2022 MLB May Power Rankings

The Yankees are firing on all cylinders. They are tied for third in the majors in runs scored. They have the second-lowest ERA. Most importantly, they’re no longer giving away outs like candy on Halloween. The Yankees committed the fifth-most errors in the majors a year ago and made 50 outs on the bases, eighth-most in the majors. With massive defensive upgrades in Isiah Kiner-Falefa at shortstop, Jose Trevino teaming with Kyle Higashioka behind the plate and full seasons from Anthony Rizzo at first base and Joey Gallo in the outfield, the Yankees have been infinitely better defensively—they own the highest fielding percentage in the majors at .993. As for baserunning, they’ve made only seven outs on the bases this year, equal to the league average.

The Dodgers lineup received most of the praise heading into the season, but so far it’s the pitching staff that has played a starring role. The Dodgers top four starters—RHP Walker Buehler, LHP Clayton Kershaw, LHP Julio Urias and RHP Tony Gonsolin—all have ERA’s of 2.50 or lower, a big reason why the Dodgers boast an MLB-best 2.29 ERA.

Rather than leaving inexperienced, unproven first-timers to run the team, hiring an experienced general manager in Billy Eppler and an experienced manager in Buck Showalter has been a boon for the Mets. The Mets feature their deepest roster in years and are playing sharp, crisp baseball with an edge, with the results following as expected. The Mets are tied for the major league lead in runs scored on offense and lead the majors with 241 strikeouts on the pitching side. The most promising part? They’ve done that with RHP Jacob deGrom yet to pitch this year and offensive difference-makers Dominic Smith and Starling Marte still yet to reach peak form.

After a sterling rookie season a year ago, RHP Alek Manoah is firmly placing himself among the American League’s best pitchers in year two. The burly righthander is 4-0, 1.44 in four starts this year and is holding opponents to a .170 average. In 24 career starts, Manoah is 13-2, 2.90.

OF Joc Pederson is the early leader for best unheralded acquisition of the offseason. Signed to a one-year, $6 million deal, Pederson has been the Giants biggest offensive star with a .353/.382/.745 slash line, six home runs and 10 RBIs through May 1. With only one other Giants regular carrying an OPS over .800—injured 1B Brandon Belt—Pederson has done most of the heavy-lifting for the Giants offense.

RHPs Brandon Woodruff (5.40 ERA) and Freddy Peralta (5.40) are off to slow starts, but LHP Eric Lauer has stepped up to help keep the Brewers atop the National League Central. The 26-year-old has a 1.93 ERA through his first four starts with 34 strikeouts and only five walks in 23.1 innings. The Brewers were hardly lacking in frontline starters to begin with, and now Lauer is pitching like one to give them another.

After years of disappointing performance, 1B Eric Hosmer has had an early resurgence to help keep the Padres afloat while SS Fernando Tatis Jr. recovers from his offseason wrist injury. Hosmer leads the National League with a .382 batting average and is third with a 1.026 OPS, teaming with 3B Manny Machado (.375 AVG, 1.031 OPS) to give the Padres the hard-hitting duo the club envisioned when they signed the pair to nine-figure contracts.

The Cardinals are scuffling in the power department with only 17 home runs in 22 games, eighth-fewest in baseball. One way they’re making up for it? With speed. The Cardinals are 22-for-24 in stolen bases this year, both the most steals and the best stolen base percentage in MLB. OF Harrison Bader (6-6 SB) and 2B Tommy Edman (5-5 SB) have led the way, but it’s been a team-wide effort. Nine different Cardinals players have at least one stolen base this year, including 39-year-old catcher Yadier Molina.

After years of failed signings like Tim Lincecum, Jhoulys Chacin, Trevor Cahill and Matt Harvey, the Angels finally appear to have signed the starters needed to give them a respectable rotation. RHP Noah Syndergaard (2-0, 2.12) has looked like the ace of years past and RHP Michael Lorenzen (3-1, 3.04) has been impressive in his conversion from relieving to starting. With those acquisitions paying off, the Angels have their lowest ERA (3.65) in years to pair with an offense that is tied with the Mets for the most runs scored in MLB.

Starting pitching was the Twins biggest question mark entering the year, but so far it’s been their biggest strength. Young RHPs Joe Ryan (3-1, 1.17) and Bailey Ober (1-1, 2.75) have stepped up hugely and veteran RHPs Dylan Bundy (3-1, 2.95), Chris Archer (2.93 ERA) and Chris Paddack (3.15 ERA) are all having bounce-back years. With RHP Sonny Gray still making his way back from a hamstring injury, the Twins rotation stands to get even stronger when he returns.

SS J.P. Crawford signed a five-year, $51 million extension this year and is responding with his best season yet. The Gold Glove winner is batting an eye-popping .375/.469/.625 to start the year and has ascended to the No. 5 spot in the Mariners order. Though he’s already played parts of six seasons in the majors, he only just turned 27 and is blooming right in the middle of his prime.

SS Wander Franco debuted in the majors with impossible expectations and has somehow managed to live up to them. Through 91 career games, Franco is batting .296/.346/.489 with 11 home runs and 53 RBIs—a 20-homer, 94-RBI pace. He’s done that while just turning 21 in March, the same age as many college players who will be drafted this summer.

The juggernaut Astros offense has yet to get going this season. DH Yordan Alvarez is the only hitter with an OPS over .780 so far this year, a surprising development for a lineup that includes 3B Alex Bregman, OF Kyle Tucker, OF Michael Brantley, 1B Yuli Gurriel and 2B Jose Altuve. Overall, the Astros have scored three runs or fewer in 15 of their 27 games dating back to last year and rank tied for 21st in the majors in scoring.

After tying a major league record with 34 blown saves last season, the Phillies needed to fix their bullpen in the worst way. So far, it appears they’ve done just that. RHP Corey Knebel has a 0.96 ERA and four saves in as many attempts after stepping into the closer’s role and LHP Brad Hand has allowed only one run in nine appearances. With those veteran offseason additions leading the way, the Phillies have only one blown save through the first month of the season.

The Guardians wisely traded OF Bradley Zimmer to open up a starting spot for OF Steven Kwan and benched 1B Bobby Bradley in favor of 1B/2B Owen Miller, swapping out offensive liabilities for players with a long track record of hitting. The moves have helped the Guardians rank in the top 10 in the majors in runs scored, batting average and OPS this year, a welcome turnaround after years of fielding lineups that ranked among the game’s worst. Now it’s a matter of getting DH Franmil Reyes (.139, 46% strikeout rate) on track to make the offense even better.

Not all has gone smoothly for the defending champions, but there are plenty of signs of optimism. They remain in the top half of the majors in most offensive categories despite early struggles from 2B Ozzie Albies, SS Dansby Swanson and OF Marcell Ozuna and have the third-most strikeouts of any pitching staff in baseball. Now OF Ronald Acuña Jr. is back, RHP Ian Anderson is coming off his best start and RHP Kyle Wright shows no signs of his breakout campaign abating, setting the stage for a potential run in the coming weeks.

The Rockies’ offseason addition of OF Kris Bryant drew the most headlines, but it’s been two late additions that have been the most impactful so far. RHP Chad Kuhl, who signed a one-year deal after the lockout ended, is 3-0, 1.90 through four starts. OF Randal Grichuk, acquired from the Blue Jays in a trade for Raimel Tapia two weeks before Opening Day, has been the team’s best hitter with a .338/.389/523 slash line. With those additions bolstering the club, the Rockies have lost only one series all season.

The Marlins successfully helped RHPs Sandy Alcantara and Pablo Lopez reach their fullest potential after acquiring them in trades. They appear to have done the same now with LHP Jesus Luzardo. The former top prospect owned a career 5.36 ERA entering the season, but he has been one of the Marlins best starters early by going 2-1, 3.10 with 28 strikeouts and nine walks in 20.1 innings. Luzardo has added more than two mph on his fastball, his signature curveball has been an even more devastating pitch and the whiff rate on his changeup has gone up more than 10%. It’s still early, but the Marlins appear to have unlocked Luzardo’s immense potential.

In an otherwise disappointing start, the progression of OF Andrew Vaughn has been a bright spot on the South Side. Vaughn is batting .283/.367/.566 and leads the team with four home runs and 12 RBIs. The only concern is Vaughn has missed the last three games after getting hit by a pitch on his right hand/wrist. X-rays came back negative and he is day-to-day.

The Red Sox may be struggling on the whole, but RHP Nate Eovaldi is pitching like an early contender for a Cy Young Award. The hard-throwing 32-year-old has a 2.51 ERA through five starts with 32 strikeouts and only three walks in 28.2 innings. With Eovaldi’s contract expiring after this year, he’s at the very least putting himself in position for a big payday.

The Cubs have fielded a productive offense so far led by OFs Seiya Suzuki (.278/.398/.528) and Ian Happ (.303/.420/.439), but their pitching remains a problem. The Cubs have the seventh-worst ERA in the majors and have gotten disappointing early returns from RHPs Marcus Stroman (5.13 ERA) and Kyle Hendricks (5.47), expected to be the anchors of their rotation. Two bright spots have been homegrown RHPs Keegan Thompson (0.54 ERA) and Scott Effross (1.80) in the bullpen.

The D-backs are hitting .185/.275/.332 as a team and yet are only two games under .500. For that, they can thank their pitching staff. RHP Zac Gallen (0.60 ERA) has returned to his previous ace form while LHP Madison Bumgarner (1.17 ERA) and RHP Merrill Kelly (1.27 ERA) have been excellent early. With their starting pitching a force to be reckoned with, the D-backs won series against the Dodgers and Cardinals last week and have won eight of their last 13 games.

Just about the only thing emptier than A’s home crowds this season has been their offense. The A’s are batting .206/.270/.331 as a team and have only two players—3B Sheldon Neuse and OF Chad Pinder—batting over .235. Their pitching deserves credit for keeping them respectable in spite of their offense, with young RHPs Paul Blackburn (1.35 ERA) and Daulton Jefferies (3.26 ERA) ably stepping in to fill the void created by the trades of LHP Sean Manaea and RHP Chris Bassitt.

The Rangers big offseason additions have yet to bear fruit so far. SS Corey Seager (.271/.323/.424) has been fine, but 2B Marcus Semien (.149, 0 HR), RHP Jon Gray (7 ER in 9 IP), OF Kole Calhoun (.155, 0 HR) and C Mitch Garver (.179/.273/.269) have all had starts to forget this season. On the bright side, 1B Nate Lowe (.313/.374/.398) and RHP Dane Dunning (3.81 ERA in 5 IP) continue to blossom into solid everyday players the Rangers can build with.

The Tigers’ expected breakthrough this year hasn’t quite materialized early, largely due to an offense that has tied for the second-fewest runs scored this season. 1B Spencer Torkelson (.150), 2B Jonathan Schoop (.190), 3B Jeimer Candelario (.164) and OF Akil Baddoo (.128) are all off to awful starts, overshadowing the strong offensive contributions from offseason acquisitions C Tucker Barnhart (.317), SS Javier Baez (.833 OPS) and OF Austin Meadows (.319, .826 OPS).