Power Rankings: National League flexing at the top

A fun fact about baseball as we enter the second half of the season’s first month: The juice is all in the National League. Would you believe the top six teams in our Power Rankings are all from the National League? It’s true. I would not lie to you in the first paragraph of a story on this website.

These rankings, as always, are compiled from MLB.com contributors whose names you can find at the bottom of this (and every) piece, but the words are mine. If you dislike the rankings, yell at all of us. But if you dislike the words, feel free to?yell at me.

1. Dodgers (previously: 1)
Lost in the nightmare of what was the Dodgers’ 16-0 loss to the Cubs on Saturday was Roki Sasaki making the longest start of his MLB career so far, going five innings and giving up just one run. The ugliness came after he left, with Ben Casparius, Luis García and, uh, infielder Miguel Rojas giving up 15 runs in four innings. Also, Shohei Ohtani hasn’t homered in a week. What’s going on, man?

2. Padres (previously: 4)
The Padres may be the story of baseball so far, and the reason hasn’t been all those superstars in their lineup: It has been their pitching. They lead the Majors with six shutouts so far, with the most recent one coming after Michael King's complete game on Sunday capping a shutout sweep of the Rockies. “It’s not a surprise,” said catcher?Martín Maldonado. “These pitchers have been like this for a long time. They believe in what they do."

3. Phillies (previously: 2)
For all the excellent hitters the Phillies have, they still can’t figure out who to bat behind Bryce Harper. Phillies batters who come directly after Harper are 8-for-59 this season, with just one extra-base hit -- Alec Bohm, way back on Opening Day. Kyle Schwarber has the honors now. “Just trying to protect Harper as best we can,” manager Rob Thomson said. “They’ve got to pitch to him.”

4. Mets (previously: 9)
He went 0-for-8 on Saturday and Sunday, ruining the whole bit, but it should be noted that the man leading the National League in batting average heading into Saturday was ... Pete Alonso, who was at .378 coming in. He's made it obvious why they needed him back so badly. "I’m glad I have him,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “I’m glad he’s with us. He’s off to a great start.”

5. Cubs (previously: 6)
Is Kyle Tucker your early NL MVP favorite? The Cubs are in first place, Ohtani has only five RBIs and Tucker is mashing the ball, putting up a 1.090 OPS and looking like the difference in the NL Central all by himself.

6. Giants (previously: 8)
The Giants are having an absolute blast of a start to their season, and one of the primary reasons has been Wilmer Flores. He has been a monster so far, leading the Majors in homers with six and sitting in second in RBIs with 19. He looks much more like the terrific Flores of 2023 than the injured version in '24.

7. Yankees (previously: 3)
As well as the Yankees have been hitting, one guy who hadn’t been much a part of the party was Cody Bellinger, who had gone 7-for-his-first-37. (A back injury and some food poisoning may have had something to do with that.) He may have at last broken out on Saturday, though, smashing a triple and a go-ahead single in a win over the Giants. “It’s been a little unfortunate, but there’s a lot of baseball left,” Bellinger said after the game. "I’m excited to be part of this team. This team is very, very impressive.”

8. Tigers (previously: 13)
If you were feeling optimistic about the Tigers this year -- and you should know your Power Rankings author very much was -- much of your hope may have ridden on the shoulders of rookie Jackson Jobe, MLB Pipeline's No. 4 overall prospect and one who had a spot in the Opening Day rotation. He rewarded us optimists on Saturday with a brilliant six-inning shutout performance against the Twins, earning himself his first MLB win. And yes: Jobe is the son of a professional golfer, Brandt Jobe, and thus it was kind of cool that the first win came on Masters weekend.

9. Rangers (previously: 5)
“Didn’t do anything well,” the Rangers' pitcher said. “Didn’t locate well. Walked four guys. Didn’t hold runners. With two strikes, didn’t locate well. Was all over the place. Put us in a bad spot, and the bullpen had to cover a lot of innings. That’s on me, I’ve got to do a better job.” That’s not something you’re used to hearing from Jacob deGrom, but that’s what he was saying after he gave up three runs and walked four in four innings of a Friday loss to the Mariners. Even with that start, his ERA is a respectable 4.30. But seeing deGrom putting up less than a strikeout an inning is ... disconcerting.

10. Diamondbacks (previously: 7)
Corbin Burnes' start against the Brewers, the team he won a Cy Young with, was the big news item heading into Saturday night’s game, but the game may end up being known as the one that got the D-backs back on track. They scored five runs in the bottom of the ninth to come away with an electric 5-4 win, the sort of victory that this team will remember for quite a while.

11. Brewers (previously: 18)
The Brewers are forever resourceful, and that has never been more true than when it comes to the current rotation. Three-fifths of it -- Tyler Alexander, Quinn Priester and Jose Quintana -- have only joined the team since February.

12. Red Sox (previously: 10)
This season has not gotten off to the start that Red Sox fans wanted and many observers expected, and one of the primary reasons has been the defense. The Red Sox lead the Majors with 19 errors this season, including five in an extremely ugly loss to the White Sox on Friday. There were, however, no errors committed behind Garrett Crochet on Sunday, when he took a no-hitter into the eighth inning against his former team.

13. Orioles (previously: 11)
Much has been made, and for good reason, about how poor the Orioles' starting pitching has been so far. But anybody else notice the vaunted offense isn’t exactly knocking the cover off the ball either? They’re 13th in runs scored, 18th in OPS, 15th in homers ... firmly middle of the pack. If the Orioles don’t have one of the best offenses in baseball, they’re in trouble.

14. Guardians (previously: 16)
You know who’s not pitching well so far? Emmanuel Clase. The three-time All-Star and two-time Rivera Award winner has a 7.71 ERA in his first seven appearances. The Guardians do not seem to be worried, and neither is Clase. “It’s a reminder, I'm also human,” Clase said pregame Saturday, through team interpreter Agustin Rivero. “I can make mistakes and not get the results that I want.” I personally hope to someday be so good at something that if I have any brief struggles, I can say, "It’s a reminder I’m also human."

15. Blue Jays (previously: 12)
The timing could be better -- considering it comes on the heels of Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s massive contract extension -- but it’s fair to say no one is sweating the start of Vlad Jr.’s season. It should still be noted, though, that he still hasn’t homered, the longest homerless start to a season in his career.

16. Angels (previously: 21)
You know how we’ve all been dreaming of a full Mike Trout season, one where he was healthy all the way through and the Mike Trout we all know and love? Well, heading into Saturday, here were Trout’s numbers in his previous 162 games: .922 OPS, 50 HR, 99 RBI, 110 runs. Unfortunately, those 162 games hearkened all the way back to Aug. 21, 2022.

17. Astros (previously: 17)
A blast from Astros past is just about to return. Lance McCullers Jr., who was originally drafted by the Astros in 2012 (and of course won two World Series with the team), threw four scoreless innings in a rehab start for the Triple-A Space Cowboys on Saturday. McCullers hasn’t pitched in an MLB game since Nov. 1, 2022 -- Game 3 of the World Series. That’s about to change.

18. Mariners (previously: 22)
Do you know who holds the record for most homers by a catcher in Mariners history? You don’t have to think too hard: It’s Cal Raleigh, whose homer Friday was his 96th, passing Mike Zunino on the all-timer Mariners list. He's since added two more.

19. Royals (previously: 15)
As if the Royals weren’t having enough troubles offensively -- they’re 25th in runs scored so far -- now they may be without top offseason acquisition Jonathan India for a while. The former Rookie of the Year left Saturday’s game with quad tightness, and while the Royals are hopeful he’ll be able to avoid an IL stint, it’s certainly not what this team needed right now.

20. Reds (previously: 25)
Bet you didn’t see this coming: The Reds have the second-best starting pitcher ERA in the Majors at 2.68 (Mets, 2.55).

21. Braves (previously: 19)
So much is going wrong for the Braves right now that it’s hard to pick just one thing that’s particularly rough, but maybe we’ll go with Michael Harris II? The former Rookie of the Year is hitting just .214, with the third-highest chase percentage in all of baseball.

22. Rays (previously: 14)
The Rays had a rough week at the big league level, so let’s look at something happy down in the Minors: Let’s look at their top prospect, Carson Williams. The shortstop, who is the MLB Pipeline No. 8 overall prospect, hit his first Triple-A home run on Saturday, a?421-foot blast that left the bat at 111.3 mph exit velocity.

23. Cardinals (previously: 20)
A fun, lighthearted moment from over the weekend: Catcher Pedro Pagés having to fill in at second base on Friday, a position he hadn’t played since he was an adolescent. He was forced to play second after Masyn Winn (who’s now on the IL) left with back spasms and the Cardinals didn’t want to lose their DH. Pagés used Brendan Donovan’s glove and got two ground balls hit to him, converting them both into outs without incident.

24. Nationals (previously: 28)
James Wood has been heralded as a future star, but it’s sure looking like he already is one. He hit four homers in four games last week and is currently eighth in the National League in slugging. He won’t turn 23 until September.

25. A’s (previously: 23)
Those games in Sacramento do look charming and unique, but it should be noted that the A’s are not having the best time in their new digs. They lost six of their first seven games at Sutter Health Park before finally beating the Mets on Saturday, putting up a 6.43 ERA.

26. Marlins (previously: 26)
It may take a while for him to develop his command, but there’s no question that Edward Cabrera has a unique set of skills. In his season debut last week, the right-hander threw a 96.5 mph changeup. Seriously. He also reached 99 mph on his fastball. “Well, truly, I don't think much about speed,” Cabrera said via interpreter Luis Dorante Jr.?We do, Edward.

27. Twins (previously: 24)
The Twins are not having a lot of fun in the early going. Their 11 losses in their first 15 games tied their worst start in franchise history (since moving to Minnesota in 1961), with the other 4-11 starts coming in 1981, 1988 and 2016. Only four teams in the last 40 years have made the postseason after starting 4-11, though one of them was last year’s Astros.

28. Pirates (previously: 27)
Paul Skenes is going to have to face the Cardinals many times in his career, but he doesn’t have to like it. The Cards beat Skenes last week by scoring five runs off him, the most runs Skenes has given up in his career. Skenes has four losses in his short career; three of them have come against St. Louis.

29. White Sox (previously: 29)
Sure, the White Sox got to say hi to Crochet when he came with his new team, the Red Sox, on Sunday, but the real news from that trade, as far as Sox fans are concerned, was the debut over the weekend of Chase Meidroth, one of the four young players they received in the Crochet trade. He’s an on-base machine, and he showed why in his first game, reaching base four times, with three walks. On Sunday? He incredibly broke up Crochet's no-hit bid with a single in the eighth inning.

30. Rockies (previously: 30)
It brings us no joy to say this, but Kris Bryant continues to struggle in Colorado. The 2016 NL MVP -- who remains signed through 2028 -- is hitting .154 in 39 at-bats this season, with just one RBI. Injuries have cost him the last couple of seasons, of course, but it’s worth noting that the only year on that contract he was even an above-average hitter, by OPS+, was 2022, the first one.

Voters: Nathalie Alonso, Jason Catania, Mark Feinsand, Daniel Feldman, Doug Gausepohl, Sarah Langs, Will Leitch, Travis Miller, Brian Murphy, Arturo Pardavila, Andrew Simon, David Venn, Zac Vierra.