Featured in this week’s MLB Power Rankings, the NL is loaded with dominant starting pitchers, the Cubs can’t decide who they are, the White Sox keep finding ways to be fun, the Diamondbacks slither into our Top 10, and the Giants’ outfielders continue to tap into their imaginations.
As a reminder, this article is a combination of current performance and long-term outlook.
Let’s get started!
▶ Check out this week’s Top 300 update for fantasy baseball!
Note: Rankings are from the morning of Tuesday, May 26
1) Atlanta Braves
Last week: 1
A couple of weeks ago, I daydreamed about the possibility of Shohei Ohtani and Paul Skenes going head-to-head for the NL Cy Young Award down the stretch. I was wrong about the depth of the contenders. Not only do Jacob Misiorowski and Cristopher Sánchez belong in this conversation (more below), but what about Chris Sale? The veteran left-hander has ripped off a 1.89 ERA through 10 starts. He’s allowed one run or fewer in eight of those starts for the first-place Braves.
2) Los Angeles Dodgers
Last week: 2
10 wins in their last 12 games, with the bullpen playing a big part in their success. Their 38-inning scoreless streak came to an end on Monday. It was the longest by any MLB team since 2017.
3) Tampa Bay Rays
Last week: 3
The Rays have lost consecutive games for the first time since April 20-21, but they still have the best record in the AL by a comfortable margin. Speaking of comfortable, Bryan Baker is running with the opportunity as Tampa Bay’s closer. The former Oriole is already up to 14 saves to go along with a 2.42 ERA.
4) Milwaukee Brewers ⬆️
Last week: 7
Jacob Misiorowski continues to find new levels of dominance. In firing seven innings of one-run ball with 12 strikeouts against the Cardinals on Monday, the 24-year-old threw 57 of his 96 pitches at 100 mph or more. Per the excellent Sarah Langs of MLB.com, that sets a new record dating back to the introduction of pitch-tracking in 2008. He’s already up to 100 strikeouts in just 11 starts. Ridiculous doesn’t begin to cover it.
5) San Diego Padres ⬇️
Last week: 4
It’s pretty remarkable what the Padres have managed to do this season despite some of their key stars struggling at the plate. While Fernando Tatís Jr.’s bizarre power outage is understandably drawing national attention, he’s at least been hitting for average recently. Jackson Merrill (.198) and Manny Machado (.170) are both hitting under .200 with the calendar about to flip to June. It’s stunning.
6) New York Yankees
Last week: 6
While the Yankees took the loss against the Rays on Friday, they have to be thrilled with what they saw from Gerrit Cole in his return from Tommy John surgery. The former Cy Young Award winner allowed just two hits across six scoreless innings. You’d like to see more strikeouts, but it was a good first step.
7) Cleveland Guardians ⬆️
Last week: 9
It didn’t take long for Travis Bazzana to get comfortable against MLB hurlers. He’s hit .375 (18-for-48) over his last 12 games while taking over the leadoff spot in recent days.
8) St. Louis Cardinals
Last week: 8
We spend a lot of time talking about blue chip prospects when they make their way to the majors, but there’s something especially satisfying about seeing longtime minor league grinders finally getting their due. Bryan Torres fits that category to a T. It took 11 years — including two seasons in independent ball — to reach this moment.
9) Arizona Diamondbacks ⬆️
Last week: 16
The Diamondbacks have won nine out of their last 11 games to crack the top 10 in this week’s rankings. The hot streak has coincided with Ketel Marte reminding everyone why he’s one of the best players in baseball. He’s boasting a crazy .568 (21-for-37) batting average during his current nine-game hitting streak.
10) Chicago Cubs ⬇️
Last week: 5
Two months into the season and the Cubs have a bit of an identity crisis. After authoring a pair of 10-game winning streaks earlier in the season, they enter Tuesday’s action with a nine-game losing streak. Given the state of the rotation, there’s real reason for concern here.
I can’t move on from the Cubs without showing this nifty between-the-legs play by Nico Hoerner.
11) Philadelphia Phillies ⬇️
Last week: 10
Is Cristopher Sánchez the best pitcher in baseball? The southpaw is riding a 37 2/3 inning scoreless streak at the moment. He’ll attempt to complete a scoreless month of May in his start against the Padres on Tuesday.
12) Cincinnati Reds ⬆️
Last week: 14
JJ Bleday has been on a major heater since being called up from Triple-A last month, batting .270/.377/.596 with seven homers and 21 RBI over 25 games. The former first-round pick has struggled to find his place in the majors, but he’s hitting the ball hard while drastically cutting down on his strikeouts compared to his career norm.
13) Pittsburgh Pirates ⬇️
Last week: 11
If you watched Sunday Leadoff on Peacock and NBCSN this week, you might have seen Esmerlyn Valdez hit the first MLB homer of his career. Valdez managed to get the ball back, though the negotiations were spirited.
Keep this clip filed away for when the kid grows up to become a sports agent.
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14) Chicago White Sox ⬇️
Last week: 12
Who knows if the White Sox can really push for a playoff spot, but they are one of the most fun teams to watch right now. The latest addition to the squad is Rikuu Nishida, who fired off this throw to nail a runner at home plate in his MLB debut on Monday.
The 5-foot-6 sparkplug also notched a hit in his debut and celebrated in style after the game.
15) Washington Nationals ⬆️
Last week: 17
The Nats’ offense is an unexpected juggernaut. They pounded out six homers in Monday’s win over the Guardians and find themselves tops in the majors with 298 runs scored. They’ve scored 104 more runs than the Red Sox.
16) Athletics ⬇️
Last week: 13
The Nick Kurtz On-Base Watch continues. He extended his on-base streak to an amazing 48 games on Monday against the Mariners, which ties him with Mark McGwire (1996) for the A’s single-season record. McGwire reached in 62 straight games between 1995-96, so Kurtz still has something to shoot for if he reaches base again on Tuesday.
17) Seattle Mariners ⬆️
Last week: 18
So, the Mariners’ piggyback situation in their rotation is creating a bit of drama. Check out Luis Castillo after he was pulled for Bryce Miller after pitching four scoreless innings against the A’s on Monday.
Another look at Luis Castillo after learning that his night was done.
Can’t recall ever seeing this kind of frustration in his nearly four years with the Mariners.
“We knew that was part of the plan, and you’ve got to respect what his decision was.” pic.twitter.com/goDRAmc262
— Daniel Kramer (@DKramer_) May 26, 2026
Castillo has mostly struggled this season, so it makes sense he would be upset that he’s getting pulled when he’s actually pitching well. For his part, Miller doesn’t seem too thrilled either, as he said after the game that “this set-up’s not very comfortable.”
18) Minnesota Twins ⬆️
Last week: 21
While the Twins fell to the White Sox on Monday, you have to give them credit for how they’ve been playing with near-constant tumult on the roster. Losing Ryan Jeffers is a gut punch, but it was nice to see Taj Bradley pitch well in his return from the injured list on Saturday.
19) Toronto Blue Jays
Last week: 19
Just when you think maybe the Blue Jays are ready to make their move in the standings, they lose their ace Dylan Cease due to a left hamstring strain. That one hurts.
20) Miami Marlins ⬆️
Last week: 22
The Marlins pulled of a three-game sweep of the Mets over the weekend which was capped off by this walk-off grand slam from Heriberto Hernández to break a scoreless tie in the bottom of the ninth. Yes, that’s definitely rare. It was the first time we’ve seen it in MLB since Justin Maxwell pulled it off as a member of the Royals on September 22, 2013.
21) Texas Rangers ⬇️
Last week: 15
Jacob deGrom being human will never not be strange. He’s served up six home runs over his last two starts and is tied for the AL-lead with 12 homers allowed this season. Keep in mind that deGrom allowed just 10 homers all season when he won his first Cy Young Award in 2018.
22) Baltimore Orioles ⬇️
Last week: 20
It has been an ugly start to the season for Colton Cowser, but he provided a well-timed jolt for the Orioles during Memorial Day weekend. After hitting just one home run through his first 41 games, he’s launched walk-off homers in back-to-back days for Baltimore.
23) Houston Astros ⬆️
Last week: 28
The Astros pulled off the first no-hitter in MLB since 2024 on Monday, as Tatsuya Imai, Steven Okert, and Alimber Santa combined to shut down the Rangers. It was a weird no-hitter for a bunch of reasons, as Imai walked three batters in the first inning and only managed two strikeouts on the day. And then there’s Santa, who got to finish off the no-hitter in what was his major league debut. He’s just the second player in MLB history to pitch in a no-hitter for his MLB debut, joining Bumpus Jones, who pulled off the feat while pitching for the Reds on October 15, 1892. Bumpus Jones is definitely the most 1892 name possible.
24) Boston Red Sox ⬆️
Last week: 27
So far, it’s been a lost year for Roman Anthony. After struggling to begin the year, he landed on the IL at the start of the month due to a sprained ligament under his right ring finger. He felt continued soreness after attempting to swing a bat last Monday, so there’s no clear timetable for his return. With Trevor Story also facing an extended absence, it’s easy to understand why the Red Sox have one of the weakest lineups in the majors.
25) Kansas City Royals
Last week: 25
We’re officially at history watch for Salvador Perez. The 36-year-old swatted his ninth homer of the season in Monday’s loss to the Yankees, which tied him with George Brett (136) for the most home runs at Kauffman Stadium. He’s also just five away from Brett for the overall franchise record of 317 homers.
26) New York Mets ⬇️
Last week: 23
Nolan McLean has hit his first rough patch in the majors, allowing 16 runs (13 earned) over his last two starts. It’s bad timing with the Mets struggling to put a healthy and competitive team on the field right now.
27) San Francisco Giants ⬇️
Last week: 26
Let’s be real here: The Giants’ outfield celebrations are the most interesting thing about the team this year.
28) Detroit Tigers ⬇️
Last week: 24
The fall has been shocking. Even with a win on Sunday, the Tigers are 3-16 since Tarik Skubal went on the IL at the beginning of the month. The good news is that Skubal could begin facing live hitters as soon as today.
29) Los Angeles Angels
Last week: 29
Reid Detmers’ development hasn’t been a straight line. It’s more like a Jackson Pollock painting, but we saw a flash of his immense potential during Sunday Night Baseball against the Rangers, as he struck out 14 batters over eight innings of one-run ball. He’s now tied with Seattle’s Emerson Hancock for the most strikeouts in a game this season.
30) Colorado Rockies
Last week: 30
Ezequiel Tovar connected for his first homer in 187 plate appearances in Monday’s loss against the Dodgers, snapping the longest drought of his career. The 24-year-old looked like a potential building block for this team when he hit 26 homers while winning a Gold Glove Award in 2024, but he owns a .241/.285/.370 batting line in 148 games dating back to the start of last season.
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