By Tim Britton, Johnny Flores Jr. and Andy McCullough
Every week, we ask a selected group of our baseball writers — local and national — to rank the teams from first to worst. Here are the collective results.
Congratulations! We have made it through a solid month of baseball, which means we’re getting ever closer to extrapolating real meaning from what’s transpired so far in 2025. This season has so far preserved a strong balance of the expected and unexpected. The Yankees are in first place, which is not a surprise. But the Orioles are in last place, which is. Paul Skenes and Tarik Skubal are among the best pitchers in baseball. Sounds right. Chris Sale, Aaron Nola, Dylan Cease and Zac Gallen have ERAs over five. Hmm.
Today we’re gambling by looking at statistics — “invisible but ineluctable” in the game, according to Roger Angell. Specifically, we’re finding the statistical superlative for each team — the number that jumps out in bold on Baseball-Reference or deep red on Baseball Savant. What do they say about the now, and what do they suggest about the future?
Record: 20-9
Last Power Ranking: T-2
Statistical superlative: Pete Alonso’s red-hot start
Look, when he broke Aaron Judge’s rookie home-run record one year later and across town in 2019, Pete Alonso’s intention was probably not to set up a career-long juxtaposition with the greatest hitter of his era. Right here in this moment, though, Alonso is the closest thing the National League has to Judge — a big right-handed power hitter who is doing everything right at the plate. Off a couple of down seasons, Alonso is as locked in as ever. He’s swinging more at strikes and less at pitches out of the zone, he’s hitting the ball harder and more often, and he’s coming through whenever the opposition decides it prefers him at the plate over Juan Soto. He’s basically carried a surprisingly suspect Mets offense to this point. — Tim Britton
Record: 19-10
Last Power Ranking: 1
Statistical superlative: Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s ERA+
Yamamoto clocked in with a 360 ERA+, even after taking the loss against Pirates phenom Paul Skenes over the weekend. Yamamoto gave up three runs, but two were unearned, so his B-Ref page continues to include bold ink. For a pitching staff that has already experienced some hiccups, in the form of injuries to Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell, Yamamoto has been a stabilizing force. — Andy McCullough
Record: 19-10
Last Power Ranking: 5
Statistical superlative: Logan Webb’s strikeout rate
In this era, 10.9 strikeouts per nine innings is impressive but hardly otherworldly. But for Webb, a venerable bulldog who has led the National League in innings each of the past two seasons, relying mostly on soft contact, it’s a big deal. He averaged 7.8 strikeouts per nine innings during the previous three seasons. For 2025, he has incorporated a kick changeup into his repertoire, which has helped him subdue left-handed batters. His fastball and slider already elevated him to the top of the modern pitching heap. The extra weapon has put him in an early race with Paul Skenes for the National League Cy Young Award. — McCullough
Record: 17-12
Last Power Ranking: 4
Statistical superlative: Insert Aaron Judge stat
How do you like to evaluate hitters? You like batting average? Judge was hitting .406 entering Monday. OBP? An even .500. Care more about power? He slugs better than .700. (A .300/.400/.500 slash line holds some aesthetic sway in this game; a .400/.500/.700 doesn’t quite compute.) You prefer more advanced stats? His barrel rate, exit velocities and expected stats are all in the top 1 percent of the league. — Britton
Record: 17-11
Last Power Ranking: T-2
Statistical superlative: Luis Arraez’s strikeout rate
Arraez has struck out twice this season. Twice! His ability to make contact is still mesmerizing, even if the entire industry knows it is his one elite skill. Since he debuted in 2019, Arraez has struck out 196 times – or one fewer time than Kyle Schwaber did in 2024 alone (Elly De La Cruz led the sport with 211 punchouts). Arraez’s approach has diversified the Padres’ lineup, which also benefits from Fernando Tatis Jr. looking more and more like the superstar that was promised before his injuries and PED suspension. — McCullough
Record: 17-12
Last Power Ranking: 8
Statistical Superlative: Chicago’s 44 stolen bases
Statistically speaking, the Cubs might have enough to claim to be baseball’s best offense. The club’s .784 OPS is second best in the sport behind the Yankees, and its run total (172) is well ahead of the Mets’ 155. Point being, the Cubs have been very good in the batter’s box this season.
But it’s the Cubs’ ability to steal bases at a high clip that is most worthy of this week’s statistical superlative. With 44 stolen bases in 29 games, Chicago is as dangerous with a bat as it is on the basepaths. It’s not just one player, either. Yes, Pete Crow-Armstrong leads the majors with 12 stolen bags, but Kyle Tucker has chipped in eight of his own, as has Nico Hoerner with six. First baseman Michael Busch has contributed two steals, and even 40-year-old Justin Turner has one. For reference, Turner stole zero bases across 139 games in 2024. — Johnny Flores Jr.
Record: 18-11
Last Power Ranking: 10
Statistical Superlative: The Tigers’ 13-3 home record
Listen, there’s a lot to like about the 2025 Detroit Tigers. As of Monday, their 18-10 record was the best in the American League and third best in all of baseball. Both Casey Mize and Spencer Torkelson have made good on their 1-1 draft positions, and Tarik Skubal has been absolute nails to begin the season.
But to truly understand how good these Tigers have been, you’d have to go back to 1911. That team won its first 12 home games en route to a 21-2 start. With a win on Sunday, the Tigers have a 13-3 home record, their best such start in over a century. On its own, it’s pretty noteworthy considering the teams the Tigers have fielded over the years (early-2010s Tigers, anyone?). That this year’s team has been able to not only stay afloat but also dominate with so many key pieces on the injured list is a testament to the depth and skill in Detroit. — Flores
Record: 15-13
Last Power Ranking: 7
Statistical superlative: Eugenio Suarez’s isolated power
The statistic known as ISO is used to measure a player’s raw power. The simple formula subtracts a player’s batting average from his slugging percentage. After Suarez slugged four homers on Saturday night, his ISO jumped to .362, 26 points ahead of the next-best hitter, his teammate Corbin Carroll. But Carroll’s numbers are reflective of an overall renaissance; he was hitting .302 heading into Sunday. Suarez has only been hitting homers: 10 of his 19 hits this season were dingers (and four were doubles). When Suarez makes contact this year, the ball goes far. He just hasn’t made a ton of contact. — McCullough
Record: 15-13
Last Power Ranking: 6
Statistical superlative: Zack Wheeler’s splitter
Wheeler developed his splitter in 2018, when he couldn’t put away hitters and his career felt on a sort of precipice. Although he’s used it inconsistently in the years since, basically shelving it in 2022 and 2023, it’s been a critical pitch for him early this season. Hitters are 1-for-21 in at-bats ending with the splitter, and it’s become his go-to putaway pitch. One of the best pitchers in baseball for a long time now, Wheeler knows his willingness to play around with his mix and his facility with learning new pitches are big reasons for his success. — Britton
Record: 16-14
Last Power Ranking: 11
Statistical superlative: Garrett Crochet’s fastball value
Some of our statistical superlatives are surprises that may not necessarily last; others are mere continuations of what we’ve seen before, projecting well the rest of this year and, perhaps if a player has signed a long-term extension recently, well into the future.
Basically nobody in baseball derives more value from their fastballs than Crochet, and yes, the plural is important. Crochet throws three of them: four-seamer, sinker and cutter, the last of which has become his bread and butter so far this season. (Say “That cutter is his bread and butter” in your best Boston accent.) His four-seamer was a top-five pitch in baseball last season. Guess there’s a reason he got that deal. — Britton
Record: 16-12
Last Power Ranking: 12
Statistical superlative: Logan Gilbert’s innings total … in 2024
Gilbert logged 208 2/3 innings last year, more than any other starter in the American League. He was a trendy pick for the Cy Young Award this year. His 6-6, 215-pound frame looked like it offered him the best chance of any homegrown Mariners starter to avoid injury. Alas. Gilbert was placed on the injured list with a flexor strain in his elbow after leaving a start early on Friday. His injury occurred just as George Kirby, the other young Mariners All-Star pitcher, was making progress in his recovery from a shoulder injury. Pitching, man. Pitching. — McCullough
Record: 13-15
Last Power Ranking: 14
Statistical superlative: Marcell Ozuna’s walk rate
In his very bad 2022 season, Ozuna walked 31 times in 507 plate appearances. He might pass that total this week, given the 26 free passes he’s worked already this season (in 105 plate appearances) entering Monday. That 2022 low was an aberration, but Ozuna typically walked a bit more than 8 percent of the time; he’s tripling that rate this season. And only once in a full season, back in 2019 with the Cardinals, did he walk even half as much as he struck out. This year, he has more BBs than Ks. Not bad for an, ahem, walk year. — Britton
Record: 15-14
Last Power Ranking: 9
Statistical superlative: Tyler Mahle’s ERA
While the Rangers wait for the offense to wake up, the starting pitching is keeping them afloat in the American League West. Nathan Eovaldi is filling up the zone with strikes. Jacob deGrom looks more human than superhero, but a human logging innings is more valuable than a superhero on the shelf. And Mahle, who was signed last year while recovering from Tommy John surgery, has been nails. When he gave up two runs in five innings against San Francisco on Saturday, his ERA actually rose to 1.14. He has permitted four earned runs in six starts. — McCullough
Record: 15-13
Last Power Ranking: 13
Statistical Superlative: Steven Kwan’s .346 average
In the early part of the 2024 season, Kwan flirted with a .400 average, a feat that hadn’t been accomplished since Ted Williams was still swinging the lumber in 1941. A year later, his start to the 2025 campaign might be even better. Through 27 games, Kwan is slashing .346/.397/.505 for a .902 OPS that is in the top 10 in the American League. His 37 hits are the third most in the majors, and his .346 average ranks fifth. He has 11 multi-hit games and, as of Monday, a 10-game hitting streak. Kwan makes it all look easy, and as he enters his “prime” years, it begs the question of whether the best version of Kwan is yet to come. — Flores
Record: 15-13
Last Power Ranking: 17
Statistical superlative: Steven Okert’s swinging strike percentage
You can be excused for assuming that Josh Hader led the Astros in this category. And Hader is, in fact, up to his usual bat-missing ways, generating whiffs with 17.7 percent of his pitches heading into Sunday. But it is Okert, a 30-year-old lefty signed to a $1.2 million deal, who is missing bats with 20 percent of his pitches. The back end of the Houston bullpen looks like a strength for a club still trying to find its footing. Hader, Okert, Bryan Abreu and Bryan King offer manager Joe Espada some options for protecting a lead. — McCullough
Record: 16-13
Last Power Ranking: 19
Statistical Superlative: The 2025 version of Austin Hays
Signed to a one-year, $5 million deal in late January, Hays represented the kind of low-risk, high-reward signing that could help uplift a franchise that hasn’t made the playoffs in a full 162-game season since 2013. So far, he’s rewarded that belief with a .386/,449/.773 line in 11 games. His 1.0 bWAR is enough to lead all of Cincinnati’s hitters and he became the first player in Reds history to amass at least 15 hits, five homers and 10 RBIs in his first 11 games. Various injuries, including a kidney infection, kept Hays from feeling like his regular self last year, and after a late debut, it appears the Reds are in line to get the best version of the 29-year-old. — Flores
Record: 14-14
Last Power Ranking: 20
Statistical superlative: Christopher Morel’s barrel rate
The one player in baseball putting his barrel on the ball at a higher rate than Judge? That would be Morel, whose ability to square the ball up has kept him a viable big-league hitter despite a strikeout rate above 40 percent. While Morel needs to keep hitting the ball this hard when he does make contact, the rewards for doing so should increase. Just three of his 11 barrels have left the yard; over the past two seasons, more than half of his barrels went for homers. — Britton
Record: 14-15
Last Power Ranking: 16
Statistical Superlative: Jose Quintana’s 4-0 start
Fourteen years into his big-league career, Jose Quintana might be off to his best start yet. He’s 4-0 over four starts with a 1.14 ERA over 23 2/3 innings. If Quintana were to qualify (1.0 innings pitched per scheduled league), he’d be tied with Tyler Mahle for the second-best ERA in the league.
Oh, and that 4-0 record, it’s the first time since CC Sabathia in 2008 that a Brewers starter won each of his first four starts with a team. That Quintana has been able to etch his name alongside one of the greatest trade deadline acquisitions of all time is rather remarkable. That he’s doing it at 36 years old, coming off an abbreviated spring training, is all the more reason to celebrate. — Flores
Record: 13-15
Last Power Ranking: 15
Statistical superlative: Chris Bassitt’s chase rate
Before PitchCom, Bassitt used to lead the league in shake rate, tormenting his catchers by making them work through his entire eight-pitch arsenal. But Bassitt this year is in the top 10 in the sport in chase rate, well above where the veteran right-hander usually ranks.
Bassitt is generating chase on roughly one-third of his pitches out of the strike zone, up from annual averages around a quarter of the time. The unpredictability of his mix works, sure, but the big difference this year has been Bassitt’s command around the strike zone. He’s throwing more pitches than ever in the so-called “shadow” zone, the area that straddles the edges of the strike zone. — Britton
Record: 13-16
Last Power Ranking: 23
Statistical Superlative: Joe Ryan’s 2.8 percent walk rate
Only two qualified pitchers in the majors have fewer strikeouts than Minnesota’s Joe Ryan — the Cardinals’ Matthew Liberatore and the Rangers’ Nathan Eovaldi. With 11 strikeouts and just one walk across seven innings on Sunday, Ryan bumped his season total to 39 Ks against four walks. His 2.8 percent walk rate is the third-lowest in MLB with a very sizzling 95th Statcast percentile.
What’s more, Ryan is doing this with a fastball that averages … 92.7 mph, well below the league average of 94.6 mph for right-handers. In his Sunday outing, Angels hitters swung and missed at his “heater” 18 times. Of his 10 swinging strikeouts, only two came against non-fastballs. The numbers are strong enough to make even Greg Maddux blush. — Flores
Record: 11-17
Last Power Ranking: 18
Statistical superlative: Cedric Mullins’ slugging percentage
Yes, of all the position players you thought might make a leap forward for the Orioles this season, the 30-year-old free-agent-to-be was tops on the list, right? Mullins is partying like it’s 2021, when he broke out with a 30/30 season; unfortunately, so are the Orioles, who lost 110 that year. Mullins’ slugging percentage — .574 entering Monday — would be the best by an everyday center fielder since Mike Trout in 2019. And since 2010, only Trout, Charlie Blackmon in Colorado and Matt Kemp in his best season have slugged more from center than Mullins has so far. — Britton
Record: 15-14
Last Power Ranking: 25
Statistical superlative: Tyler Soderstrom’s slugging percentage
Soderstrom, a first-round pick out of high school in 2020, cooled off a tad after a torrid start, but this month still demonstrated his big-league potential. He bashed nine homers in the first few weeks of the season. The Athletics’ position-player core has some promise. Lawrence Butler and Shea Langeliers have been solid. Brent Rooker is there to stay. Jacob Wilson even took a walk. If Soderstrom keeps hitting for power, the group is that much more likely to hang around in the wide-open American League West. — McCullough
Record: 13-16
Last Power Ranking: 26
Statistical superlative: MacKenzie Gore’s strikeout rate
Through six starts, Gore is punching out 37.3 percent of hitters, second in baseball behind only Seattle’s Logan Gilbert. Maybe the more intriguing comparison is with a different one-time Mariner: Gore’s strikeout rate is just off the career-best number for Randy Johnson. (Imagine how many hitters Johnson would strike out these days.) That jump in Ks — Gore struck out about a quarter of hitters last season — has aligned with a drop in walks, which is about as promising a combination as a pitcher could have. — Britton
Record: 14-15
Last Power Ranking: 21
Statistical Superlative: Maikel Garcia’s hard hit rate
No, Kansas City’s leader in hard-hit rate and exit velocity isn’t Bobby Witt Jr. Both Garcia’s hard-hit rate and average exit velocity numbers are in the 93rd percentile of the league, and his squared up percentage is in the 99th. To put things into perspective, Garcia’s 55.8 percent hard-hit rate is better than Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Austin Riley and Cal Raleigh. His average exit velocity of 93.6 mph is better than Kyle Schwarber, Matt Chapman and … Juan Soto. For a Kansas City team with the fewest homers in the majors and the second-lowest slugging percentage, Garcia’s ability to square up the ball could be a godsend if it can translate into the box score. — Flores
Record: 12-17
Last Power Ranking: 24
Statistical Superlative: Lars Nootbaar’s eyes
As far as leadoff hitters go, some teams opt for power (Yankees) and others for star power (Dodgers), but Cardinals manager Oli Marmol went with an old-school approach in putting Nootbaar at leadoff. He gets on base.
Nootbaar has posted 10 game-opening walks between March and April to go along with 23 bases on balls overall, the third-most in the majors and ahead of Juan Soto. His 98th percentile walk percentage at 18 percent overall is fifth in the league. He attributes it to an “old-school mentality of seeing some pitches,” and clearly that has worked out. — Flores
Record: 12-15
Last Power Ranking: 22
Statistical superlative: Tyler Anderson’s changeup value
According to Statcast, Anderson’s cambio has been the eighth-best version of the pitch in 2025. He ranked fourth in 2024 and third in 2022, his two All-Star seasons. He looks on track for his third appearance at the Midsummer Classic, in part because he’s pretty good and in part because the Angels may not have many other viable candidates. Mike Trout’s batting average is below the Mendoza Line, Kyren Paris has gone cold and Nolan Schanuel still isn’t a slugger. At least Zach Neto is back! — McCullough
Record: 11-18
Last Power Ranking: 27
Statistical superlative: Everything about Paul Skenes
As largely expected, the Pirates have not been very good this season. Paul Skenes, however, has been very good. He leads the majors with six starts and a whopping 37 2/3 innings pitched. His 1.71 FIP is tops in the league, and his 2.39 ERA is top 10 in the National League. If those weren’t enough statistical superlatives, then might we suggest a quick peek at Skenes’ Baseball Savant page?
Red means good on Baseball Savant, and Skenes has it in spades. He has a 99th percentile pitching run value, a 95th percentile fastball velo and a 96th percentile xERA at 1.92, meaning his stats should look even better than they already do. In his sophomore season, Skenes has been everything the Pirates could have hoped for and then some. — Flores
Record: 12-16
Last Power Ranking: 28
Statistical superlative: Max Meyer’s slider rate
Meyer throws his gyro slider nearly 40 percent of the time; only four starters throw a breaking ball more. Only two throw their sliders harder than Meyer’s 89.2 mph, and nobody has generated more swings-and-misses on a breaking ball this year than Meyer on his slider. Thanks to the effectiveness of that pitch, nearly two-thirds of batters facing Meyer this season have struck out or hit the ball on the ground. The rest of the Miami rotation, long the team’s strength, has been pretty brutal to this point. The 26-year-old Meyer provides a reprieve every fifth day from that tumult. — Britton
Record: 7-21
Last Power Ranking: 29
Statistical Superlative: Edgar Quero’s early slash line
A season after losing a record 121 games, the 2025 White Sox have been less bad but also still not very good. The Rockies are doing their best impression and taking some of the heat off the Southsiders. That said, Edgar Quero’s start has been one of the few bright spots in what is shaping up to be another lost season.
Since being called up from Triple-A Charlotte on April 17, the White Sox’s No. 5-ranked prospect, according to The Athletic’s Keith Law, has done nothing but hit. He has a .344/.462/.406 slash line, with 11 hits (two doubles) in 11 games against just three strikeouts. Yes, it’s a small sample size, but his track record in the minors suggests that he will be able to maintain a high OBP. A switch-hitter, he also gives Chicago another wrinkle to what is otherwise a below-average lineup. — Flores
Record: 4-24
Last Power Ranking: 30
Statistical superlative: Jake Bird’s ERA?
As an adjective, superlative means “of the highest quality or degree.” Outside of the altitude, there won’t be many of those in Colorado this summer. It is a bad time. But Bird (1.08 ERA) had a nice April, and that is nice. — McCullough
(Top photo of Cedric Mullins: Nic Antaya / Getty Images)