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Grading Every MLB Team 20 Games Into 2026 Season
Not every Major League Baseball team has played 20 games in this 2026 campaign, but a few of them reached that plateau on Thursday.
We know better than to put any real stock into the MLB standings until Memorial Day, but we can still hand out some report card grades based on what we've seen through the first one-eighth of this marathon.
Plenty of big surprises in each direction, with both the Twins and Cardinals sitting on double-digit wins while the $300M+ payrolls of the Mets and Blue Jays have thus far bought nothing but pain.
Each team's grade is entirely based on how its winning percentage compares to its preseason win total. For instance, if both the Dodgers (103.5 win total) and the Rockies (55.5 win total) were sitting at .500—they aren't, but just go with it—the Dodgers would get a big, fat F while the Rockies would be given an A+.
Teams have been broken up by division and presented in descending grade order within each division.
American League East
1 of 6
Tampa Bay Rays (11-7): A+
It's more than fair to question the staying power of a team that wasn't supposed to contend and that is on pace to allow north of 850 runs this season. But with a recent stretch of eight wins in 10 games that included a sweep of the Yankees, it's pretty hard to argue with what the Rays have accomplished thus far. Chandler Simpson's initial foray into the majors in 2025 wasn't anything special, but the speedster had a batting average north of .400 two days ago, as well as seven stolen bases.
New York Yankees (10-9): C-
The starting rotation has been mostly stellar, Ben Rice is demolishing right-handed pitching and Aaron Judge is starting to mash as only Aaron Judge can. On the whole, though, the Yankees have been just OK. They also lost each of their first six games decided by one run before getting a pair of chaotic walk-off wins against the Angels this week. They need the likes of Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Cody Bellinger to start hitting soon.
Baltimore Orioles (9-10): D+
Pete Alonso and Samuel Basallo haven't been producing at the level the O's were hoping for, but at least they're healthy in what otherwise has been a Chesapeake Bay's worth of injuries. Somehow, though, they've managed to tread water, with the likes of Jeremiah Jackson, Leody Taveras and Rico Garcia unexpectedly playing massive roles.
Toronto Blue Jays (7-11): F
Like Baltimore, Toronto has been ravaged by the injury bug. Trey Yesavage, Shane Bieber and José Berríos have yet to make their season debuts, Cody Ponce made it 2.1 innings before suffering a torn ACL and nearly half of what would be the starting lineup is on the IL in Alejandro Kirk, Addison Barger, George Springer and Anthony Santander. Even so, the reigning ALCS champs losing home series to Colorado and Minnesota and getting swept at the White Sox was not on our preseason Bingo card.
Boston Red Sox (7-11): F
Arguably the biggest disappointment in all of baseball thus far, Boston loaded up on starting pitching this offseason, but has yet to reap any benefit from doing so. Both Ranger Suárez and Sonny Gray have struggled, and Johan Oviedo made one appearance before landing on the 60-day IL. Meanwhile, the decision to settle for Caleb Durbin at third base has been a hot mess, Jarren Duran is flipping off fans while hovering below the Mendoza Line and Garrett Crochet was rocked for 11 earned runs in his last start.
American League Central
2 of 6
Minnesota Twins (11-8): A+
Aside from the Astros, the Twins have scored the most runs among American League teams, recently winning eight out of nine games. And they've done so without any specific players hitting the cover off the ball; just a teamwide offensive output that hardly felt plausible before the season began. They've also gotten some incredible work out of starting pitchers Taj Bradley and, to a lesser degree, Mick Abel. Is it just a hot start, or could this be the surprise team of the 2026 campaign? Either way, it's an A+ at this juncture.
Cleveland Guardians (11-9): B-
Rookie Chase DeLauter has already shown why the Guardians were willing to have his first MLB appearance come during the playoffs this past fall, homering five times within his first seven games of this season. Southpaw Parker Messick is also a strong early candidate for AL ROY. But the pleasant surprise here has been Angel Martínez, making a real impact at the dish after a dreadful first two seasons in the big leagues. If he continues to hit, Cleveland's ceiling could be quite high.
Detroit Tigers (10-9): C
The relatively heavy preseason favorite to win this division has had a real "one step forward, two steps backward" first few weeks of the year, already enduring both a four-game and five-game losing streak. But rookie Kevin McGonigle has been everything they hoped he would be, resulting in a $150M extension signed on Wednesday. The 21-year-old may well be the beacon that leads this offense.
Chicago White Sox (6-13): D-
The good news is Munetaka Murakami is hitting the ball well with five home runs and an OPS north of .800. The bad news is no one else on this team has been able to hit the broad side of a barn while Opening Day starter and 2025 All-Star Shane Smith has already been optioned back to Triple-A. A fourth consecutive season with at least 100 losses remains a real possibility here.
Kansas City Royals (7-12): F
At the start of play on Thursday, the Royals had a .493 OPS with runners in scoring position. No other team was below .621. That's how you squander what has been solid pitching thus far en route to a losing record. Salvador Perez, in particular, has been brutal, going hitless in his first 21 ABs w/RISP before hitting a three-run homer on Thursday. If and when that veteran leader turns a corner, perhaps Kansas City rights the ship, too.
American League West
3 of 6
Los Angeles Angels (10-10): B
As was the case last year, the Angels are homering at one of the highest rates in the majors. This time around, though, they're also reaching base at a reasonable clip and they have a breakout ace leading the charge in José Soriano. Whether the rest of the Halos pitching staff is good enough to put an end to the 10-year streak of losing seasons remains to be seen, but a solid start for Mike Trout and Co.—aside from the recent bullpen meltdowns against the Yankees.
Athletics (10-9): B-
The A's got out to a rough start, but five straight road wins—three of them in shutout fashion—over the Yankees and Mets sure did salvage things in a hurry. Both Jeffrey Springs and Aaron Civale have been awesome on the mound thus far. Can they get the bats to stay awake, though? The A's have reached 11 runs on three occasions, but were also held to two runs or fewer in nine of their first 17 games. If the likes of Nick Kurtz, Jacob Wilson and Lawrence Butler can start hitting, this team might be ready to come out on the other end of the rebuild as a real contender.
Texas Rangers (10-9): C
Say this much for the Rangers: They appear to have committed highway robbery with that swap of Marcus Semien for Brandon Nimmo, the latter their best offensive weapon of the year to date. The trade for MacKenzie Gore has also panned out nicely so far. But when are the returnees like Wyatt Langford, Josh Smith and Josh Jung going to snap out of their season-opening funks?
Houston Astros (8-12): F
From March 28 through April 14, Houston scored 100 runs in 16 games. That's a 162-game pace of just north of 1,000. And yet, the Astros lost nine of those 16 games, thanks to what has been the worst pitching/defense in the majors. Losing all of Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier and Tatsuya Imai to the IL has been a nightmare for a team that now has six starters on the shelf, as well as closer Josh Hader. Coming back from slow starts is sort of their thing, but can they get healthy before they dig themselves too deep a hole?
Seattle Mariners (8-12): F
Speaking of season-opening funks, Seattle's Cal Raleigh, Josh Naylor and Julio Rodríguez have a combined OPS below .500, just now starting to wake up at the plate after the M's dropped nine of their first 13 games. The pitching has held its own, though, even with Bryce Miller still on the shelf. Nevertheless, Seattle has underwhelmed after entering the year as one of the frontrunners to win the American League, and Wednesday night's ninth inning implosion against the Padres felt like an early breaking point.
National League East
4 of 6
Atlanta Braves (12-7): A-
Most impressive about Atlanta's hot start has been the production from the "wouldn't even be in the mix if the team was healthy" subset of players like Mauricio Dubón, Bryce Elder and Dominic Smith. Those guys have been huge pieces of Atlanta racking up a +44 run differential despite getting very little out of Ronald Acuña Jr., Michael Harris II and Austin Riley.
Washington Nationals (9-10): B+
At 6.1 runs allowed per game, Washington is pretty well getting what it didn't pay for with this pitching staff. But this offense has been a pleasant surprise, scoring at least five runs in 14 of its first 19 games. CJ Abrams, in particular, has a .367/.458/.717 triple slash with six home runs and four stolen bases. Good thing they didn't trade him away this winter, because they might be able to get one heck of a haul for him (under team control through 2028) this summer if he continues to produce.
Miami Marlins (9-10): C+
Since starting 5-1 at home against the Rockies and White Sox, the Marlins have gone 4-9 against legitimate competition. Sandy Alcantara was excellent in his first three starts, and the middle infield duo of Otto Lopez and Xavier Edwards is on pace for darn near 400 combined hits. Not much else is going Miami's way, though, as they wait for Kyle Stowers and Christopher Morel to make their season debuts to hopefully add some pop to the lineup.
Philadelphia Phillies (8-10): D-
What's a bit terrifying about Philadelphia's rough start is that most of the big guns have been firing. Kyle Schwarber has six home runs. Bryce Harper has four. Cristopher Sánchez has been masterful, with Aaron Nola, Andrew Painter and Jhoan Duran all operating at a high level. They just haven't been able to piece it together and have already been beaten by at least five runs on six occasions. At least Zack Wheeler will be back in a week or so. Maybe that will be a big help.
New York Mets (7-12): F
Credit where it's due, the offseason focus on run prevention seems to have been successful, as the Mets rank in the top half of the league in total runs allowed. Unfortunately, they are bottom five in runs scored, with seven of the nine team leaders in plate appearances posting a sub-.600 OPS. (Most notably, the "Carson Benge or Bust" experiment has very much gone in the latter direction thus far.) In 10 of their 12 losses, they have been held to two runs or fewer. It's early, but they are already four games out of the wild card picture.
National League Central
5 of 6
Pittsburgh Pirates (11-8): A
Pittsburgh's pitching has been exceptional out of the gates. Entering play on Thursday, nine Pirates had logged at least nine innings, and Paul Skenes had the worst ERA among them at 4.00. Collectively, those nine were at a 2.38 ERA. Meanwhile, Brandon Lowe, Oneil Cruz and Ryan O'Hearn have been carrying the offense as they wait for Marcell Ozuna to wake up and for Konnor Griffin to start producing like a top candidate for NL ROY. This team might be for real, but let's give the non-Skenes portion of the rotation another month before we really start to believe.
St. Louis Cardinals (10-8): A
Could the Cardinals be this year's version of the 2023 Miami Marlins, currently sitting at two games above .500 despite a minus-17 run differential? It largely hinges on whether Jordan Walker continues to hit well, and whether JoJo Romero and Riley O'Brien keep dominating the eighth and ninth innings, currently at a combined 20.2 innings pitched without an earned run allowed. So far, though, the team that traded away Sonny Gray, Nolan Arenado, Willson Contreras and Brendan Donovan for about a dozen prospects has been a most unexpected contender.
Cincinnati Reds (11-8): A-
Similar to the Cardinals, the Reds are three games above .500 despite a minus-13 run differential. With both Hunter Greene and Nick Lodolo out indefinitely, with Andrew Abbott and Brady Singer struggling and with no one aside from Sal Stewart and Elly De La Cruz doing much of anything on offense, it's hard to believe they've been this successful. Let's see how this upcoming road trip against also surprisingly successful Minnesota and Tampa Bay pans out.
Milwaukee Brewers (10-8): C+
Christian Yelich is back on the IL. Joey Ortiz is once again struggling as the everyday shortstop, and the Luis Rengifo experiment at third base has been even more of a mess. Trevor Megill has been tagged for seven earned runs in his last two appearances in the ninth inning. And yet, there Milwaukee sits with one of the better run differentials in baseball. Trying to make any sense of this club over the past half-decade would be enough to drive one insane.
Chicago Cubs (9-9): D+
The Cubs have already lost Cade Horton for the year, Justin Steele won't be back until at least Memorial Day and the combo of Pete Crow-Armstrong and Michael Busch which carried this offense in 2025 has been woeful through these first 18 games. They've won five of their last eight, though, including pummeling the Phillies in back-to-back games. The NL Central's preseason favorites have been a disappointment at .500, but they are starting to come to life.
National League West
6 of 6
Los Angeles Dodgers (14-4): A+
Despite a 103.5 preseason win total that was by far the highest of any team, the Dodgers have overachieved substantially, on pace for 126 victories—this despite having Mookie Betts join Blake Snell, Tommy Edman and others on the IL two weeks ago. Andy Pages was unplayable toward the end of last season, but he's batting .409 while Shohei Ohtani has a 0.50 ERA through three starts. The all-time record of 116 wins in a single season is officially on notice.
San Diego Padres (13-6): A+
The team that began 15-4 last year is out to another hot start, punctuated by Wednesday's come-from-behind masterpiece orchestrated by Jackson Merrill. The Dads have now won eight in a row and 10 of their last 11. Is this sustainable, though? With Nick Pivetta and Joe Musgrove both out indefinitely, leaving Germán Márquez and Walker Buehler at Nos. 3 and 4 in this rotation and an unknown at No. 5?
Arizona Diamondbacks (11-8): A-
Losing Jordan Lawlar to a fractured wrist just one week into the season was a tough blow for an Arizona team that now has six key position players—not to mention Corbin Burnes, A.J. Puk and Justin Martinez—on the IL. Even so, they've won eight of their last 11 with help from strong starts by Eduardo Rodriguez and Michael Soroka. Corbin Carroll performing like an early top candidate for NL MVP hasn't hurt, either.
Colorado Rockies (7-12): C+
The 6-6 start was fun for a team that went 4-25 to start last season, but the Rockies have begun to settle back into their home in the NL West basement after a six-game losing streak. For a franchise that has spent the past five seasons trying to identify anyone worth building around, 7 6-12 record through 19 games is pretty much par for the course.
San Francisco Giants (7-12): F
Along with the Dodgers, Mets, Blue Jays and Braves, the Giants are one of five teams with at least six position players who have a luxury tax salary of at least $10.25M. Yet, they entered play on Thursday having scored the fewest runs in baseball, averaging 3.06 per game. Throw in Logan Webb, Tyler Mahle and Adrian Houser all struggling with ERAs north of 5.00 and this team has been in a three-horse race with the Mets and Red Sox for the title of biggest disappointment.
