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MLB Power Rankings as Cardinals Soar to New Heights While NL West Endures Rough Week
The St. Louis Cardinals were never supposed to be a contender in this 2026 Major League Baseball season.
Under new President of Baseball Operations Chaim Bloom, they spent their offseason trading away Sonny Gray, Willson Contreras, Brendan Donovan and Nolan Arenado, all but publicly announcing that it was going to be a rebuilding year.
But while Rome wasn't built in a day, the Cardinals were surprisingly one of the fastest teams to 20 wins and the only squad to win at least six games in the past seven days.
They were barely a top 20 team in our power rankings one week ago, but they have skyrocketed into our top 10—along with the rest of the NL Central.
If we're going to point out that thriving division, though, best also note here that all five NL West teams lost both of their series this week, most notably the San Francisco Giants getting swept by both the Phillies and Rays. The Giants were one spot behind the Cardinals last week, but now there are 20 teams separating them.
In case you missed it, B/R's MLB Power Rankings from last week and every fresh power rankings throughout the season can be found at the new MLB Power Rankings hub.
Nos. 30-28
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30. New York Mets (12-22)
Previous Rank: No. 29
Last Week: 1-2 vs. WAS, 2-1 @ LAA
The Mets did finally win another series this week, but they are now 5-18 since their 7-4 start, including a real embarrassment of a 14-2 home loss to the Nationals on Wednesday. Clay Holmes gave them a pair of quality starts and wins, building upon his impressive start. However, they also lost Ronny Mauricio to a fractured thumb. The Mets are stuck in some kind of nightmare "one step forward, two steps backward" loop.
29. Los Angeles Angels (13-22)
Previous Rank: No. 26
Last Week: 0-3 @ CHW, 1-2 vs. NYM
Mike Trout reached base safely in 14 of his 26 plate appearances, bringing his year-to-date OPS to just a shade under 1.000. Fat lot of good it did the Halos, though, as they dropped five of six games and now sit dead-last in the American League standings. They were always likely to be sellers at the trade deadline, but getting swept by the White Sox seems to have all but sealed that fate.
28. San Francisco Giants (13-21)
Previous Rank: No. 19
Last Week: 0-3 @ PHI, 0-3 @ TBR
'Twas a brutal East Coast road trip for the Giants, whose well-compensated bats continue to be M.I.A. They averaged 1.5 runs per game and didn't hit a single home run while getting swept by both the Phillies and Rays, losing three of those six games in walk-off fashion. Rafael Devers, Matt Chapman and Willy Adames went a combined 9-for-66 (.136 AVG) with two runs and two RBI. Change needs to start there.
Nos. 27-25
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27. Boston Red Sox (13-21)
Previous Rank: No. 28
Last Week: 1-2 @ TOR, 1-2 vs. HOU
Ranger Suárez went 12 shutout innings across his two starts, however, he left Sunday's game early with hamstring tightness. In between those outings, Garrett Crochet landed on the IL with shoulder inflammation. And they've scored three or fewer runs in each of their last five games. Whatever voodoo they were hoping to resolve by firing Alex Cora and Co., it didn't work.
26. Colorado Rockies (14-21)
Previous Rank: No. 17
Last Week: 1-2 @ CIN, 0-3 vs. ATL
Overachieving pitching was a major factor in Colorado's better-than-anticipated 13-16 start to the season. But those arms came back to earth in a big way this week, especially in getting swept by Atlanta. After jumping out to a 6-0 lead in the series opener, the Rockies were outscored 28-8 over the course of the next 24 innings. At least they're about to face the Mets again?
25. Houston Astros (14-21)
Previous Rank: No. 24
Last Week: 1-2 @ BAL, 2-1 @ BOS
Allowing not one, but two grand slams in the one loss at Baltimore could have been a breaking point for an already broken team. But the Astros rallied to win three of their next four games, even with Yordan Alvarez going 1-for-14 in the series in Boston. Let's see if they can carry that momentum into a big home series against the Dodgers.
Nos. 24-22
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24. Minnesota Twins (15-20)
Previous Rank: No. 23
Last Week: 1-2 vs. SEA, 2-2 vs. TOR
If handing out a "Player of the Week" award was part of our process here, it'd be almost impossible to deny Byron Buxton that honor this time around. He clubbed five home runs and stole a pair of bases, doing everything in his power to get the Twins into the win column. Even so, they went just 3-4, slipping into dead-last in the AL Central. Making matters much worse, Joe Ryan left with "elbow soreness" just two batters into Sunday's start, and top prospect Walker Jenkins ran into a wall and suffered a shoulder injury on the same day. When it rains, it pours.
23. Philadelphia Phillies (14-20)
Previous Rank: No. 30
Last Week: 3-0 vs. SFG, 2-1 @ MIA
Firing Rob Thomson and promoting Don Mattingly to interim manager lit some kind of fire under a team that has won five of its last six. The real magic came on Thursday, when the Phillies not only won both halves of their doubleheader against the Giants in walk-off fashion, but ended up getting pitcher Chase Shugart two wins in the same day. Per Sarah Langs of MLB.com, it was the first time that has happened since 2013. Jesús Luzardo's terrible luck seems to have finally turned, too. He allowed two runs in 13.1 innings of work with 18 strikeouts and no walks.
22. Kansas City Royals (15-19)
Previous Rank: No. 25
Last Week: 1-2 @ ATH, 3-0 @ SEA
After starting out 7-16, the Royals have reeled off back-to-back winning weeks, sweeping the Mariners one week after a sweep of the Angels. Out of nowhere, they are back to within 2.5 games of first place in the AL Central. Kris Bubic had a great two-start week, allowing two runs and zero extra-base hits over his 12 innings of work.
Nos. 21-19
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21. Chicago White Sox (16-18)
Previous Rank: No. 27
Last Week: 3-0 vs. LAA, 2-1 @ SDP
Munetaka Murakami hit another two home runs this week, bringing his total to a dozen. But Chicago's wholly unexpected leading slugger of the week was Drew Romo. Called up just 10 days ago to take what had been Reese McGuire's roster spot as the backup catcher, Romo entered the week with zero home runs in his 61 plate appearances in the majors. Nevertheless, he homered in back-to-back ABs in Tuesday's win over the Angels and hit a third one on Sunday against the Padres. Fun little note amid this franchise's best week in a long time.
20. Washington Nationals (16-19)
Previous Rank: No. 22
Last Week: 2-1 @ NYM, 1-2 vs. MIL
Whether he ends up on the trade block in a few months remains to be seen, but CJ Abrams' hot start continued in earnest this week. The Nats shortstop went 9-for-21 with a .520 on-base percentage, including what proved to be the game-winning, eighth-inning home run on Thursday against the Mets. He now has a .940 OPS for the year, good for best on this squad and top 15 among all qualified hitters.
19. Miami Marlins (16-18)
Previous Rank: No. 21
Last Week: 2-1 @ LAD, 1-2 vs. PHI
Miami had been 3-9 on the road, but stunned Los Angeles by taking two out of three at Dodger Stadium. Even in the game the Marlins lost, they led 4-2 heading into the ninth inning before Pete Fairbanks imploded. Aside from that inning, they really silenced arguably the best lineup in baseball. Would be huge if 2025 All-Star Kyle Stowers heats up now that he has been back from the IL for two weeks.
Nos. 18-16
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18. Baltimore Orioles (15-19)
Previous Rank: No. 16
Last Week: 2-1 vs. HOU, 0-3 @ NYY
The plus side of this 2-4 week for the O's is that Pete Alonso is finally showing signs of life. He hit three home runs and had a pair of doubles over the last six games, boosting his OPS more than 100 points. Even so, they've lost each of their last four contests by at least five runs and had to put Trevor Rogers on the IL with an illness. Rough start to what will be a stretch of 15 games in 14 days.
17. Seattle Mariners (16-19)
Previous Rank: No. 13
Last Week: 2-1 @ MIN, 0-3 vs. KCR
Heading into that home series against the Royals, Seattle had won eight out of its last 11 and seemed to be re-asserting itself as one of the American League's teams to beat. But in addition to getting swept by Kansas City, Cal Raleigh was a late scratch from Saturday's game and might be headed to the IL with "side soreness." And the three-game losing streak could easily extend to six with red-hot Atlanta coming to town. A sobering reminder of how quickly momentum can swing.
16. Toronto Blue Jays (16-18)
Previous Rank: No. 20
Last Week: 2-1 vs. BOS, 2-2 @ MIN
Similar to Alonso in Baltimore, an AL East slugger joined the party in a big way this week for Toronto. Kazuma Okamoto clubbed four home runs over the latter three games of the series in Minnesota, including a 453-foot bomb in Saturday's come-from-behind victory. He ended April with a disappointing .674 OPS, but what a start to this month—"Kazu-May" indeed. Trey Yesavage also made his first two starts of the season for the Blue Jays, allowing one run in 9.1 innings of work.
Nos. 15-13
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15. Texas Rangers (16-18)
Previous Rank: No. 15
Last Week: 1-2 vs. NYY, 1-2 @ DET
It was a tough week at the office for the Rangers offense, even though they were given the gift of not facing Tarik Skubal in the series in Detroit. Evan Carter went hitless in his 18 ABs, and Corey Seager has now gone seven consecutive games with neither a run nor an RBI. It's not the longest such drought of his career, but it sure is unusual for him and makes it that much harder for this team to get on the board.
14. Arizona Diamondbacks (16-17)
Previous Rank: No. 8
Last Week: 1-2 @ MIL, 0-3 @ CHC
Arizona has dropped nine of its last 12, with problematic pitching at the epicenter of that fall from grace. The Diamondbacks have allowed 89 total runs (7.4 per game) during this rough stretch, including twice allowing 13 in the series in Milwaukee. The Snakes last recorded a quality start on April 17 and, for the most part, haven't even been close to one. Over the last 12 games, the starting rotation has allowed 55 earned runs in 49.0 innings pitched. Pretty hard to win like that.
13. Cleveland Guardians (18-17)
Previous Rank: No. 14
Last Week: 1-2 vs. TBR, 2-1 @ ATH
The Guardians went .500 for the week, but Chase DeLauter was even better than that, going a remarkable 13-for-22 (.591) at the dish. You might recall this rookie also had five home runs within the first eight games of the season, triple-slashing .346/.370/.923 during that hot start. We'll see if he continues to be the type of player who just has these stretches in which he becomes a walking inferno, but he is very much still in the AL Rookie of the Year conversation.
Nos. 12-10
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12. Detroit Tigers (18-17)
Previous Rank: No. 10
Last Week: 1-2 @ ATL, 2-1 vs. TEX
Losing Casey Mize to the IL on Tuesday and then losing a Tarik Skubal start in walk-off fashion on Wednesday was a tough one-two blow for the Tigers. However, they rallied to win three of the next four—including a bullpen game in the Sunday Night Baseball battle with Texas—and they are tied with Cleveland for first place in the AL Central.
11. Athletics (18-16)
Previous Rank: No. 11
Last Week: 2-1 vs. KCR, 1-2 vs. CLE
If the A's are going to continue to hang around as a postseason candidate, they need to figure out how to pitch in West Sacramento. Heading into Sunday, they had a 6.35 ERA and .875 OPS against at home compared to 3.14 and .650, respectively, on the road. But Aaron Civale did give them a quality start (against his former team) on Sunday to keep that record above .500. Civale also went five shutout innings in Tuesday's home start against Kansas City.
10. Milwaukee Brewers (18-15)
Previous Rank: No. 12
Last Week: 2-1 vs. ARI, 2-1 @ WAS
It was a painful week on the injury front for Milwaukee. Brandon Woodruff (shoulder) landed on the IL, Jackson Chourio (foot) got injured in a rehab appearance and Jacob Misiorowski (hamstring) got pulled 5.1 innings into a no-hitter against the Nationals. Even so, the Brewers won both of their series, including allowing just one run in three consecutive games. No. 10 overall still leaves them as the lowest ranked NL Central team, though.
Nos. 9-7
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9. Cincinnati Reds (20-14)
Previous Rank: No. 5
Last Week: 2-1 vs. COL, 0-3 @ PIT
The Reds made dubious history in Saturday's 17-7 loss to Pittsburgh, walking seven consecutive batters during that pitching nightmare. They came back the next day and held the Pirates to just one run, yet still lost in shutout fashion. Throw in that 13-2 home loss to the Rockies and it wasn't exactly a banner week for what had been our highest ranked NL Central team last Monday.
8. Pittsburgh Pirates (19-16)
Previous Rank: No. 9
Last Week: 0-4 vs. STL, 3-0 vs. CIN
It's always fun trying to make anything of a week in which a team ends up on both ends of a series sweep. With the Pirates, though, it just kind of makes sense to slot them directly ahead of the team they swept and directly behind the team who swept them. Prior to Sunday's 1-0 win over the Reds, the Buccos had one heck of a week at the plate, triple-slashing .313/.406/.516 in those first six games with eight different players homering.
7. St. Louis Cardinals (20-14)
Previous Rank: No. 18
Last Week: 4-0 @ PIT, 2-1 vs. LAD
The Redbirds fell just shy of what could have been a rare 7-0 week. Hard to argue with 6-1, though, especially when it includes a pair of wins over the twice-reigning World Series champions, as well as a pretty convincing win over reigning NL Cy Young winner Paul Skenes. Time will tell if this start is for real or whether we are headed for a repeat of last year when 47-38 in late June gave way to a 31-46 record the rest of the way. But this supposed rebuilding team is turning heads for now.
Nos. 6-4
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6. San Diego Padres (20-13)
Previous Rank: No. 4
Last Week: 1-2 vs. CHC, 1-2 vs. CHW
Playing host to both Chicago teams didn't pan out the way the Padres hoped it would. They won the opener against the Cubs and the finale against the White Sox, but dropped all four games in between, squandering a golden opportunity to gain some ground on the Dodgers. Mason Miller's scoreless innings streak also came to an end this week, although he still hasn't blown a save since early August 2025.
5. Los Angeles Dodgers (21-13)
Previous Rank: No. 3
Last Week: 1-2 vs. MIA, 1-2 @ STL
It was a miserable week for the NL West, collectively going 6-24 and falling a combined total of 28 spots in our power rankings. But the biggest surprise of the bunch was the Dodgers losing four straight to the Marlins and Cardinals, failing to score more than two runs in any of those games. In fact, they didn't hit a single home run all week, which is almost impossible to believe. They hadn't endured a four-game homerless drought since June 2023 and last had a five-game drought in May 2015. Six in a row, with this payroll, is lunacy.
4. Tampa Bay Rays (21-12)
Previous Rank: No. 7
Last Week: 2-1 @ CLE, 3-0 vs. SFG
Who needs offense when your pitching staff is lights out? The Rays averaged 2.5 runs per game this week, but they're now 9-1 in their last 10 games, allowing two runs or fewer in each of the victories. Steven Matz gave them a pair of quality starts this week, while the bullpen allowed just one earned run in 20.1 innings of work.
Nos. 3-1
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3. Chicago Cubs (22-12)
Previous Rank: No. 6
Last Week: 2-1 @ SDP, 3-0 vs. ARI
That 7-9 start to the season feels like a lifetime ago, as the Cubs have won 15 of their last 18. It's a stretch in which all 10 of the regulars in the lineup have hit better than .250, including both Pete Crow-Armstrong and Michael Busch, who have woken up a bit from their sluggish starts. It's unfortunate that Justin Steele recently suffered a setback in his rehab from UCL surgery, but that's about the only thing that has gone awry for the Baby Bears in the past three weeks.
2. New York Yankees (23-11)
Previous Rank: No. 2
Last Week: 2-1 @ TEX, 3-0 vs. BAL
The Yankees hit multiple home runs in each of their five wins this week, including three apiece from Aaron Judge and Ben Rice, who now sit at 13 and 12, respectively, for the year. But having Max Fried and Cam Schlittler each go six scoreless innings in back-to-back games against Texas is what really sets this team apart in an otherwise mediocre American League. And Gerrit Cole is likely one, maybe two more rehab starts away from entering the fray.
1. Atlanta Braves (25-10)
Previous Rank: No. 1
Last Week: 2-1 vs. DET, 3-0 @ COL
Like two ships passing in the night, Atlanta got Spencer Strider back from the IL on Sunday, just in time for Ronald Acuña Jr. to hit the shelf with a hamstring strain. And yet, this freight train just keeps churning along. Save for splitting a four-game set with Arizona in early April, Atlanta has won every series thus far this season, including a Coors Field sweep in which they scored 28 runs and crushed seven home runs. Buckle up for ATL @ LAD later this week.
Complete Tier Rankings
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Tier 1
1. Atlanta Braves
2. New York Yankees
Tier 2
3. Chicago Cubs
4. Tampa Bay Rays
5. Los Angeles Dodgers
6. San Diego Padres
Tier 3
7. St. Louis Cardinals
8. Pittsburgh Pirates
9. Cincinnati Reds
10. Milwaukee Brewers
Tier 4
11. Athletics
12. Detroit Tigers
13. Cleveland Guardians
14. Arizona Diamondbacks
15. Texas Rangers
16. Toronto Blue Jays
17. Seattle Mariners
18. Baltimore Orioles
19. Miami Marlins
20. Washington Nationals
21. Chicago White Sox
Tier 5
22. Kansas City Royals
23. Philadelphia Phillies
24. Minnesota Twins
25. Houston Astros
26. Colorado Rockies
27. Boston Red Sox
28. San Francisco Giants
Tier 6
29. Los Angeles Angels
30. New York Mets
.jpg?w=600 "Mahomes Pitch Resurfaces 😅")