MLB Report Card Grades for All 30 Teams Thus Far in 2024
How do you issue a proper grade for each MLB team less than two months into the season? It's a difficult task, but sometimes it's good to know where you stand before the final report card comes out and grades are set in stone.
This should be noted: All 30 teams were graded on a curve. There are a few teams that are so bad that there was no grade to give them other than an F. At the same time, the Astros getting off to a disastrous start is worse than the Los Angeles Angels doing so, because Houston had much higher expectations.
Without further ado, here are the current report card grades for all 30 MLB teams.
AL East
1 of 6
Baltimore Orioles: A
Even if Jackson Holliday's first call-up didn't go well, general manager Mike Elias has built such an incredible pipeline of young talent that the Orioles haven't skipped a beat.
Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman are superstars, while Colton Cowser, Jordan Westburg and Ryan O'Hearn are all playing at high levels. Corbin Burnes is one of the five best pitchers in baseball, and Baltimore recently welcomed Kyle Bradish and John Means back from the injured list.
The Orioles would be wise not to bank on Craig Kimbrel for high-leverage postseason innings, but there's not much to nitpick about their roster.
New York Yankees: A+
The Yankees are probably more like a wild-card team than one that will ultimately make a serious push at usurping the Orioles for the top spot in the AL East.
However, for them to be neck-and-neck with Baltimore without the services of AL Cy Young Award winner Gerrit Cole is really impressive.
While Juan Soto is playing at an MVP-caliber, the Yankees have also gotten off to a great start without former AL MVP Aaron Judge playing at his peak level.
It's fair to ask just how good the 2024 Yankees will end up being, but if you told anyone they would have this many wins banked without Cole having thrown a pitch, it would have been hard to believe.
Boston Red Sox: B+
Credit where it's due, the Red Sox looked like they were in big trouble in terms of pitching when they lost offseason signing Lucas Giolito.
So far, though, they have had one of the best starting rotations in baseball, led by the improbable duo of Tanner Houck and Kutter Crawford. Offseason trade pickup Tyler O'Neill also has put up tremendous production.
Is this sustainable? Maybe not, but props to manager Alex Cora and company for playing better than anticipated to this point.
Tampa Bay Rays: B-
Famously, the Tampa Bay Rays tend to win without a ton of household names. But with an entire starting rotation's worth of pitchers on the injured list—including two-time All-Star Shane McClanahan, who is out for the season—they might be too undermanned to emerge from the AL East as a playoff team in 2024.
With that said, they are just above .500, and if Yandy Díaz and Randy Arozarena rebound from miserable starts, perhaps Kevin Cash's squad shouldn't be counted out.
Toronto Blue Jays: C-
The Blue Jays certainly need more from Kevin Gausman and Chris Bassitt than they've gotten, but the track record of both pitchers suggests better results are coming.
More concerning is that Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette have been major disappointments to this point. That has not only hindered Toronto's playoff chances in 2024, but it also leaves general manager Ross Atkins in a tough predicament considering both players can become free agents after 2025.
If the Blue Jays don't heat up soon, Justin Turner and Gausman could be among their intriguing trade candidates this summer, if not Guerrero and Bichette.
AL Central
2 of 6
Cleveland Guardians: A
Slugging DH/1B Kyle Manzardo was recently promoted in the wake of Steven Kwan's injury, and whether he can come of age immediately will go a long way in determining whether the Guardians have staying power. But Josh Naylor is hitting at an All-Star level, as was Kwan before straining his left hamstring.
Perhaps first-year manager Stephen Vogt has more to work with offensively than it initially appeared.
Losing 2020 AL Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber for the season is a huge blow, but Emmanuel Clase is the face of a tremendous bullpen that gives the Guardians a chance.
Minnesota Twins: B
A recent hot-streak propelled by a sausage has the Minnesota Twins back in the mix in what's been a crowded division to this point.
However, this is still a team that needs significantly more offensively out of veterans Carlos Santana and Christian Vázquez, along with a rebound from Matt Wallner whenever he returns from Triple-A. But Jhoan Duran is back, rejoining a bullpen that's gotten strong results from Griffin Jax and Cole Sands thus far.
If Pablo López and Bailey Ober start to pitch better—which some of their underlying metrics suggest they will—Minnesota will have a strong trio atop its rotation when you add in Joe Ryan.
The Twins still feel like the favorites for this division, even if they are an imperfect team.
Kansas City Royals: B+
Can the Royals really go from winning 56 games a season ago to the postseason in just one year? The early returns suggest the answer might be yes.
Cole Ragans has built off of an impressive showing last season and looks like a legitimate ace. Seth Lugo, meanwhile, has been one of the better pitchers in baseball behind him.
It's still fair to wonder if there's enough firepower in Kansas City, particularly in the outfield. But both Bobby Witt Jr. and Salvador Perez are north of .900 in terms of their OPS.
At the very least, the Royals are drastically improved over what they were last season.
Detroit Tigers: B-
Tarik Skubal picked up where he left off last year, looking the part of one of the game's elite starters. While Kenta Maeda looks like a dud, the Tigers may have something in Jack Flaherty, who was signed as a rebound candidate this past offseason.
Casey Mize, the 2018 No. 1 overall pick, has also impressed. The offense is a mixed bag, because while Riley Greene and Mark Canha have had strong campaigns, Javier Báez, Spencer Torkelson and Colt Keith have all been bad.
This is a team that is a year and a couple of major free-agent additions away from being a postseason threat.
Chicago White Sox: F-
Neither second-year manager Pedro Grifol or new general manager Chris Getz have had enough time on the job to truly assess what they have. But if results don't improve to some degree, someone is going to pay for it.
RHP Erick Fedde has been a positive development and could become an intriguing trade candidate on what projects to be a weak trade market. However, for the few bright spots on the White Sox roster, there are also five or six negatives.
This looks like a team that's going to struggle to win 50 games this season.
AL West
3 of 6
Texas Rangers: B+
Before the season, it felt like if the Rangers could just remain in the AL West race in the first half of the season, they'd likely emerge as the top team in the division with the expectation being Max Scherzer, Jacob deGrom and Tyler Mahle would return at various points of the summer.
That will be an even more difficult task now, though, with Nathan Eovaldi and Cody Bradford also on the injured list.
However, the veteran bullpen additions of David Robertson and Kirby Yates have paid off, and this is a lineup that can hit with the best in the sport.
Seattle Mariners: B
This was a difficult team to figure out what to do with.
Seattle's offense, even with the emergence of third baseman Josh Rojas, is unimpressive. Predictably, offseason additions of Mitch Haniger and Mitch Garver haven't made much of an impact, while Julio Rodríguez has yet to get going.
At the same time, though, the Mariners might have the deepest pitching staff in baseball. Luis Castillo and Logan Gilbert ranked highly on B/R's countdown of the top pitching duos in the sport, and George Kirby and Bryce Miller are also excellent starters. Closer Andrés Muñoz is one of the best relievers in baseball.
If president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto can hit on a couple of midseason additions to the offense, the pitching Seattle has could make them a tough out in a short playoff series.
Oakland Athletics: A-
Don't get it twisted: Owner John Fisher gets an F for the job he's done running this franchise. But you can separate that from manager Mark Kotsay having Oakland playing well above its talent level.
This is still a team that's going to end up near the bottom in terms of wins, but the performances of DH Brent Rooker, closer Mason Miller and ace Paul Blackburn give you reason to think that the A's could finish above the Angels in the AL West.
Houston Astros: F
The Astros may well rebound from a disastrous start, but they've dug themselves a massive hole to climb out of.
A rash of pitching injuries and ice-cold starts from Alex Bregman, Chas McCormick and the since-demoted José Abreu have been at the forefront of the team's slow start.
First-year manager Joe Espada also hasn't been able to rely on what looked like it would be an elite bullpen, with the trio of Josh Hader, Ryan Pressly and Bryan Abreu all struggling.
Astros general manager Dana Brown has said he doesn't anticipate the team being sellers in advance of the July 30 trade deadline, but it's impossible not to think about the enticing trade candidates they would have if they did open for business.
Los Angeles Angels: D-
Post-Shohei Ohtani, the expectations were very low for the Los Angeles Angels. And so far, they have played very poorly.
Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon are now both on the injured list for extended periods, but is that really a surprise at this stage? The problem for general manager Perry Minasian is that the Angels don't have a highly ranked farm system or any trade candidates who would bring back franchise-altering returns.
The A's may return to the playoffs before the Angels do.
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NL East
4 of 6
Philadelphia Phillies: A+
The Phillies have achieved their preseason goal of getting out of the gates quicker, led by tremendous starts from Alec Bohm, Trea Turner and their entire pitching staff.
However, they'll now be without Turner for an extended period of time as he recovers from a left hamstring strain, which makes it increasingly important that Bryce Harper, J.T. Realmuto and Nick Castellanos all heat up.
But the Phillies have set themselves up to win 95-100 games this season and their first division title since 2011.
Atlanta Braves: B+
Brian Snitker's squad has already cleared the 20-win mark, but it's impossible to divorce its grade from the fact that it has lost Spencer Strider for the entirety of the season after he underwent an internal brace procedure.
The Braves are going to make the playoffs, perhaps even with their seventh consecutive NL East title. Even if Ronald Acuña Jr. has started slowly, he's going to hit, and this is still probably the deepest lineup in baseball.
They haven't had enough starting pitching by the time they got to the playoffs the last two seasons, though, and in addition to losing Strider, there are legitimate questions about the abilities of Max Fried, Chris Sale and Reynaldo López to pitch full seasons.
Washington Nationals: A-
Are the Nationals going to be contending for the postseason by the time the July 30 trade deadline rolls around? Probably not. But CJ Abrams has taken a massive step forward, while his double-play partner Luis García Jr. is also off to a tremendous start.
Jesse Winker is having a bounce-back season, and he will likely draw trade interest this summer, just in time for Lane Thomas to return and top prospects James Wood and Dylan Crews to potentially make their MLB debuts.
The Nationals are a year or two—and a renewed commitment to spending by ownership—away from being a contender, but they may be through the worst moments of their rebuild. Manager Dave Martinez deserves credit for riding things out.
New York Mets: B-
The New York Mets were swept in the first three games under new manager Carlos Mendoza, but they rebounded from an ice-cold start to go 15-11 in April.
As the Mets hover around .500 early in the season, the question becomes whether they will be far enough out of contention for president of baseball operations David Stearns to consider trade offers for Pete Alonso, among others.
If they're able to get Kodai Senga back to a rotation where Luis Severino, Sean Manaea and José Buttó are pitching well, this might be a team that is in the wild-card race enough to stand pat, if not consider minor additions.
Trading Alonso if they are within striking distance in the wild-card race would be a tough sell, particularly since they seem to have as good a shot as anyone to sign him after the season.
Miami Marlins: F-
The Marlins responded to their fourth playoff appearance in franchise history by pushing out Kim Ng as general manager, alienating NL Manager of the Year Skip Schumaker and allowing Jorge Soler to depart in free agency.
Now, president of baseball operations Peter Bendix has traded away two-time batting champion Luis Arráez more than two months before the trade deadline.
Why is it, regardless of ownership, the Marlins tear their team down every time they have some success?
NL Central
5 of 6
Milwaukee Brewers: A-
If you thought the Brewers would collapse post Craig Counsell and Corbin Burnes—with Brandon Woodruff out for the year and Devin Williams unlikely to pitch until after the All-Star Break—you weren't alone. So far, though, that hasn't been how things have played out.
William Contreras has developed into one of the best catchers in baseball, and the likes of Willy Adames, Joey Ortiz and Rhys Hoskins have helped first-year manager Pat Murphy's squad to stay afloat without former NL MVP Christian Yelich.
It's still fair to be skeptical of Milwaukee's rotation depth behind Freddy Peralta, but you have to give the team credit for what's been an unexpected start.
Chicago Cubs: A-
Like Counsell's former employer, the Cubs have managed to play good baseball despite some key contributors—Justin Steele, Cody Bellinger and Seiya Suzuki—spending considerable time on the injured list.
Shōta Imanaga is the early favorite for NL Rookie of the Year, if not the Cy Young too. The Cubs feel more likely to sustain their strong start than the Brewers, particularly if shortstop Dansby Swanson starts to hit again.
Cincinnati Reds: B-
Jeimier Candelario, Christian Encarnacion-Strand, Jonathan India and Stuart Fairchild have all underwhelmed, which may mean the Reds aren't as ready to compete as it appeared before the season.
At the same time, Elly De La Cruz looks like a superstar, while Hunter Greene, Andrew Abbott, Nick Lodolo and Spencer Steer all look like core pieces.
So, there are some short-term concerns, but the long-term future—which will also include currently injured infielder Matt McLain—looks very bright.
Pittsburgh Pirates: C
The Pirates have cooled down considerably since starting 5-0, and unlike the Reds, they don't have great results from their young pieces to fall back on.
Oneil Cruz and Ke'Bryan Hayes are both under .700 in terms of OPS. Former No. 1 overall pick Henry Davis had to be optioned to Triple-A after hitting .162 in 23 games. Ace Mitch Keller now has a complete game on his resume this season, but he still has a 4.41 ERA.
Elsewhere, relievers David Bednar and Aroldis Chapman—both of whom would theoretically be trade candidates if the Pirates fall out of the face—have struggled.
St. Louis Cardinals: C-
Sonny Gray looks to have been a tremendous addition, but other veterans on the Cardinals roster make you think the team is at a crossroads.
Former NL MVP Paul Goldschmidt has an OPS under .600 in a contract year. Miles Mikolas has an ERA over six, and Lance Lynn's 4.55 FIP suggests his 3.28 ERA isn't sustainable. Willson Contreras had a .398 on-base percentage with six home runs, but he's now out with a broken left arm.
Whether it's a retool or an altogether rebuild, the Cardinals will have some tough decisions to make soon.
NL West
6 of 6
Los Angeles Dodgers: A+
The Dodgers survived the Ippei Mizuhara scandal and, led by MVP candidate Shohei Ohtani, are again one of the best teams in baseball.
The only person who might stop Ohtani from becoming the second player in MLB history to win MVP in both leagues is his own teammate, Mookie Betts. Tyler Glasnow has been one of the best pitchers in baseball to this point, while Walker Buehler is finally back.
With the Dodgers slated to potentially get Clayton Kershaw and Bobby Miller back as the season goes on, Dave Roberts' squad is well on its way to winning over 100 games for the fourth year in a row.
San Diego Padres: B-
General manager A.J. Preller remains aggressive, having brought in RHP Dylan Cease and Arráez as his most recent major additions.
Still, questions remain with the Padres, though. Manny Machado hasn't yet hit his stride consistently at the plate, while Ha-Seong Kim and Xander Bogaerts have been downright bad.
Meanwhile, Cease and Yu Darvish are a strong one-two punch, but Joe Musgrove is now on the injured list with right elbow inflammation following a brutal start.
The Padres will always be must-watch with this much star power, but are they actually a good team? The jury is still out.
Arizona Diamondbacks: C+
Even if Corbin Carroll, Eugenio Suárez and Gabriel Moreno have had slow starts, this is a very deep offense that's going to score lots of runs.
However, both offseason addition Jordan Montgomery and 2023 postseason hero Brandon Pfaadt have disappointed so far. The same can be said for relievers Bryce Jarvis and Scott McGough.
The Diamondbacks have a positive run differential, and history tells us some players will heat up as the season goes on. But they are a few games under .500, so things need to turn around soon.
San Francisco Giants: C-
The Giants have a team of players who would be like the sixth-best player on the team and fill a role well if they were on the Dodgers, Phillies or Orioles.
However, San Francisco has miscast names such as Soler, Matt Chapman, Michael Conforto and Thairo Estrada as its core offensive players. Rookie Jung Hoo Lee is elite, elite in center field, and his offensive results should get better. Logan Webb and Jordan Hicks have also been a strong one-two punch.
The Giants feel like a collection of players rather than a coherent team, though, and it may cost president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi his job if they don't reach the postseason this year.
Colorado Rockies: F-
Under Dick Monfort's ownership, the Rockies seem content to just participate in the regular season and then head home before the postseason.
The disastrous results the team has gotten to this point reflect that, with a terrible starting rotation and a lineup that's had disappointing results from Nolan Jones and Charlie Blackmon, among others.
Manager Bud Black will probably get cycled out after the season, and considering this is his eighth year on the job, it might be time for a new voice. But he hasn't been set up for success.
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