avoid another one.
“That’s a fantastic question,” Lindor said. “I’m sure everyone’s asking that and I’m sure everyone’s trying to figure it out, and I’m right there with everyone. I don’t know.”
Lindor soon got his answer — from Jeremy Barnes, one of the Mets’ two hitting coaches. The gist: Don’t chase hits, Barnes told him. Don’t chase anything. Stick to the plan and execute it. You’re one of the best in the world. Don’t make it more than it is. Trust the work and trust yourself.
“And he’s been awesome,” Barnes said. “He’s been awesome since then.”
Since that forgettable three-game series in Houston, then missing the Mets’ fourth game of the season for the birth of his third child, the Mets’ leadoff man is batting .349 with five home runs and a .972 OPS to help propel New York to the best record in the majors at 18-7. He has resembled the National League MVP runner-up from 2024 and is playing like one of the sport’s most dynamic stars — much earlier on the calendar than he usually does.
“The conversation helped me have a clearer mind on what I needed to do during the process,” Lindor said in Spanish. “Just try not to do much. Look for pitches I need to look for and pass the baton because we have a lot of batters who are horses and I don’t have to do much. It all comes in the preparation. I prepare, and once I get in the batter’s box, I’m not thinking. My athletic ability kicks in. That’s what happened.”
Even while his new superstar teammate, Juan Soto, has stumbled out of the gate, Lindor was otherworldly during the Mets’ recent 7-0 homestand at Citi Field, which ended with a walk-off win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday to clinch a three-game sweep of the division rivals. Lindor became the first player in the majors this season to reach base three times in four straight games.
He crushed a walk-off home run in last Friday’s win over the St. Louis Cardinals. He clubbed a leadoff home run Sunday and another Monday — plus a three-run shot in the seventh inning to give the Mets the insurance needed for a 5-4 win over Philadelphia.
He finished the seven-game winning streak 14-for-30 with four home runs, a 1.367 OPS and a splash of elite defense. In particular, Lindor is mashing fastballs this season. He’s batting .344 with four home runs, four doubles and a .607 slugging percentage against them — perhaps the result of hitting in front of Soto or just a small sample size from an elite, locked-in performer.
“He’s free in a way where it’s like, ‘You know what? I’m just going to be myself,'” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “And that’s what he’s doing right now. And he’s getting results.”
Over his career, Lindor has made a habit of slow starts. In his first four seasons with the Mets, he batted a cumulative .218 over the first month of the season. Last year, he slashed .190/.265/.352 through May 18. He was booed at home. His wife, Katia, shared threatening messages from fans on social media. Owner Steve Cohen called for more positivity toward Lindor from the fan base. The Mets, in turn, began the season 22-33.
Good vibes were fundamental in the Mets’ subsequent turnaround, but good vibes require consistent winning. Lindor was foundational in that. It was Lindor who called the team meeting in late May that the Mets credited with putting them on track for a wildly captivating summer that ended in the fall just two wins shy of the World Series. And it was Lindor who became the best player in the National League not named Shohei Ohtani after his turbulent start, hitting .304 with a .928 OPS in 108 games after moving to the leadoff spot on May 18 — all while using a torpedo bat (sans the uproar).
It was also around that time that Lindor switched his walk-up song to the Temptations’ “My Girl,” a choice he dedicated to his wife and daughters. It has since become a Citi Field staple, with the crowd singing along to the tune before each of Lindor’s plate appearances — a stark difference from the reception he received a year ago.
“Last year we weren’t playing well,” Lindor said. “Now we have vibes. The music is louder. The chemistry from the guys is a lot better than what we had at the beginning of last year. The organization feels more stable. The culture is beautiful. It feels a lot better and that’s very important. It takes years of that growing.”
The Mets acquired Lindor before the 2021 season and immediately signed him to a 10-year, $341 million extension to serve as that culture setter and franchise cornerstone. He isn’t the only leader on a veteran roster with Soto, Pete Alonso and Brandon Nimmo, but he is the front man, whose voice resonates because of his consistent performance.
Lindor’s 8.8 fWAR over the past calendar year is the highest in the National League, trailing only Aaron Judge‘s and Bobby Witt Jr.’s across all of baseball. His hot start this season could finally produce his first All-Star nod as a Met.
“He can impact the game in so many different ways,” Mets designated hitter Jesse Winker said. “He looks amazing at the plate. It’s really fun to watch. And, yeah, man, it’s like, day in and day out, he does something special so it’s cool to see.”
Lindor was special on Wednesday afternoon. His smooth backhanded play in the hole for the third out of the first inning saved some of starting pitcher David Peterson‘s bullets. He walked in the third, singled in the fifth and singled again in the seventh.
At the end, after Starling Marte, a veteran struggling in his first experience in a part-time role, delivered the game-winning single in the 10th, Lindor was the first person to sprint out to give the day’s hero a hug. He was everywhere. He’s keeping it simple. He’s clear-minded. He’s trusting himself. And the Mets are winning because of it.
“I think you come into the season and you’re trying to get your feet wet and you’re thinking of all these things,” Barnes said. “As opposed to just like, no, it’s just execute the plan. Execute the plan in April. Execute the plan in May. Execute the plan in June. Just execute the plan. And he’s one of the best in the world at being able to go out and execute that plan.
“I know that sounds super simplistic, but for him I really think it’s that.”
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
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