Welcome to the third week of my MLB power rankings, which now include comments on the top 10 teams. Before getting to that, I always like to briefly point out something that I have gleaned from working on the rankings.

I’ll tell you this — there are some fascinating series to watch in week ahead.

The Giants, who look every bit as tough to beat as a year ago, visit Citi Field for a four-game series against the Mets April 18-21. This figures to be one hell of an early-season tussle.

The Dodgers host the world champion Atlanta Braves at Dodger Stadium April 18-20. In fact, I am thinking Clayton Kershaw will be motivated to beat the team that knocked the Dodgers out of the playoffs a year ago.

The Red Sox have not one but two series against division goes, first hosting the Blue Jays and then heading down to play three in the dome in St. Petersburg against the Rays. All of the series between the top four AL East teams will have plenty at stake throughout the season.

It’s been a long time since the Angels have played a meaningful game at any point in any season, but they go into Houston with a bit of momentum. Too bad they lost Mike Trout for a few days, but Joe Maddon’s team will have a chance to measure themselves against the best team in the division, if not the entire AL.

Lastly, when the Angels leave town, the Blue Jays come into Minute Maid Park for what figures to be a compelling three-game series.

Without further ado, here are my MLB power rankings, with comments on the top 10:

1. San Francisco Giants (7-2, No. 1 last week): I am beginning to think Giants GM Farhan Zaidi is the smartest man in every room he’s in. I loved his trade-off of Kevin Gausman for Carlos Rodon. And it won’t surprise me if they sign free-agent outfielder Michael Conforto when he’s ready to sign.

2. New York Mets (7-3, No. 2): I was really looking forward to Buck Showalter getting a shot at managing a healthy Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer. Now all he has is Scherzer, Chris Bassitt and some guy named Tylor Megill, who is doing his best impersonation of deGrom. Showalter, as always, is giving the Mets what they needed most out of a manager — someone who can handle the team and the media.

3. Los Angeles Dodgers (7-2, No. 6): What can you say about the fact that Clayton Kershaw gave the Dodgers seven perfect innings last week? Instead of looking up and thanking God above, people got all riled up over the fact he was pulled from his first start with 80 pitches. So far all systems are a go for having to do hand-to-hand combat all season with the Giants.

4. Toronto Blue Jays (6-4, No. 4): The vaunted starting rotation has only Alex Manoah (1.50 ERA) really pitching well. Kevin Gausman (4.22) hasn’t been horrible, but Ryu (13.50 and on the IL), Jose Berrios (11.81) and Yusei Kikuchi (5.40) have all been awful.

5. Houston Astros (5-4, No. 3): The good news is that Justin Verlander looked amazing in his first two starts (13 innings, 0.69 ERA, 0.69 WHIP and a .143 batting average against). He also has 15 strikeouts against just three walks. Closer Ryan Pressly is on the IL with right knee inflammation.

6. Chicago White Sox (6-3, No. 9): They’re off to a surprisingly good start despite a couple of key losses in the rotation — Lance Lynn (probably out two months or more) and Lucas Giolito (two to three weeks). It’ll be interesting to see if Tony La Russa can actually help his team live up to its potential.

7. Atlanta Braves (5-6, No. 5): Some good news here on one major injury front, as Ronald Acuna Jr. is going to start a rehab at Triple-A. Since Acuna hasn’t played in a game since last July, his stay may last 10-14 days. Braves starting pitchers Charlie Morton (6.10 ERA), Max Fried (5.73) and Ian Anderson (6.48) have struggled in the early going.

8. New York Yankees (5-5, No. 8): The best news for the Yankees is that Luis Severino is back and appears to be rounding into being Luis Severino. It would be nice if Gerrit Cole looked like Gerrit Cole before MLB cracked down on pitchers using foreign substances that allowed them to grip the baseball and control their pitches. The difference in his numbers since last June is astounding.

9. Boston Red Sox (5-4, No. 10): Day in and day out, the Red Sox have a lineup that can really bring out the whooping stick, but Chris Sale is on the IL with a stress fracture in his rib cage. Best guess is he isn’t back on the hill for the Sox until June. Not sure the Sox have the depth in the rotation they need. Then again, Tanner Houck stepped up the other day. Lots of contract issues percolating, which means Alex Cora has a hot potato all season in the cases of Nathan Eovaldi, Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers.

10. Tampa Bay Rays (5-5, No. 7): Maybe the Rays were lulled into a false sense of security when they swept the O’s in the first three games of the season. After all, the Rays beat the O’s 18 of 19 games in 2021. Their rotation has really taken quite a hit, losing Ryan Yarbrough and Luis Patino for a while. They really miss Tyler Glasnow, who has not pitched since June 14, 2021.

11. St. Louis Cardinals (5-3, No. 11)
12. Seattle Mariners (5-5, No. 12)
13. Milwaukee Brewers (5-5, No. 18)
14. San Diego Padres (6-5, No. 13)
15. Cleveland Guardians (4-5, No. 16)
16. Detroit Tigers (4-5, No. 16)
17. Miami Marlins (4-5, No. 22)
18. Chicago Cubs (5-4, No. 20)
19. Los Angeles Angels (6-4, No. 23)
20. Philadelphia Phillies (4-6, No. 14)
21. Oakland Athletics (5-5, No. 25)
22. Minnesota Twins (3-6, No. 19)
23. Colorado Rockies (6-3, No. 26)
24. Kansas City Royals (3-5, No. 15)
25. Pittsburgh Pirates (5-4, No. 29)
26. Washington Nationals (4-7, No. 27)
27. Cincinnati Reds (2-8, No. 21)
28. Texas Rangers (2-7, No. 24)
29. Arizona Diamondbacks (3-6, No. 28)
30. Baltimore Orioles (3-6, No. 30)

Stan Charles

See all posts by Stan Charles. Follow Stan Charles on Twitter at @stanthefan