MLB Power Rankings: Yankees on the rise, Cal Raleigh leads resurgent Mariners

Featured in this week’s MLB Power Rankings: Fernando Tatís Jr. continues to obliterate baseballs, the Braves lose even when they win, Mike Trout is smiling again, Elly De La Cruz is Superman, and the Athletics are getting more interesting by the minute.

Let’s get started!

1) San Diego Padres

Last week: 1

Just named as the National League Player of the Week, Fernando Tatís Jr. has reached base safely in all 21 games for the first-place Padres. He’s the early frontrunner for the National League MVP Award.

2) Los Angeles Dodgers

Last week: 2

Yoshinobu Yamamoto ís showing why he got a $325 million contract before even throwing a pitch in MLB. Coming off a 10-strikeout performance against the Rangers on Friday, he hasn’t allowed an earned run in his last 21 innings pitched.

3) New York Mets

Last week: 3

Highlighted by a walk-off blast from Francisco Lindor on Friday night, the Mets just pulled off their first four-game sweep of the Cardinals since 1986. Someone please remind me, did something else happen that year?

4) New York Yankees ⬆️

Last week: 8

While we can quibble about how the no-hitter scoring change was handled (as well as Aaron Judge’s possible home run), Max Fried has stepped up as the new Yankees ace in Gerrit Cole’s absence, posting a 1.42 ERA and 30/7 K/BB ratio across his first five starts with New York.

5) Chicago Cubs ⬆️

Last week: 6

The Cubs’ offense has proven formidable in the early part of the season, with Michael Busch in a starring role. After posting a .775 OPS over 152 games in his first season with the Cubs last year, he’s slashing .316/.386/.608 with five homers through 23 games to begin the 2025 campaign.

6) San Francisco Giants ⬇️

Last week: 5

Even after closer Ryan Walker melted down in Sunday’s loss to the Angels, the Giants’ bullpen is second in the majors with a 2.22 ERA.

7) Philadelphia Phillies ⬇️

Last week: 4

Cristopher Sanchez’s breakout continues. He made a certain kind of history in his 12-strikeout performance against the Giants on Thursday.

8) Arizona Diamondbacks ⬇️

Last week: 12

Josh Naylor homered in three straight games last week and is hitting .333/.406/.548 to start his D-Backs tenure. He delivered a go-ahead RBI single in the 11th inning on Sunday, helping Arizona salvage a game from an entertaining series against the Cubs.

9) Texas Rangers ⬇️

Last week: 7

So much talk about Jacob deGrom and the Rangers’ young pitchers, but Tyler Mahle has been the team’s best pitcher so far, posting a 0.68 ERA through five starts.

10) Detroit Tigers ⬇️

Last week: 9

Former No. 1 overall picks Spencer Torkelson and Casey Mize are helping lead the Tigers at the top of the AL Central, just like they drew it up a few years ago.

11) Boston Red Sox

Last week: 11

Liam Hendriks was back on an MLB mound on Sunday for the first time since June 9, 2023. The results weren’t quite there, as he allowed three hits — including a homer — against the White Sox, his former team. Still, it was great to see him back out there as one of the easiest players to root for in MLB.

12) Seattle Mariners ⬆️

Last week: 18

The Mariners have won eight out of their last 10 games, with Cal Raleigh mashing seven home runs in that timespan. The Blue Jays are surely happy to see him leave town.

13) Toronto Blue Jays ⬇️

Last week: 10

27-year-old Paxton Schultz tied the record for the most strikeouts (eight) by a reliever in his MLB debut Sunday against the Mariners. He induced 17 swinging strikes in his 64 pitches. A cool moment for the 2019 14th round pick.

14) Milwaukee Brewers ⬆️

Last week: 21

The Brewers began the year battered in their rotation, but Jose Quintana and Quinn Priester have been lights out recently and top prospect Logan Henderson fired six innings of one-run ball with nine strikeouts in his MLB debut against the A’s on Sunday.

15) Atlanta Braves ⬇️

Last week: 13

The Braves just swept a series for the first time this season. Everything’s cool, right? Right? Maybe not. In addition to some internal drama with Ronald Acuña/Jarred Kelenic and manager Brian Snitker, the recently-activated Spencer Strider landed on the IL on Monday due to a strained hamstring.

16) Cleveland Guardians ⬆️

Last week: 17

Emmanuel Clase continues to struggle, but the Guardians took care of business with a three-game sweep of the Pirates over the weekend.

17) Houston Astros ⬇️

Last week: 14

It’s been a rough start to Christian Walker’s first season with the Astros, so it was nice to see him go yard as part of a win over the Padres on Saturday.

18) Los Angeles Angels ⬇️

Last week: 16

Who knows if the Angels can keep this going, but it’s fun to see Mike Trout smiling. He deserves a winner.

19) Cincinnati Reds ⬆️

Last week: 22

You remember as a kid when you’d put on a cape and pretend to be Superman? Elly De La Cruz gets to do that every day.

20) Baltimore Orioles ⬇️

Last week: 19

After the 24-2 drubbing at the hands of the Reds on Sunday, Orioles starters now own a 6.11 ERA for the season.

21) Kansas City Royals ⬇️

Last week: 15

The Royals have displayed an alarming lack of power with just 11 home runs through 23 games. Bobby Witt Jr. and Maikel Garcia are the only regulars with an OPS north of .600.

22) St. Louis Cardinals ⬆️

Last week: 24

Only Aaron Judge has more hits than Brendan Donovan so far this season.

23) Athletics ⬆️

Last week: 25

Tyler Soderstrom has arguably been the biggest surprise so far this season, as he’s tied for the MLB lead with nine home runs. The A’s are reportedly about to get even more interesting, as top prospect Nick Kurtz is expected to be called up to the majors on Tuesday.

24) Tampa Bay Rays ⬇️

Last week: 20

If you blink, you might miss him. That’s Chandler Simpson, who was called up by the Rays this weekend. He swiped his first base on Sunday and there’s a lot more where that came from. He stole 104 bases last season in the minor leagues.

25) Washington Nationals ⬇️

Last week: 23

It has been a disappointing start to the season for Dylan Crews, but a trip to Colorado was just what the doctor ordered, as he launched a pair of homers on Saturday. Prior to Saturday’s game, he hadn’t driven in a run all season.

26) Minnesota Twins

Last week: 26

Injuries forced the Twins’ hand, but we saw Luke Keaschall make his MLB debut against the Braves over the weekend. The 22-year-old ranked No. 70 on Christopher Crawford’s Top 100 prospect list this past January.

27) Pittsburgh Pirates ⬆️

Last week: 28

The Pirates have stumbled on and off the field this season, but this was a nice gesture by the team.

28) Miami Marlins ⬇️

Last week: 27

The Marlins are Marlins-ing after a nice start to the season, but at least their fans will get a look at Agustin Ramírez for his MLB debut. The 23-year-old was acquired from the Yankees in the Jazz Chisholm deal and boasts legit pop and contact ability from the right side, even though his long-term position is unclear.

29) Chicago White Sox

Last week: 29

Luis Robert Jr. has walked 12 times in 20 games this season, which puts him on pace to blow away his career-high of 30 from 2023. There’s not much incentive for pitchers to challenge him in this unimposing lineup, but to his credit, he’s not chasing pitches like he has in the past. Perhaps there’s something to him working out with Juan Soto during the offseason?

30) Colorado Rockies

Last week: 30

The Rockies are off to their worst start in franchise history and they had to place Kris Bryant on the injured list last week due to lumbar degenerative disc disease. It’s pretty much as bad as it sounds.