Opening Day Power Rankings: Who’s No. 1?
Congratulations: You have made it. On Opening Day, it’ll have been precisely 154 days since a Major League Baseball sport counted within the standings, and whereas the World Baseball Classic definitely supplied a welcome respite from the months of staring outdoors the window ready for spring, it’s, eventually, time for the season to start. Everybody’s undefeated. Everybody can win all of it. Baseball is again.
Which means, sure: Our Power Rankings are again. As at all times, till the top of the season, we’ll be watching the ups and downs of all 30 of those groups weekly, ranked by a panel of MLB.com specialists. These rankings usually are not sacrosanct: After all, our No. 11-ranked group on the finish of final season reached the World Series. But this could function a snapshot: How your group has regarded, and the way it may look shifting ahead.
It’s a protracted season forward. Come with us, strap in, and prepare for a wild experience. We can’t wait.
1. Astros (106-56 in 2022)
If you need to be the perfect, you higher beat the perfect, and contemplating the final time we noticed the Astros, they had been celebrating their second World Series title in 5 seasons, everyone knows who the perfect is. The reigning champs might have misplaced their Cy Young winner to the Mets this offseason, however they continue to be completely loaded with pitching, they usually’ve even fortified their offense, bringing in former MVP José Abreu to play first base. Their division appears somewhat more durable than it was final 12 months, however there’s nonetheless nobody within the Astros’ league. It has been 23 seasons since a group repeated as World Series champions. Could Houston finish the repeat drought?
2. Braves (101-61)
You know what the scariest factor in regards to the Braves is? This unimaginable roster — this group that was higher final 12 months than it was in 2021, the 12 months it gained the World Series — is locked in place for the subsequent half-decade, a minimum of. You’d surprise how they’d substitute Dansby Swanson at shortstop — and, surprisingly, it gained’t be Vaughn Grissom, a minimum of to start out the season — besides that everybody else is again from final 12 months’s 101-win group, they usually’ve added All-Star catcher Sean Murphy. But maybe the perfect cause to be excited in regards to the Braves’ potential to probably enhance in 2023 is a full season of a absolutely wholesome Ronald Acuña Jr., who remains to be solely 25 years outdated and could be the perfect participant on a roster that’s already fully stacked. If the Braves win the NL East this 12 months, it will likely be their sixth straight division championship … greater than midway to their well-known 11 in a row from 1995-2005. This franchise is doing it once more.
3. Padres (89-73)
So shedding to the Phillies within the NLCS was unquestionably a bummer. But wow, have the Padres ever made their transfer over the previous 5 months! They lastly beat the Dodgers, dispatching them in 4 video games within the NLDS, after which went out and grabbed Xander Bogaerts, one of many prime free brokers available on the market. Oh, they usually prolonged Manny Machado for 11 years. And, after the season’s first couple of weeks, they are going to have Fernando Tatis Jr. once more, who, we should always remind you, was thought of the way forward for the game precisely 12 months in the past. Wait, these guys have Juan Soto, too? The Padres have shocked the baseball world with their aggressive strikes over the previous few years, and their followers are reaping the advantages.
4. Dodgers (111-51)
The Dodgers wish to remind you that they’re, in truth, nonetheless right here. They have gained 9 of the previous 10 NL West titles, one of many previous three World Series and, oh sure, 111 video games final 12 months. The fear in regards to the Dodgers revolves round all of the gamers they misplaced: Trea Turner, Tyler Anderson, Justin Turner, Cody Bellinger, Andrew Heaney, Chris Martin, Craig Kimbrel … mainly a cornucopia of All-Stars. But that’s the factor in regards to the Dodgers: They nonetheless have a ton of All-Stars! And in Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman, they’ve reputable MVP candidates, together with depth that’s the envy of baseball. You can fret about their pitching and their sudden lack of a shortstop within the wake of Gavin Lux’s harm, however the Dodgers generally tend to at all times give you any individual. In an offseason the place every little thing went fallacious, they’ve dropped to … fourth. And in all probability not for lengthy.
5. Mets (101-61)
Look, we had been all upset to see Edwin Díaz go down after celebrating Puerto Rico’s victory within the WBC, and nobody was extra broken by it than the Mets. The bullpen is a query mark now, and already a few their 30-something pitchers are coping with accidents. They are nonetheless a group that gained 101 video games final 12 months and added Justin Verlander. You can perceive some Mets followers’ inherent fatalism, however this group is loaded with terrific gamers, and preserving Brandon Nimmo within the fold may quietly be probably the greatest strikes any group made this offseason. And we all know the proprietor will do no matter it takes to win his group a World Series. The Mets have numerous questions. But in addition they have a lot of solutions.
The remainder of the sector of 30:
6. Yankees
7. Blue Jays
8. Phillies
9. Mariners
10. Cardinals
11. Rays
12. Guardians
13. Twins
14. Brewers
15.White Sox
16. Orioles
17. Angels
18. Red Sox
19. Rangers
20. Giants
21. D-backs
22. Cubs
23. Marlins
24. Tigers
25. Royals
26. Pirates
27. Reds
28. Rockies
29. Nationals
30. A’s
Voters: Will Leitch, Alyson Footer, Anthony Castrovince, Paul Casella, Mark Feinsand, Nathalie Alonso, Mike Petriello, Sarah Langs, Andrew Simon, David Venn, Sweeny Murti, Doug Gausepohl, Travis Miller
