MLB's Biggest Winners and Losers from Week 1 of 2026 Season

Though April has only just begun, it has already been more than one full week since Bert Kreischer (wearing a shirt, thank heavens) screamed at us all in advance of the first game of the 2026 Major League Baseball season between the Yankees and the Giants.

Having completed that first week of the six-month journey to the regular season's conclusion, we've crowned a few super early winners and losers.

You've heard the old saying: You can't win a pennant in April, but you certainly can lose one. From that perspective, perhaps the early losers are more noteworthy than the early winners.

Nevertheless, from the highs of the Yankees pitching to the lows of the Chicago White Sox feebly trying to snap their streak of 100-loss seasons, we'll oscillate between the biggest winners and losers to date.

Winner: New York Yankees Pitching Staff

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Cam Schlittler

The New York Yankees are one of several teams that have already reached five wins on the young season, but they are the only one doing so while allowing just one run per game.

How rare is it to allow six runs through six games, you ask?

Per Sarah Langs of MLB.com, pretty bleeping rare:

As ridiculous as that is, for a while on Wednesday, it looked like it might be three total runs allowed through six games, as they carried a shutout into the eighth inning against the Mariners before allowing three runs that ultimately didn't make a difference. (Unless you bet on under 7.5 runs, in which case, our condolences.)

Cam Schlittler was masterful again in that one, allowing just two hits while striking out seven in 6.1 innings of shutout work. He now has a year-to-date line of 11.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 15 K.

Yeah, that'll do.

Max Fried is right there with Schlittler, though, tossing 13.1 scoreless innings across his pair of quality starts.

Jake Bird, Tim Hill and Brent Headrick have each worked exactly 3.1 innings in relief without allowing a run. And both Camilo Doval and David Bednar had been flawless in their high-leverage roles until Wednesday afternoon.

As a reminder, Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodón and Clarke Schmidt are all on the IL, and Luis Gil started the year in Triple-A to get a little extra work in while the early schedule allowed the Yankees to roll with a four-man rotation. So they've been exquisite, even with only two of their ideal starters presently in the rotation.

Loser: Boston Red Sox

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Ranger Suárez

Boston's home opener is coming up on Friday, but those Red Sox players might already be walking into a hornet's nest of frustration from the fans at Fenway Park, riding a five-game losing streak at the hands of the Reds and Astros.

Granted, March 2025 went just as poorly for Boston as March 2026 did. It's the second straight year the Red Sox have entered April at 1-4 and three games back in the AL East, and they ended up bouncing back quite well last year to reach the postseason for the first time since 2021.

All the same, yikes.

The new additions to the starting rotation, Ranger Suárez and Sonny Gray, have a combined ERA of 7.56 after each making one appearance. Meanwhile, the two new additions to the lineup, Willson Contreras and Caleb Durbin, are a combined 3-for-38 at the dish with one run scored and one run driven in.

New or old, though, pretty much all of the batters have struggled—save for Wilyer Abreu, who has nearly three times as many total bases (22) as his closest teammates.

Even Garrett Crochet got hit around a bit on Wednesday, allowing four earned runs (five total) in a loss to Houston in which the Red Sox really could've used a "stop the bleeding" sort of dominant outing from their ace.

Throw in the fact that the Yankees can seemingly do no wrong and they aren't exactly dancing in Jersey Street these days.

Winner: The Surprisingly 5-1 Miami Marlins

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Sandy Alcantara

There were two teams who suffered at least 100 losses in 2025: The Colorado Rockies (43-119) and the Chicago White Sox (60-102). And it just so happens that the Miami Marlins opened this season at home against those two teams who weren't exactly expected to take the world by storm in 2026, either.

So, you know, take this 5-1 start with a grain of salt.

But, also, let's marvel at it a little bit—if only because Miami was swept at home by Colorado last year, as a reminder that there is no such thing as a free win.

For starters, Sandy Alcantara appears to have re-harnessed his Cy Young form.

Last year was brutal for Alcantara, at least through his first 19 starts back from Tommy John surgery. He allowed multiple earned runs in all but one of those 19 outings. However, he has gone 16 innings without allowing an earned run to start this season, including a 93-pitch, complete game shutout of the White Sox on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the bullpen has been virtually untouchable, posting a cumulative line of 17.2 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 24 K.

And if you had "reserve Marlins catcher Liam Hicks" on your Bingo board as the first player this season to reach double digits in RBI, step forward to claim your prize. Hicks launched his third home run of the season on Wednesday amid a three-hit, four RBI day, already up to a dozen runs batted in.

Keep in mind, they're doing this without Kyle Stowers, too. Miami's lone All-Star from last season is on the IL, recovering from a hamstring strain, so they'll be adding a big bat to the mix before too much longer.

We can debate the Marlins' staying power, but what's not debatable is that they are alone in first place in what will be the best division in baseball if they're able to maintain a winning record.

Loser: Reigning MVPs

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Though the Yankees have been red hot out of the gates, three-time AL MVP Aaron Judge most certainly has not been sizzling.

He does have a pair of home runs, both of them coming at notoriously homer-unfriendly Oracle Park in San Francisco. But Judge is otherwise 1-for-22 with a single, a walk and 11 strikeouts.

All told, he has a .535 OPS despite homering in eight percent of his plate appearances, which is an almost impossible combination.

Meanwhile, four-time MVP Shohei Ohtani is 3-for-18 at the dish, still searching for his first RBI or extra base hit of the year.

He does have seven walks already, so his on-base percentage is north of .400. And in his first start on the mound, he allowed just one hit in six scoreless innings of work. He may well be in the mix for the NL Cy Young this year.

After back-to-back years of leading the majors in total bases, though, it's quite bizarre to see Ohtani at just three total bases through six games.

Also of note, reigning NL Cy Young winner Paul Skenes has an ERA north of 9.00 thanks to an Opening Day disaster, while reigning AL Rookie of the Year Nick Kurtz is 1-for-17 with 11 strikeouts. Though Tarik Skubal and Drake Baldwin have fared well out of the gate, tough start for two-thirds of the 2025 major award winners.

Winner: Automated Ball-Strike System (ABS)

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When Major League Baseball changes anything significant—pitch clock, universal DH, "ghost" runners for extra innings, etc.—the initial response is usually mixed at best, visceral at worst.

In this brave new Automated Ball-Strike System (ABS) world, though, pretty much the only people who aren't loving it are the umpires who are having their mistakes immediately exposed and raucously cheered.

At the heart of its beauty is the speed at which it happens. Unlike the manager challenges that do still exist and occasionally take forever to get resolved, each ABS challenge takes, like, 13 seconds from helmet tap to preparing for the next pitch.

It's the instant replay system we long for in every sport: Get it right, but without taking so long that the game is completely drained of its juice.

Not only is it fast, but when the umpire steps out and announces the challenge, it provides an instant jolt of excitement in the ballpark that brings even the "only somewhat paying attention" fans to the edge of their seats.

This excitement is assisted by the fact that most teams are instructing their players to only challenge in higher-leverage situations—unless the call is just plain egregious. In other words, the vast majority of challenges seem to happen in big moments, including Baltimore's Samuel Basallo initiating the first ever successful game-ending ABS challenge on Wednesday.

On a personal note, I was initially opposed to all of those other changes listed above. Heck, I still wish pitchers (aside from Ohtani) needed to hit for themselves and that we could get the occasional 17-inning game on a random Tuesday night in June. But with ABS? I was on board before it was implemented and I love it even more than I thought I would now that it's here.

Loser: San Francisco Giants Offense

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Rafael Devers

As far as luxury-tax payroll is concerned (per Spotrac), the San Francisco Giants are on the hook for $121.4M in 2026 to their six highest-paid hitters: Rafael Devers, Willy Adames, Matt Chapman, Jung Hoo Lee, Luis Arraez and Harrison Bader, each of whom is making north of $10M.

In four of their first six games, however, the Giants have been held to either zero or one runs, batting .201 as an entire team and scoring 14 total runs during their disappointing 2-4 start.

All three of their home runs and 10 of their 12 extra base hits have come from the expensive sextet. However, the highest OPS on the roster is Arraez sitting at .668.

Just so we're clear on how abysmal that is for a team-leading OPS, there were 145 players who made enough plate appearances to qualify for a batting title in 2025, and 136 of them had an OPS north of .668.

San Francisco has finished within four games of .500 in each of the past four seasons. If this poor hitting continues, the Giants will finally snap that streak—just...not in the way they were hoping to do so.

Winner: The Inevitable Milwaukee Brewers

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Jacob Misiorowski

They traded away Freddy Peralta, Caleb Durbin and Isaac Collins.

They lost Rhys Hoskins, Jose Quintana and Danny Jansen as free agents.

Aside from re-investing in one year of Brandon Woodruff, their "biggest" offseason signing was Luis Rengifo for $3.5M.

So, naturally, the Milwaukee Brewers are 5-1 with the best run differential (+28) in baseball.

This is just what they do, inexplicably getting stronger with each key player that they lose to a team that can actually afford to pay for that key player.

As with the earlier section on the Marlins, we would be remiss if we didn't at least point out the strength of schedule here, as Milwaukee opened the season with home series against the Chicago "three straight seasons with at least 100 losses" White Sox and the Tampa Bay "very likely to finish dead last in the AL East" Rays.

Still, they largely pulverized those foes, averaging 7.5 runs and stealing 15 total bases within those first six games.

Of particular note, Brice Turang is already doubling down on last year's breakout at the plate with four doubles and a home run, and Jacob Misiorowski has been lights out on the mound with 18 strikeouts through his first two starts.

Loser: Chicago White Sox Pitching

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Jordan Hicks

We've previously mentioned both the Marlins and Brewers are out to great starts fueled by home series against the Chicago White Sox.

Time for that other shoe to drop in this article.

Not only are the ChiSox 1-5 in the standings, but they have also allowed 14 more runs than the next closest pitching staff, entering their home opener against the Blue Jays at 8.7 runs allowed per game.

On the offensive side of things, Munetaka Murakami made big waves with home runs in each of his first three MLB games.

Unfortunately, those solo home runs did little to change the outcome, as Chicago lost those games by a combined score of 29-10.

Last year's rookie phenom Shane Smith has gotten tattooed for 10 earned runs in his first two starts, lasting just 4.2 innings between them.

They traded for Jordan Hicks to make him their closer (for some reason) and he has an 11.57 ERA through three appearances. They also gave Seranthony Dominguez a two-year, $20M contract (for some reason), and he has a 13.50 ERA thus far.

Only two White Sox pitchers have a sub-4.50 ERA—Lucas Sims, who pitched two scoreless innings in Wednesday's 10-0 loss to Miami; and Anthony Kay, who had a 3.86 ERA in his season debut in the rotation, albeit with a 6.41 FIP that suggests even that was fool's gold.

The fun news here (unless you're a White Sox fan) is we might be on the fast track to a scenario where Murakami—who signed a two-year, $34M deal this winter—enters the All-Star break with 30 home runs for a team that is 30 games below .500, thus becoming one of the biggest, gettable names on the trade block.