MLB Power Rankings: Cardinals, Rangers rising; What you've might have missed this season

New York Times

20-05-2025

By Grant Brisbee, Chad Jennings and Levi Weaver
Every week,​ we​ ask a selected group of our baseball​ writers​ — local and national — to rank the teams from first to worst. Here are the collective results.
Do you know The Flaming Lips? Popular psychedelic rock band fronted by Wayne Coyne, who's the type of songwriter to craft a hit song about preparing toast with Vaseline, blowing a nose with magazines, and dyeing hair with tangerines?
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If that's not your thing, maybe try the one about a girl using karate to defend a city from pink robots. It's pretty weird, but also, maybe brilliant?
We here at Power Rankings feel some kinship with The Flaming Lips. A lot of people engage with our work, and many of those same people think we're out of our minds. Also, at least one of us (Levi) has rockstar hair.
So, at least partially inspired by the most played Flaming Lips song on Spotify, we're spending this week's Power Rankings highlighting numbers and performances you might have missed if you aren't watching these teams night after night. To quote Coyne: Do you realize — that happiness makes you cry?
Record: 29-19
Last Power Ranking: 1
Do you realize that Andy Pages has been the Dodgers' second-most valuable player according to WAR, and he's just a rounding error away from catching up to Shohei Ohtani? Gold Glove-worthy defense in center — combined with speed, plenty of power and just enough contact — is the WAR-fetishist's dream, and Pages is strong on all fronts.
Pages' expected statistics aren't nearly as shiny, so some of these numbers might come down. Still, for all the handwringing about the Dodgers' bloated payroll, never forget that the most powerful force in baseball is a helpful player becoming an All-Star out of nowhere. — Grant Brisbee
Record: 27-19
Last Power Ranking: T-5
Do you realize the Yankees and Dodgers have almost identical offensive numbers? Look at these slash lines coming out of the weekend:
Each of these two teams entered the week with a 132 OPS+ — no other team had better than a 118 — and they ranked first and second in runs per game (again, nearly identical at 5.79 and 5.78). Aaron Judge leads the AL in OPS, while Freddie Freeman leads the NL. Each team also has an offensive surprise in the outfield (Andy Pages and Trent Grisham) and has so far gotten a bit of a boost by activating a hard-to-predict infielder (Hyeseong Kim and DJ LeMahieu). The lineups certainly are not identical, but the results have been remarkably similar. — Chad Jennings
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Record: 31-17
Last Power Ranking: 4
This isn't a particularly well-hidden fact, but do you realize that the Tigers have the best record in the league? Not the Dodgers. Not the Yankees. Not the Mets or Padres or Phillies.
The Detroit Fightin' Tigers.
And if you want something a little more surprising: their most valuable player by bWAR this year is Javy Báez (1.7). Even if you've heard this already, it's still surprising. Like when you hear that the human circulatory system is roughly 60,000 miles long.
'No way,' you think. And then later — maybe years later — you hear it again. 'That has to be fake,' you think. You look it up, and … huh. Weird.
Then you memory-hole it until next time, when it blows your mind all over again. Javy Báez. Best player on the best team in the AL. Wild. — Levi Weaver
Record: 29-19
Last Power Ranking: 2
Do you realize this is the best pitching staff in baseball? Or, at least, it's the one with the lowest collective ERA by quite a bit. Sean Manaea is one of seven Mets pitchers on the 60-day IL, yet the Mets are the only team in baseball with a sub-3.00 ERA. Only one other team (the Royals) is within a quarter of a run. The Mets entered this week's series against the Red Sox with 12 pitchers who'd thrown at least 10 innings this season, and none had an ERA over 4.00. Kodai Senga has been tremendous in his return from injury, Clay Holmes has successfully transitioned from relieving to starting, and 35-year-old Huascar Brazoban has been an elite setup man. Griffin Canning, basically dumped by both the Angels and Braves, has a 2.47 ERA through nine starts. That staff's been a difference maker in keeping the Mets comfortably in our Top 5. — Jennings
Record: 27-18
Last Power Ranking: 3
Do you realize that the Padres lead all of baseball in ground balls hit to the opposite field, and it isn't especially close? My knee-jerk reaction is that this is a bad stat to lead the league in, with heavy-hitting teams like the Yankees and Dodgers down toward the bottom. There are other strong lineups near the top, though, so it can't be terribly predictive. Like most outlier hitting statistics, it's probably safe to blame Luis Arraez for everything. He's a certified Baseball Weirdo™, which is a compliment, so just assume that he's hitting 50 percent of his balls between third and short.
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Another data point to consider: The Rockies have the lowest percentage of opposite-field grounders. Maybe it's just better to hit 'em where they ain't, regardless of direction. — Brisbee
Record: 28-20
Last Power Ranking: 8
Do you realize how good Pete Crow-Armstrong has been this year?
The Chicago Cubs have existed since 1876, back when you could make the big leagues at roughly 12 years old, playing games after your shift at the dysentery factory and before your night job mopping up the local opium pub.
I'm not making this up: The person in last place on the list I'm about to quote was named 'Jiggs Parrott,' and he died of Tuberculosis at age 26.
Here's the list: every qualified (3.1 plate appearances per team game) Chicago Cubs position player aged 23 or younger, arranged by fWAR. It starts with Ron Santo in 1963 (6.4 WAR) and ends with Parrott (-2.4 in 1894).
Pete Crow-Armstrong, who turned 23 in March, is currently 26th on that list, at 3.0 bWAR. It's May 20. He has played 47 games, meaning if he even plays 141 of the Cubs' 162 games this year, he is on pace for 9.0 fWAR. That would not only be tops on the list, it would be 29 percent higher than Santo's previous record. — Weaver
Record: 28-18
Last Power Ranking: T-5
Do you realize Mick Abel's historic debut was par for the course in this rotation? When Abel went six scoreless on Sunday, it was the Phillies' eighth such start this season (tied with the Cardinals and Royals for the most six-inning scoreless starts in the majors). It was also the 21st time that a Phillies starter went at least six innings while allowing no more than two runs (the most such starts in the majors). Zack Wheeler's gone six innings with no more than two runs in eight of his 10 starts. (The Dodgers' entire pitching staff has eight such starts.) Jesús Luzardo has done it five times. (His former team, the Marlins, has done it only twice.) Aaron Nola has struggled, but Wheeler, Luzardo and Cristopher Sánchez are having All-Star-type seasons. Abel showed up and kept pace. — Jennings
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Record: 28-20
Last Power Ranking: 7
Do you realize that Wilmer Flores leads the majors with 42 RBIs? That's partly because of a three-homer, eight-RBI game that put him in impressive company, but it's also because he's coming up with runners on base more often compared to the average player.
Here are the last 10 players to drive in 100 runs or more for the Giants:
1. Buster Posey
2. Barry Bonds
3. Jeff Kent
4. J.T. Snow
5. Matt Williams
6. Will Clark
7. Kevin Mitchell
8. Jack Clark
9. Bobby Bonds
10. Dick Dietz
It's not hyperbole to say the Giants get a 100-RBI hitter every generation or so. It's quite literal, considering both Bobby and Barry Bonds, and it hasn't happened since 2012. That's what Flores is chasing, and the Giants couldn't be more thrilled. — Brisbee
Record: 27-19
Last Power Ranking: 9
Do you realize that closer Andrés Muñoz hasn't allowed an earned run yet this season? He's appeared in 20 games and leads the AL in saves, and while his Fielding Independent Percentage is a bloated 1.76, his ERA is a cool 0.00. A fun storyline to follow all year would be a closer who doesn't allow a single run. Emmanuel Clase allowed just five last season, so it's not entirely out of the question.
I'm writing this on Monday afternoon, and the Mariners are playing tonight. So if Muñoz allows a run against the White Sox, realize that it's entirely because of me, and that you should Venmo me some money to prevent me from writing nice things about your team next week. Thank you. — Brisbee
(Editor's note: He did not allow a run. Keep your money.)
Record: 24-23
Last Power Ranking: 11
Do you realize that, from April 18 to May 18, the Braves went 19-10 while winning seven of nine series? Getting off to a 5-13 start has kept them from climbing more than a game above .500, but for the past month or so, the Braves have won more games than any other National League team, and they're about to get Spencer Strider back from the IL. That's why a team that seems to be languishing in the middle of the standings is back in the top 10 of our Power Rankings. They haven't had a massive winning streak like the Twins or Cardinals, but the end result is the same. The Braves looked like a good team heading into Opening Day, and they've played like a good team since the fourth week or so of the regular season. — Jennings
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Record: 27-21
Last Power Ranking: 17
Do you realize that the Cardinals have the best fielding percentage in baseball? The average team has made 24 errors this season, but the Cardinals have made just 16. That's just one reason they're competing for the NL Central after being ignored most of the offseason.
Of course, fielding percentage is an archaic metric that modern baseball fans don't bother with. What really counts are those newfangled stats like Outs Above Average, so if the Cards aren't grading out well there, the sure-handedness is somewhere between 'helpful' and 'eye wash.' Except the Cardinals aren't just leading the world in OAA; they're not far from doubling up the second-best team. They can catch the baseball, and they're contending because of it. — Brisbee
Record: 26-22
Last Power Ranking: 10
Do you realize that the Diamondbacks lead baseball in OPS after taking the first pitch of an at-bat? They're also tops in the NL in OPS when their hitters are behind in the count, largely because of their .370 slugging percentage in those situations. More than half the teams in baseball have a SLG under .300 when behind in the count, and only the Yankees and Red Sox have been better.
It's a tough team to pitch against, and it's worth remembering that they had the best offense in baseball last season by almost every metric. Considering the breakout of Brandon Pfaadt and the recent scoreless streak from Corbin Burnes, they're oh-so close to putting it all together. — Brisbee
Record: 26-21
Last Power Ranking: 16
Do you realize that the Twins' 13-game winning streak — which was snapped on Sunday — was not only the second-longest in team history (15 games in 1991, when they won the World Series), but it's longest one in the sport since the 2022 Mariners, who won 14 straight.
That team also made the postseason.
Minnesota currently sits in a wild-card position, but the wildest part of this whole winning streak might be that Minnesota was seven games out of first place when it started, and when it ended, the loss dropped them to five games out.
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Combine that with the collision that sent Carlos Correa and Byron Buxton to the 7-day concussion IL, and it seems like the good vibes from such a huge winning streak might be muted a little. — Weaver
Record: 25-22
Last Power Ranking: 17
Do you realize that Hunter Brown might be the best pitcher in baseball? He allowed 15 combined runs in two April starts last season, finishing the month with a 9.78 ERA. Since then, he's made 33 starts and thrown 203 2/3 innings with a 2.21 ERA. Those are Cy Young Award numbers.
Brown's best start of the season might have been last Thursday, when he pitched eight innings, allowing just one run on five hits and a walk. He was a tough-luck loser to Jacob deGrom in a 1-0 game, though, which leads us to a bonus DYR. Do you realize the Astros' offense has been below average this season?
Oh, I see. You're absolutely aware of that. That's why they're down here, compared to their loftier rankings in previous seasons. Brown is doing what he can, though. He's having an award-winning type of season so far. — Brisbee
Record: 24-25
Last Power Ranking: 12
Do you realize Alex Bregman is having a peak season at age 31? Most of the Red Sox storylines have revolved around some sort of drama, much of it with Rafael Devers in a starring role. He didn't want to DH. Then he had a horrible first week. Then he got red hot. Then he didn't want to play first base. All the while, Devers has been one of the few Red Sox actually living up to expectations. Bregman might be exceeding them. He's pulling the ball like never before and generating offensive numbers not seen since he nearly won the MVP award back in 2019. The Red Sox are an inconsistent mess, but their biggest offseason addition has been a steady source of production. — Jennings
Record: 27-22
Last Power Ranking: 15
Do you realize — or more accurately, do you believe — we're finally seeing that Maikel Garcia breakout year? I've been a low-grade Garcia believer for a couple of years now, despite the fact he has never finished a season with an OPS higher than .711 (it was .614 last year). His Baseball Savant page is a source of bewilderment and wonder to me. Check this out:
How can a hitter rank in the 29th percentile in Barrel percentage, but in the 93rd percentile in Squared-Up percentage? In what world does it make sense that he is in the 45th percentile for Bat Speed, but the 84th percentile for Average Exit Velocity?
I imagine that Eno Sarris could explain this to me. But frankly, there are so few avenues for wonder in this world that I almost don't want to know. For now, it's good enough to check in and see that Garcia has been the Royals' fourth-most valuable player by bWAR (1.6), just below Michael Wacha and just ahead of last year's second-place AL Cy Young Award finisher Seth Lugo. His OPS entering Monday night? .853, which looks a lot like a breakout to me. — Weaver
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Record: 25-23
Last Power Ranking: T-21
Do you realize how good the Rangers' rotation has been? Look at this: it's the league-wide ERA leaderboard, taken from Baseball Reference. These numbers are from before Monday night's games, but see if you can detect a trend…
That's three of the 10 best ERAs in the sport, held by guys whose name is followed by 'TEX'.
The other two: Patrick Corbin (3.35) and Jack Leiter, who took a no-hitter into the seventh inning against the Astros on Sunday. Or Jon Gray, who hasn't pitched this year due to a fractured arm during spring training. Kumar Rocker (also on the IL) hasn't been particularly great, but at this rate, he doesn't really have to be?
Unless he does … even with this pitching, the Rangers are just 25-23, which should tell you all you need to know about how the offense has performed. — Weaver
Record: 25-21
Last Power Ranking: 14
Do you realize that Zack Meisel picked a perfect week for this article? It's basically an entire story built out of 'did you realize' stats. But here's the one that surprised me the most:
1.06: Kolby Allard's ERA
Allard was a first-round pick a decade ago and a consensus top 100 prospect for three years. He broke into the big leagues before he turned 21. But it's been a bumpy road to this point. Now 27, Allard signed a minor-league deal with the Guardians — his fourth team in eight years — and worked his way into their bullpen. He has pitched in long relief to rescue the staff and has even dabbled in high-leverage opportunities. He's putting to use the lessons learned from 10 years of trials.
I must admit: I did not, in fact, realize. — Weaver
Record: 25-24
Last Power Ranking: 18
Do you realize how much better the Reds offense can be if this is what Will Benson is going to be?
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From C. Trent Rosecrans' recent article on Will Benson, who was called up from Triple-A Louisville on May 9:
'Benson's streak of four straight games with a home run is the most since Joey Votto hit homers in seven straight games (and nine home runs total) in July of 2021.'
Benson now has five home runs in nine games, which is already good for the fourth-most on the Reds this season.
Benson is 26 years old and has played over 100 games in each of the past two seasons, so he's not a prospect. In fact, his .863 OPS in 2023 was .001 behind Matt McLain for the team lead. But last year was sort of a disaster, and he found himself in the minor leagues to start this season.
If he can keep this — or anything close to it — up, he won't be back there any time soon. — Weaver
Record: 23-25
Last Power Ranking: 16
Do you realize how unusual it is for the Brewers to be below .500 at this point in the year?
On May 20, 2017, the Brewers were 18-24. Since then, they've only been below .500 on May 20 once. That was 2021, and four days later, they had a winning record and were en route to yet another postseason appearance.
Until now. And it's starting to seem a little unlikely that 2025 is going to be a repeat of 2021.
If that doesn't do it for you, how about this: the Brewers' best hitter this year by OPS isn't William Contreras. It's not Christian Yelich or Jackson Chourio, either. Going into Monday's win against the Reds (min. 100 PAs) it was Rhys Hoskins (.838) Second is Brice Turang, whose (.728) mark is a career best.
Do with that information what you will. — Weaver
Record: 22-24
Last Power Ranking: 20
Do you realize that more than 40 percent of their wins have come against only two teams? It's hard to keep up because the Blue Jays are kind of all over the place. George Springer started hot, then cooled down. Vladimir Guerrero started cold, then got hot. Bo Bichette is good again, but a lot of the new guys have been underwhelming. So, they're perpetually stuck in the bottom half of our rankings. Not awful, but not good. Of the Blue Jays' 22 wins, nine have come against the Red Sox (five) and Mariners (four). Against everyone else, the Blue Jays are 13-20, a winning percentage on par with the Marlins. The Blue Jays have lost four of their past five series. The one exception: a three-game sweep of the Mariners. — Jennings
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Record: 21-26
Last Power Ranking: 23
Do you realize Jonathan Aranda is one of the 10 best hitters in the majors? This is his fourth partial season in the big leagues — he debuted back in 2022 — and he's currently sixth in wRC+ behind only Aaron Judge, Freddie Freeman, Shohei Ohtani, Cal Raleigh and Pete Alonso. Aranda has been the Rays' primary first baseman — after getting time at second, third and left field in the past — and he's doing a bit of everything at the plate, getting on base, hitting for average, and showing some pop. Of course, he's basically the only Rays regular hitting much better than league average, which explains their modest place in our Power Rankings. Aranda has been great. The Rays as a whole — with apologies to Drew Rasmussen, who's been awesome — have not. — Jennings
Record: 22-26
Last Power Ranking: T-21
Do you realize that Mason Miller threw a pitch clocked at 103.9 mph over the weekend? I'm not saying we should throw him into a river and see if he floats (or build a bridge out of him), but there's clearly something unnatural going on here. Only warlocks can throw a pitch that fast, and the burden of proof is on you if you disagree.
Of course, the pitch wasn't a strike, and it was one of the balls that led to a walk-off walk:
Still, 103.9 mph! Even in a goofy, velocity-drunk era that is built around relievers, it's still possible to be impressed by a really, really fast fastball. — Brisbee
Record: 21-27
Last Power Ranking: 25
Do you realize just how bad their offseason was? The Nationals have an interesting young core — James Wood, CJ Abrams, MacKenzie Gore — and they tried a bunch of short-term stopgaps to stay relevant this season. Almost every one has fallen flat. (Bringing back Kyle Finnegan as closer is an exception.) One new first baseman, Josh Bell, is having a career-worst season, and another, Nathaniel Lowe, has been barely replacement level. Two new relievers, Lucas Sims and Colin Poche, have been designated for assignment and let go, and another, Jorge López, has a 7.20 ERA. Free agent additions Paul DeJong and Michael Soroka have been hurt (Soroka just returned from more than a month on the IL), and returning free agent Trevor Williams has an ERA more than twice as high as last season. These were all short-term half measures that haven't made the Nationals competitive and probably won't even have value at the trade deadline. — Jennings
Record: 15-31
Last Power Ranking: 24
Do you realize just how bad this rotation has been? Sure, everyone questioned whether the Orioles had done enough to replace Corbin Burnes, and we all knew Grayson Rodriguez's injury was trouble, but the worst rotation in baseball? The Rockies and Marlins have higher rotation ERAs, but the Orioles are the only team with a negative rotation WAR on FanGraphs. Tomoyuki Sugano has actually been pretty good, but the rest of the rotation has been a mess of injuries and underperformance. Kyle Gibson has been designated for assignment, Charlie Morton has been banished to the bullpen, and manager Brandon Hyde has been fired. The rotation isn't the only reason the Orioles are this low in our Power Rankings, but it's a big one. — Jennings
Record: 21-25
Last Power Ranking: 27
Do you realize that the Angels are the clutchest (clutchiest? most clutch?) team in baseball, according to FanGraphs' Clutch metric? That's a stat that compares a team's offensive statistics in low-leverage situations to how they perform in high-leverage situations, and the Angels aren't just at the top: They're lapping the rest of the league.
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This is the part of the capsule where I make fun of the Angels, except they just swept the Dodgers in the Freeway Series over the weekend. Maybe they have that special kind of gumption and/or derring-do, after all. — Brisbee
Record: 15-33
Last Power Ranking: 26
Do you realize how uninspiring this season has been?
I was looking for something else. I wanted to know the last Pittsburgh Pirates manager with a winning record. The answer wasn't that exciting — it was Clint Hurdle (735-720 from 2011-2019), and before that it was Chuck Tanner (711-685 from 1977-1985).
Not that interesting. But looking that up is how I learned that Connie Mack managed the Pirates from 1894-1896 as a player-manager. That was Mack's first managerial job, kickstarting a career that ultimately led him to a league-record 3,731 wins.
He also has a losing record (3,731-3,948) which feels, somehow, appropriate for a manager who started with the Pirates and made his biggest contributions at the helm with the A's.
Also, just for timely relevance, Mack once, according to a biography of Al Simmons, '…traded away Shoeless Joe Jackson, despite his talent, because of his bad attitude and unintelligent play. Mack wanted men who were self-directed, self-disciplined, and self-motivated.'
Anyway, none of that really has anything to do with this year's Pirates. But it's more interesting than the season they're having, so … you're welcome? — Weaver
Record: 19-27
Last Power Ranking: 28
Do you realize even Sandy Alcantara has been awful this season? Obviously, no one was expecting a ton out of the Marlins this season, but there was at least a glimmer of intrigue on Opening Day when Alcantara matched up with Paul Skenes in a battle of legitimate aces. Alcantara was the NL Cy Young Award winner in 2022, led the league in complete games in 2023 and missed all of 2024 because of Tommy John surgery. But he was back, and not exactly ancient at 29 years old. The problem is, he has a 7.99 ERA and one of the worst strikeout-to-walk ratios in the majors. Rather than providing a lift, Alcantara's been one of the problems keeping the Marlins near the bottom of our rankings. — Jennings
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Record: 14-34
Last Power Ranking: 29
Do you realize that the new Pope is a White Sox fan? Oh, you did? You've heard that a lot already? OK, hmmm … let's see what else we have in this bag called 'White Sox Surprises.' I'll be honest, this has not been a pleasant bag to put my hand in recently. One time, it came back empty, except for being covered in worms. Another time, I reached in there and pulled out a decaying hot dog, topped with slug slime and despair relish. Gross.
Fine, let's see what we've got here …
Do you realize that going into Monday night's game, the White Sox had not one, but three hitters with batting averages over .285?
Sure, those three — Omar Narváez, Korey Lee and Mike Tauchman — had a combined 39 plate appearances. But I'm not putting my hand back in the bag. — Weaver
Record: 8-38
Last Power Ranking: 30
Do you realize that the Rockies' .737 OPS at Coors Field is just the 14th-best home OPS in baseball? They're essentially tied in raw OPS with the Giants, a mostly average offensive team that plays at the pitcher-friendliest park in baseball.
Even when the Rockies are bad, they can hit at home. Since Coors Field opened in 1995, the Rockies have never finished lower than seventh in home OPS, and they've finished in the top three in 24 of the 29 seasons since the ballpark opened. They should be able to hit at home! That's their whole deal.
They cannot hit at home this season, so let's turn the question back around at them: Do the Rockies realize they play at Coors Field? — Brisbee
(Top photo of St. Louis' Masyn Winn: Ed Zurga / Getty Images)