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The Giants are trending up in Week 2's edition of S&R Sports' MLB Power Rankings while the Orioles are trending down.
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Week 1 MLB Power Rankings: Who will dethrone the defending champs?
| Rank | Team | Record | The S&R Take |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Los Angeles Dodgers | 6-0 | The defending World Series champs look the part as Mookie Betts continues to recover from a stomach bug that cost him 20 pounds. |
| 2 | New York Yankees | 3-0 | Torpedo bats? This definitely isn't the last time we'll hear that, but who cares, the Bronx Bombers are mashing to start the year, and the reigning AL MVP is right in the middle of it. |
| 3 | San Diego Padres | 5-0 | This is a scary team when all the pieces are clicking, and they certainly showed out against Atlanta to start the season. |
| 4 | Philadelphia Phillies | 3-1 | The offense sputtered in the series finale against Washington, but Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper look ready to lead the Phils offense once again in 2025. |
| 5 | Baltimore Orioles | 3-2 | Reigning AL ROTY Runner-Up Colton Cowser is set to miss the next 6-8 weeks with a thumb fracture, but a returning Gunnar Henderson should keep the birds flying high early in the season. |
| 6 | New York Mets | 2-2 | Pete Alonso's slam highlighted a wake-up night for the Metropolitans as the now Soto-led New York baseball team looks to compete with Philadelphia for the division crown. |
| 7 | Cleveland Guardians | 2-1 | The reigning ALCS runner-ups looked good, for the most part to open the season in Kansas City. This San Diego series looks to be a bit more of a test. |
| 8 | Kansas City Royals | 2-2 | A lot of us are expecting a step forward from the Royals in 2025. Superstar Bobby Witt Jr. will need his supporting cast to stay healthy and productive. |
| 9 | Toronto Blue Jays | 3-2 | The Blue Jays battled Baltimore to open the season. Their starting pitching looks to be a key strength as the blue birds kick off the make-or-break year for Vladdy and Bo. |
| 10 | Detroit Tigers | 1-3 | Detroit looked impressive, and at times, the better ballclub against the Dodgers to open their season. Winning the games, is another thing however as AJ Finch looks to repeat the dream success from 2024. |
| 11 | Chicago Cubs | 2-4 | The NL Central may be one of the weaker divisions in baseball this year, but the Cubs have the chance to be the best of the 5, by a long shot. |
| 12 | Houston Astros | 2-2 | The Astros fought against the Mets to start the season, and will look to capture another AL West crown in their recent decade of dominance. |
| 13 | Arizona Diamondbacks | 2-2 | Snakes fans are getting ready for another wild ride of a season. Josh Naylor delivered the final blow of an impressive comeback victory over the Cubs on opening weekend. |
| 14 | Atlanta Braves | 0-5 | This is probably the highest i'll have a winless team ever. It's early, but losing Jurickson Profar is not going to help a team that is already down plenty of health to begin the year. |
| 15 | Texas Rangers | 3-2 | A good start against Boston to open the year was quickly wiped out by a thrashing in Game 1 of 3 against the Reds. |
| 16 | Boston Red Sox | 1-4 | Look for Garrett Crochet to right the ship for a team desperately needing Rafael Devers to get on track to start the season. Jarren Durran broke out in Game 1 against the Orioles with a 2 RBI Triple. |
| 17 | San Francisco Giants | 3-1 | I'm ready to call this team playoff caliber if their starting pitching can find some consistency here in the first few weeks. Wilmer Flores already has 3 HR's to start this season. |
| 18 | Cincinnati Reds | 2-2 | La Cocoa broke out against the Rangers with his new torpedo bat. Coincidence? The Reds don't seem to think so, and neither do I. Performances like this can quickly make the Reds a contender for the NL Central crown. |
| 19 | St. Louis Cardinals | 3-1 | The offense looked good against a Twins team, that, well, did not. The red birds will look to bounce back from a tough Game 1 loss against the Halos on Monday evening. |
| 20 | Tampa Bay Rays | 3-1 | This is probably the lowest the Rays will appear in the rankings all year. They always exceed expectations. |
| 21 | Athletics | 2-2 | I was impressed at times in their split against Seattle but this team still has a long way to go. Progess is slow, and fans who stick through the pain will be rewarded. |
| 22 | Milwaukee Brewers | 0-4 | After a cinderella-like season at times in the Wild Card last season against the Mets, reality hit early for the Brew-crew, who suffered another blow as Aaron Civale heads to the IL with a hamstring strain. |
| 23 | Seattle Mariners | 2-3 | Until this offense can find some consistency, they will struggle to threaten the upper echelon of teams in the league. The pitching is awesome though! |
| 24 | Los Angeles Angels | 3-1 | Ron Washington is my biggest talking point for this team right now. I love that guy. Where has Mike Trout been? |
| 25 | Minnesota Twins | 0-4 | Rough start to the season for Baldelli's guys. The AL Central is tough, and Minnesota looks like they may have taken a step back this season. |
| 26 | Pittsburgh Pirates | 1-4 | Getting walked off by the Marlins 3 times is, to say the least, not great. Paul Skenes looked good in his first start though. |
| 27 | Chicago White Sox | 2-2 | Do we have an offense here? I'm praying for a healthy season of Luis Robert Jr. |
| 28 | Washington Nationals | 1-3 | The young guys are going to need some time to make this lineup tick, but the starting pitching has been dominant at times. Mackenzie Gore has all the makings of a true ace. |
| 29 | Miami Marlins | 3-2 | 3 walk offs?? What an electric start to the season for the fish, who can use all the excitement they can get during these dark days for the franchise. |
| 30 | Colorado Rockies | 1-3 | This is more of a de-facto last place after opening week. They might stick here for a while, though. |
Week 2 MLB Power Rankings: Does the NL West have 4 contenders?
| Rank | Team | Record | The S&R Take |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Los Angeles Dodgers | 9-2 | The defending world series champs hold steady at the top spot in this week's rankings. Tommy Edman can hit! |
| 2 | Philadelphia Phillies | 7-2 | That was a fun series against the Dodgers. Jordan Romano looks to course correct after a rough start, however I like the makeup of this team over a lot of the previous years. They could be a serious contender this season. |
| 3 | San Diego Padres | 8-2 | Jackson Merrill is hitting .378 with 14 hits and 10 RBI through his first 10 games this season. The Padres locked him up for what might be the steal of this baseball generation. |
| 4 | New York Yankees | 6-3 | The Yankees dropped the series finale on a walkoff Sunday in Pittsburgh, but it was overall a good weekend for the bats once again. |
| 5 | Texas Rangers | 8-2 | The Rangers jump into the top 5 this week as their 5 game winning streak has currently yielded a whopping 9 runs allowed. That streak gets put to the test against the Cubbies to start the week. |
| 6 | New York Mets | 6-3 | No change in the rankings for the Mets this week as a couple of tight wins against the Blue Jays saw them extend their winning streak to 4. |
| 7 | Arizona Diamondbacks | 5-5 | The snakes looked really good in the Bronx to start their second series of the season. I like the makeup of this team with a healthy Zac Gallen and Corbin Burnes at the top of the rotation. |
| 8 | Chicago Cubs | 7-5 | The Cubbies begin an intriguing set of 9 straight games against the Rangers, Dodgers, and Padres, who have started the season a combined 25-6. We'll learn some things about this team in the next 10 days. |
| 9 | San Francisco Giants | 8-1 | The Giants have a chance to create a buffer for themselves early on as they begin a 3 game series against the Reds, before heading East to take on the Bronx Bombers and the Phils. |
| 10 | Boston Red Sox | 6-4 | Since Crochet took the mound in Baltimore, this team has looked completely different. Alex Bregman has led an offensive charge that saw Rafael Devers go 4-4 in the finale against St. Louis. They have big time bats and good pitching. Watch out for the Sox. |
| 11 | Kansas City Royals | 4-5 | The Royals won 2 of 3 against Baltimore this weekend, and Kris Bubic looked excellent in his 6 innings of work Sunday. Bobby Witt Jr. fell a home run shy of the cycle as the Royals now begin a stretch of 7 consecutive days and games against division opponents. |
| 12 | Toronto Blue Jays | 5-5 | The Blue Jays couldn't claw out either of the games to close the set against the Mets, but they did sweep Washington to cap off a 3-3 week. Prized offseason acquisition Anthony Santander in the 3-hole is batting .194 with 0 HR's and 1 RBI to start this season. |
| 13 | Cleveland Guardians | 3-6 | Jose Ramirez was the first player to hit 3 HR's in a game this season. I'm ready to induct him into the HOF now. |
| 14 | Baltimore Orioles | 4-6 | The Orioles are our biggest fallers to start this season's edition of the power rankings. Injuries, pitching woes, and defensive miscues are holding a young team back that saw Gunnar Henderson hit into some bad luck to start his 2025 campaign. The AL East looks to be quite stacked this year, and the birds don't look like the cream of the crop to start this season. |
| 15 | Milwaukee Brewers | 5-5 | Nestor Cortes bounced back nicely, and Jackson Chourio is off and running to start the year. If this team consistently plays its brand of baseball, look to see them compete with the Cubs to defend their NL Central crown. Sal Frelick has gotten off to a fantastic start. |
| 16 | Houston Astros | 4-5 | The Astros are one of those teams where you don't really pay attention until we get close to October. They'll be hanging around all year. Too much experience and talent on that roster. |
| 17 | Detroit Tigers | 5-4 | Javy Baez made an incredible catch-and-tag play to cut down a runner this weekend. Skubal was a little off in his second outing of the year, but AJ Hinch has his boys playing exciting baseball. Riley Greene is a stud. |
| 18 | Tampa Bay Rays | 4-5 | It was 3 close losses in a row against the Rangers after taking 2 out of 3 against the Pirates. I like the way this pitching staff is set up. Look for Kevin Cash to rely on his key strengths all season long. |
| 19 | Atlanta Braves | 1-8 | Thankfully, we're only 9 games in. But in what figures to be a much improved NL this season, the Braves cannot afford to dig themselves into much deeper of a hole. This was a lot of people's early season prediction to really make a push against the Dodgers this year. We're a far cry away from that right now. |
| 20 | Los Angeles Angels | 6-3 | Mike Trout has finally gone yard, but there are some other pieces on this team that have performed well early. Let's see how long it can last. |
| 21 | St. Louis Cardinals | 4-5 | Giving up 18 runs in a game is never a good thing. It happened though, but thankfully it only counts for one game. Lars Nootbar could not BELIEVE Wilyer Abreu gunned him down on a rocket from right field on Sunday. |
| 22 | Minnesota Twins | 3-6 | There are a lot of good teams in baseball this year. It's going to be hard for the Twins to compete with the upper-echelon given the current makeup of the big league lineup. We're a ways away, but im dreaming of the days when Walker Jenkins is the guy that solves all the problems on the hitting side. |
| 23 | Seattle Mariners | 3-7 | Julio Rodriguez is now up to 3 HR's on the season. The M's begin an early season division squabble against the Astros. They were 8-5 against the division champs last season. |
| 24 | Athletics | 4-6 | My god, Jacob Wilson CAN HIT!! |
| 25 | Pittsburgh Pirates | 3-7 | A walk off on Sunday capped the Pirates 3 game set against the Yankees this weekend. Back to back division series will be an early test for a young team that's trying to get out of the cellar. |
| 26 | Cincinnati Reds | 3-6 | Elly De La Cruz is a beacon of joy for a team that needs to find some consistency under legendary manager Terry Francona. |
| 27 | Miami Marlins | 5-4 | Maybe this is the team that's no longer the worst, or second to worst team all year. After all, they do have a playoff appearance in the 2020's (and so do the White Sox). |
| 28 | Washington Nationals | 3-6 | Dylan Crews will get there, but it's hard to deny the struggles early-on at the plate. I think he will be fine, though. The Nationals window will open officially once that 1st overall pick gets made this summer. |
| 29 | Colorado Rockies | 2-7 | Not much to say about the teams left. As an Orioles fan, just stick with it. There are brighter days ahead. |
| 30 | Chicago White Sox | 2-7 | Nevermind. This is the worst team in baseball. |