Welcome to the very first regular season edition of MLB Power Rankings for 2026. I’ll be here every Monday through the end of September to break down the top teams, moments, and storylines around MLB.
I posted a preseason edition of MLB Power Rankings a couple of weeks ago, and while I don’t want to be overly reactive, I do want to reward some impressive starts. For the most part, these rankings will be a combination of current performance and long-term outlook.
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For this week’s edition, we celebrate Konnor Griffin’s arrival to the majors, Jo Adell’s once-in-a-lifetime defensive performance, and José Ramirez on the brink of history.
Let’s get started!
Note: Rankings are from the morning of Monday, April 6.
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1) Los Angeles Dodgers
The Dodgers have the best hitter on the planet right now. It’s just not fair. Wait, were you expecting Shohei Ohtani? He’s pretty good too, but Andy Pages is off to the best start in this Dodgers’ lineup, including three straight three-hit games last week. It’s nice to see given how much he struggled in the postseason last year. Pages’ progress takes on added importance with Mookie Betts on the injured list due to an oblique injury.
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2) New York Yankees
With Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón sidelined to begin the year, it was understandable to be somewhat nervous about how the rotation would be to begin the year. Well, it’s safe to say they are getting by just fine. Even with a shaky outing from Ryan Weathers against his former team on Saturday, the Yankees’ rotation holds an MLB-best 1.81 ERA through nine games.
3) Milwaukee Brewers
I’m here to report that the Brewers are indeed inevitable. Even without Jackson Chourio, they’ve scored more runs than any team in the National League to begin the year. A pleasant surprise in the early going, Garrett Mitchell homered and put up a career-high five RBI in the first game of a doubleheader against the Royals on Saturday.
Tortoise power! The Brewers stumbled into merchandising gold with the introduction of “Bobby Jr.” over the weekend.
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4) Seattle Mariners
It’s been a rough start to the season for Cal Raleigh. After Jo Adell robbed him of what have been his first home run of the season on Saturday, the slugging backstop struck out with the bases loaded in the 11th inning on Sunday as part of an eventual 8-7 loss to the Angels.
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5) Philadelphia Phillies
The Phillies had their four-game winning streak snapped on Sunday in Colorado as their offense continues to experience fits. The club is awaiting Zack Wheeler’s return from thoracic outlet syndrome, but he averaged just 92.7 mph on his fastball in his most recent minor league rehab start. For now, the Phillies aren’t concerned.
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6) Detroit Tigers
The Tigers might have lost to the Cardinals on Sunday Night Baseball on Peacock and NBCSN, but catcher Dillon Dingler continues to win ABS challenges. He was 4-for-4 on Sunday night and is now a perfect 8-for-8 to begin the year.
7) Atlanta Braves
Despite missing Spencer Strider, Spencer Schwellenbach, Hurston Waldrep and AJ Smith-Shawver, the Braves’ rotation has been carrying the load out of the gates. Their 2.26 ERA is the best mark in the National League.
8) Houston Astros
Losing Hunter Brown to a shoulder strain is a tough blow for this rotation, but Yordan Alvarez is reminding everyone that he’s one of the best hitters in the majors when healthy. The 28-year-old blasted his fourth homer of the season on Sunday and currently leads MLB with a 1.478 OPS.
9) Toronto Blue Jays
The start of the season isn’t treating the Blue Jays kindly. Amid injuries to Cody Ponce (knee) and Alejandro Kirk (thumb) in recent days, they lost two out of three to the Rockies before being swept by the White Sox over the weekend.
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10) New York Mets
No Juan Soto, no problem. The Mets pounded out 24 runs while winning the final three games against the Giants in San Francisco, with guys like Mark Vientos, Jared Young, and Luis Torrens playing key roles. As for Soto, it was announced on Monday that he’s expected to miss around two to three weeks with his calf strain.
11) Chicago Cubs
It’s understandable to be alarmed right now, as Cade Horton is sidelined with right forearm discomfort and Matthew Boyd is headed to the IL with a biceps strain. One positive for Chicago is that Seiya Suzuki is nearing his return from a knee injury. He began a minor league rehab assignment on Friday and could be activated as soon as Friday.
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12) Cleveland Guardians
After Monday night, José Ramírez will have played more games than any player in Cleveland franchise history. He surpassed Hall of Fame second baseman Nap Lajoie (1,614) last week and is currently tied with Terry Turner at 1,619 games played.
13) Texas Rangers
After winning four straight, the Rangers have lost four in a row while scoring a grand total of seven runs. New leadoff man Brandon Nimmo has at least done his part by reaching base safely in all nine games for the Rangers.
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14) Baltimore Orioles
An active offseason for the Orioles hasn’t translated to wins so far. They were swept by the Pirates over the weekend and have now lost five out of six. They’ve hit just six homers through nine games. Only the Padres and Giants have hit fewer.
15) Pittsburgh Pirates
Is the patience finally paying off for Pirates fans? They’ve won five straight and had the best moment of the week with No. 1 prospect Konnor Griffin hitting a double in his first MLB at-bat.
Gosh, do these fans deserve it.
16) San Diego Padres
There’s untouchable and then there’s Padres closer Mason Miller. He’s struck out 11 out of the 15 batters he’s faced so far this season.
17) Boston Red Sox
Wilyer Abreu is hitting, but that’s about it so far as the Red Sox have tied their worst start (2-7) through nine games in team history.
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18) Miami Marlins
Now that’s the vintage Sandy Alcantara that we love to see. The former Cy Young Award-winner pulled of a Maddux (shutout in fewer than 100 pitches) against the White Sox last Wednesday for his 13th career complete game and fifth shutout. If he’s truly back to his ace form, the Marlins could take that next step this year.
19) Cincinnati Reds
With Hunter Greene and Nick Lodolo sidelined, young hurlers Rhett Lowder and Chase Burns are stepping up to lead the Reds’ rotation. Burns struck out nine over six innings of one-run ball on Sunday as the Reds completed a sweep of the Rangers.
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20) Kansas City Royals
This wasn’t necessarily a graceful play by Royals reliever Daniel Lynch IV, but it sure was effective.
21) Arizona Diamondbacks
Is it okay to say that the Diamondbacks have been snake bit so far this season? No? Okay, well I’m doing it anyway. In addition to all of the injuries (Jordan Lawlar being the latest), the offense has really scuffled, most notably from new arrivals Nolan Arenado and Carlos Santana. Corbin Carroll has done most of the damage for this lineup, but it was a good sign to see Ketel Marte walk things off on Sunday.
22) Los Angeles Angels
The best baseball picture of the year already exists. And it came from a fan.
If you haven’t seen Jo Adell’s three home run robberies on Saturday, make sure to remedy that quickly.
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23) Tampa Bay Rays
Junior Caminero finally connected for his first home run of the season on Sunday against the Twins. And if you thought this pitch looked low to the ground, you are correct. Per Sarah Langs of MLB.com, it was the lowest pitch for a home run hit so far this season.
24) San Francisco Giants
The Giants have struggled in multiple phases to begin the year, but there was a feel-good moment on Thursday as Daniel Susac notched three hits and drew a walk in his first MLB start. Most of his family was ecstatic about the performance.
25) St. Louis Cardinals
With all of the hype and success of this year’s rookie class, it’s easy to forget about a player like Jordan Walker, who was all the rage when he came up in 2023. It has been a bumpy ride since then, including a .584 OPS in 111 games last season, but he’s swinging a hot bat so far this season.
The metrics back it up too, as Walker ranks in the 99th percentile in bat speed and hard-hit percentage. Not bad for a guy who doesn’t turn 24 years old until next month.
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26) Minnesota Twins
Entering play on Monday, the Twins rank last in the majors with a .192 batting average. Byron Buxton, who celebrated 10 years of service time on Sunday, is 4-for-30 (.133) to start the year.
27) Athletics
Brent Rooker was hitting .133 with zero homers and one RBI through the first eight games of the season before exploding for two homers and six RBI against the Astros on Sunday, highlighted by a walk-off homer in extras.
Nick Kurtz also reached base in five out of his six plate appearances as he tries to break out of an early-season slump.
28) Chicago White Sox
So far, the gamble on Munetaka Murakami looks like a wise one for White Sox. With this three-run blast against the Blue Jays on Saturday, he became the first Japanese-born player to amass four homers over his first eight games in the majors.
29) Washington Nationals
After homering in three straight games last week, CJ Abrams is tied with Liam Hicks of the Marlins and Garrett Mitchell of the Brewers for the MLB lead with 12 RBI.
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30) Colorado Rockies
The Rockies had lost each of their last nine games against the Phillies until Sunday, as Tomoyuki Sugano spun a gem and Mickey Moniak slugged a pair of homers against the team who drafted him.
