MLB Power Rankings: Undefeated Dodgers take No. 1 spot, but hard to read much into first weekend of baseball

How much stock can you put in one full weekend of baseball? Look, you should all know the answer: not a whole lot.

If you want, we could look back at last season. 

The Mets started 0-3 and ended up two wins shy of the World Series. The Astros started 0-4 and won the AL West. Again. The Royals were 1-2 in a season they’d end up improving by 30 games year-over-year and making the ALDS. The Phillies started 1-2 and wound up winning 95 games and the NL East. The Pirates were 4-0 and they’d finish in last place in the NL Central. The defending champion Rangers started 2-1 but ended the season 78-84. The Reds started 2-1 and ended up 77-85. 

Lest someone come along and say something foolish like, “hey, so bad starts helped and the good starts were just fool’s good,” there were some starts last year that lined up. 

The Yankees were 4-0 and went to the World Series for the first time since 2009. The Tigers were 3-0 and made a surprise playoff run. The Guardians were 3-1 and won the AL Central. The Brewers were 3-0 and won the NL Central. The Marlins were 0-4 and the Rockies were 1-3 and those were the two worst NL teams. The White Sox started 0-3 en route to the worst season in modern MLB history. 

Quite simply, there is no correlation. We could do this every single season. It’s all over the map. 

All of this is a roundabout way to say that, no, we aren’t going to overreact to a tiny sample of games. 

We will, however, react a little bit. Otherwise what fun would this be? The key is to have small, rational reactions — especially if they line up with what we already thought. Like what? I’m glad you asked …

• Yes, I’m already questioning if I overreacted in dropping the Yankees down to 10 last week. The offense really does seem like it could be a force all season. Again, though, we’re talking about three games.
• By the same token, I’m still not ready to doubt the Brewers. The Yankees are good. Bad series against good teams happen.
• I loved the Rangers coming into the season and they won three of four against the Red Sox, who I pegged to win the AL East. This doesn’t deter me from liking the Red Sox. It’s a tough assignment to go into Texas for a four-game series. And two of the Rangers’ wins were by one run. The flip side of this is I also get to gloat about the Rangers being great. 
• The Diamondbacks and Cubs are both expected to be playoff teams by many and they had a 2-2 series split with both teams having pretty high highs along with moments of frustration. That’s how it goes. They stood strong against each other. 
• I was down on the Twins heading into the year. I have them finishing fourth in the AL Central despite the fact that most computer projection systems had them as the favorite. They got swept by the Cardinals. Yep, I knew it. Does that mean I was wrong about the Cardinals? Nah, it was only three games.
• The Mets had rotation concerns heading into the year and I thought they were a bit overhyped. They went 1-2 in Houston and that seems just about right. Of course, the offense was the problem and I’m pretty sure Francisco Lindor going 0 for 11 doesn’t mean anything, big picture. Remember, he started 2024 by going 1 for 31 and then finished as the National League MVP runner-up. No need for mass hysteria.
• Finally, yeah, the Dodgers look awesome. And they are awesome. We knew this. We just need to keep in mind how small a sample five games is. Had they started 1-4 I’d be sitting here saying they are still gonna make the playoffs with ease. 

Biggest Movers

1	Dodgers	The Dodgers are the first defending championship team to start the following season 5-0 since the 1985 Tigers. That Tigers team finished with 84 wins and missed the playoffs. Do with that what you will (Hint: It shouldn’t be much).	—	5-0
2	Phillies	The offense disappears from time to time, just like it did for a while on Opening Day and then the whole game on Sunday. They still win far more often than not and you can’t ask for more than 2 of 3 on the road.	—	2-1
3	Rangers	One of the many reasons I liked the Rangers a lot more this season was I believed in a bounce-back campaign from Adolis García. So far, so good.	1	3-1
4	Yankees	A bunch of people crying about the Yankees using legal bats that look different is beyond hilarious. If it were the Rays, we’d already have seen a dozen stories about how brilliant they are for the new design. Get a grip.	6	3-0
5	Padres	Since returning from the catastrophic 2022 season, Fernando Tatis Jr. has been anywhere from pretty good to great. He has not, however, been the MVP-level performer many expected before that 2022 disaster. That MVP-caliber season starts the way 2025 has started.	8	4-0
6	Astros	They haven’t really hit much, but the rotation could end up being their calling card anyway.	1	2-1
7	Diamondbacks	Not only was the Lourdes Gurriel home run in the 8th inning Sunday a game-tying blast, it was the first Diamondbacks home run by someone other than Eugenio Suárez. Suárez hit four in the first three games.	2	2-2
8	Orioles	Small sample aside, after the brutal second half from Adley Rutschman last year, it’s really nice to see him start the new season off swinging a hot bat.	1	2-2
9	Mariners	One bullpen meltdown aside, the Mariners are what you’d expect so far, right? Good pitching and a lack of runs. Rinse, repeat.	2	2-2
10	Guardians	A series win on the road against a playoff team to start the year. You doubted them? For shame. This is what they do.	5	2-1
11	Mets	Five runs in three games? After signing Juan Soto? Of course, he’s the only one hitting, really, but if this continues it won’t be long until the talk-radio-caller crowd finds a way to blame him.	5	1-2
12	Braves	It’s a rough start and they’re better than this, but you’d sure expect the offense to look a lot scarier than it did in San Diego.	9	0-4
13	Red Sox	Rafael Devers and Triston Casas were 1 for 32 with 19 strikeouts in this four-game series to start the season.	5	1-3
14	Cubs	In a vacuum, a split in Arizona is perfectly fine. That loss Sunday, though, was a gut punch and the bullpen already seems worrisome.	2	2-4
15	Royals	The Royals had a tough opponent to start the year, but they were also at home and have high expectations. Plus, they don’t play a team that had a losing record last season until April 22. I still believe in them. One series is just one series and nothing more.	1	1-2
16	Tigers	It certainly sucks to start 0-3, but the Tigers just spent six+ weeks in Florida for spring training and then flew to L.A. to deal with the best team in baseball and stood toe-to-toe with them. There shouldn’t be anything negative taken from that.	—	0-3
17	Brewers	Not much went right, but it’s only three games, they get to go home now and they don’t have to visit the Bronx again this year.	—	0-3
18	Cardinals	Again, only three games (blah, blah, blah), but Nolan Arenado is killing the ball. That’s a good sign regardless of how the team plays. He either greatly helps them in the race or they fall out of the race and he has great value in a trade.	5	3-0
19	Twins	Rough start to lose three after Royce Lewis went down late in the spring. The good news is the White Sox are next!	1	0-3
20	Blue Jays	Last season was a lost year for Bo Bichette and now he’s in a contract year. So far, so good. Given his pre-2024 track record, I’m ready to declare him back to his old self.	1	2-2
21	Rays	The Rays have gotten excellent starting pitching so far. Of course, we’ll need to hold off on any conclusions because in addition to the whole “small sample” thing, they were facing the Road Rockies.	1	2-1
22	Giants	They showed moxie on the Opening Day comeback while there were reasons to come away encouraged about both Justin Verlander and Robbie Ray. All in all, that’s a nice series in Cincy.	1	2-1
23	Reds	They played a competitive series where they should’ve won two of three and you could squint your way to saying they could’ve swept the Giants. Instead, the Reds are 1-2. Terry Francona just needs more time to work his magic. For now, though, I can easily see a bunch of Reds fans saying, “what has changed?”	1	1-2
24	Athletics	Fun start to the season for Tyler Soderstrom. The A’s have a few of those types.	3	2-2
25	Nationals	The consensus on the Nats heading into this year was that they weren’t ready to contend but were ready to be a pest to the three NL East contenders. This series pretty well summed that up. They lost two of three but really made the Phillies sweat on Opening Day.	—	1-2
26	Angels	Pitching a position player on Opening Day? Break out the ol’ “AngeLOLs.”	—	2-1
27	Marlins	What the Marlins have shown so far? Fight, good pitching and a flair for the dramatic. Fun start.	1	3-1
28	Pirates	I thought during the spring that the Pirates committed malpractice in not trying harder to win during Paul Skenes’ cheap years. They just went 1-3 in Miami. Yep.	4	1-3
29	Rockies	I joke about the “Road Rockies” thing, but they were damn close to taking two of three from the Rays. Not terrible.	—	1-2
30	White Sox	My over 53.5 wins pick is pacing toward victory! Woo hoo!	—	1-2