MLB Power Rankings: Braves are back. Can Giants be fixed?

It's the third edition of theScore's MLB Power Rankings for the 2026 season.

Jump to:
ARI | ATH I ATL | BAL | BOS | CHC | CWS | CIN | CLE | COL | DET | HOU | KC | LAA | LAD | MIA | MIL | MIN | NYM | NYY | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | SEA | STL | TB | TEX | TOR | WSH

1. Atlanta Braves

The Braves own MLB's best record and have yet to lose a series this season, winning 10 and splitting the other. Ronald Acuña Jr. hitting the IL with a hamstring strain is a blow, but this deep lineup will be able to cover his absence. Five Braves position players have higher fWAR than Acuña to open the campaign.

2. New York Yankees

More than 30 games into the season, Ben Rice leads the majors with a 1.214 OPS. The 27-year-old's off to an incredible start, and it looks sustainable: He ranks in the 97th percentile or higher in hard-hit rate, barrel rate, and average exit velocity. Rice is one of the reasons New York's won 14 of it's last 16 games.

3. Los Angeles Dodgers

The Dodgers' offense has been quite mediocre for an extended stretch. They recently went six straight games without a home run before snapping the streak Monday. The defending champs are 13th in runs, 18th in OPS, and 25th in homers over the last two weeks. Meanwhile, Shohei Ohtani is in an 0-for-14 slump.

4. Chicago Cubs

The Cubs have gone 17-4 since April 12, including 12 straight wins at Wrigley Field. The offense is firing on all cylinders, Shota Imanaga looks like his All-Star self again atop the rotation, and Craig Counsell's club owns the NL's second-best record. The only thing that's gone wrong is health: Nine Cubs pitchers, including six relievers, are on the IL, while Justin Steele's rehab was shut down last week.

5. Tampa Bay Rays

The Rays are back at Tropicana Field again, and they're benefiting from that magic. Tampa Bay is 12-4 at home, and its pitching is really starting to shine. The Rays have outscored opponents 42-14 over their last 11 games while posting the second-lowest ERA (2.38) in MLB across the last two weeks.

6. San Diego Padres

What's going on with Fernando Tatis Jr.? The Padres' star outfielder is one of the nine qualified hitters out of 171 that have yet to homer on the season. Tatis only has five extra-base hits in 123 at-bats and is slugging a career-worst .301. The craziest thing about Tatis' lack of power is that he's posting the second-highest hard-hit rate (61.5) of his career but his lowest launch angle (3.2).

7. Milwaukee Brewers

Jacob Misiorowski's taken things to another level. The 24-year-old flamethrower boasts a 2.84 ERA along with an MLB-best 59 strikeouts and 14.0 K/9 rate, and he's steadily lowering his walk numbers. Between Misiorowski's breakout and Jackson Chourio's return to an already solid lineup, the Brewers seem ready to make their move in the shockingly competitive NL Central.

8. Seattle Mariners

The Mariners have dropped three of four without catcher Cal Raleigh, who is dealing with side discomfort that may land him on the injured list. Although Raleigh isn't having the same kind of season he did in 2025, the 29-year-old recorded 11 hits in 11 games before he was sidelined. A Mariners lineup without Raleigh will need more out of Josh Naylor, who is slugging just .328 in 33 games.

9. Detroit Tigers

The Tigers were dealt a big blow Monday: Tarik Skubal will undergo elbow surgery and potentially miss several months. The back-to-back Cy Young winner was in the midst of another stellar campaign, striking out 45 in 43 1/3 innings with a 2.70 ERA. Skubal is the sixth Tigers starter to land on the IL.

10. St. Louis Cardinals

The Cardinals are one of the best stories in baseball. They won seven of their last eight games, including a series victory against the Dodgers. Nathan Church, JJ Wetherholt, and Alec Burleson combined for 10 homers with 30 RBIs over the last two weeks. Church has also been great defensively; he's second behind Masyn Winn in total runs saved with four.

11. Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pirates drop after an up-and-down stretch. They suffered a four-game sweep at the hands of the Cardinals before rebounding to sweep the Reds over the weekend. Konnor Griffin is starting to show why he's considered a generational talent, slashing .313/.365/.521 with two homers, eight RBIs, and three stolen bases over his last 13 games.

12. Cincinnati Reds

Sal Stewart and Elly De La Cruz have the Reds within three games of the division lead despite the team's minus-23 run differential. They've combined to hit nearly half of Cincinnati's 46 home runs and are the only Reds with more than 100 plate appearances who have an OPS above .850. There are flashes of something here, but Stewart and De La Cruz need help from both their fellow hitters and the pitching staff (save for Chase Burns) in order to stay afloat in the Central.

13. Cleveland Guardians

The Travis Bazzana era is here for the Guardians. The former No. 1 pick is off to a slow start offensively. However, he's already drawn six walks compared to four strikeouts over six games. The 23-year-old should be a long-term franchise pillar along with rookie standout Chase DeLauter, who's gotten hot again with a 1.200 OPS over his last 11 games.

14. Texas Rangers

Josh Jung is reminding people what made him a 2023 All-Star en route to finishing fourth in AL Rookie of the Year voting. The 28-year-old is off to a strong start after injuries and underperformance hindered his production in 2024 and 2025. He's slashing .378/.440/.622 with two homers and 11 RBIs over his last 12 games.

15. Athletics

Shea Langeliers leads all MLB catchers with 10 homers after going deep four more times over the last two weeks. Nick Kurtz also walked into history - literally - as he tied Barry Bonds for the second-longest streak of consecutive games with a walk at 20. The biggest surprise has been Carlos Cortes, who's gone 19-for-38 with three homers over his last 11 contests.

16. Toronto Blue Jays

Kazuma Okamoto's been trying to carry the offensive load until the rest of the lineup gets healthy. After a slow start to his MLB career, the Japanese slugger has six homers and a .982 OPS across his last 14 games. Okamoto's hit 30% of the Blue Jays homers over the last two weeks while driving in 14 runs. No other Blue Jays hitter has more than six RBIs during that time.

17. Philadelphia Phillies

Manager Rob Thomson lost his job after a brutal 9-19 start, and the change seems to have sparked the veteran Phillies, who are 6-1 under interim skipper Don Mattingly. Zack Wheeler's return also helped stop the team's downward spiral. Phillies fans can dare to dream - the 2022 team won the pennant after Thomson took over a club that was 12.5 games back in early June - but you can't count on that happening again.

18. Chicago White Sox

This isn't the same White Sox team we saw in the past two seasons. The South Siders have 17 wins, a mark they didn't reach until May 24 last year. Munetaka Murakami has been a big part of the team's success, but Colson Montgomery deserves credit, too. The 24-year-old is tied for second among big-league shortstops in homers and ranks fifth in fWAR among qualified players at his position.

19. Baltimore Orioles

The Orioles made a lot of changes during the winter, but are they any better? Baltimore's dropped six of eight, and while injuries are a factor, there's enough healthy talent on the roster to produce better results. The front office once again failed to acquire a legit ace during the offseason, and the O's are paying for it. They don't have a regular starter with an ERA under 4.50, while the rotation as a whole ranks 27th in ERA, 29th in WHIP, and 30th in opponent average.

20. Miami Marlins

Starting pitching is helping the Marlins hang around .500. Sandy Alcantara finally looks like his old Cy Young-winning self, Max Meyer's been even better during what's looking like a breakout season, and journeyman Janson Junk's provided some stability at the back of the rotation. If the offense (beyond Xavier Edwards) can ever carry its share of the load, the Marlins might start to be taken seriously as a dark horse.

21. Kansas City Royals

The Royals had a tough April. They went 10-17 and a tiff between manager Matt Quatraro and team captain Salvador Perez made headlines. But Kansas City has won four straight to begin May and eight of its last 10 games. Italy teammates Vinnie Pasquantino and Jac Caglianone have been terrific during that stretch, combining for six homers, 14 RBIs, and 17 runs scored.

22. Arizona Diamondbacks

The D-Backs tumbled after losing seven of their last nine games. Arizona brought back Merrill Kelly on a two-year, $40-million deal, but the 37-year-old hasn't looked right. The right-hander surrendered 19 earned runs on 24 hits with 11 walks over his last 13 2/3 innings (three starts). Ildemaro Vargas has been one of the lone bright spots thanks to a 27-game hit streak.

23. Minnesota Twins

The Twins stumbled hard over the last two weeks, failing to win a series. Minnesota's rotation is already without Pablo López for the season. Now, there's a cloud over Joe Ryan's health as the starter deals with elbow soreness. Why didn't this team sell its remaining stars during the offseason?

24. Washington Nationals

Foster Griffin is turning heads in Washington. The under-the-radar signing from Japan allowed three earned runs with 14 strikeouts over his last 19 innings (three starts) and now sports a 2.27 ERA for the year. The 30-year-old left-hander has paired with Cade Cavalli to give the Nationals a respectable one-two punch in the rotation.

25. Houston Astros

Yordan Alvarez is the only reason Houston's season hasn't completely fallen apart. The Astros slugger has risen above an injury-ravaged lineup to arguably be the AL's best all-around hitter this year. He's more than capable of maintaining this pace. Unfortunately, the Astros' AL-worst pitching staff might end up wasting what could be Alvarez's masterpiece.

26. Boston Red Sox

To the surprise of no one, firing Alex Cora and a number of his fellow coaches did nothing to ignite a struggling club. The Red Sox are painfully inept at scoring runs and can't even benefit from the friendly environment of Fenway Park. Boston owns the fourth-worst OPS in the majors at home (.630). Meanwhile, the club is 1-18 when trailing a game by two or more runs.

27. San Francisco Giants

Tony Vitello's first season as manager couldn't be off to a worse start. San Francisco owns the worst offense in baseball, and it isn't really close. The club ranks last in runs and homers while high-priced veteran bats Matt Chapman, Willy Adames, and Rafael Devers each sport a sub-.660 OPS. The Giants recently wrapped up an 0-6 road trip in which they were outscored 26-9.

28. New York Mets

Baseball's most expensive team has the majors' second-worst record. The Mets lost 12 straight in April - an early slump that might have sealed their fate - and have five position players on the IL. Bo Bichette's struggled in his new home, although he's started to heat up a little bit of late. Regardless, this season has become a disaster that only the Mets could manage to produce.

29. Colorado Rockies

The Rockies have come back to Earth to begin May, losing three straight after a promising April where they played close to .500 ball. While Mickey Moniak continues to hit at an elite level, Hunter Goodman has lost steam. The catcher has one hit in 21 at-bats since homering twice against the Reds on April 29.

30. Los Angeles Angels

The Angels appear to be in a never-ending rebuild. The club hasn't reached the postseason since 2014 and currently holds MLB's worst record. Even Mike Trout's resurgent season hasn't been enough to spark the team. Considering that's been the case for the better part of the decade, maybe we shouldn't be surprised. What is the vision here?