1. Atlanta Braves (Last edition: 2)<\/p>\n
Weakness: Left field<\/p>\n
The owners of MLB\u2019s best record, joint-best run differential and highest-scoring offense have few glaring holes as long as the likes of Blake Elder, Martin Perez and rookie JR Ritchie keep their ERAs under 3.00 (perhaps a tough ask considering their underlying metrics). Left field has often been an uninspiring place in the lineup for Atlanta in recent years, and 2026 is no different in that regard with Mike Yastrzemski and Eli White combining for a 76 wRC+, 25th in MLB.\u00a0<\/p>\n
2. Los Angeles Dodgers (Last: 1)<\/p>\n
Weakness: Back-end of the rotation<\/p>\n
From top to bottom, the Dodgers are as sound as any team in baseball when they\u2019re healthy, but they have enough guys out where the back of the six-man rotation isn\u2019t doing so hot right now\u2014specifically Emmet Sheehan and (especially) Roki Sasaki. Sasaki\u2019s 6.35 ERA is actually a bit kind to him, as he\u2019s allowing nearly two baserunners per inning thanks to an alarming lack of command. Blake Snell\u2019s return from the injured list could cure this ailment in short order, at which point it\u2019ll make sense for Sasaki to return to the bullpen.\u00a0<\/p>\n
3. New York Yankees (Last: 5)<\/p>\n
Weakness: Third base<\/p>\n
The Yankees have allowed the fewest runs and scored the second-most in the American League, but they could enter this year\u2019s trade season with the same need for a better third baseman. Last year\u2019s deadline acquisition, Ryan McMahon, ranks 28th out of 33 third basemen with a 52 wRC+ and is batting .167 with just two extra-base hits in 82 plate appearances. Right-handed platoon partner Amed Rosario is off to a hot start at the plate but is a defensive liability at the hot corner.<\/p>\n
4. San Diego Padres (Last: 3)<\/p>\n
Weakness: Production from stars<\/p>\n
Remarkably, the Padres have one of the best records in baseball, while Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado, Jackson Merrill and Jake Cronenworth have scuffled out of the gate. Tatis has yet to hit a home run despite having the second-best hard-hit rate (64.7%) in baseball. Merrill currently has a .600 OPS, while Cronenworth has been virtually unplayable (.478 OPS). Machado has shown signs of waking up over the past week. A lineup running this cold is either a major red flag or a powder keg. The team\u2019s record suggests the latter\u2014for now.<\/p>\n
5. Chicago Cubs (Last: 10)<\/p>\n
Weakness: Starting pitching<\/p>\n
Chicago\u2019s banged-up pitching staff has mostly held its own and done enough to support an offense that\u2019s been among the league\u2019s best to this point. But the foundation looks a bit creaky, especially in the rotation. Matthew Boyd is back from the injured list but owns a 7.00 ERA in four starts, Jameson Taillon has allowed nine home runs in six outings, and the duo of Javier Assad and Colin Rea look like no more than occasional fill-ins. Edward Cabrera and Shota Imanaga have pitched well, but the former is currently running a career-low strikeout rate (20.1%) and the latter has had a tendency to fade in the second half. If Chicago is to be a legitimate contender, adding another impact starter might be high on the to-do list come the trade deadline.<\/p>\n
6. Cincinnati Reds (Last: 17)<\/p>\n
Weakness: Ke\u2019Bryan Hayes\u2019s hitting<\/p>\n
Hayes is among the game\u2019s best defenders, but that\u2019s not enough to justify playing time for a .130\/.193\/.208 slash line. That translates to a 6 wRC+, by far the lowest for any hitter with at least 80 plate appearances. Something closer to Hayes\u2019s career 82 wRC+ mark would be enough to keep him in the lineup, and if you squint hard enough, there are reasons to think he\u2019ll get there. His expected wOBA (.321) and expected batting average (.245) are right in line with the league averages, and he\u2019s actually lowered his strikeout rate to a career-best 13.3%. Positive regression is sure to come, as there\u2019s really not much lower to go here.<\/p>\n
7. Milwaukee Brewers (Last: 6)<\/p>\n
Weakness: Left side of the infield<\/p>\n
The Brewers shipped off Caleb Durbin and the rest of their third base depth chart in the offseason trade that brought in Kyle Harrison, David Hamilton and Shane Drohan. Harrison looks like a breakout candidate and the best player involved in the deal, but the loss of Durbin\u2019s production from 2025 has added to a huge gap on the left side of Milwaukee\u2019s infield.<\/p>\n
Luis Rengifo, David Hamilton and Joey Ortiz have combined to hit .208 with 10 extra-base hits and no home runs in 262 plate appearances on the season so far. Ortiz, who\u2019s made 20 starts at shortstop and is the best defender of the bunch, has not had an extra-base hit all year. Hamilton has excellent speed and Rengifo has been productive as an everyday player before, so there\u2019s reason to hope for improved results to come. The Milwaukee offense has survived without them, and would look even better if that group is able to pick up the pace.<\/p>\n
8. Tampa Bay Rays (Last: 14)<\/p>\n
Weakness: Bullpen<\/p>\n
The Rays own the AL\u2019s second-best record and have once again exceeded preseason expectations so far, but their bullpen has a worrying propensity for letting their opponents back in games. Seven different relievers have performed below replacement level, the worst of all being Team USA\u2019s Griffin Jax, who has a 6.35 ERA with eight walks and three homers allowed in 11 \u2153 innings. The Taj Bradley trade<\/a> is not working out for Tampa Bay.<\/p>\n 9. Pittsburgh Pirates (Last: 4)<\/p>\n Weakness: Bubba Chandler\u2019s command<\/p>\n A five-game losing streak that included a four-game home sweep at the hands of the Cardinals has thrown some cold water on Pittsburgh\u2019s fast start. While the blame certainly falls on more than one player, it\u2019s Chandler\u2019s erratic command that steals the focus here, as it once again mucked up what could have been an effective outing on Tuesday. Chandler retired six of the first seven batters he faced with four strikeouts, then unraveled, walking three batters the next two innings before giving up a double and a two-run homer in the fifth. He\u2019s issued multiple free passes in five of his six starts on the year, and his 15.4% walk rate is the fifth-highest among pitchers with at least 20 innings. Chandler, a former four-star quarterback prospect in high school who was committed to be a two-sport athlete at Clemson before getting drafted, is too good an athlete to struggle this much in finding the strike zone. He has the stuff to be an ace, and if he can harness his control better, he\u2019ll make an already tantalizing Pirates rotation that much more powerful.\u00a0<\/p>\n 10. Detroit Tigers (Last: 7)<\/p>\n Weakness: Team defense<\/p>\n The Tigers are the lone team in the wide-open AL Central with a positive run differential, and given that none of the five squads currently has a winning record, this race could come down to the smaller details. If that\u2019s the case, Detroit will need to shore up its defense. The Tigers currently rank last in Statcast\u2019s Outs Above Average (-15), last in FanGraphs\u2019 defensive WAR (-16.0) and 23rd in Defensive Runs Saved (four). With a rotation that features groundball specialist Framber Valdez and is now down Casey Mize, the team\u2019s fielding aptitude figures to be tested quite a bit.<\/p>\n 11. Texas Rangers (Last: 9)<\/p>\n Weakness: Slugging<\/p>\n The Rangers are positioned to compete, thanks to a high-upside rotation and enough quality hitters to carry them, but that hasn\u2019t happened so far. Texas is 27th in runs scored (120) this season. The Rangers rank 24th in slugging (.376) and only have 29 home runs as a team. Josh Jung (.545) has carried a lot of weight, but Wyatt Langford (.363) and Evan Carter (.333) have been disappointments. With a rotation this good, leaving runs on the board is how you miss the playoffs.<\/p>\n 12. Seattle Mariners (Last: 8)<\/p>\n Weakness: Whiff rate<\/p>\n The Mariners keep tumbling down the rankings, and it\u2019s all because of an offense whose stars have gone missing. Cal Raleigh, Julio Rodriguez and Josh Naylor have all struggled in April, and the reason is simple: they aren\u2019t making enough contact. Raleigh\u2019s 41 strikeouts put him in the top five of the AL. As a team, the Mariners are fifth (288) in Ks, and their whiff rate of 28.0 is third-worst in baseball. Their contact rate on pitches in the zone is second-worst (80.0). When the Mariners swing at pitches, they\u2019re simply not hitting them enough. That\u2019s not a recipe for contention.<\/p>\n 13. St. Louis Cardinals (Last: 25)<\/p>\n Weakness: Starting pitching<\/p>\n The Cardinals quickly flipped the switch to sweep the Pirates, fresh off losing five straight games, a run in large part fueled by effective starting pitching. But while the four St. Louis starters combined to allow just nine runs in 21 \u2154 innings (3.74 ERA), they did so by once again defying the principles of modern-day pitching.<\/p>\n St. Louis starters own the lowest strikeout rate (16.7%) in the league, and have also allowed the second-most home runs (26). The group doesn\u2019t walk many batters, but that\u2019s a dangerous tightrope to walk along regularly. This always looked to be a rebuilding year for the Cardinals, and it just might end up that way despite their current hot start. But if the team opts to make a run at a playoff spot, this group will have to get better\u2014or get reinforcements from outside the current roster.<\/p>\n 14. Cleveland Guardians (Last: 12)<\/p>\n Weakness: First base<\/p>\n Cleveland went into the season with Kyle Manzardo and Rhys Hoskins as their first base setup, and both have been disappointments so far. Hoskins signed on a minor-league deal, but Manzardo was expected to get the bulk of the playing time coming off his 27-homer season in 2025. Instead, the pair have combined for a .277 slugging percentage and -0.8 fWAR, both worst in the league.<\/p>\n 15. Miami Marlins (Last: 22)<\/p>\n WeaknOutfield<\/p>\n The Marlins\u2019 offense hasn\u2019t been too bad so far, especially considering their usual standard. However, no matter who they\u2019ve put in the outfield, from 2025 All-Star Kyle Stowers to top prospect Owen Caissie to veteran journeyman Austin Slater\u2014who was released after just 12 games\u2014they\u2019ve scuffled at the plate. Miami\u2019s outfielders collectively rank 29th with a 75 wRC+, ahead of only the Reds\u2019.<\/p>\n 16. Athletics (Last: 23)<\/p>\n Weakness: Starting pitching<\/p>\n The Athletics own first place in the AL West with a 17-14 record, but have a negative run differential, largely because of their starting pitching. The team\u2019s starting rotation ranks 21st in ERA (4.42), and aside from Aaron Civale (3.23), not one has looked particularly good. Luis Severino has a 4.46 ERA, Jacob Lopez is at 5.84, and Jeffrey Springs is at 3.96, but has allowed 11 runs combined in his last two starts.\u00a0<\/p>\n 17. Toronto Blue Jays (Last: 18)<\/p>\n Weakness: Catcher<\/p>\n Alejandro Kirk\u2019s thumb injury has left Toronto in bad shape behind the plate. Typical backup Tyler Heineman is off to an ice-cold start, with zero extra-base hits in 50 plate appearances, giving him a measly 9 wRC+ that ranks 41st out of 42 catchers. Brandon Valenzuela, a 25-year-old switch hitter who was the Blue Jays\u2019 No. 24 prospect entering this year, isn\u2019t doing a whole lot better (.189\/.231\/.351) in his first taste of major league action. Kirk can\u2019t get back soon enough.<\/p>\n 18. Arizona Diamondbacks (Last: 19)<\/p>\n Weakness: Back of the rotation<\/p>\n Zac Gallen and Eduardo Rodriguez have been solid at the top of the rotation, but the rest of Arizona\u2019s starting pitchers have been brutal. The team\u2019s starting rotation ranks 27th in ERA (5.13) and WHIP (1.50). Ryne Nelson has a 7.71 ERA and a -1.1 WAR, and Merrill Kelly has a 9.20 ERA and a 2.25 WHIP. Mike Soroka (4.70) and Brandon Pfaadt (5.67) have been nearly as bad. It has been a brutal year on the mound in Arizona. <\/p>\n 19. Baltimore Orioles (Last: 16)<\/p>\n Weakness: Corner infield<\/p>\n At one corner of the infield stands a veteran slugger who was paid $155 million to mash. At the other stands a former top prospect whose sheen is wearing off in his age-24 season. First baseman Pete Alonso (6′ 3″, 245 lbs.) and third baseman Coby Mayo (6′ 5″, 225 lbs.) both cast intimidating presences at the plate, but neither is hitting above league-average. The Orioles certainly need Alonso to do so if they\u2019re going to make the playoffs, while Mayo is in danger of losing his spot to Blaze Alexander and\/or Weston Wilson.\u00a0<\/p>\n 20. Kansas City Royals (Last: 21)<\/p>\n Weakness: Bullpen<\/p>\n The injury to Carlos Est\u00e9vez has left the back end of Kansas City\u2019s bullpen in disarray. Lucas Erceg has gotten the bulk of the save opportunities, but he\u2019s walked as many batters as he\u2019s struck out this season (10). As a team, the Royals are 28th in bullpen ERA (5.33) and 27th in walk rate (13.5%)<\/p>\n 21. Minnesota Twins (Last: 13)<\/p>\n Weakness: Making contact<\/p>\n As a group, the Twins don\u2019t make terrible swing decisions\u2014the difference between their in-zone swing rate and chase rate is 38.5%, sixth-best in the league. Despite this, the team doesn\u2019t make a whole lot of contact. Minnesota ranks 26th in strikeout rate (26.7%), 26th in swinging strike rate (13.5%) and 28th in zone contact rate (81.9%). For a team that\u2019s below average in isolated power (.146), you\u2019d like to see their hitters get a bit more out of what little contact they\u2019re making.<\/p>\n 22. Colorado Rockies (Last: 28)<\/p>\n Weakness: Ezequiel Tovar\u2019s bat<\/p>\n The Rockies have been a surprise this season, as they\u2019re playing much better baseball than expected. Their 14-18 record is genuinely shocking, while their pitching staff has done an excellent job of limiting damage, even at home. The team\u2019s biggest weakness may actually be the bat of a guy expected to be a foundational piece. Ezequiel Tovar is slashing an anemic .202\/248\/.298 with a 32 wRC+ and has produced -0.5 fWAR. He\u2019s been an absolute disaster at the plate. If he can even get to league average, Colorado could continue to surprise.<\/p>\n 23. Washington Nationals (Last: 27)<\/p>\n Weakness: Pitching staff<\/p>\n This shouldn\u2019t come as a surprise to anyone who glanced at the Nationals roster before Opening Day. Their rotation is made up of veteran castoffs and post-hype prospects, while the bullpen is populated by a bunch of relative unknowns. The Nats\u2019 5.14 ERA is the worst in the NL, and in just 28 \u2154 innings, starter Zack Littell has given up 13 home runs, the most ever allowed by a pitcher through the end of April. It\u2019s a shame, too, as the offense has scored more runs than any team except the Braves.<\/p>\n 24. Boston Red Sox (Last: 20)<\/p>\n Weakness: Left side of the field<\/p>\n Shortstop Trevor Story, third baseman Caleb Durbin and left fielder Jarren Duran have all struggled mightily to open 2026, combining for four home runs in 350 plate appearances with none batting above the Mendoza line. They\u2019ve dragged Boston\u2019s offense down to an 83 wRC+, the worst in the AL and only better than the Mets. Manager Alex Cora paid the price for the Red Sox\u2019 struggles<\/a>, but nothing will change until this trio collectively figures it out at the plate.<\/p>\n 25. Chicago White Sox (Last: 30)<\/p>\n Weakness: Outfield<\/p>\n As a group, Chicago\u2019s outfielders rank 28th in the league in fWAR (-0.3), with the fifth-lowest slugging percentage (.341). None of the team’s three most often-used outfielders\u2014Andrew Benintendi, Luisangel Acu\u00f1a and Tristan Peters\u2014has been close to league average offensively. The trio has combined for five extra-base hits, and while Benintendi has four of them, he\u2019s also been one of the game\u2019s worst defenders<\/a> over the last four years.<\/p>\n 26. Los Angeles Angels (Last: 24)<\/p>\n Weakness: Bullpen<\/p>\n The Angels have been awful at the back end of games. If not for the Astros, they\u2019d have the worst bullpen ERA in the game at 5.66. As a team, they\u2019ve blown nine saves, converting four of 13 chances. Jordan Romano is sporting an impressively bad 10.13 ERA in 11 appearances, while Drew Pomeranz (9.26) hasn\u2019t been much better. Even Jose Soriano\u2019s brilliance can\u2019t save this group.<\/p>\n 27. Houston Astros (Last: 26)<\/p>\n Weakness: Pitching staff. All of it.<\/p>\n The Astros currently have the worst ERA in baseball by a full run. Houston\u2019s team mark is 6.08, while the Nationals are second-worst at 5.08. With Hunter Brown, Tatusya Imai, Cristian Javier and Josh Hader out, things look dire. Mike Burrows and Lance McCullers Jr. both have ERAs over 6.00. The team\u2019s bullpen ERA is an MLB-worst 6.63 as well. Houston has opened the season 12-20 despite having one of MLB\u2019s best offenses. Things have to turn around on the mound.\u00a0<\/p>\n 28. Philadelphia Phillies (Last: 11)<\/p>\n Weakness: Rotation behind Cristopher Sanchez, Zack Wheeler<\/p>\n This placement may seem a bit harsh\u2014Philadelphia actually swept a series against the team at the bottom of these rankings after firing Rob Thomson\u2014but the Phillies own baseball\u2019s worst run differential for many reasons, with their once mighty rotation being the most concerning one. Their 5.52 starters ERA is the worst in the NL and better than only the Astros (it\u2019s been a long time since the 2022 World Series). Taijuan Walker already got the boot<\/a>, but Jesus Luzardo, Aaron Nola and Andrew Painter all have ERAs above 5.00. At least Zack Wheeler looked good last Saturday in his first appearance since August.\u00a0<\/p>\n 29. New York Mets (Last: 15)<\/p>\n Weakness: The entire lineup aside from Juan Soto<\/p>\n The Mets rank dead last with a 80 wRC+, meaning they\u2019re 20 percent worse than the average offense. Their top eight hitters in plate appearances have all batted below league-average, as newcomers Bo Bichette and Marcus Semien<\/a> have been the most troublesome offenders with identical wRC+ marks of 69. Soto has been his typical awesome self when healthy, but he\u2019s in dire need of more lineup support\u2014an embarrassing issue for a franchise with MLB\u2019s second-highest payroll.<\/p>\n 30. San Francisco Giants (Last: 29)<\/p>\n Weakness: Middle of the order bats<\/p>\n One month into the season, the Giants sport MLB\u2019s worst offense. They have scored 101 runs, while hitting an MLB-low 19 home runs. The team added Rafael Devers and Willy Adames over the last 18 months to add power to the lineup, and the two have combined to produce five home runs and 16 RBIs through one month. Devers has a .530 OPS, a 52 wRC+ and -0.8 fWAR, while Adames is sporting .601 OPS, a 69 wRC+ and -0.3 fWAR. The engines that should be driving the team\u2019s offense are stalled.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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