MLB Team Power Rankings: Yankees torpedo Brewers with historic power outburst, Dodgers start season 5-0

Most teams have only played three or four games at this early point of the 2025 MLB season, so don’t look for any major changes since my MLB Opening Week Power Rankings were released last week. That would be silly.

And so, the Braves and Red Sox are still quite high here and teams like the Cardinals and the Marlins (obviously) have some work to do in order to get out of the bottom-third of the list.

With a full week of games awaiting us, let’s get started!

1) Los Angeles Dodgers (5-0)

Last week: 1

Mookie Betts battled a mystery illness in recent weeks which brought his weight as low as 158 pounds. Fortunately, he’s regained some strength in recent days, as evidenced by his two-homer game including the walk-off blast against the Tigers on Friday night.

2) Philadelphia Phillies (2-1)

Last week: 3

Jesús Luzardo might have been the most overlooked impact move of the winter. After being limited to just 12 starts due to injury last year, he ripped off 11 strikeouts in his Phillies debut Saturday against the Nationals. He showed frontline potential before 2024, so the Philly rotation has the chance to be one of the scariest in the majors.

3) Atlanta Braves (0-4)

Last week: 2

The Braves aren’t making my job easy this week. Things should get much better from here, but Atlanta hit just .148 as a team during their season-opening sweep at the hands of the Padres.

4) Boston Red Sox (1-3)

Last week: 4

Coming off a shoulder injury and being moved to the DH spot, Rafael Devers had a series to forget against the Rangers by going 0-for-12 with 11 strikeouts. It’s a concern.

5) Arizona Diamondbacks (2-2)

Last week: 6

Eugenio Suárez looked to have his career at a crossroads during the first half last season, but he’s now amassed 28 home runs in his last 77 games, including four to open the 2025 season.

6) New York Yankees (3-0)

Last week: 7

If you blinked over the past few days, you might have missed another Yankees home run against the Brewers. Armed with their new torpedo bats, they tied an MLB record by hitting 15 homers through their first three games. How much of it was the Yankees (and their bats) and how much of it was the Brewers’ undermanned pitching staff? We’re about to find out.

7) New York Mets (1-2)

Last week: 5

Beautiful home run from Juan Soto aside, the offense was largely non-existent in their series against the Astros, but one positive was that their pitching staff allowed just six runs over three games.

8) Texas Rangers (3-1)

Last week: 8

A great sign for the Rangers? Jacob deGrom looked pretty much like himself in Sunday’s win over the Red Sox, spinning five scoreless innings with six strikeouts and 16 swinging strikes in his 73 pitches.

9) Houston Astros (2-1)

Last week: 9

Framber Valdez, Hunter Brown, and Spencer Arrighetti combined to allow just four runs (three earned) through three games against the Mets.

10) Baltimore Orioles (2-2)

Last week: 10

The Orioles should get Gunnar Henderson back from the injured list this week, but they’ve already lost Colton Cowser due to a fractured left thumb. He’s expected to miss around six weeks.

11) San Diego Padres (4-0)

Last week: 12

With Nick Pivetta dominating the Braves on Sunday, the Padres are now 4-0 for the second time in franchise history. The only other time came in 1984, when they won the NL pennant and went on to lose to the Tigers in the World Series.

12) Seattle Mariners (2-2)

Last week: 13

Concern about the Mariners’ offense remains a very real thing, but watching this massive go-ahead two-run home run from Julio Rodríguez on Sunday makes you forget about it for a minute.

13) Chicago Cubs (2-4)

Last week: 11

It’s bad enough to give up eight runs in an inning, which the Cubs’ bullpen did on Sunday, but they also allowed an RBI single to Ryne Nelson (yes, a pitcher) after the Diamondbacks ran out of position players. Oh, the indignity.

14) Kansas City Royals (1-2)

Last week: 16

Jonathan India is somehow in the lineup for the Royals on Monday after being hit in the head by a 99 mph fastball from Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase on Sunday. Great news for the Royals’ key acquisition during the offseason.

15) Minnesota Twins (0-3)

Last week: 14

The mood of Twins’ fans was already on shaky ground, so a three-game sweep at the hands of the Cardinals to start the season isn’t helping matters. After dealing with an illness in recent days, Bailey Ober was blasted for eight runs and didn’t make it out of the third inning on Sunday.

16) Detroit Tigers (0-3)

Last week: 15

A sweep is a sweep, but the Tigers showed a good amount of fight during their series against the Dodgers. Maybe most encouraging was that Spencer Torkelson’s strong spring carried into the opening series.

17) Toronto Blue Jays (2-2)

Last week: 17

The excitement behind Max Scherzer’s season debut didn’t last long. The future Hall of Famer lasted just three innings against the Orioles on Saturday before leaving with lat soreness and landed on the IL on Sunday with right thumb inflammation. The issues are related and cast serious doubt on his outlook moving forward.

18) San Francisco Giants (2-1)

Last week: 19

Camilo Doval lost his closer job last season amid some control issues and even found himself in the minors, but he was called upon Sunday to close out a victory over the Reds with Ryan Walker unavailable due to back pain. It’s unclear if Walker will require a lengthy absence, but Doval rediscovering his All-Star form would be a big deal for this team.

19) Milwaukee Brewers (0-3)

Last week: 18

Woof. In getting swept (and demolished) by the Yankees, the Brewers became the first team since 1901 to allow at least 15 home runs through the first three games of a season. Aaron Civale was forced to exit Sunday’s game with a hamstring injury, which is yet another test for a short-handed rotation.

20) Cincinnati Reds (1-2)

Last week: 20

The Reds have the talent to make things interesting in the NL Central, but the backend of their bullpen is a pain point. Alexis Díaz was on shaky ground even before his hamstring injury, but piecing it together in his absence will be a process.

21) Cleveland Guardians (2-1)

Last week: 21

Once again, I might be underestimating the Guardians in the AL Central. Tanner Bibee’s Chipotle regimen apparently backfired, with food poisoning pushing back his season debut to Sunday, but he looked strong with 5 2/3 scoreless innings against the Royals.

22) Tampa Bay Rays (2-1)

Last week: 22

How weird is to see the Rays playing outside as the home team? I will hereby refer to the 2025 home Rays as the “outie Rays.” On a serious note, it’s a bummer to see Josh Lowe already hit the injured list with an oblique strain.

23) St. Louis Cardinals (3-0)

Last week: 25

The outlook for the Cardinals might look a little bit different if Victor Scott II’s improvements are real. After a two-hit, two steal-game on Saturday, Scott slugged a three-run homer on Sunday to finish off a sweep against the Twins.

24) Athletics (2-2)

Last week: 24

Aaron Judge, not surprisingly, leads the majors with 20 total bases so far this season, but A’s first baseman Tyler Soderstrom ranks second with 17 through four games.

25) Pittsburgh Pirates (1-3)

Last week: 23

The Pirates made history over the weekend! Oh, it was the bad kind of history.

26) Washington Nationals (1-2)

Last week: 26

Nationals outfielder Dylan Crews was the consensus choice of the Rotoworld staff to win the NL Rookie of the Year Award, but great throw notwithstanding on Saturday, he’s had a rough start to the season. The 23-year-old is 0-for-11 and has struck out in each of his last eight at-bats. Dodgers right-hander Roki Sasaki, the other favorite for the NL ROY, has had his own struggles through his first two MLB starts.

27) Los Angeles Angels (2-1)

Last week: 27

Free agent pickup Kenley Jansen has two saves through the first three games of the season. He’s still getting it done at the age of 37 and finds himself 31 saves away from Lee Smith for third on the all-time list. It’s within reach seeing that he notched 27 saves last year and 29 the year before.

28) Miami Marlins (3-1)

Last week: 29

Three walk-off wins for the Marlins in their season-opening series against the Pirates. Fun! This is still likely where they’ll peak in this year’s rankings.

29) Colorado Rockies (1-2)

Last week: 28

The great thing about baseball is that you regularly see things that haven’t happened in 100 years. Take for instance Antonio Senzatela’s outing against the Rays on Saturday, as he navigated a small village of baserunners through 4 1/3 scoreless innings.

30) Chicago White Sox (1-2)

Last week: 30

It’s early but the White Sox are leading the league in tarp.