Before I lay out this week’s MLB power rankings, I want to say something about the home team Baltimore Orioles, who currently reside at No. 24 in my rankings. General manager Mike Elias has been raked over the coals for a less than perfect — OK, a far less than perfect — offseason.
But, in fairness, while I agree that it was less than stellar, who in their right mind can’t see that this team has suffered from a season and a half of injuries in just a half season? They also suffered from less than stellar play from their two stars Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman. And yes, Charlie Morton looked like a terrible pitcher the first four to six weeks of the season, but he was never going to replace Corbin Burnes. He was supposed to eat up innings, and for the past three weeks, he is doing just that.
After firing manager Brandon Hye, the club went 0-4 to fall to 15-32. Since that 0-4 start under Tony Mansolino, the Orioles have regrouped to go 18-12. They still seem to be in the midst of a hellacious run of injury luck, losing Rutschman through the All-Star game with an oblique strain and losing Jordan Westburg for a few days with a finger injury suffered sliding into second base on a steal attempt.
But, make no mistake, this team is playing a much more professional brand of baseball over the last 30 games. They still have 18 games to go before the All-Star break. They need to chop another five or six games off their 11 games below .500 mark.
The Tigers and Yankees look to be the two best teams in the American League. Maybe we can lump the Astros into the top three, and I will admit that the Tampa Bay Rays are a gritty team. That still leaves two other spots in the wild-card hunt. Personally, I am not giving up on that just yet.
As far as ownership goes, O’s fans, give them a break. They have the commitment to winning and, yes, things will get more expensive during their process of putting their game plan in place. Pump the brakes on all the harsh negativity. I am still backing the Birds in 2025.
Sure 2025 hasn’t been what fans expected or hoped for, but there are still 85 games left on the schedule and you don’t know for a fact that this team won’t yet show its real identity.
Here are this week’s MLB power rankings:
1. Los Angeles Dodgers (48-31, No. 3 last week)
2. Detroit Tigers (49-30, No. 1)
3. Philadelphia Phillies (47-31, No. 6)
4. Chicago Cubs (46-31, No. 4)
5. New York Mets (46-32, No. 2)
6. New York Yankees (45-32, No. 5)
7. Houston Astros (45-33, No. 8)
8. Tampa Bay Rays (43-35, No. 9)
9. Milwaukee Brewers (43-35, No. 10)
10. San Francisco Giants (44-34, No. 7)
11. Toronto Blue Jays (41-36, No. 12)
12. St. Louis Cardinals (42-36, No. 18)
13. San Diego Padres (42-35, No. 11)
14. Boston Red Sox (40-39, No. 15)
15. Seattle Mariners (39-37, No. 16)
16. Arizona Diamondbacks (39-38, No. 14)
17. Cleveland Guardians (39-37, No. 20)
18. Cincinnati Reds (40-38, No. 13)
19. Texas Rangers (38-40, No. 17)
20. Kansas City Royals (38-40, No. 21)
21. Atlanta Braves (35-41, No. 23)
22. Minnesota Twins (37-40, No. 19)
23. Los Angeles Angels (37-40, No. 24)
24. Baltimore Orioles (33-44, No. 22)
25. Athletics (32-48, 27)
26. Pittsburgh Pirates (31-48, No. 26)
27. Washington Nationals (32-46, No. 25)
28. Miami Marlins (31-45, No. 28)
29. Chicago White Sox (25-53, No. 29)
30. Colorado Rockies (18-60, No. 30)