Each week, The California Post will power rank MLB\u2019s 30 teams and check in on one intriguing awards race. Here is this week\u2019s edition (records through Thursday night):<\/p>\n
1) Dodgers (17-8): For the first time this year, there was real consideration at this spot following the Dodgers\u2019 3-4 road trip to Denver and San Francisco, and the injury to Edwin D\u00edaz<\/a>. They stay here for now, but the gap has narrowed. (Last week: 1st)<\/p>\n The Yankees\u2019 Cam Schlittler is part of a staff with an MLB-best 3.07 ERA. CJ Gunther\/UPI\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n 2) Yankees (16-9): The Yankees have an MLB-best 3.07 team ERA, and Gerrit Cole is on the comeback trail<\/a>. They are watching Aaron Judge round into form, and Ben Rice ranks second in the majors in OPS. This week, it led to six straight wins. (Last week: 3rd)<\/p>\n 3) Braves (18-8): After the disaster of last season\u2019s 86-loss campaign, the Braves are officially back as legitimate National League contenders \u2013\u2013 ranking top two in team ERA and OPS. Even the Dodgers aren\u2019t doing that; granted, they\u2019re third in ERA and first in OPS. (Last week: 2nd)\u00a0<\/p>\n 4) Cubs (16-9): The Cubs have caused a lot of consternation in Philadelphia and New York. They\u2019ve won nine in a row, all against the Phillies and Mets; contributing to those teams\u2019 recent panics while reaffirming themselves as an NL force, as well. (Last week: 8th)<\/p>\n 5) Padres (17-8): It was another week of beating up on bad teams for the Padres (series wins against the Angels and Rockies). Then again, that\u2019s what good teams do. And, thanks to a better-than-expected pitching staff, that\u2019s exactly what the Padres have been so far. (Last week: 6th)<\/p>\n 6) Brewers (13-11): If the Brewers played in the AL West, they\u2019d be in first place. But in the unexpectedly frisky NL Central, they are in last. No matter. We\u2019ll take their +23 run differential so far (compare to, say, the Reds\u2019 below) as a sign they\u2019ll finish much higher than that. (Last week: 5th)<\/p>\n 7) Rangers (13-12): Speaking of the AL West, the Rangers remain the first-place beneficiary of the division\u2019s slow start \u2013\u2013 thanks, in large part, to what has been a throwback season from 37-year-old Jacob deGrom so far. (Last week: 4th)<\/p>\n 8) Pirates (14-11): This group of 9-10 teams from the Brewers on down could be rearranged in any order. So we\u2019ll give a nod to the biggest feel-good story of the pack, with the Pirates continuing to look like a dark horse after years in the darkness. (Last week: 10th)<\/p>\n 9) Guardians (14-12): The Guardians are the anti-Brewers, leading their division despite a negative run differential. Luckily for them, they should still win plenty as they play more divisional games against what is easily an MLB-worst AL Central. (Last week: 7th)<\/p>\n 10) Dbacks (14-11): We highlighted Ildemaro Vargas in this space last week<\/a>. Then he had another week with a .300 batting average and 1.000 OPS. Among players with 70 plate appearances, he has the second-highest OPS in the NL. (Last week: 11th)\u00a0<\/p>\n 11) Reds (16-9): Can baseball teams make a deal with the devil? Because how else do you explain the Reds being 6-0 in one-run games and 3-0 in extra innings? Eventually, those marks should #RegressToTheMean (their run differential is -2 overall). Until then, however, they keep climbing. (Last week: 17th)<\/p>\n 12) Tigers (14-12): Tarik Skubal is pacing toward another year of Cy Young contention (3-2, 2.72 ERA, 9.4 K\/9). But rotation-mate Casey Mize has been even better so far (2-1, 2.51 ERA 10.0 K\/9). Also, at age 38, Kenley Jansen is still rolling as a quality closer. (Last week: 19th)<\/p>\n 13) Rays (13-11): The Rays aren\u2019t the worst team in baseball. But they sure feel like the most anonymous. Most interesting thing this week: Junior Caminero showing off his TopGolf skills<\/a>. (Last week: 16th)<\/p>\n The Orioles\u2019 Pete Alonso has three home runs and nearly 30 strikeouts this season. AP<\/p>\n 14) Orioles (12-13): Pete Alonso has three home runs and almost 30 strikeouts. Chris Bassitt and Shane Baz each have ERAs over 5.00. Some of their other offseason acquisitions have been better. But it\u2019ll be a long season in Baltimore if those veterans don\u2019t get going. (Last week: 13th)<\/p>\n 15) Mariners (11-15): Cal Raleigh has started hitting home runs again. Now if he could just get his batting average back over .200. The Mariners\u2019 sleepy offense sure could use it. (Last week: 12th)<\/p>\n 16) Blue Jays (10-14): We will reserve harsher judgment of the reigning AL pennant winners until they are closer to full health. But a month in, they\u2019ve still yet to get going. (Last week: 14th)<\/p>\n 17) Giants (11-14): We\u2019ve taken jabs at Tony Vitello\u2019s rah-rah approach in this space before. But in his first taste of the Dodgers-Giants rivalry, his team took two of three \u2013\u2013 thanks in large part to its bullpen\u2019s self-described \u201cF-you\u201d attitude. \u201cThe Dodgers are just another baseball team,\u201d reliever Ryan Walker said<\/a>. Feels like the kind of thing Vitello would\u2019ve scripted. (Last week: 28th)<\/p>\n 18) Cardinals (14-10): Sorry to the fine city of St. Louis. But we aren\u2019t buying the Cardinals\u2019 hot start quite yet. Eventually, their bottom-five team ERA figures to catch up to them. (Last week: 20th)<\/p>\n 19) Mets (9-16): The Mets won a game! Then another! And all it cost was \u2026 a long-term injury to Francisco Lindor<\/a>. Even when they win, apparently, they find ways to lose something. But, hey, at least Juan Soto is back and Austin Warren is the everyman\u2019s MVP<\/a>. (Last week: 15th)<\/p>\n 20) Phillies (8-17): Sorry to Phillies fans for being distracted by the Mets. You now have baseball\u2019s undivided attention. The Phillies dropped nine in a row through Thursday and don\u2019t even have a Soto-injury excuse to hide behind. Zack Wheeler\u2019s return<\/a> can\u2019t come soon enough. (Last week: 9th)<\/p>\n 21) Twins (12-13): Has it already hit midnight on the Twins\u2019 Cinderella start to the season? Sure felt like it when they hit a game-tying grand slam in Queens on Thursday, only to lose on Bo Bichette\u2019s first signature moment of the season. (Last week: 18th)<\/p>\n 22) Marlins (12-13): Whoever let the Marlins and Brewers wear teal and baby blue on the same day<\/a> last week should be punished. That\u2019s all the analysis we got here this week. (Last week: 21st)<\/p>\n 23) Athletics (13-12): Nick Kurtz would not have been our guess for MLB\u2019s early-season leader in walks. Consider this your fun fact of the week. (Last week: 25th)<\/p>\n 24) Astros (10-16): Yordan Alvarez is back! The Astros \u2026 are not. This weekend\u2019s series against the Yankees could be an early litmus test to see if their season can be turned around. (Last week: 22nd)<\/p>\n 25) Red Sox (9-16): It might be time to panic in Boston. The Sox scored more than two runs only once this week and were humiliated offensively by the Yankees (and fast-growing Red Sox villain Cam Schlittler<\/a>) in a sweep at Fenway. (Last week: 24th)<\/p>\n 26) Angels (12-14): Good news is, the Angels are not wasting Jos\u00e9 Soriano\u2019s historic 0.24 ERA<\/a> to start the season, going 6-0 on the days he pitches. Bad news is, they\u2019re 6-14 the rest of the time. (Last week: 26th)<\/p>\n 27) Nationals (11-15): It still feels like a mirage, but the Nationals\u2019 offense continues to produce, ranking second in scoring. Too bad their pitching staff ranks second last in ERA. (Last week: 27th)<\/p>\n 28) Rockies (10-16): Rival teams are praising the Rockies\u2019 increased competitiveness this year \u2013\u2013 the latest being the Dodgers after they split four games at Coors Field. For now, moral victories like that will have to suffice. Actual ones remain tough to consistently come by. (Last week: 29th)<\/p>\n 29) White Sox (10-15): It\u2019s Murakami Mania on the South Side, after the Japanese slugger hit homers in five straight games to key back-to-back series wins. That\u2019s good enough to get them out of last place. (Last week: 30th)<\/p>\n 30) Royals (8-17): They\u2019ve lost 9 of 10. They are making viral-worthy bloopers<\/a>. And their veteran leader was feuding on social media with their manager<\/a>. At least the new ballpark renderings look nice<\/a>. (Last week: 23rd)<\/p>\n The Dodgers\u2019 Tyler Glasnow is among the top NL Cy Young candidates early this season. Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images<\/p>\n Award tracker: NL Cy Young<\/p>\n 1) Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers (2-0, 0.38 ERA, 24 innings, 25 strikeouts, 0.75 WHIP)<\/p>\n Ohtani isn\u2019t even technically qualified right now, thanks to his conservative pitching usage. And yet, he ranks second among NL starters in WAR so far and only looks to get stronger on the mound. If he\u2019s going to win the Cy Young with a record-low number of innings pitched, this is the blueprint.<\/p>\n 2) Tyler Glasnow, Dodgers (3-0, 2.45 ERA, 33 innings, 38 strikeouts, 0.70 WHIP)<\/p>\n The only NL pitcher with more WAR than Ohtani to this point is his teammate, Glasnow, who also leads the league in WHIP, ranks third in strikeout rate and looked every bit a Cy Young challenger when blanking the Giants over eight innings this week.<\/p>\n 3) Bryce Elder, Braves (3-1, 1.50 ERA, 30 innings, 29 strikeouts, 0.97 WHIP)<\/p>\n We were *really* tempted to troll and make an all-Dodgers top 3 with Yoshinobu Yamamoto. But a deserved cap-tip here to Elder, the right-hander who (among qualified pitchers) is the NL ERA leader and has been perhaps the brightest surprise amid the Braves\u2019 strong start.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Each week, The California Post will power rank MLB\u2019s 30 teams and check in on one intriguing awards…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":682203,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2396],"tags":[5,2178,57,101,4,1690,61,62,2548,4203,468,185,786],"class_list":{"0":"post-682202","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-mets","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-los-angeles-dodgers","11":"tag-mets","12":"tag-mlb","13":"tag-new-york","14":"tag-new-york-mets","15":"tag-new-york-yankees","16":"tag-newyork","17":"tag-newyorkmets","18":"tag-shohei-ohtani","19":"tag-sports","20":"tag-tyler-glasnow"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116462113499656601","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/682202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=682202"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/682202\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/682203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=682202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=682202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=682202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}