MLB power rankings Week 4: Padres, Mets and Braves rise, Astros and Red Sox in free fall
19/04/2024 22:47
The 2024 Major League Baseball season is moving fast with a majority of teams having played at least 20 games. With the first month of the regular-season schedule heading into its final week, our updated MLB power rankings for Week 4 examine where all 30 teams stand.
Let’s dive into our latest MLB power rankings for Week 4. We’ll have the analysis of the worst MLB teams on Saturday.
MLB power rankings 2024: Worst teams in MLB
30. Chicago White Sox (30)
29. Colorado Rockies (28)
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28. Miami Marlins (29)
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27. Oakland Athletics (27)
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26. Washington Nationals (26)
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25. Minnesota Twins (20)
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24. San Francisco Giants (25)
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23. Los Angeles Angels (23)
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22. St. Louis Cardinals (22)
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MLB power rankings Week 4: Toronto Blue Jays, New York Mets rise
21. Boston Red Sox (18)
The Boston Red Sox looked like a contender after a 7-3 start, recording series victories over the Mariners, Athletics and Angels. That might’ve been a fluke. From April 9-18, the Red Sox batting order ranked 27th in wRC+ (73) with a .198//.268/.352 line and the pitching (3.97 ERA, 17th in MLB), hasn’t been much better. With the Pirates, Guardians and Cubs looming, Boston is in jeopardy of dropping well below .500.
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20. Seattle Mariners (19)
Only time will tell whether or not the sweep at home against the Reds is a turning point for the Seattle Mariners. Unsurprisingly, the Mariners pitching was excellent at home this past week. Of course, pitching clearly isn’t the problem when you have the best WHIP (1.11) and third-most quality starts (10) in the majors. Seattle is in desperate need of some productive at-bats, however, as this has been one of the least effective lineups in MLB. You know it’s bad when Mitch Habiver (.847 OPS) is vastly outproducing Julio Rodriguez (.530 OPS) and J.P. Crawford (.266 OBP).
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19. Houston Astros (12)
Houston has a big problem. Justin Verlander rejoined the rotation on Friday, but the Houston Astros came into the weekend with one series victory (April 1-3) in 2024. The slash line from the Astros lineup – .268/.341/.428 – looks great but it’s resulted in just 87 runs scored (14th in MLB). One big reason for that, is the Astros rank 17th in wRC+ (104) with runners in scoring position, per FanGraphs. Even if the run production improves, the Astros pitching staff has been one of the worst in baseball this year.
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18. Detroit Tigers (14)
After jumping out to a 6-1 start, the Detroit Tigers collapsed into the weekend with a 10-9 roster and they haven’t won a series since April 1-4. Dating back to April 7, the Tigers lineup has the seventh-highest strikeout rate (25.7 percent) in the majors and it has mustered just a .223/.304/.336 slash line over that span. An even bigger concern moving forward is that through his first 1,040 career at-bats, Spencer Torkelson has a sub-.700 OPS.
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17. Cincinnati Reds (16)
It’s just not happening for the Cincinnati Reds right now. They swept the White Sox, but that came in between a 1-5 stretch against the Brewers and Mariners. We’ve also seen this Reds lineup post just a .306 OBP this year (21st in MLB) and it has the sixth-highest strikeout rate (26.3 percent) in the majors. It’s still early in the year and Noelvi Marte’s suspension is a quarter of the way through, but the Reds schedule gets tougher from here and contention in the NL Central seems unlikelier with each passing week.
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16. Arizona Diamondbacks (10)
The Arizona Diamondbacks have played the New York Yankees, Atlanta Braves and Chicago Cubs close this year, but they’ve failed to come away with the series victory. We’re still a believer in the Diamondbacks roster, but the re-emergence of the Padres means there’s a much higher chance that Arizona is fighting for the final Wild Card spot and third place in the NL West.
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15. Kansas City Royals (20)
Maikel Garcia’s production has plummeted back to earth after a great start, but Salvador Perez (.943 OPS, 17 RBI) and Vinnie Psquantino (.853 OPS) are providing Kansas City Royals superstar Bobby Witt Jr. with some lineup support. Kansas City is inevitably going to fall back to earth, its pitching simply isn’t this good (most quality starts in MLB), but the Royals at least seem destined tou beat our pre-season expectations for them.
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14. Pittsburgh Pirates (12)
From 9-2 to 11-9. Plenty of Pittsburgh Pirates fans swore this wasn’t like last year, when the team tore through its April schedule and was then one of the worst MLB teams the rest of the way. Technically, they were right. After getting swept by the New York Mets, Pittsburgh needs to salvage things quickly against Milwaukee or Boston, otherwise what little buzz it generated early will completely evaporate.
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13. Tampa Bay Rays (13)
Even with Amed Rosario (.339 BA, .532 SLG) and Isaac paredes (5 home runs, 12 RBI) hitting the ball well, the Tampa Bay Rays lineup is still one of the worst worst lineups in basell right now. Sadly, the pitching – 4.74 ERA (27th) and .256 batting average allowed (26th) – isn’t any better. While many celebrated the small-budget Rays finding ways to win for years, there isn’t remotely enough talent here to make that work in 2024.
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12. Toronto Blue Jays (15)
The Torontoo Blue Jays badly needed that series victory at home against the New York Yankees. It’s still a bit alarming how poorly the Blue jays lineup is performing this season -.233 batting average (20th in MBL and 73 runs scored (21st) – but at least Toronto’s pitching staff is making up for it. We’ve since adjusted our expectations for what the Blue Jays can be, but a strong showing in San Diego and Kansas City would go a long way in restoring even more confidence in this club.
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11. New York Mets (23)
We said it last week, taking out the Royals and Pirates would earn the New York Mets some recognition in our latest MLB power rankings. All New York did is sweep Pittsburgh at Citi Field and take care of the previously scorching-hot Royals with relative ease. It’s still worth noting that New York ranks 15th in WHIP (1.27), 22nd in quality starts (four) and is 14th in runs scored (87), but taking out two teams with winning records matters. Where the Mets go from here comes down to how it fares in California.
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Best MLB teams 2024
10. Chicago Cubs (9)
The Chicago Cubs are back on track, taking the series against the Mariners and Diamondbacks heading into the weekend. Not only have the Cubs won back-to-back sets, but there’s positive Justin Steele injury news with the ace taking the first step towards a return. Up next, the Cubbies have a chance to build on this momentum with matchups against the reeling Astros and Red Sox.
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9. San Diego Padres (17)
Jake Cronenworth (14 RBI), Fernando Tatís Jr (5 home runs) and Manny Machado (37 total bases) are certainly doing their thing at the plate, but the leading man is Jackson Merrill. The San Diego Padres’ rookie sports a .333/.405/.439 slash line through his first 21 games, which is a big reason why the Padres lead MLB in runs scored (109) heading into the weekend. After taking out the Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers and Milwaukee Brewers in three consecutive sets, San Diego easily earned this big rise in the MLB rankings.
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8. Cleveland Guardians (7)
After dropping a set at home to the New York Yankees, the Cleveland Guardians went into Fenway Park and took a four-same series from the Red Sox. While Boston will have a shot at revenge in Cleveland, the Guardians look like a much better team right now. The real test, of course, will be that April 25-27 series against the Atlanta Braves. If Cleveland proves itself there, the respect fans have wanted for the team will follow.
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7. Milwaukee Brewers (5)
With Christian Yelich (back) sidelined for the foreseeable future, the Milwaukee Brewers are going to need more than just William Contreras (1.040 OPS) and Willy Adames (.908 OPS) to be producing at the plate. Jackson Chourio (.666 OPS, 30.3% K-rate) looks like an overmatched 20-year-old hitter right now, but Milwaukee doesn’t have other options with Garrett Mitchell (hand) on the 60-day IL. The run production is likely going to dip for a stretch, but this Brewers pitching staff is good enough to compete with teams like the Cardinals and Pirates. If proven otherwise, Milwaukee is sliding out of the top 10 in our MLB power rankings.
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6. Philadelphia Phillies (8)
From 2-4 to 11-8, the Philadelphia Phillies keep climbing their way back up the MLB power rankings. It certainly helped to face the Rockies, one of the worst MLB teams in 2024, but plenty of other contenders haven’t exactly taken care of business when they needed to in April. The Phillies pitching remains excellent, but we’re waiting to see improvements from a lineup that entered Friday with a .296 OBP in its last 11 games.
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5. Texas Rangers (4)
Pitching let the Texas Rangers down last weekend in Houston, but the team rumbled back to snuff out a surprisingly-hot Tigers’ squad immediately after. It’s no surprise that the Rangers pitching hasn’t been especially great this year, considering the number of starters on IL. Fortunately, Texas has the batting order (.262/.336/.399) to ma eup for it. However, we are monitoring a Rangers bullpen that entered Friday ranked 20th in ERA (4.56) and 19th in WHIP (1.37).
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4. Los Angeles Dodgers (2)
We’ll start with the good for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Thanks to Mookie Betts (1.137 OPS), Shohei Ohtani (1.040 OPS) and Teoscar Hernandez (.846 OPS), the Dodgers lineup ranks top five in runs scored (106), batting average (.265), OBP (.338) and SLG (.430) through its first 21 games. Now for the bad. Los Angeles is wasting some excellent pitching – 1.18 WHIP (6th in MLB) and .219 BAA (2nd in MLB) – because its fielding a team that ranks 16th in FanGraaphs’ Defensive Rating (0.3), with the outfield making things very bad. A few years ago, the Phillies completely sacrificed defense and it backfired. The Dodgers’ attempt to do the same is not going well right now.
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3. Baltimore Orioles (3)
Gunnar Henderson (6 home runs) is on a tear right now on the Baltimore Orioles lineup has Henderson, Ryan Mountcastle, Jordan Westburg and Cdric Mullins all responsible for an .850-plus OPS. Baltimore rode a four-game wining streak into its weekend series, with a lineup that has scored the fifth-most runs (104) in MLB and boasts the second-best SLG (.459). Even the pitching looks good, as the Orioles rank top five in WHIP (1.15) and have the eighth-best ERA (3.68).
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2. New York Yankees (1)
The New York Yankees weren’t treated to Canadian kindness north of the border, with the series dropped against the Blue Jays. However, that’s a one-series blip in an otherwise strong start to the 2024 season for New York. Plus, the Yankees entered the weekend with the third-highest OBP (.343) and the third-best ERA (3.11) in the majors, even with multiple starters on the injured list. We are keeping a close eye, however, on the six-game stretch to close out the month against the Brewers and Orioles, because there’s nothing better than the best MLB teams going head to head.
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1. Atlanta Braves (6)
The Atlanta Braves are the best MLB team right now. It took until April 17 for reigning NL MVP Ronald Acuña Jr to hit his first home run of 2024, but he and the Braves’ bats are heating up. Austin Riley carried a double-digit hitting streak into the weekend and Atlanta looked dominant in a sweep over the Astros. If Atlanta can pass its test against Texas and Cleveland, it will retain its No. 1 spot in the MLB power rankings next weekend.
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