The Detroit Tigers have continued their meteoric rise up our list … all the way to No. 1, usurping the Los Angeles Dodgers for the top spot in Week 8.

The Tigers, who started at No. 18 in our preseason rankings, continue to dominate the majors in 2025. You would have to go back maybe more than 10 years to find the last time they sat atop ESPN’s power rankings.

The St. Louis Cardinals join Detroit as another team on the rise this week, jumping up three spots to No. 12, as the Baltimore Orioles continue to collapse, dropping to No. 27 from their preseason ranking of sixth.

Where does every other MLB club stand ahead of Memorial Day?

Our expert panel has combined to rank every team based on a combination of what we’ve seen and what we already knew going into the 162-game marathon that is a full baseball season. We also asked ESPN MLB experts Jesse Rogers, Jorge Castillo and Bradford Doolittle to weigh in with an observation for all 30 teams.

Week 7 | Preseason rankings

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1. Detroit Tigers

Record: 33-17
Previous ranking: 3

Plenty is going right for the Tigers: the resurgence of Javier Baez … in center field; Tarik Skubal‘s sterling defense of his AL Cy Young Award; former No. 1 picks Spencer Torkelson and Casey Mize finding their way; and the bullpen’s dominance. Lost in those headlines is Gleyber Torres having a solid season, continuing where he left off down the stretch in 2024 with the Yankees. The second baseman is batting .281 with five home runs and an .794 OPS. If that production continues, the 28-year-old Torres, who signed a one-year deal for $15 million, will be in line for a multiyear contract next offseason. — Castillo

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2. Los Angeles Dodgers

Record: 31-19
Previous ranking: 1

The Dodgers’ 18 comeback wins are the most in the majors. But the story behind all those rallies is less about an emergent resilience and more about an injury-riddled starting rotation that has put the club in early holes too often. The Dodgers’ 4.30 rotation ERA ranks 23rd in the majors. That’s stunning enough but it’s worse when you look at the first inning, where L.A.’s 6.30 ERA ranks 28th. Amazingly, Cy Young candidate Yoshinobu Yamamoto has allowed just one first-inning earned run in 10 outings. The other Dodgers’ starters have a collective 7.65 first-inning ERA. — Doolittle

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Record: 31-18
Previous ranking: 6

A torrid stretch that began in late April lifted the Phillies into first place in the NL East, positioning them for another postseason push. Alas, if Philadelphia does earn a spot in the NL bracket, closer Jose Alvarado won’t be there to help. He tested positive for PEDs, leading to a suspension that will cost him 80 regular-season games and postseason eligibility. The silver lining is that Jordan Romano, the Phillies’ new top option for saves, appears to have righted the ship after a ragged start. His spree of eight scoreless outings included four saves and a couple of holds. — Doolittle

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Record: 29-19
Previous ranking: 5

The Subway Series was all about Juan Soto‘s return to Yankee Stadium, but it was Cody Bellinger, one of Soto’s replacements in the Bronx, who starred all weekend. The versatile former NL MVP went 7-for-11 with three walks, two doubles and two home runs, including a grand slam, in the three games. The Mets retired him just four times in his 14 plate appearances. The outburst is part of Bellinger’s turnaround since his sluggish start. Bellinger entered April 29 batting .194 with a .574 OPS and two home runs in 26 games. Since then, he’s slashing .357/.430/.686 with six homers in 18 games. — Castillo

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Record: 30-20
Previous ranking: 2

A disappearing offense led to the Mets’ worst week of the season. They lost road series against the Yankees and Red Sox, dropping them out of first place in the NL East behind the Phillies. Soto’s numbers remain below his career standard, and that’s made some fans antsy. Pete Alonso‘s recent sudden cooling after a blistering start has sapped the heart of the Mets’ lineup. Through May 5, Alonso had a 1.143 OPS, 25 walks and 24 strikeouts. Since: a .414 OPS, three walks and 24 strikeouts over 14 games, seven of which the Mets have lost. — Doolittle

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Record: 30-20
Previous ranking: 7

Since being dropped to eighth in the batting order at the end of April, Dansby Swanson is hitting close to .400 with an OPS over 1.000. He’s back up higher in the order as he’s seemingly figured things out after the slow start, raising his batting average from .185 to .262 in that time frame. It’s hard to know for sure but the lineup change may have helped him relax. Pitches he was swinging through previously, he’s now hitting with authority, making him a bigger part of a dangerous offensive attack in Chicago. — Rogers

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Record: 27-20
Previous ranking: 4

A Padres’ rotation that has ranked in the top 10 by ERA all season should get even stronger soon with the impending return of Yu Darvish. Darvish pitched four innings in a rehab outing at the Triple-A level last week, but the exact date of his return remains unknown. According to reports, Darvish may join the team this weekend, even if he doesn’t make a start. The Padres can afford to be patient with him thanks to fill-in Stephen Kolek, who posted a 2.33 ERA over his first three outings. — Doolittle

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Record: 28-20
Previous ranking: 9

Luis Castillo looked like his vintage self against the White Sox on Monday, pitching seven scoreless innings after doing nearly the same against the Yankees in his previous start. In three of his four outings this month, he’s totaled 19 innings while giving up just two runs. Castillo’s changeup isn’t nearly as valuable as it once was, but his other pitches are as good as ever, including his four-seam fastball, which batters are hitting just .189 off of. The Mariners will continue to lean on the longtime veteran as they deal with injuries to their rotation. — Rogers

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Record: 29-21
Previous ranking: 8

The Giants moved Jordan Hicks to the bullpen this week. It was a surprise when the Giants signed Hicks (1-5, 6.60 ERA) as a starter instead of a reliever, and the gambit hasn’t worked out. He is 5-16 with a 4.91 over 37 career starts between the Giants and Cardinals. His ERA as a reliever is 3.73 and his strikeout rate is 1.1 more per nine innings in that role. Replacing Hicks in the rotation is Hayden Birdsong, who held the Royals to one unearned run over five frames in his first start. — Doolittle

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Record: 27-22
Previous ranking: 16

The Twins won 13 straight games — the longest winning streak in the majors in 2025 — to erase a dismal start and plant themselves in the postseason picture before Memorial Day. But even that blistering stretch was accompanied by injury woes. Carlos Correa and Byron Buxton landed on the seven-day concussion injured list Friday after the two collided while pursuing a shallow fly ball. Pitching has fueled the Twins’ turnaround — their staff is tied for fifth across the majors in ERA — but the club will need its stars healthy and productive to stay within striking distance of the Tigers in the competitive AL Central. — Castillo

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Record: 26-24
Previous ranking: 11

The Diamondbacks have been a baseball version of a high-tempo basketball team. They are the only team in MLB scoring and allowing more than five runs per contest — and they would obviously like one of those trends to end. Improved pitching health would help, and there is hope on that front. Eduardo Rodriguez, A.J. Puk and Justin Martinez are on the IL but all have resumed throwing. Martinez has made a pair of rehab outings in the minors and topped 100 mph in his last appearance. — Doolittle

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12. St. Louis Cardinals

Record: 27-23
Previous ranking: 15

The surge up the standings by the Cardinals has been partly due to a balanced lineup and a starting staff performing above expectations. Take Miles Mikolas, for example. In the past, he has given up more hits than innings pitched — but not this year. He has allowed 40 hits in 45⅓ innings with only two leaving the yard. That’s been a trend for the Cardinals this season, as their entire rotation has only given up 26 home runs, putting them among the league leaders in fewest allowed. Combine that with the return of hot hitting catcher Ivan Herrera, and St. Louis is keeping pace with the Cubs near the top of the NL Central. — Rogers

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Record: 28-23
Previous ranking: 12

Starting pitching is the Royals’ strength, and the club’s quest to solidify its depth has led it to a very experienced option. Rich Hill, 45 years young, signed a minor league deal with Kansas City last week. He made his debut for the organization in the Arizona Complex League against the Cubs on Tuesday, striking out seven of the 12 batters he faced — none of which were born when he was drafted in 2002. He is expected to join Triple-A Omaha soon, and if he makes it to Kansas City, he will join Edwin Jackson as the only players to play for 14 major league teams. — Castillo

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Record: 24-24
Previous ranking: 14

The Braves’ season has been a roller coaster, ranging from the heights of lofty preseason expectations to the lows of an 0-7 start before finally settling into MLB’s middle as Atlanta surpassed .500 for the first time last week. All of this before Memorial Day. Now the Braves are getting whole. Spencer Strider returned to the rotation this week and Ronald Acuña Jr. is getting close, though no specific date has been announced for his return. Acuña reached base in 13 of his first 22 plate appearances while on a rehab assignment. If that’s rust, the Braves will take it. — Doolittle

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Record: 25-24
Previous ranking: 17

Framber Valdez might have found his rhythm in May. He has thrown 22 innings over his past three starts, giving up a total of five runs and striking out 22 while using his curveball more efficiently. Batters are hitting .224 off of it compared to .121 last season, but it’s still trending in the right direction compared to where he was last month. In his last outing Sunday, he threw 31 curveballs, producing 10 total swings-and-misses or called strikes to go with nine foul balls. Valdez is heating up. — Rogers

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Record: 25-26
Previous ranking: 13

The uproar surrounding Rafael Devers‘ decision to not even entertain moving to first base isn’t bothering the man himself. Since May 8, the day he flatly said he will not make the switch from designated hitter, Devers is batting .413 with five home runs and a 1.331 OPS. He has hits in 10 of the 13 games and multiple hits in six of them. On Saturday, he delivered his first career walk-off home run against the Braves to snap Boston’s four-game losing streak. The Red Sox are stuck in neutral, hovering around .500, but Devers isn’t the issue. He has been designated to hit — and he’s doing just that. — Castillo

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Record: 25-25
Previous ranking: 18

So how is the Bret Boone as hitting coach era going? There are mixed reviews as the Rangers still reside in the bottom third of the majors in OPS over the past couple of weeks — but they have shown signs of coming out of it. A nice five-win stretch in six games against the Tigers and Rockies helped vault them back into contention in the AL West, with the offense putting up three six-plus run outings over that span. Josh Jung has been hot since Boone came onboard, compiling an OPS over 1.000 in his past 11 games. Texas needs more of that from plenty of others in its lineup. — Rogers

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Record: 26-22
Previous ranking: 10

Typically, the Guardians’ pitching staff has masked an average-to-below-average offense. But that isn’t the case in 2025: The pitching staff ranks 20th in ERA, which means Cleveland’s offense could use more juice.

Jose Ramirez (146 wRC+) is in All-Star form again. Steven Kwan is batting over .300 again. Daniel Schneemann (135 OPS+) has been a pleasant surprise. But Cleveland’s production in right field — by wRC+ — is the second worst in the majors, glove-first shortstop Brayan Rocchio was optioned to the minors last week after posting a .433 OPS and first baseman Carlos Santana had a .320 slugging percentage until homering in consecutive games this week. Travis Bazzanna, the No. 1 overall pick in last year’s draft, was on track to possibly help this season, but he is expected to miss at least two months with a strained oblique. — Castillo

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Record: 25-26
Previous ranking: 21

The Reds’ offense came alive last week with nine home runs over a seven-game span, and over half of those came off the bat of one player: Will Benson. He slugged five while driving in 10 runs to give Cincinnati some much-needed pop since being called up from Triple-A earlier this month. Benson was a first-round pick in 2016 but has been slow to reach his potential, hitting just .187 in 128 games last season. While he’s not much of a fastball hitter, he has been hitting the breaking stuff all over the park. He’s likely to see a diet of four-seamers moving forward. — Rogers

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Record: 24-26
Previous ranking: 20

Two more shutouts at the plate — in back-to-back games against the Twins over the weekend — gave the Brewers six on the season as they continue to search for answers. Fortunately, the slumping Orioles can fix a team’s hitting woes, as Milwaukee broke out against them in a series win earlier this week. Perhaps 2024 MVP candidate William Contreras is finally getting hot — he’s had three multihit games in his past seven, including a four-hit affair against Baltimore on Monday. He’s a key cog in an offense that has been stuck in neutral too many times this season. All six shutouts have come since May 1. — Rogers

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Record: 24-24
Previous ranking: 22

Bo Bichette is better resembling his All-Star form after going without a home run through April. The shortstop is slashing .276/.345/.513 with four home runs and six doubles in 18 games this month. He’s recorded multiple hits in seven games. In all, he owns a 115 wRC+ and has accumulated 0.9 fWAR. It’s a step in the right direction for Bichette, an impending free agent coming off a disastrous injury-plagued 2024 season in which he posted a 71 wRC+ and 0.3 fWAR in 81 games. — Castillo

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Record: 23-26
Previous ranking: 23

Player development is rarely linear, and Junior Caminero is going through some struggles in his first full major league season. The former top prospect is batting .230 with a .662 OPS and 87 OPS+. He’s grounded into 14 double plays, which leads the majors by five, and has hit just two home runs in May. Defensively, his minus-7 outs above average and minus-7 defensive runs saved rank last among qualified third basemen. Caminero is still just 21 years old and has the skills for stardom. Right now, though, he’s going through growing pains for a Rays club that needs more oomph from the middle of the lineup. — Castillo

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23. Athletics

Record: 22-28
Previous ranking: 19

Things have gone wrong on both sides of the ball for the A’s, who have scored just 16 runs while allowing 52 over their seven-game losing streak. Nick Kurtz, Brent Rooker and Tyler Soderstrom have struggled during the skid. Is the dip a sign of things to come or just a bump in the road for the young Athletics? — Rogers

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Record: 23-25
Previous ranking: 26

The highlight of the Angels’ season came this past weekend when they swept the host Dodgers while scorching their pitching staff with 23 runs in the three games. Most impressive was a wild, back-and-forth affair Saturday when the Angels scored five times in the seventh inning en route to an 11-9 win. Catcher Logan O’Hoppe continued to impress as he hit his 10th home run in that game. He added another one Tuesday against the Athletics, making him just the second catcher to reach double digits in home runs this season. — Rogers

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Record: 22-27
Previous ranking: 25

When the Nationals acquired their mega package of prospects from the Padres in the 2022 Juan Soto trade, Robert Hassell III ranked alongside CJ Abrams, MacKenzie Gore and James Wood as major components of the deal. While the other three have justified their billing, it’s been slower going for Hassell, who was summoned to the majors for the first time Wednesday. He was needed after injuries to starting big league outfielders Dylan Crews and Jacob Young. It’s a golden opportunity for Hassell, whose numbers for Triple-A Rochester in 2025 were up across the board from last season. — Doolittle

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Record: 19-29
Previous ranking: 28

The brightest spot for the Marlins has undoubtedly been the early play of rookie catcher/DH Agustin Ramirez, who has wielded a potent power bat during his first MLB stint. Though Ramirez didn’t debut in the majors until April 21, he ranks third on the Marlins with six homers and leads the club with a .567 slugging percentage. Only Washington’s Dylan Crews has more homers among rookies (7) and only Atlanta’s Drake Baldwin has a higher slug (.583). The promising start has thrust Ramirez into early NL Rookie of the Year chatter. — Doolittle

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27. Baltimore Orioles

Record: 16-32
Previous ranking: 24

The Orioles are in shambles. Two weeks after general manager Mike Elias told reporters he was “very confident” in manager Brandon Hyde amid the club’s horrid start, Elias fired his skipper. The decision came the day after an ugly loss to the Nationals on Friday night, one in which they squandered a one-run lead in the last two innings. The move hasn’t changed the results. Baltimore lost the next four games under interim manager Tony Mansolino before winning Wednesday. A team with World Series aspirations before the season might have its playoff hopes dashed by Memorial Day. — Castillo

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Record: 17-33
Previous ranking: 27

Nothing has gone right for Pittsburgh this season. After firing manager Derek Shelton, the Pirates got more bad news this week: Righty Jared Jones will undergo surgery on his elbow and miss the rest of the season. A setback in his rehab led to the decision to go under the knife, further putting a damper on the last-place Pirates. Jones and Paul Skenes were to be a dangerous 1-2 combo at the top of this year’s rotation, but instead Skenes will go it alone in 2025. Jones compiled a 4.14 ERA during a promising rookie season in 2024, but he’ll essentially start from scratch when he makes it back next year. — Rogers

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Record: 15-35
Previous ranking: 29

Luis Robert Jr., coming off a disappointing 2024 season, has been so lousy that a contending team probably won’t give up much to acquire him before the trade deadline. Just ask him. Robert, through an interpreter, was candid to reporters Monday, telling them, “Right now, as my season is going, I don’t think anybody is going to take a chance on me.”

He’s probably right, and that’s a huge disappointment for the rebuilding White Sox. Robert was a ticket to another haul of young talent for their reset. But the center fielder, who has $20 million team options for each of the next two seasons, is batting just .178 with a .565 OPS in 46 games. That’s not good enough. — Castillo

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Record: 8-41
Previous ranking: 30

If Colorado hoped that canning manager Bud Black would light a fire under the team, those aspirations were quickly dashed. The Rockies lost seven of their first eight under Warren Schaeffer, keeping them on pace for some ignominious outcomes — and not just the White Sox’s all-time loss record. Colorado is on pace to finish 74 games out of first place, which would shatter the all-time record. But wait, there’s more: The Rockies are also on pace to finish 58 games out of fourth place. They aren’t just in the basement, they are tunneling their way to the center of the Earth. — Doolittle