MLB Power Rankings: Freddie Freeman leads Dodgers, the Cardinals and Twins are rolling

Featured in this week’s MLB Power Rankings, Tarik Skubal is close to perfect, Jasson Dominguez makes history, the Cardinals and Twins are streaking, the Jung brothers square off on Mother’s Day Weekend, and the Pirates and Rockies change managers.

Let’s get started!

(Please note these power rankings are a combination of current performance and long-term projected outlook)

**Rankings are from the morning of Monday, May 12**

1) Los Angeles Dodgers

Last week: 1

Freddie Freeman is the hottest hitter on the planet right now. Despite an ankle injury that isn’t 100 percent, the 35-year-old is hitting .475 with five homers and 22 RBI over his last 16 games. He has 10 multi-hit games during that span and has raised his season batting average from .250 to .376 along the way.

2) San Diego Padres

Last week: 2

On Saturday night, Stephen Kolek threw a shutout at Coors Field as the Padres crushed the Rockies 21-0. It was the largest margin of victory for the Padres in franchise history and one of the most lopsided shutout wins of all-time.

3) Detroit Tigers ⬆️

Last week: 4

After running away with the Cy Young Award last season, Tarik Skubal has been even better so far this season. The southpaw owns a 2.08 ERA through eight starts and carried a perfect game into the sixth inning in his most recent start against the Rangers on Friday.

4) New York Mets ⬇️

Last week: 3

New York sports talk radio was having a cow over the first few weeks of the season, but it turns out that Juan Soto is going to be just fine. What a concept! Soto is slashing .282/.383/.718 with five homers through 10 games this month.

5) New York Yankees ⬆️

Last week: 8

Joe DiMaggio was the youngest player in Yankees history to hit three home runs in a game…until Jasson Dominguez pulled off the feat against the Athletics on Saturday.

6) Chicago Cubs ⬇️

Last week: 5

The Cubs have cooled a bit over the past week having lost back-to-back series. Their high-powered offense has been held to two runs or fewer in three of out their lost four games, but the back-end of the bullpen is the real concern here.

7) Philadelphia Phillies ⬆️

Last week: 9

I already deemed Freddie Freeman as the hottest hitter on the planet, but Kyle Schwarber is in the middle of something special right now. After his two-homer game on Sunday against the Guardians on Sunday, he’s now reached base in 46 consecutive games. That’s the longest such streak by a Phillies player since Bobby Abreu from 2000-2001.

8) San Francisco Giants ⬇️

Last week: 6

The Giants were swept by the suddenly red-hot Twins over the weekend despite Heliot Ramos’ best efforts. The 24-year-old has homered in back-to-back games and is slashing .419/.500/.767 over his last 13 contests.

9) Cleveland Guardians ⬆️

Last week: 10

Awesome moment from the Mother’s Day edition of the Sunday Night Baseball broadcast, as Stephen Vogt’s wife, Alyssa, asked him a very important question.

I so felt that pause and momentary panic from Mr. Vogt. Also, how cool is it that the manager also gets the sunflower seed treatment from his players/coaches? It’s good to be humbled.

10) Kansas City Royals ⬆️

Last week: 12

The Royals remain one of the hottest teams in the majors despite dropping back-to-back games to the Red Sox to close out the weekend. Led by a pitching staff with the second-lowest ERA in the majors, Kansas City is 16-4 over their last 20 games.

11) Seattle Mariners ⬇️

Last week: 7

The Mariners were swept by the Blue Jays over the weekend, including another distressing start from Bryce Miller. The good news is that George Kirby is inching his way back to the Mariners’ rotation as he returns from shoulder inflammation. He made his second rehab start on Saturday and could be back with the Mariners next week.

12) Boston Red Sox ⬆️

Last week: 13

In the wake of his very public and awkward rejection of playing first base, Rafael Devers is 9-for-15 (.600) with two homers and eight RBI over his last four games. He slugged an absolute bomb of a go-ahead homer on Sunday as the Red Sox cooled down the Royals.

13) St. Louis Cardinals ⬆️

Last week: 23

Our biggest riser of the past week, the Cardinals have won eight straight to surge into second place in the NL Central, just one game behind the Cubs. Victor Scott II has been right in the middle of it, as he’s hit safely in 11 straight games. With his elite range in center field and his top-tier speed, the Cardinals have found themselves a keeper.

14) Arizona Diamondbacks ⬇️

Last week: 11

It was great to see Corbin Burnes bounce back after his recent shoulder scare, but the biggest news to start the week is that Jordan Lawlar is reportedly on the way to join the big club. The 22-year-old has been quiet with the bat this month in Triple-A, but still owns a healthy .336/.413/.579 batting line with six homers and 13 steals across 37 games on the year. He’ll presumably bounce around the infield to start, giving breathers to Ketel Marte, Geraldo Perdomo, and Eugenio Suárez.

15) Atlanta Braves

Last week: 15

The Braves have had a couple of chances over the past week to reach the .500 mark, but have fallen short. Still, they are 19-14 since that 0-7 start to the season.

16) Minnesota Twins ⬆️

Last week: 24

The other big riser of the week, the Twins have also won eight straight to climb over .500. Unfortunately for them, everyone (outside of the White Sox, anyway) have also been playing well.

17) Houston Astros

Last week: 17

The Astros have yet to be more than three games over .500 or two games under .500, so they continue to sit in the middle of the pack. Getting a healthy Yordan Alvarez back could help push them back into contention. Alvarez, who is working his way back from a muscle strain in his hand, could potentially return from the injured list this week.

18) Texas Rangers ⬇️

Last week: 14

In a fun scheduling quirk, the Jung brothers (Rangers third baseman Josh Jung and Tigers infielder Jace Jung) squared off on Mother’s Day weekend. The brothers were both playing third base on Saturday, so naturally they played a game of Tic-Tac-Toe. Josh homered on Mother’s Day, so he gets the edge this time.

19) Oakland Athletics ⬇️

Last week: 16

After giving up seven runs or more in all three games against the Yankees this weekend, the Athletics now have a 5.81 ERA (28th in MLB) at home this season as opposed to a 3.74 ERA (sixth-best) on the road.

20) Milwaukee Brewers ⬇️

Last week: 19

In a 4-for-39 slump going into Sunday’s action, Christian Yelich decided to switch it up by using a pink bat to honor his mom. And sure enough, he went yard. Sources say that if he doesn’t keep using it, he’s grounded.

21) Toronto Blue Jays

Last week: 21

The Blue Jays might have something in Addison Barger. While it isn’t apparent from his results so far, the 25-year-old hits the ball extremely hard. Among players with at least 25 batted ball events, he ranks third among hitters in average exit velocity, behind Shohei Ohtani and Oneil Cruz, and ahed of Aaron Judge, Rafael Devers, and Pete Alonso. Not too shabby.

22) Cincinnati Reds ⬇️

Last week: 18

The Reds have lost seven out of nine, as well as their ace Hunter Greene due to a groin strain. Fortunately, the injury shouldn’t keep him on the shelf for long.

23) Tampa Bay Rays ⬇️

Last week: 20

Give the Rays some credit for their creativity. They gave out commemorative ponchos for their first-ever rain delay on Saturday.

The Rays took two out of three from the Brewers this weekend, giving them their first series win at home since April 11-13.

24) Washington Nationals

Last week: 24

While the final line didn’t show it, Michael Soroka pitched well in his return from the injured list last Wednesday against the Guardians, striking out eight before running out of steam late. This week, he’ll face the Braves (his former team) for the first time in his career.

25) Baltimore Orioles

Last week: 25

Things aren’t looking a heck of a lot better here even after taking two out of three form the Angels over the weekend, but one bright spot has been the recent progress from 21-year-old Jackson Holliday. With a recent change in his batting stance, he’s hitting .324 with two homers and a double over his last 11 games. He’s starting to earn a more prominent place in the order for a team who needs a boost in the worst way.

26) Los Angeles Angels

Last week: 26

No team has struck out more often than the Angels this season (27 percent). And making matters worse, they also have the lowest walk rate (six percent) in the majors.

27) Miami Marlins ⬆️

Last week: 28

Sandy Alcantara has been speculated as an obvious trade candidate this summer, but the results haven’t been there so far. He actually looked great on Sunday against the White Sox until serving up a go-ahead three-run home to rookie slugger Tim Elko. Still, a step in the right direction for the former Cy Young Award winner.

28) Pittsburgh Pirates ⬇️

Last week: 27

Derek Shelton took the fall last week for the Pirates’ miserable start to the season. The failure goes well beyond anything Shelton did, but ownership can’t fire themselves. The club took two out of three from the Braves over the weekend under interim manager (and former bench coach) Don Kelly, so the Pittsburgh-area native is off to a good start.

29) Chicago White Sox

Last week: 29

The White Sox have Pope Leo XIV on their side, which should provide some hope to fans, no?

30) Colorado Rockies

Last week: 30

The Rockies made a managerial change of their own this weekend, as they parted ways with longtime skipper Bud Black. The change comes on the heels of an embarrassing 21-0 loss to the Padres on Saturday night, though at least Black to go out as a winner on Sunday.