On Tuesday, all across the baseball world, Jackie Robinson Day commemorations will once again take center stage. Since 2004, April 15 has been an obligatory notch on the baseball calendar, an opportunity for Major League Baseball to honor, to apologize and to force onto the viewing public a particular remembering of Robinson’s legacy.

The back of every jersey will feature Robinson’s iconic No. 42 in Dodger Blue. Stadium jumbotrons will roll dramatic tributes set to stirring music. Broadcasters will wax vague poetic about Robinson’s poise and courage in the face of vitriolic racism.

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But there is a difference between stitching 42 onto hundreds of uniforms and a purposeful, powerful exhibition of Robinson’s story. Because beneath the sanitized public glorification of this American icon lies a darker, more uncomfortable truth — one that Major League Baseball opts to sidestep.

The glory of Robinson’s tale and the part on which the league chooses to focus — the breaking of the sport’s color barrier — was made possible by the system that forbade Black athletes like him from playing in MLB. He has had lasting power because his journey and his sheer existence were subversive, radical, provocative.

But Jackie Robinson Day, as currently observed by MLB, has none of that bite.

As the league plainly states on its website, “Every year on April 15, Baseball honors Jackie’s legacy by celebrating his life, values and accomplishments.”

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There is nothing wrong with celebration, as long as it’s accompanied by a legitimate reckoning. A meaningful telling of the tale. A poignant, impactful application of past to present.

Unfortunately, that’s not happening.

There’s nothing controversial, thought-provoking or uncomfortable about how the league tells Robinson’s story. Money is donated, time is volunteered, the Jackie Robinson Foundation is included, and yet the entire day transmits a kind of kumbaya energy, one that whispers saccharine comforts in a post-racial tone.

“Jackie Robinson transcends any debate that’s going on in today’s society about issues surrounding DEI,” MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said in a recent interview. “What Jackie Robinson stands for was moving us past an overt kind of segregation that I don’t believe anybody actually supports today.”

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This way of thinking allows MLB to spotlight the good without confronting the bad, the difficult, the awkward. But to remove Robinson from the DEI conversation, while awfully convenient, whitewashes the non-baseball side of Robinson’s life, in which he fought fiercely for civil rights.

The truth is that if every hero has a villain, so too must Jackie. And in his case, that villain was America.

Here’s what Robinson had to say in his 1972 autobiography, “I Never Had It Made”: “Today as I look back on that opening game of my first world series, I must tell you that it was Mr. Rickey’s drama and that I was only a principal actor. As I write this twenty years later, I cannot stand and sing the anthem. I cannot salute the flag; I know that I am a black man in a white world.”

Firm, fierce, unapologetically blunt — all fundamental aspects of Jackie the man, all themes completely absent on Jackie Day, all uncomfortable truths that MLB prefers to bypass. And now, in this day and age, never has MLB’s failure to champion the entirety of Robinson’s legacy been more glaring or more damaging.

As recent events in this country have highlighted, MLB is not succeeding in spreading the true message of Robinson’s story.

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In late March, a story on the Department of Defense’s website about Robinson’s military career was removed as part of the Trump Administration’s efforts to scrub material involving diversity, equity and inclusion. Amidst public outcry, the page was swiftly revived — but not before a series of controversial statements from since-sidelined DOD spokesperson John Ullyot, including the following.

“We do not view or highlight [the subjects of the removed pages, including Robinson] through the prism of immutable characteristics, such as race, ethnicity, or sex. We do so only by recognizing their patriotism and dedication to the warfighting mission like every other American who has worn the uniform.”

Not viewing Jackie Robinson through the prism of race is like not viewing food through the prism of taste. Yes, Robinson was many things besides a Black man who broke a sport’s color barrier — a father, a ballplayer, a business executive, a lieutenant — but his stature in American society is inextricable from his race. That’s particularly true for Robinson’s time in the armed forces, during which he was court-martialed after he refused to move to the back of an Army bus.

That DOD fiasco hasn’t dissuaded certain political actors from continuing to attack Robinson’s legacy. An executive order implemented by President Trump on March 27, titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” led to the flagging of 900 titles in the U.S. Naval Academy’s Nimitz Library. Reportedly included in that bundle was a biography of Jackie Robinson. To date, the Robinson bio has not been purged, though 381 other books have been, but it appears to remain under consideration.

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And most concerningly, as it relates to MLB, references to “diversity” were taken off the league’s website at some point in the spring. Specifics of the league’s lauded Diversity Pipeline Program, which provides opportunities in baseball to underrepresented communities, were also removed.

In a statement to The Athletic, a league official said: “As the commissioner stated, our values on diversity remain unchanged. We are in the process of evaluating our programs for any modifications to eligibility criteria that are needed to ensure our programs are compliant with federal law as they continue forward.”

It’s predictable, understandable even, that MLB would adjust its public-facing language to ensure it remains beyond President Trump’s wrath. Public confrontations with the administration, especially over race, would be bad for business. There’s a pragmatic argument for playing the long game. And to its credit, MLB has made significant investments in Black baseball, including the Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities program and a $100 million donation to the Players Alliance, a collective of Black big leaguers seeking to make the sport more “equitable and accessible.”

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But in this particular case, MLB’s passivity is a disservice to what Robinson stood for.

That’s because the current administration’s systematic destruction of DEI efforts across the country stand in direct contradiction to Robinson’s legacy. Not spinning his story forward, not connecting it to modern America’s glaring inadequacies, not using this opportunity to make a point is an invalidation of the entire Jackie Robinson Day project.

Why uphold the past, if it’s not being used to impact the future?

MLB should celebrate Robinson’s courage and his grace. It should honor his achievements. But it should also tell the full story. It should linger on the harsh uglinesses. It should bear witness to the unsavory parts of American racism that necessitated Robinson’s bravery. It should remind us why that harsh history remains so dishearteningly relevant in 2025.

Quite simply, if MLB wants to honor Jackie, it must do more than have its players wear No. 42. It needs to carry the full weight of Robinson’s legacy — not just his number — on its back.

Five years ago, America was listening.

That was the year in which George Floyd and Breonna Taylor were killed by police officers.

That was also the year in which the Dodgers refused to take the field for a late August game to protest racial injustice in the wake of a police shooting of a 29-year-old Black man in Wisconsin.

The summer of racial reckoning, and the Dodgers’ modest role in it, feels like something from the distant past.

Rather than continue to stimulate important conversations, the Dodgers are back to whistling past America’s graveyard, pretending there is nothing hypocritical about visiting President Trump one week and celebrating Jackie Robinson Day the next. Conservative Fox News commentator Laura Ingraham wanted athletes to “shut up and dribble” and the Dodgers are doing the baseball equivalent of just that.

The opportunity for the Dodgers to regain their stature as agents of change has come and gone, their salute to Robinson on Tuesday reverting to its previous form as a cynical exercise in stealing the valor of a previous generation.

This shift in social climate was subtly pointed out by Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts earlier this month when he explained his decision to visit the Trump White House after declining to do so with the Boston Red Sox in 2019.

“At the time,” Betts told reporters, “the world was a different place.”

Read more: Dodgers, Giants decide not to play to protest the shooting of Jacob Blake

The world was in even more of a different place in 2020. Most of the country was in lockdown because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Major league teams played 60-game regular seasons in which no fans were allowed in stadiums.

Baseball clubhouses are traditionally white and politically conservative spaces. The pandemic didn’t change that. What changed in the Dodgers locker room was a willingness to listen.

On Aug. 23 of that year, a Black man named Jacob Blake was shot by a police officer in Kenosha, Wis., leading to demonstrations around the country. Two days later, at a protest in Kenosha, 17-year-old white male Kyle Rittenhouse shot three people.

The Dodgers were at Oracle Park on Aug. 26 when they received word of boycotted games in the NBA, as well as Major League Baseball. The only African American player on the team knew what he had to do.

“In my shoes,” Betts said at the time, “I couldn’t play.”

Manager Dave Roberts and third base coach George Lombard also ruled themselves out.

Betts told his teammates he would support them if they played the San Francisco Giants that day. They wouldn’t hear it. They joined his protest.

Starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw said: “As a white player on this team … how can we show support? What is something we can do to help our Black brothers on this team? Once Mookie said he wasn’t going to play … we felt the best thing to do to support him was not playing.”

Betts was moved by the gesture.

“I’ll always remember this day,” he said. “I’ll always remember this team just having my back.”

Five years later, as Betts said, the world is a different place. Civil rights violations don’t inspire the same amount of outrage as they once did, particularly in baseball clubhouses. Trump’s casual racism has become normalized to such a degree that even former outspoken critic Snoop Dogg was convinced to perform at a pre-inauguration event.

Still the Dodgers’ lone African American player, Betts said earlier this month about his decision to join his team at the White House: “It comes with the territory, being Black in America in a situation like this. It’s a tough spot to be in.”

Tough, presumably, because he didn’t know how his teammates would react if he shared his thoughts. Tough, presumably, because he wondered if he would divide the team by taking a stand.

Reflecting on his refusal to visit Trump with the Red Sox, Betts said, “I regret that because I made it about me. This isn’t about me.”

Read more: Hernández: Dodgers visiting Trump’s White House goes against everything they represent

In other words, this time around, he prioritized the well-being of his team over his personal convictions. The choice was understandable. Betts is a baseball player before he is an activist. His primary objective at this stage of his life is to win another World Series and creating the perception of a divided team would be counterproductive to that.

Which was why Dodgers owner Mark Walter or president Stan Kasten should have stepped in and told the players they wouldn’t visit the White House, that something more important than baseball was in play. They didn’t, of course. Kasten saying the Dodgers accepted Trump’s invitation because the players wanted to is the kind of spineless buck passing that has become standard procedure for this front office.

Walter and Kasten had the power to restart a necessary dialogue at a time when the Trump administration not only sent a brown-skinned man without a criminal record to a Salvadoran prison by mistake but also defied a Supreme Court order to facilitate his return. They didn’t. Their silence was a betrayal, both to the Dodgers and their history.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The Dodgers finally solved their recent offensive woes on Monday.

And the answer, it turned out, wasn’t much of a mystery.

Sure, manager Dave Roberts noted in his pregame media address, the Dodgers needed to be more selective at the plate, coming off a 3-6 skid over the last two weeks in which they’d hit .218 as a team and averaged barely three runs per game.

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Read more: Wes Parker has fond memories of his Dodgers career, and no regrets that he ended it

“When you’re swinging and trying to cover every pitch, all parts of the zone, that’s tough to do in the big leagues,” Roberts said. “I think having an idea of where you want to hunt is a good start for us.”

During afternoon batting practice, the Dodgers’ hitting coaches changed up the routine, too, having batters take swings off a high-velocity pitching machine — rather than soft tosses from members of the staff — in hopes of improving the offense’s mediocre production against fastballs.

“We always prioritize hitting velocity, and that’s something we haven’t done great,” hitting coach Robert Van Scoyoc said. “So, thought it was a good day to do it.”

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But the biggest difference on Monday, in the Dodgers’ 5-3 win over the Colorado Rockies, was to the lineup itself.

For just the fifth time in 18 games, Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman were all in the batting order again.

And, for arguably the first time this year, the Dodgers’ Big 3 looked like their terrifying, thunderous selves — setting the tone, leading the way and quieting the growing questions about the club’s recently sluggish offense.

Betts hit a two-run home run in the top of the first, after Ohtani led the game off with a single. Ohtani went yard himself in the third inning, collecting his fifth long ball of the season on a no-doubt blast to center. Freeman tacked on two hits in a return to form following time away on the injured list.

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Read more: Plaschke: Invincible Dodgers look very beatable, and that’s a problem

Combined, they were seven for 14 with three RBIs and all five runs scored.

And while the Dodgers (12-6) got other contributions in their series-opening win at Dodger Stadium — most notably, a six-inning, one-run, seven-strikeout gem from starter Dustin May — having their three superstar sluggers back, and bashing, together again was easily the night’s most welcomed sight.

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

On Saturday at Dodger Stadium, 23-year-old right-hander Roki Sasaki took the mound for the fourth start of his highly anticipated rookie season and delivered his best performance yet, allowing just one run over five innings of work. Unfortunately for his team, Sasaki’s strongest start to this point was also the first one to result in an L.A. loss.

The Dodgers won Sasaki’s first three starts despite his relative struggles, but they failed to provide him with any run support Saturday against the Cubs, and then the bullpen imploded entirely in the late innings, leading to a 16-0 rout in Chicago’s favor despite Sasaki’s stellar effort. As a result, Sasaki has his first loss and is still in search of his first win as a big-league starting pitcher.

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While the unique circumstances of his jump to MLB mean that Sasaki is on the same league-minimum contract as fellow rookie hurlers Jack Dreyer and Ben Casparius, the immense hype surrounding his arrival has amplified the degree to which Sasaki’s earliest outings have been scrutinized. No, he didn’t require the same monumental monetary investment as his teammate Yoshinobu Yamamoto, but Sasaki’s development is being tracked on a near-daily basis as closely as that of any pitcher in recent memory.

So, after four starts, 13⅔ innings pitched and 64 batters faced, what have we learned? This sample is hardly large enough to make any drastic declarations about his career long-term, let alone the remainder of this season. But it’s enough to get an early gauge on Sasaki’s tendencies, what has worked well for him and what he’ll need to improve upon as his rookie season progresses.

Let’s dive in.

The stuff

Across his four seasons in Japan, Sasaki relied almost exclusively on three pitches: a high-90s four-seam fastball, a mid-80s slider and a spectacular splitter in the 88-89 mph range that was widely regarded as one of the most devastating off-speed pitches on the planet.

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Via DeltaGraphs, here’s a look at how Sasaki’s arsenal evolved during his time in NPB:

• 2021

  • Fastball: 60% usage, 95 mph average

The splitter has always been Sasaki’s preferred secondary offering, and he leaned on his fastball less in his final season in Japan. Perhaps that was a response to his slight dip in velocity in 2024, a trend Sasaki named during his free agency as something he was focused on fixing with his new team.

With his prior pitch mix in mind, what has Sasaki’s repertoire looked like as a major leaguer?

The usage of Sasaki’s four-seamer has been restored closer to where it was earlier in his career, while his slider usage has sunk back to a distant third. The velocity, while still ranking in the 90th percentile among MLB arms, has yet to tick back up to the heights exhibited in 2023. Perhaps more notably, the average velocity for Sasaki’s splitter and slider are both a few notches below where they were in Japan. It’s likely too early to put too much stock into the radar gun readings as Sasaki continues to build up his workload, but these early marks will be worth revisiting later this summer.

Velocity aside, the arrival of Sasaki’s standout splitter and its heavy dose of deployment is a compelling data point in a league-wide trend: Splitter usage has spiked significantly across baseball in recent years. From 2015 to 2022, splitters never accounted for more than 1.9% of the total pitches thrown in MLB during the regular season. But so far this year, 3.8% of pitches thrown have been splitters — a jump Sasaki has contributed to.

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Even with the increased usage of splitters league-wide, Sasaki’s distribution of pitches makes his arsenal relatively unique, especially for a starting pitcher. He’s one of just a handful of starters who rely on a splitter as their go-to secondary pitch, along with fellow Japanese aces Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shota Imanaga. But there’s really only one starting pitcher whose repertoire closely mirrors Sasaki’s specific balance of offerings, and that’s Blue Jays right-hander Kevin Gausman:

It’s a strikingly similar pitch mix, though there are differences in the two pitchers’ release points and movement profiles. Sasaki throws much harder and from a higher arm angle, while Gausman’s pitches have markedly more spin across the board. Still, Gausman’s splitter-forward attack could serve as a rough template for the genre of pitcher Sasaki could grow into.

There are also a few crucial pieces of context to keep in mind when evaluating Sasaki’s stuff moving forward. For one, the evolution of his pitch mix is an ongoing process, one that is sure to be influenced by his new environment. MLB uses a different ball than NPB, one that is slightly larger and less tacky. Sasaki is still in the early stages of figuring out how his pitches move when thrown with the MLB ball, and he’s in the early stages of understanding how his repertoire plays against the best hitters on the planet, who are far more used to high-end velocity than Sasaki’s foes in NPB. He’ll also surely continue to alter his attack plan depending on his opponent; we’ve seen him face only three teams so far, including the Cubs twice.

The results

A generous interpretation of Sasaki’s performance thus far is that he has been effectively wild. His 3.29 ERA suggests that he has managed to keep opponents relatively in check despite his severe strike-throwing shortcomings, as evidenced by an MLB-high 20.3% walk rate and a 50% first-pitch strike rate that also ranks among the worst in baseball. A more pessimistic evaluation of the young righty would insist that this degree of wildness is wholly unsustainable if he is to remain a viable candidate to start for the Dodgers on a regular basis, not to mention down the stretch as the stakes continue to climb.

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The truth is likely somewhere in between these initial assessments. No, Sasaki cannot continue to walk one-fifth of the batters he faces and expect to find success as a big-league starter. Sure, Luis Gil won AL Rookie of the Year with the highest walk rate in baseball (min. 100 IP) last season, but he was walking only 12% of opposing batters. Sasaki will need to rein in his control considerably, so it’s encouraging that his strike-throwing has improved with each start, enabling him to go deeper into games:

• March 19 vs. Cubs: 3 innings, 56 pitches, 25 strikes (45%)

• March 29 vs. Tigers: 1⅔ innings, 61 pitches, 32 strikes (52%)

• April 5 vs. Phillies: 4 innings, 68 pitches, 41 strikes (60%)

• April 12 vs. Cubs: 5 innings, 81 pitches, 50 strikes (62%)

At the same time, there’s some solace to be found in the fact that most of Sasaki’s issues thus far have been self-inflicted. Yes, his proclivity to issue free passes has resulted in a stressful amount of traffic on the bases, but it’s not like opposing batters have been knocking him around the ballpark; Michael Busch’s home run on Saturday was the first extra-base hit Sasaki had surrendered in four starts.

Also, Sasaki’s much-hyped splitter has largely lived up to the hype, exhibiting unprecedented movement and registering a 46% whiff rate that already rates among the best of any individual offering in MLB. His heater, however, has not demonstrated nearly the same level of effectiveness: Among 63 pitchers who have thrown at least 100 four-seamers, Sasaki’s 11.8% whiff rate on his fastball ranks 58th. It’s worth noting that his teammate Yamamoto ranks 62nd on the same list, but Yamamoto’s far superior command and deeper arsenal have enabled notably more success so far this season. That’s a reminder that pitchers can succeed without getting swing-and-misses on their fastball, but they need to do a lot of other things well.

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If Sasaki’s fastball continues to be more hittable in MLB than it was in NPB, the development of his slider will become paramount as an alternate means to coax whiffs, alongside his splitter. More broadly (and importantly), if Sasaki and the Dodgers can continue to refine his command, that should elevate the effectiveness of all three pitches as opposing batters are forced to respect his ability to locate them in the strike zone.

What’s next?

If we assume that Sasaki will remain on his start-every-Saturday schedule, his next outing will come this weekend against the Rangers at Globe Life Field, followed by a home start on April 26 against the lowly Pirates. Texas is a fascinating foe for Sasaki, as the Rangers’ offense currently ranks 30th in MLB in walk rate and has underperformed severely relative to the talented personnel in place. How Sasaki’s control issues manifest against a lineup that has thus far been relatively unwilling to take free passes will be interesting, and we’ll see if his pitch count continues to increase.

For Sasaki, every start represents another chance to improve as he gradually learns what it takes to succeed at the highest level. He’s clearly still figuring out what works and what doesn’t against the best hitters on the planet, and his arsenal and command of it are sure to continue evolving in the months and years to come. That said, with the Dodgers already in the thick of a heated NL West race, Sasaki’s development into a reliable rotation option, rather than a work-in-progress rookie, might prove to be more important to the team’s collective success than previously anticipated — and that makes each and every one of his starts all the more intriguing as the season unfolds.

If you were following along with the preseason edition, here’s our regular-season top 300 overall rankings, which will updated weekly on Mondays.

These are rest-of-season rankings for mixed 5×5 fantasy baseball leagues.

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You can check out our rankings for dynasty leagues here.

Fantasy Baseball Waiver Wire: Hunter Goodman surging, opportunity for Heston Kjerstad

Eric Samulski breaks down some of the top waiver wire adds for the upcoming week of fantasy baseball.

2025 Fantasy Baseball Top 300 overall ranks

**Updated as of Monday, April 14**

April 14 Notes

– Dropping off the list: Justin Steele (116th), Bowden Francis (252nd), Jeimer Candelario (271st), Trevor Larnach (277th), Hunter Goodman (278th), Tony Santillan (281st), Jordan Hicks (283rd), Tyler Holton (291st), Merrill Kelly (292nd), Zac Veen (293rd), Harrison Bader (294th), Jake Cronenworth (295th), Mike Clevinger (296th), Seth Halvorsen (297th), Andrew Benintendi (298th), Alex Burleson (299th), Iván Herrera (300th)

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– Kyren Paris. The guy who came into 2024 with a .110/.214/.165 line in 105 plate appearances as a major leaguer. The guy who sat on the bench in favor Tim Anderson and for five of the Angels’ first seven games and only started the other two because Jo Adell was hurt. The guy who has more homers (five) in 46 plate appearances this year than he did in 251 last season (four), even though a bunch of those came in Salt Lake. The swing changes are legit, and it’s great that he’s getting the ball into the air now. I don’t think he’s going to be a consistent power source, but since he’s an excellent basestealer, he won’t need to be especially productive as long as he continues to play regularly. I’m putting him around No. 200 for now, though he’d be a good 50 spots higher for just these next few weeks. Things will get more crowded once Zach Neto is back, and while the Angels can play Paris in center field in addition to second base, Adell is making a far better case to stick than his .190/.261/.357 line suggests; he’s over the 90th percentile in both hard-hit rate and average exit velocity. Statcast gives him a .281 xBA and a .519 xSLG.

– I also put Nick Kurtz on the list at No. 219. It’s hard to say if Brent Rooker can play the outfield regularly enough to open up a spot for Kurtz on the A’s; he started in right field on Saturday, but that’s the first time this season he hasn’t DH’d. Kurtz is batting .367/.409/.817 with seven homers in 14 games for Las Vegas. Once he gets the call, I’ll probably have him in the top 160.

– Dennis Santana fell 15 spots with David Bednar now having struck out five in four perfect innings since being sent down to Triple-A. I thought about returning Bednar to the list, but I’d prefer to see him throw a couple of scoreless innings in the majors first. One imagines he’ll be back in the Pittsburgh pen before the week is out.

– I swapped in Emilio Pagán for Tony Santillan as the Reds reliever on the list. It sounds like Alexis Díaz is returning Tuesday, but I see little reason to have much faith in him at this point.

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– Joe Boyle was considered for a spot, even though the Rays have already sent him down following his five hitless innings Sunday. He’ll definitely appear once it looks like the team has some room for him in the rotation.

– Less consideration was given to Chase Dollander. On another team, for sure; I’d probably place him somewhere around 200th if he pitched in an average situation. But even if he survives Coors Field (which gets significantly worse for pitchers as the weather warms), he’ll still be backed up by an awful team that will make wins very difficult to come by.

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It’s another Monday edition of the Baseball Bar-B-Cast with Jake Mintz and Jordan Shusterman. The guys recap all the action around MLB from this weekend and start the pod by discussing the San Diego Padres domination of the Colorado Rockies. The pair look at the stellar pitching the Padres have and why they may have the best home field advantage in all of baseball. The two also breakdown the big Cubs-Dodgers series and take an early season pulse on the wild AL East.

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(2:45) – How Sweep it is: Padres demolish Rockies at home

(10:25) – How Sweep it is: Mariners take down Texas

(14:30) – How Sweep it is: Reds dismantle pitiful Pirates

(20:40) – Concern for Dodgers after Cubs series?

(28:45) – AL East check in: Concerns for Yankees and Red Sox? Can we trust Toronto’s hot start?

(42:05) – To statue or not to statue? Who has one and deserves one in baseball?

(50:30) – Turbo Mode: Recapping the rest of the weekend series

[Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Baseball league for the 2025 MLB season]

Follow the show on X at @CespedesBBQ

Follow Jake @Jake_Mintz

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🖥️ Watch this full episode on YouTube

Check out the rest of the Yahoo Sports podcast family at https://apple.co/3zEuTQj or at Yahoo Sports Podcasts

Another week, another major shakeup in our MLB Team Power Rankings. That’s the beauty of the early part of the baseball season.

From what we’ve seen so far, most of MLB’s best teams reside in the National League. That was somewhat expected, but we figured that the Braves would be one of those teams. That’s not the case so far.

These power rankings are a combination of current performance and long-term projected outlook. The Dodgers should be fine and figure to find their way back to the top spot before long, but the Padres can’t be denied right now.

Let’s get started!

1. San Diego Padres ⬆️

Last week: 8

We’ve got a new No. 1! And the Padres have certainly earned it in the early going, not just with the best record in baseball (and a 10-0 record at home!), but also a historic showing against the Rockies over the weekend. They’ll begin a series against the NL Central-leading Cubs on Monday, which should be a good one.

2. Los Angeles Dodgers ⬇️

Last week: 1

The Dodgers have dropped three series in a row since starting the season 8-0. Baseball gonna baseball. They should have a chance to get healthy with a home series against the Rockies to begin the week.

3. New York Mets ⬆️

Last week: 7

Pete Alonso is loving life hitting behind Juan Soto. After an admittedly disappointing 2024, Alonso already has four homers and 18 RBI to go along with a .321/.431/.660 batting line. He’s only struck out nine times in 65 plate appearances, so he’s seeing the ball extremely well right now.

4. Philadelphia Phillies ⬇️

Last week: 2

The Phillies’ offense has hit the skids, including a pair of shutout losses this weekend against the Cardinals. Nobody exemplifies the struggles more than Brandon Marsh, who hasn’t had a hit since the third game of the season on March 30.

5. San Francisco Giants ⬇️

Last week: 3

Jung Hoo Lee certainly enjoyed his first visit to Yankee Stadium over the weekend, slugging three homers in the three-game set, including a two-homer game on Sunday. His first season stateside was cut short due to injury, but he’s looking like a key piece for this lineup.

6. Chicago Cubs ⬆️

Last week: 9

We’ll start with the good news. After dropping both games of their season-opening series in Japan, the Cubs got back at the Dodgers by taking two out of three over the weekend, including a 16-0 shellacking on Saturday. The bad news? Justin Steele needs elbow surgery and will miss the remainder of the season.

7. Texas Rangers ⬇️

Last week: 4

The Rangers went 1-5 on their roadtrip and lost phenom outfielder Wyatt Langford along the way. They have a series against the AL West-leading Angels to begin the week.

8. New York Yankees ⬇️

Last week: 5

Yankees starters have combined for a major-league worst 5.40 ERA so far this season. The hope is that Clarke Schmidt can help provide a boost. He’s slated for his season debut on Wednesday.

9. Detroit Tigers ⬆️

Last week: 14

Remember when Spencer Torkelson’s name surfaced in some trade rumors this offseason? The Tigers are surely happy they didn’t follow through on those talks, as the 2020 No. 1 overall pick slugged his fifth homer on Sunday and now owns an impressive .309/.409/.673 batting line through 15 games.

10. Toronto Blue Jays ⬆️

Last week: 16

Sunday’s extra-inning victory over the Orioles carried some extra meaning for Jeff Hoffman, who had a potential free agent deal with Baltimore wiped out due to an issue with his physical. He struck out four batters over two scoreless innings for the win. Nothing like a little spite as a motivator.

11. Boston Red Sox ⬇️

Last week: 6

Garrett Crochet almost made history against his former team on Sunday, carrying a no-hitter into the eighth inning before it was broken up by recent call-up Chase Meidroth. In an interesting twist, Meidroth was part of the return package for Crochet.

12. Arizona Diamondbacks ⬇️

Last week: 10

Corbin Carroll was right in the middle of back-to-back comeback victories over the Brewers this weekend as his monster start to the season continues. He already has five homers after not hitting his fifth homer until July 13 last year.

13. Atlanta Braves ⬇️

Last week: 11

The Braves have rebounded somewhat since their 0-7 start to the season, but the best news of all is that Spencer Strider is set to make his return from Tommy John surgery on Wednesday.

Strider’s final rehab start was enough to make you salivate.

14. Houston Astros ⬇️

Last week: 12

Isaac Paredes’ pull-happy approach is tailor-made for the Crawford Boxes and we saw it in action this weekend against the Angels, as he went deep in all three games.

15. Kansas City Royals ⬆️

Last week: 17

Cole Ragans has struck out 10 or more batters in three straight starts. He’s the second pitcher in franchise history to do it, joining former All-Star Kevin Appier, who accomplished the feat in 1996.

16. Los Angeles Angels ⬆️

Last week: 19

I’ll take “Things Nobody Expected” for $200, Alex. The Angels lead all MLB teams with 30 homers so far this season. It’s great to see Mike Trout mashing baseballs again, but Kyren Paris has been one of the biggest surprises of the young season. Trying to emulate Aaron Judge isn’t the worst idea ever.

17. Cleveland Guardians ⬆️

Last week: 21

What’s going on with Emmanuel Clase? He’s already allowed six earned runs in seven innings this year after allowing just five earned runs in 74 1/3 innings all of last season.

18. Seattle Mariners

Last week: 18

Cal Raleigh homered in all three games this past weekend as the Mariners completed a three-game sweep of the Rangers. While the Mariners’ spot in these rankings is unchanged from last week, they’ve now won four straight.

19. Baltimore Orioles ⬇️

Last week: 13

It’s been a shaky start to the year for the Orioles, but there was a nice moment on Saturday, as Felíx Bautista notched his first save since returning from Tommy John surgery. The 29-year-old isn’t quite back to normal just yet, as he’s walked five batters in four innings of work and isn’t pitching on back-to-back days.

20. Tampa Bay Rays

Last week: 20

When the Rays picked up Joe Boyle in the Jeffrey Springs deal with the Athletics this offseason, many predicted that the club would do their magic and turn him into a frontline starter. For one day at least, that came true. Adding a “splinker” to his high octane fastball and nasty slider, Boyle dominated the Braves over five-plus hitless innings on Sunday. The big question is his control — he lost the strike zone before being pulled in the sixth — but the Rays have to be thrilled with the early results.

21. Milwaukee Brewers ⬇️

Last week: 15

After playing a part in the Brewers’ epic ninth inning collapse against the Diamondbacks on Saturday, it was acknowledged that closer Trevor Megill has been dealing with a knee issue. It was apparently troublesome enough that the Brewers sent him for an MRI. No structural damage was found, but he’s now seeking a second opinion.

22. Cincinnati Reds ⬆️

Last week: 25

What a start the season for Hunter Greene. With seven scoreless frames on Sunday to finish off a three-game sweep of the Pirates, the 25-year-old fireballer now owns a 0.98 ERA and 31/4 K/BB ratio through his first four starts. Cy Young Award favorite?

23. Washington Nationals ⬆️

Last week: 26

Dylan Crews has had a brutal start to the season and CJ Abrams hit the injured list this weekend with a right hip flexor strain, but at least James Wood appears to be on a rocketship to superstardom.

24. St. Louis Cardinals ⬇️

Last week: 23

The “torpedo bat” commentary has died down somewhat since the Yankees’ tortured the Brewers two weekends ago, but count Willson Contreras among the converted. He went 2-for-4 in his first game with the bat on Saturday against the Phillies before adding two more hits — including his first homer of the season — on Sunday. Safe to say he’ll be sticking with it.

25. Athletics ⬇️

Last week: 24

A’s rookie shortstop Jacob Wilson went 0-for-4 on Sunday after hitting safely in 15 straight games to begin the season. He’s a fun mix of styles. Despite one of the most aggressive approaches in the game — he’s yet to draw a walk through 61 plate appearances — he has the third-lowest strikeout rate among qualified hitters. Hey, it’s working for him.

26. Minnesota Twins ⬇️

Last week: 22

You don’t have to remind Twins fans about this, but we’re now talking about a prolonged stretch of futility. After letting a playoff spot slip through their fingers last September, the Twins currently own the second-worst record in the AL.

27. Miami Marlins ⬆️

Last week: 28

I said two weeks ago that the Marlins were probably going to peak at No. 28 this year, so I’ll give them credit for being a pesky bunch. It’s rare that you’ll see a game-ending catch as good as the one Dane Myers had against the Mets last week.

28. Pittsburgh Pirates ⬇️

Last week: 27

Paul Skenes is coming off his worst start as a professional, as he allowed five runs over six innings against the Cardinals last Tuesday. With the way this offense is hitting (they are hitting .198 as a team), Skenes almost has to be perfect.

29. Colorado Rockies

Last week: 29

Didn’t score a single skinny run over the weekend, but hey, these new City Connects look pretty smooth.

30. Chicago White Sox

Last week: 30

The White Sox took the first two games of their series against the Red Sox over the weekend before they were completely befuddled by some guy named Garrett Crochet on Sunday. He might have a future in this game.