By Tim Britton, Johnny Flores Jr. and Andy McCullough
Every week, we ask a selected group of our baseball writers — local and national — to rank the teams from first to worst. Here are the collective results.
The baseball season is more than six weeks old, but all of the stars have not yet appeared — at least not in full capacity. Shohei Ohtani still has not thrown a pitch. Ronald Acuña Jr. still has not taken an at-bat. Rafael Devers still has not played the field.
Yes, even as the season takes shape, each team is missing something. It could be a player lost to injury, to ineffectiveness, or to the attrition of trades and free agency.
Which player does each team wish were here? Some may return soon. Some may be gone for good. This week’s power rankings assess each club’s most acute absence at this moment.
1. Los Angeles Dodgers (Average ranking: 1.0)
Record: 27-14
Last Power Ranking: 1
Wish you were here: Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell
The two talented pitchers were expected to meet with Dodgers team doctor Neal ElAttrache on Monday. Each man is on the injured list with a shoulder injury. When it comes to Glasnow being available in the postseason, Dodgers fans may have to see it to believe it, given his injury history. The situation with Snell is also worrisome. He shelved the scheduled resumption of his throwing program last week after lingering arm soreness. Meanwhile, Ohtani isn’t expected to pitch in games until after the All-Star break. Yet again, the Dodgers find themselves somehow facing a pitching shortage, which makes Clayton Kershaw’s upcoming activation all the more intriguing. — Andy McCullough
2. New York Mets (2.1)
Record: 27-15
Last Power Ranking: 2
Wish you were here: Sean Manaea
A shorthand for how well things have gone for the Mets early in the season is that Griffin Canning and Tylor Megill, the fill-ins for Manaea and Frankie Montas, have compiled a 2.72 ERA and a 10-6 team record in their starts. But when you’re gaming out the rest of 2025 for the Mets, a team with aspirations beyond just making the dance in October, Manaea is a critical figure. He was New York’s best starter last October, the only one capable of going seven innings and owning a game. As good as the Mets’ rotation has been to this point, that kind of pitcher isn’t there right now. — Tim Britton
3. San Diego Padres (3.1)
Record: 25-15
Last Power Ranking: 3
Wish you were here: Yu Darvish
Darvish has not pitched for San Diego this season, but the rotation still looks strong. Michael King is setting himself up for a nine-figure payday as a free agent. Nick Pivetta looks like a bargain. There is reason to believe Dylan Cease, he of the 3.36 FIP but 4.91 ERA, will achieve better results soon. Darvish is close to returning from elbow inflammation and should be back by the end of this month, as the Padres embark on series against the Dodgers, Diamondbacks and Giants. — McCullough
4. Detroit Tigers (4.6)
Record: 27-15
Last Power Ranking: 4
Wish you were here: A center fielder
A lot has gone right for the 2025 Tigers, so it’s hard to pinpoint exactly who Detroit wishes were here. That said, Wenceel Perez, Matt Vierling or Parker Meadows patrolling center field would be a massive upgrade for the Tigers. Yes, Javier Báez has essentially resurrected his career since moving to center, but any one of those three coming off the IL would allow manager AJ Hinch to shift Báez to the left side of the infield, where the Tigers could almost certainly use an upgrade. Doing so would then free up Scott Harris and Co. to pursue another upgrade at the July 31 trade deadline, when the Tigers figure to be major buyers. — Johnny Flores Jr.
T-5. Philadelphia Phillies (5.1)
Record: 24-17
Last Power Ranking: 5
Wish you were here: Jeff Hoffman
Philadelphia’s pitching staff has been notably healthy, especially now with Ranger Suárez back. But the bullpen has drifted to the bottom third of the league thanks to a series of changes from last year, none bigger than Hoffman’s signing in Toronto. The Phillies essentially swapped him out with the Blue Jays’ former closer, Jordan Romano, and they’re losing that trade. Romano entered Monday having allowed more runs than innings pitched, though he’s been much better of late (five straight scoreless appearances, including a save on Sunday) and the Phillies have been remarkably resilient in his bad outings. The club is 4-1 in games Romano has allowed a run. — Britton
T-5. New York Yankees (5.1)
Record: 23-17
Last Power Ranking: 8
Wish you were here: Gerrit Cole
This is why they pay us the big bucks: to point out that the New York Yankees, owners of the best run differential in baseball entering Monday despite a squeamish back half of the rotation, would be better with one of the game’s few remaining aces. New York is in first place thanks largely to Max Fried’s otherworldly performance to start the season; the Yankees are 8-0 when he starts, and under .500 behind anyone else. And if you take Fried and fellow lefty Carlos Rodón out of the equation, the rest of the starting staff has posted a 5.38 ERA entering the week. — Britton
7. San Francisco Giants (7.9)
Record: 24-18
Last Power Ranking: 7
Wish you were here: Tyler Fitzgerald
Fitzgerald, the 27-year-old second baseman, looked in April like he was on his way to replicating his surprising rookie season — until he broke his rib diving for a ball. He has missed all of May as he heals. The duo of Christian Koss and Brett Wisely has not been able to replace Fitzgerald’s production. Fitzgerald should return soon enough, but his absence stings for a team jockeying for position with the Dodgers, Padres and Diamondbacks. — McCullough
8. Chicago Cubs (8.0)
Record: 24-18
Last Power Ranking: 6
Wish you were here: Justin Steele
It would be easy to put Ryan Pressly in this spot, but before his historic blowup against the Giants, he had lowered his ERA to 2.08, so we’ll give him a pass. But what the Cubs surely will miss, especially down the stretch, is an ace like Steele. Ace-level starters don’t just grow on trees, you know? Having a dependable No. 1 could mean the difference between winning the NL Central and sitting out another October. It also creates a tall task for Jed Hoyer’s front office, as the Cubs won’t be the only team in search of a starter (see No. 1), and through the early parts of the season, it looks like it’ll be slim pickings come July. — Flores
9. Seattle Mariners (9.7)
Record: 22-17
Last Power Ranking: 9
Wish you were here: George Kirby and Logan Gilbert
Well, duh. The Mariners have surged into first place in the American League West on the strength of, surprisingly, the offense. Cal Raleigh has been a two-way force at catcher. J.P. Crawford is having a bounce-back campaign. Randy Arozarena keeps getting on base. Jorge Polanco may have provided enough value to pay off his $7.75 million contract. Just wait until the team’s expected strength, its starting rotation, becomes whole again. Kirby (shoulder inflammation) has been making rehab starts and is expected to return before Gilbert (elbow flexor strain), who has not yet begun a throwing program. — McCullough
10. Arizona Diamondbacks (10.0)
Record: 22-20
Last Power Ranking: 10
Wish you were here: Justin Martinez
Do you think the Diamondbacks were missing their closer on Friday evening as they watched Shohei Ohtani’s ninth-inning blast soar out of sight? Martinez, who inked a five-year, $18 million deal just before the season began, started a throwing program to rehab his sore right shoulder over the weekend. The bullpen has not been a strength for Arizona, which is facing the annual uphill battle that is the National League West. — McCullough
11. Atlanta Braves (11.0)
Record: 20-21
Last Power Ranking: 11
Wish you were here: Ronald Acuña Jr.
Atlanta knew it would miss Acuña’s all-around game, but it probably didn’t expect to miss it this much. That’s because it also misses Jurickson Profar in the other outfield corner, and pretty much all of its backup plans haven’t worked as planned. Jarred Kelenic is in Gwinnett, Bryan De La Cruz is with the Yankees, Eddie Rosario and Stuart Fairchild and Alex Verdugo haven’t quite cut it. Those five players have combined to produce 1.4 wins below replacement level. Eli White has been the one reserve who’s stepped up, though his career track record doesn’t provide a lot of confidence that will continue in perpetuity. — Britton
12. Boston Red Sox (12.4)
Record: 22-21
Last Power Ranking: 12
Wish you were here: Triston Casas
We could be snarky and suggest “A telephone” with which to communicate potential defensive plans to star players or “Foresight” to think through possible changes to said plans back in spring training. Instead, we can just say that had Casas not ruptured his patella tendon, there would not have been any additional drama with Rafael Devers last week. Teams will often tell you that having a lot of good players that you struggle to fit into an everyday lineup is ”a good problem to have.” The Red Sox have managed to defy that cliche. — Britton
13. Houston Astros (14.1)
Record: 20-20
Last Power Ranking: 13
Wish you were here: Yordan Alvarez
You could argue that either Alex Bregman or Kyle Tucker could fit in this spot. But Isaac Paredes, who was acquired from the Cubs as part of the Tucker trade, has been fine at Bregman’s former position at third base. The Astros are using Cam Smith, the centerpiece of the Tucker deal, as the replacement in right field. Smith is experiencing growing pains, but his ceiling is still quite high. So let’s go with Alvarez, who had posted a .646 OPS before the team shut him down with right hand inflammation on May 5. The Houston lineup already features several dead spots, due to underperformance from Jose Altuve, Christian Walker and Yainer Diaz. The team can scarcely afford an extended absence from its most prolific hitter. — McCullough
14. Cleveland Guardians (14.3)
Record: 24-17
Last Power Ranking: 14
Wish you were here: Josh Naylor
Over the winter, the Guardians sent Josh Naylor to the Diamondbacks in exchange for reliever Slade Cecconi and a competitive balance pick, only to turn around and sign a 39-year-old Carlos Santana to a $12 million deal. For reference, Naylor inked a one-year, $10.9 million deal in his final year of arbitration. Cecconi has not pitched this season and Santana has been anything but smooth, putting up a 92 WRC+ so far. Meanwhile, Naylor has a 124 WRC+. Sure, it’s incredibly unlikely that Cleveland would have re-signed Naylor in the offseason but Santana was anything but a lateral move. — Flores
15. Kansas City Royals (14.6)
Record: 25-18
Last Power Ranking: 16
Wish you were here: The Cincinnati version of Jonathan India
When the Royals parted with former first-round pick Brady Singer in exchange for 2021 Rookie of the Year Jonathan India, they almost certainly envisioned landing a dependable leadoff hitter to pair with Bobby Witt Jr. in the middle infield. Yeah, about that. India has a .626 OPS through 38 games, and has been worth minus-0.3 bWAR. He didn’t hit his first home run until May 4 and has yet to steal a bag. The Royals were always going to be an offensively starved team in 2025, but the addition of India was made with the intention of providing just one more competent bat. If it’s any consolation, Singer has a 4.97 ERA. — Flores
16. Minnesota Twins (16.0)
Record: 21-20
Last Power Ranking: 21
Wish you were here: The 2024 version of Carlos Correa
After stumbling to a 7-15 start, the Twins have climbed back to 21-20, with eight straight wins, tied for the longest ongoing streak in the majors. The starting pitching has been as advertised, the bullpen has done its part, and Byron Buxton and Royce Lewis are in the lineup at the same time. For a team that has largely refused to spend, that’s about as much as you can ask for. That said, Carlos Correa has a .598 OPS in 39 games. Things have not gone well for the three-time All-Star, and if the Twins want to make the AL Central interesting, they’ll need every bit of their marquee shortstop, especially with Buxton and Lewis around, a rarity in Minnesota. The trio only appeared together in 22 games last season. — Flores
17. St. Louis Cardinals (17.0)
Record: 23-19
Last Power Ranking: 23
Wish you were here: Tommy Edman
The Cardinals have received a grand total of 0.3 bWAR from right fielders, with Jordan Walker putting up a particularly ugly minus-0.4 bWAR as the club’s primary right fielder. In 30 games with the Dodgers, Edman has put up 1.2 bWAR, with a 129 OPS+. While the 2024 NLCS MVP did help the Cardinals land Erick Fedde, who recently went the distance against the Nationals for his first complete game shutout, Edman’s bat would have helped a 22-19 club further close the gap in the NL Central in what has been a surprising start for a team many expected to be early sellers. — Flores
18. Cincinnati Reds (18.3)
Record: 20-22
Last Power Ranking: 15
Wish you were here: Anyone on the IL
This exercise is predicated on picking one player, but the injury bug has not been kind to Cincinnati this season. Hunter Greene, Jeimer Candelario, Noelvi Marte and Christian Encarnacion-Strand are all on the IL, and that’s just a small sampling. In a particularly cruel twist of fate, outfielder Tyler Callihan broke his forearm attempting to make a catch in just his fourth big league game. That the Reds have been able to hover around the .500 mark and still be just 3 1/2 games back of the NL Central crown with so many injuries at various points is rather remarkable. In other words, take your pick with who you wish were here because there’s a lot to choose from. — Flores
19. Milwaukee Brewers (19.1)
Record: 20-22
Last Power Ranking: 18
Wish you were here: The May 2024 version of Joey Ortiz
One year ago, Joey Ortiz was setting MLB on fire, becoming the first Brewers player since 2019 to win MLB’s Rookie of the Month award. In 23 games, he batted .307/.391/.587 with four homers, one triple, seven doubles and 12 RBIs. Flash forward to this year, and he’s hitting .176/.233/.228 through 40 games. Over the weekend, he snapped a 46-game streak without a homer. Those contributions have been worth minus-1.1 bWAR. Suffice it to say, Milwaukee would love the May 2024 version of Ortiz right about now. — Flores
20. Toronto Blue Jays (20.4)
Record: 20-20
Last Power Ranking: 22
Wish you were here: Max Scherzer
The strength of Toronto’s back-to-back playoff teams earlier this decade, the rotation has become a weakness as it’s aged. And yes, we understand the irony of saying the rotation might be too old, so it could really use the 41-year-old Scherzer to stabilize it. But short of Alek Manoah emerging from Tommy John surgery later this season as the 2022 version of himself, the starting staff is what it is for the Jays, and Scherzer is the closest piece to helping it. As uneven as the last three seasons have been for him, Scherzer still owns a 3.84 ERA when he does pitch in that time. That would represent a step forward from Easton Lucas and José Ureña. — Britton
T-21. Texas Rangers (20.7)
Record: 21-21
Last Power Ranking: 20
Wish you were here: The lineup fans expected
When the Rangers brass drew up plans for 2025, the group could not have expected the offense would enter the middle of May ranked 27th in on-base percentage and 23rd in slugging, as they were heading into Monday’s games. Texas planned to mash. It hasn’t exactly worked out that way. Corey Seager and Wyatt Langford are doing their part. The rest of the crew? Not so much. Marcus Semien can’t get on track. Joc Pederson nearly went 0-for-April. Jake Burger has already been demoted. But the season is long and slumps don’t last forever — maybe the return of Evan Carter will conjure up on-field re-creations of the 2023 run. — McCullough
T-21. Athletics (20.7)
Record: 21-20
Last Power Ranking: 19
Wish you were here: José Leclerc
Signed for $10 million, Leclerc was part of the Athletics’ low-level spending splurge this winter. Only starting pitchers Luis Severino and Jeffrey Springs are being paid more by the club this season. Severino has led the rotation. Springs has bounced back after a rocky April. Brent Rooker, the homegrown slugger, has stabilized after an ugly start of his own. But the bullpen will be without Leclerc until July as he recovers from a strained lat muscle. — McCullough
23. Tampa Bay Rays (21.0)
Record: 18-22
Last Power Ranking: 17
Wish you were here: Shane McClanahan
Unlike some of the other rotations discussed here, there’s no glaring weakness in Tampa Bay’s — no flashing sign demanding improvement over an eight ERA. But the rotation as a whole is a bit too close to meh, and that’s never been McClanahan. The 2022 All-Star Game starter for the AL, McClanahan was an emerging Cy Young candidate before a back injury, Tommy John surgery and a triceps injury that has delayed his return this season. — Britton
24. Baltimore Orioles (23.7)
Record: 15-24
Last Power Ranking: 24
Wish you were here: Kyle Bradish
The Orioles have an honest-to-goodness major-league starting rotation on the injured list, so we have our choices here. But it’s hard to ignore how much has changed for the organization since Bradish’s last start in June of last season. Even though Baltimore lost that day, it was 45-24 on the season and 61 games over .500 over the prior season and a half. Since, it’s 10 games under .500, dragged down this season by a rotation among the game’s worst. — Britton
25. Washington Nationals (25.0)
Record: 17-25
Last Power Ranking: 25
Wish you were here: Josiah Gray
No one pitcher could save the albatross that is the Nationals’ bullpen. But it’s not like Washington’s starting rotation has been lights out, and pairing Gray with MacKenzie Gore at the top of it would go some way toward solving the club’s run prevention issues. Gray, of course, is rehabbing from last summer’s Tommy John surgery with an eye on the 2026 season. The Nats are pretty much eyeing next year already as well. — Britton
26. Pittsburgh Pirates (26.0)
Record: 14-28
Last Power Ranking: 26
Wish you were here: Spencer Horwitz
It’s been a revolving door of sorts for first basemen in Pittsburgh. The Pirates have cycled through Jared Triolo, Matt Gorski, Enmanuel Valdez and Endy Rodriguez to extremely mixed results. None of the quartet has been good offensively, and defensively, the first base bag has seen better days. There is no shortage of problems in Pittsburgh, but having Spencer Horwitz, the player the Pirates traded for in the offseason with an eye on playing first, would provide some sort of stability. Instead, the 27-year-old has spent the early parts of the season on the IL after undergoing wrist surgery. — Flores
27. Los Angeles Angels (27.4)
Record: 17-23
Last Power Ranking: 28
Wish you were here: Mike Trout
Trout, the 11-time All-Star and three-time AL MVP, told reporters over the weekend that he was making progress in the recovery of his injured left knee. Except he still hasn’t been cleared to run. Maybe this year will be different. Maybe this time he will make a swift return from the injured list and turn back the clock to the 2010s. Or maybe this will be like the previous four summers, when he averaged only 67 games per season. With Trout set to turn 34 in August, the actuarial tables suggest the latter is more likely than the former. — McCullough
28. Miami Marlins (28.0)
Record: 15-25
Last Power Ranking: 27
Wish you were here: 2022 Sandy Alcantara
Given where the Marlins are competitively, the best thing that could happen this season for them was a return to Cy Young form for Alcantara, who could then be traded for a huge prospect package sometime in the summer. Instead, Alcantara owns an ERA over eight (and a FIP well above five). His stuff has looked pretty solid coming off Tommy John surgery — he’s gone from a 110 to a 108 in Stuff+ — but his location has been significantly worse, and that’s what’s cost him, particularly against left-handed batters. This should all improve over time, though the magnitude and timeline of that improvement will dictate whether Miami still moves him this summer and, if so, what it could receive back. — Britton
29. Chicago White Sox (29.0)
Record: 12-29
Last Power Ranking: 29
Wish you were here: Garrett Crochet
Since landing in Boston over the winter, Crochet has been absolute nails for the Red Sox. Through a league-leading nine starts, Crochet has put up a 1.93 ERA, good enough for seventh best in all of baseball, with 65 strikeouts (fourth best). Yes, Chicago’s starting pitching has a collective 3.66 ERA, which is better than the Yankees, Dodgers, Giants and Braves, but ace-level pitchers don’t come around often. The quartet of Kyle Teel, Braden Montgomery, Wikelman Gonzalez and Chase Meidroth that the White Sox received in exchange for the lefty could be anything, including the next Garrett Crochet. But there’s only one Garrett Crochet, and he’s not on the White Sox and he really should be. — Flores
30. Colorado Rockies (30.0)
Record: 7-34
Last Power Ranking: 30
Wish you were here: The prospect of a brighter future
It was quite the weekend on Blake Street. On Saturday afternoon, general manager Bill Schmidt publicly backed manager Bud Black. Then Colorado suffered through a 21-0 humiliation by San Diego. A day later, after a rare Rockies win, the team dumped Black. Fair enough — the club is playing wretched baseball, and some responsibility for that goes to the manager. But the idea that firing Black, a highly regarded manager and pitching coach, will alter the club’s future is absurd. It is simply hard to envision a future in which the club contends. The team plays in one of baseball’s toughest divisions. Owner Dick Monfort doesn’t spend much. The roster doesn’t change much. The farm system ranks in the bottom third of the sport. And, oh, by the way, the team still plays at altitude. Hope for better is hard to find. — McCullough
(Top photo: Kelly Gavin / Getty Images)
