The Major League Baseball season is chugging along at full speed now, and we’re starting to find out who’s come to play ball versus who’s simply come to collect their checks. This week brought some long streaks, both winning and losing, and those swings in record are reflected by some big shakeups in the middle third of these MLB power rankings.
Though the top hasn’t changed much throughout the season, we did have a first-time entrant into the top five, with the Philadelphia Phillies earning that distinction through their sheer dominance, winning 11 of their last 13. The biggest drop of the week, meanwhile, belongs to the Tampa Bay Rays, who had the misfortune of not only becoming the first team to lose a series to the Chicago White Sox, but were swept out of the Southside in three straight.
Where did your team end up in this week’s MLB power rankings? Read ahead to find out.
1. Atlanta Braves (no change)
To try and explain why the Braves are the best team in baseball is almost too easy a task. They hit enough and they pitch enough. They have tons of star power, but the role players step up big. They blow plenty of teams out, but they also eke out the close ones. They’ve got the best record in the league and just beat the team with the second-best, so they get to claim the top spot in the MLB power rankings.
2. Los Angeles Dodgers (+2)
The Dodgers lost back-to-back series a week ago and rightfully, not a single person in the organization was worried in the slightest. L.A. then proceeded to rip off a six-game winning streak before Sunday’s close loss in Toronto. And if MVP voting happened today, Mookie Betts and Shohei Ohtani would finish first and second. It’s going to be a fun summer out in Hollywood.
3. New York Yankees (no change)
After losing three of their first five this week, the Yankees responded exactly how you’d want them to by hanging 15 runs on the Brewers on back-to-back days. Aaron Judge, in a week that started with fans panicking about his slump, hit three home runs and broke the internet with his controversial second-base sliding technique. The season will have its ups and downs, but it’s clear this year’s Yankees are much less likely to fall into a tailspin.
4. Baltimore Orioles (-2)
Losing two out of three at home to the Athletics is never the goal, but it’s understandable when the losses are failed one-run comeback attempts against Mason Miller and Lucas Erceg. Sending Jackson Holliday back to AAA is the right move when you have Henderson, Rutschman, Westburg, and Cowser all going crazy. The O’s will be a fixture of the top five in the MLB power rankings all summer long.
5. Philadelphia Phillies (+1)
The Phillies stayed scorching hot with a weekend sweep in San Diego, continuing to showcase the best pitching rotation in the game right now. Bryce Harper, appropriately enough, showcased his dad strength with a midweek power surge, Alec Bohm is one of the hottest hitters on earth and even Bryson Stott chipped in a pair of homers on Sunday. This is a team operating at full strength and it’s beautiful to watch.
6. Cleveland Guardians (+1)
The Guardians lost the series in Atlanta, but they still asserted themselves well, winning an extra-innings game Saturday and taking the Braves to extras again Sunday. Once again, Josh Naylor had a ton of clutch hits this week, while Jose Ramirez had the swing of the week with his Thursday grand slam. At the very least, anyone originally questioning their position near the top of the MLB power rankings should be satisfied by now.
7. Milwaukee Brewers (-2)
Giving up 30 runs on the weekend took some wind out of the Brewers’ sails, especially for a team that was already dealing with a plethora of injuries to its starting pitchers. The Brewers clearly still have a ton of things going for them, but they’ll need some of their young players to step up in the coming weeks—on both sides of the ball—to stay at the top of the NL Central.
8. Chicago Cubs (+1)
Dropping the final two games of the weekend at Fenway Park wasn’t ideal, but the Cubs still had a winning week on the whole, thanks to a home sweep of the no-longer-scary Houston Astros. Pete Crow-Armstrong not only hit his first career home run in the Houston series finale, but carried the momentum into a hot weekend in Boston. Meanwhile, Shota Imanaga continues to absolutely shove, tossing another gem against the Red Sox Friday night.
9. Seattle Mariners (+6)
Now this is more like it, Seattle. Taking series from the two 2023 World Series participants is a great way to spend a week and the Mariners did so with their typical formula, timely hitting, and great pitching. After a rough start to the season, George Kirby now appears to be fully locked in, which should terrify anyone who plays the Mariners on one of his start days.
10. Texas Rangers (-2)
A 3-3 week dropped the Rangers behind Seattle in the early power struggle for the AL West, but they responded well this weekend against Cincinnati. Perhaps his inside-the-park first career home run can get Wyatt Langford going because it’s clear the Rangers’ offense isn’t going to be carried by its stars as much as a year ago. But in spite of their sleepy April, this remains a potent team in a wide-open American League.
11. Kansas City Royals (+3)
They lost the series this weekend against the Tigers, but since the Royals maintain a half-game lead on Detroit for second place in the AL Central, we’ll narrowly give them the one spot MLB power rankings edge as well. K.C. has continued to play both sides of the ball well, especially with Seth Lugo becoming a legitimate threat in the middle of the rotation. It won’t be easy to stay in the playoff mix, but these Royals appear to be proving themselves capable of doing it.
12. Detroit Tigers (+7)
It’s been fairly impressive to see the Tigers stay above .500 despite some rough series. They knocked their division rival Royals down a peg over the weekend thanks to some clutch hits and more dominance from Tarik Skubal. Detroit still isn’t hitting enough to be a true contender, but perhaps they can find more contributors as the season rolls along.
13. Cincinnati Reds (+3)
A solid split with the Phillies was soured somewhat by a series loss on the road in Arlington, but the Reds are still playing solid ball. Hunter Greene was fantastic in the lone win against the Rangers, which is massively encouraging for Cincy. If Greene and Elly De La Cruz can carry the Reds on each side of the ball, no one will look forward to seeing them on the calendar.
14. New York Mets (-3)
The Mets seem to regress toward .500 no matter which side of it they’re on at the time, and that meant losing four of six this week after building prior momentum. But a Mark Vientos walk-off home run is enough to put a smile on any fan’s face to end the week. There are still too many stars underperforming at the plate, but the arrival of J.D. Martinez should help relieve some of that pressure.
15. Boston Red Sox (+3)
This weekend was kind to the Red Sox, who walloped the Cubs 17-0 Saturday and turned around and shrugged off a four-run late-inning collapse with a Tyler O’Neill walk-off bloop single to take the series. The return of Rafael Devers to the lineup makes the Sox so much more competent offensively, allowing everyone to relax and see more strikes with the threat of Raffy Big Stick lurking. And Tanner Houck is going to be an All-Star if he keeps up this level of dominance, once again spinning a gem Sunday night.
16. Minnesota Twins (+7)
The Twins had seven games this week against two awful teams in the White Sox and Angels and did exactly what they needed to do to get their early season back on track–won all seven of them. Suddenly the team is red hot, Carlos Santana knows nothing but home runs and the good vibes have been restored to a Minnesota team that looked like they were in a fog earlier this month. Heck, they even have a home run sausage now.
17. San Francisco Giants (+3)
The Giants haven’t lost a series in the past two weeks, and it’s helped them climb into second place despite their 14-15 record. Logan Webb is becoming an early front-runner for Cy Young honors, tossing another eight brilliant innings in his win over the Mets this week. But the lineup definitely hasn’t gotten off the ground yet and if the Giants want to challenge for the upper echelon in these MLB power rankings, some of their high-priced bats need to wake up.
18. Arizona Diamondbacks (-5)
It’s officially time to worry about Corbin Carroll. The defending NL Rookie of the Year has been relegated to batting seventh or eight most days, with his season OPS nosediving all the way to .531 with a hitless performance Sunday. And if Carroll isn’t going, the Diamondbacks aren’t either. They’ve got lots of talent surrounding him, but they need their presumed young star to play like one.
19. Toronto Blue Jays (-9)
No sooner were the Blue Jays hot that they were suddenly ice cold. A gutsy win over the Dodgers Sunday snapped a five-game losing skid, dropping Toronto below .500 and in fourth place in the AL East. It was another week where Vladimir Guerrero Jr. made a series of unfortunate gaffes, which won’t fly if the team has serious aspirations to contend in 2024.
20. St. Louis Cardinals (+5)
They remain two games under .500, but it was a nice week for the Cardinals, who took two of three from both the Diamondbacks and Mets. Sonny Gray continues to anchor the rotation in his debuting season in St. Louis, now boasting a 1.16 ERA in 23.1 innings. Though they’re still in last place in what suddenly seems to be a loaded NL Central, the Cards are far from finished.
21. Washington Nationals (no change)
The Nationals are the perfect separator right now between teams with hope and teams full of bitter disappointment. They’re not likely to challenge for a playoff spot this season, but their youth is starting to blossom enough that they can give any team a tough series. And they put the smackdown on the Marlins this weekend, establishing that they’re a lot higher in the pecking order of the future NL East.
22. Tampa Bay Rays (-10)
Being swept by the 2024 Chicago White Sox is not a badge of honor and as such, the Rays made by far the biggest dip in this week’s MLB power rankings. The Rays are simply not a fundamentally sound baseball team in any way right now, with a feast or famine approach at the plate and sloppy defense and baserunning. They need to clean up their act before breaking back into the top 15.
23. San Diego Padres (-6)
It’s always been one step forward, two steps backward with the Padres these past two seasons. Just when we thought they might be ready to surge into the top half of the MLB power rankings, they suffered a collapse in a game they led 9-4, then promptly got swept at home by their 2022 NLCS assailants, the Philadelphia Phillies. Now that we can officially declare this a bad April for San Diego, it’s time to get hot, or the entire season will start to look like a disappointment.
24. Pittsburgh Pirates (-2)
The Pirates had a quiet 3-4 week, one which would have felt a lot better with a series win they narrowly missed out on Sunday in San Francisco. Oneil Cruz and Ke’Bryan Hayes desperately need to get going at the plate, the latter of whom showed signs of breaking out with an extra-innings home run Saturday night. The Pirates are in serious danger of being lost in the shuffle in a very tight National League.
25. Houston Astros (-1)
Two wins over the Rockies are a start, but the Astros will need to win a lot more games against more impressive opponents before we can in good conscience restore them to the top half of the MLB power rankings. The returns of Justin Verlander and Framber Valdez are good signs too, but Houston has dug itself a sizable hole, one that will take persistence to escape.
26. Oakland Athletics (+1)
The Athletics still aren’t “good,” but dare we call them mediocre? They won’t be in the top half of these MLB power rankings anytime soon, but they’re also a far cry from the bottom of the barrel. Converted third baseman Lucas Erceg and former Division III hurler Mason Miller are combining to form perhaps the best bullpen duo in the sport, because baseball is unpredictable and awesome. It still isn’t fun living in a movie plot, but at least the A’s are winning some games this year.
27. Los Angeles Angels (-1)
The Angels are in full-on tank mode, having lost nine of their last ten and being blown out of their home building by the suddenly hot Twins all weekend. Every fear about the young roster seems to be coming true right now, as both the pitchers and hitters seem to be entering a collective slump. The Halos need to stop the bleeding, or they won’t just be a losing team, they’ll be without any future direction.
28. Colorado Rockies (+1)
The Astros came into the Mexico City series with the worst vibes in baseball and it was as if the Rockies felt the need to make their opponents feel better about themselves. Two blowout losses later, Colorado now owns a -70 run differential, closing the gap to seven between themselves and the White Sox for worst in the league. This is a bad, bad baseball team.
29. Miami Marlins (-1)
It’s remarkable how the Marlins truly are toast, despite having the NL Manager of the Year and a roster that mostly went to the postseason a year ago. Blowing a 7-0 lead for their sixth straight loss was a new low point for a season that has been about trying to sink to the bottom of the Atlantic. The only question remaining for the 2024 Marlins is which players stay and which are shipped off to play more meaningful games elsewhere.
30. Chicago White Sox (no change)
Yes, they’re still the worst team in the league, but every baseball fan had to get a kick out of the White Sox’ sweep of Tampa Bay this weekend, highlighted by an electric walk-off homer from Andrew Benintendi and call from NBC Sports’ John Schriffen. It was a pleasant reminder that even in the most dismal of seasons, there are fun moments to be had at every ballpark across this great sport.
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