2023 Vendetta MLB Power Rankings: May
It’s the start of a new month, so you what time it is! It’s MLB Power Ranking time! Here were our rankings from before the season, as we will continue this trend throughout the rest of the season. Let’s hop into this month’s power rankings!
30. Oakland Athletics
Average: 30
(Matt Hanifan 30, Julian Casciano 30, Jack Sabin 30)
The worst team in MLB has shown as much in the first month of the season, hence why they’re last in this month’s rankings. The A’s don’t even come close to being a competitive baseball team. Their pitching staff ranks as the worst in the league in literally every statistic. They walked 17 New York Mets in one game, the most in modern baseball history. Oakland is 6-23. They’ve had prospect Mason Miller come to MLB and pitch well, and that’s about the only positive. Oh and by the way, ownership officially screwed the fans, as they announced their plan to move to Vegas. Maybe once they get there, they’ll field a decent team. — Casciano
29. Kansas City Royals
Average: 28.3
(Matt 28, Julian 28, Jack 29)
The Royals come in as the penultimate squad in our May rankings, currently as MLB’s least productive offense. They rank dead last in wRC+ (70) and OPS (.624). No hitter outside of Edward Olivares and Vinny Pasquintino has been above average from the dish thus far. They can only ask their pitching staff to do so much — even though it’s also gotten off to a rough start, especially 26-year-old Brady Singer. There’s just not enough talent here to compete, as we expected heading into the season.
28. Colorado Rockies
Average: 28.3
(Matt 29, Julian 29, Jack 27)
Im not going to waste a lot of time here, this Rockies team sucks, like we all thought they would. Kris Bryant is still good at baseball, but no one else on this team is and it shows with their 9-20 record. Elias Diaz has been good I guess but aside from those two there isn’t a whole lot and it’s fixing to be another long season for Rockies fans. — Sabin
27. Chicago White Sox
Average: 27.3
(Matt 27, Julian 27, Jack 28)
Woo boy, have I been wrong about the White Sox — like, really wrong! While it’s hard to place the blame on one person, it looks like Tony La Russa wasn’t completely at fault. The White Sox sports MLB’s seventh-lowest wRC+ (93), second-worst ERA (5.96) and FIP (5.34). The back end of their bullpen is ridiculously shaky and they don’t have a reliable starter to count on every fifth day. The lineup — which has suffered injuries to Tim Anderson and Yoan Moncada — better figure it out fast, or this division will get out of hand quickly.
26. Washington Nationals
Average: 25.7
(Matt 26, Julian 25, Jack 26)
It’s been an unsurprising start for this Nationals team. At 10-18, it’s looking like they will again be at the bottom of the NL West to the surprise of no one really. The main focus for this season is how the young guys play, Kiebert Ruiz has been impressive so far with a slash line of .269/.340/.716 and has given fans something to look forward to. Josiah Gray has also bounced back after a rough first start posting a 1.57 ERA over his last five starts. — Sabin
25. Detroit Tigers
Average: 25.3
(Matt 25, Julian 26, Jack 25)
Perhaps the best part of this season for the Tigers so far has been the re-emergence of Eduardo Rodriguez, who has a 2.21 ERA and a 3.74 FIP in six starts. They have also picked up series wins over the Astros, Brewers and Guardians and closed April on a pretty encouraging note after a sluggish 2-9 start. There’s still far from contending, and the offense is still #rough™, but at least they’re showing some signs of life at the turn of the month. Let’s see how long it lasts.
24. St. Louis Cardinals
Average: 23
(Matt 23, Julian 22, Jack 24)
What an atrocious start to the season for the St. Louis Cardinals. They currently sit at 10-18, second to last in the National League and worst in the NL Central. Their offense is just fine as expected, but the starting pitching might be a bigger problem than some thought. Teams are hitting and scoring runs against this pitching staff. The Cardinals have lost six of seven entering May. This team has only won two series in the month of April. Are the Cardinals going to… suck? — Casciano
23. San Francisco Giants
Average: 23
(Matt 22, Julian 24, Jack 23)
This Giants team is not very good plain and simple. Just when it looked like they were turning a corner after a five-game win streak, they turn around and lose four straight to negate any progress. The addition of an Aaron Judge or Carlos Correa would have been a nice flashy toy but it’s clear that it wouldn’t have been enough to turn this into a playoff-caliber team. Michael Conforto has been terrible and really from top to bottom this lineup has not been good. The pitching has also been bad, and as a unit, they rank No. 24 in team ERA. Looks like the strategy of relying on old players to turn back the clock isn’t working anymore, shocker am I, right? — Sabin
22. Cincinnati Reds
Average: 23
(Matt 24, Julian 23, Jack 22)
At 12-16, the Reds are in a better place than many expected them to be at this point, Jonathan India seems to be reverting back to his impressive rookie year and Tyler Stephenson continues to give solid offensive production for a catcher. But the biggest storyline for this time has been the play of Nick Senzel, who finally seems to be breaking out after some rough stints at the start of his MLB career. However, the lack of power on this team is clear with no player having more than four homers, and will be a problem for this team down the line. — Sabin
21. Cleveland Guardians
Average: 20.7
(Matt 20, Julian 21, Jack 21)
The ever-so-pesky Guardians climbed back from a 2-0 deficit in the 9th inning Monday on the road in the Bronx, rattling off three unanswered en route to its 14th win of the season. Outside of Jose Ramirez, Shane Bieber and Emmanuel Clase, they haven’t had much all-around production. But hey, remember when their gears began turning in the final couple of months of 2022? Don’t be surprised if history repeats itself — I’m still holding out faith, should their key contributors remain healthy.
20. Seattle Mariners
Average: 19.3
(Matt 19, Julian 19, Jack 20)
Since starting the season 8-8, the Mariners have lost eight of their last 12. Former top prospect Jarred Kelenic has finally figured out, sporting a .308/.366/.615 slash line — a .982 OPS (174 OPS+) through 101 plate appearances. But the Ms are having down offensive starts from Julio Rodriguez, Kolton Wong and Teoscar Hernandez, among others, while the pitching has regressed outside of Luis Castillo and George Kirby — especially the back-end of their bullpen. There’s still time, but the presumptive second-best team in the AL West has struggled out of the gate.
19. Miami Marlins
Average: 19
(Matt 21, Julian 18, Jack 18)
This Marlins team is very weird, like they should be worse than their record says but they somewhat seem to find a way to win the close games. They have a run differential of minus-35. But they’re still 10-0 in one-run games? So while they are prone to the occasional blowout if they can keep it close they more than likely will pull through. Their rotation hasn’t been as elite as many thought it would be but there is plenty of time for that to change. Plus, Luiz Arraez might be the best pure hitter on the planet right now for what that’s worth. — Sabin
18. Chicago Cubs
Average: 17.7
(Matt 14, Julian 20, Jack 19)
After a strong start to the season, the Cubs find themselves slipping a little bit winning two of their last eight games. A big part of that has been the Cubs’ inability to find someone to hold down the closer role. The initial choice Michael Fulmer blew two saves in the month of April and posted an ERA just north of eight during that time. If the Cubs can get that figured out, then I think they can steal a lot more games. They certainly have the offense to do it with Cody Bellinger having a breakout season and Patrick Wisdom, who is hitting the cover off the ball right now. — Sabin
17. Philadelphia Phillies
Average: 16
(Matt 18, Julian 17, Jack 13)
After a rough 6-10 start to the season, the Phillies seem to be finally breaking out of this World Series Slump. Some injuries to start the year threw off the team’s rhythm, but it seems things are starting to come together as they have won seven of their last 10. The bullpen has been lights out with Jose Alvarado looking like one of the best relievers in MLB. Aces Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler have picked it up which has been huge for this team. The outstanding play of guys like Brandon Marsh and Bryson Stott has helped to pick up the slack/injuries. With Bryce Harper set to return on Wednesday, this lineup is only going to get more dangerous. — Sabin
16. Los Angeles Angels
Average: 15.3
(Matt 15, Julian 14, Jack 17)
The Los Angeles Angels have been staying afloat so far this season. They’ve done decently well against the American League while sitting in second in the AL West. They suffered a big loss when they lost young promising catcher Logan O’Hoppe to a shoulder injury. As of now, they are pitching amongst the best teams in the league, which is a really good sign for Angels fans. Ohtani and Trout are doing their thing as well. As long as those two are on the diamond, LA has a chance to win some games. — Casciano
15. San Diego Padres
Average: 14.7
(Matt 17, Julian 15, Jack 12)
It’s been anything but sunshine and rainbows for the sunshine city. After an offseason in which the Padres seemingly turned off the luxury tax and spent infinite money, expectations were high for this Padres team to do some serious damage and challenge the Dodgers’ claim to the NL West crown. But so far it’s safe to say expectations have not been met. Manny Machado has been terrible so far and Juan Soto hasn’t been much better. I know Soto is still getting on base a lot but you aren’t paying him that money to walk, tell him to swing the damn bat. Fernando Tatis Jr. is back which I guess will help with the offense but what it won’t help is the 21st ERA ranking the Padres currently boast. It’s still early but the Padres need to turn it around soon, maybe bring in another arm because Blake Snell and Michael Wacha aren’t getting it done. — Sabin
14. Boston Red Sox
Average:14.3
(Matt 13, Julian 16, Jack 14)
The Red Sox’s starting pitching has been disastrous, but their electrifying offense — spearheaded by Rafael Devers and Jarren Duran — is the biggest reason why they’re two games above .500 through 30 games. Rookie Masataka Yoshida has adjusted to MLB pitching of late, hitting .419 with a 1.179 OPS over his last 11 games, while Alex Verdugo is also on track to track to have the best season of his career. For a lineup that had plenty of questions heading into the season, they’re off to a good start.
13. New York Yankees
Average: 13
(Matt 16, Julian 7, Jack 16)
One day you look, and the Yankees were the last team across MLB to lose a series. Now, the Bronx Bombers are … well, bombing the exam. They’re losers of four straight and seven of their last nine, including a shell-shocking 3-2 loss to Cleveland Monday after it entered the 9th up 2-0. New York’s dealt with a slew of injuries, but nevertheless, the offense has regressed (94 wRC+; 23rd) significantly after its promising start — looking like it did at the tail-end of last year. The Yankees are still 15-15, but in a competitive AL East, I wouldn’t blame any fans for hitting the panic button, even though we are only barely 20 percent into the season.
12. Arizona Diamondbacks
Average: 12.3
(Matt 10, Julian 12, Jack 15)
When talking about this Diamondbacks team one must talk about Zac Gallen and the star he is turning into. His scoreless streak was just snapped but not before getting all the way to 28 innings, which has cemented him in the race for the NL Cy Young. An Injury to Corbin Carroll will hurt especially with how good he was playing up to this point, slash line of .370/.460/.648 in the last 16 games before his injury. This D-Backs team is young and will probably sit at this .500 range over the season, but the focus, for now, should be letting the young guys get reps. Also good they finally moved off Bumgarner; god, that was a horrible contract. — Sabin
11. Minnesota Twins
Average: 10.7
(Matt 11, Julian 11, Jack 10)
The Twins beat the Yankees in a series? The Twins beat the Yankees in a series! That was only one of a few different feats from the AL Central-leading Twins, who have gotten steady production from Byron Buxton (primarily DHing) and Joey Gallo, who’s cracked seven home runs and 11 base hits in 65 plate appearances (1.063 OPS). Pablo Lopez has cooled off from his electric start, but still heads a rotation with MLB’s second-best ERA (3.28), ERA- (76), FIP (3.39) and FIP- (79).
10. Los Angeles Dodgers
Average: 9.7
(Matt 9, Julian 13, Jack 7)
After a slow start to the season, the Dodgers are finally starting to pick up some steam. They have won seven of their last nine, and with how star-studded this lineup is, it was only a matter of time before they started getting going. Max Muncy has been on a tear with 11 home runs. Freddie Freeman is doing Freddie Freeman things and James Outman has been a pleasant surprise. Mookie Betts is once again off to a slow start but once he gets going this Dodgers team will again be a favorite to win the NL. — Sabin
9. Houston Astros
Average: 8.7
(Matt 12, Julian 3, Jack 11)
The Astros have had an up-and-down start to the season; they had just one win over their first five series before winning three straight series against Toronto, Atlanta and Tampa before losing two of three to Philadelphia over the weekend. Outside of Yordan Alvarez and Kyle Tucker, the offense has been mediocre. Houston’s promising young right-hander Hunter Brown is excelling in his first full opportunity in its rotation — especially against MLB’s best offense — alongside Framber Valdez and Cristian Javier. Hangover or not, the Astros look *more* like they did now than in the first 10 games of the season.
8. Texas Rangers
Average: 8.7
(Matt 7, Julian 10, Jack 9)
Despite dominating the Yankees in their four-game weekend series, Jacob deGrom went to the 15-day IL with right forearm tightness. He exited his Friday night start against New York, where he only lasted 3.2 innings, surrendering one hit and one walk while fanning two. deGrom has been good when he’s been healthy this season, but he’s had a difficult time staying healthy over the last several seasons. The good news for Texas is they’re getting strong contributions from the rest of its starting rotation (Jon Gray, Nathan Eovaldi, Martin Perez) and bullpen (Jose Leclerc, Brock Burke, Will Smith) to supplement any production lost from its ace. Oh, and they’re second in the AL in runs (178) and wRC+ (119).
7. New York Mets
Average: 7
(Matt 8, Julian 5, Jack 8)
The Mets have had a lot of obstacles come their way, starting with 80 percent of their rotation having missed significant time. Justin Verlander hasn’t thrown a pitch for the club yet but expects to be back at the beginning of May. Max Scherzer got tagged on a ridiculous substance suspension. Yet, New York is still winning, thanks to their lineup and bullpen. Pete Alonso looks like one of the best power hitters in MLB, and the back end of the bullpen looks great even without Edwin Diaz. They’ve struggled at the end of the month, but reinforcements are coming soon. — Casciano
6. Milwaukee Brewers
Average: 7
(Matt 6, Julian 9, Jack 6)
It’s been a bit of an up-and-down season already for this Brewers team, granted with more ups than downs. They saw series wins against the Padres and Mariners but then dropped their respective series against the Red Sox and Tigers. The pitching has been great, even with Corbin Burnes struggling to start the year and Brandon Woodruff missing time on the IL, as they currently rank in the top-4 in ERA. Star power in the lineup is still lacking, as Christian Yelich continues to struggle proving his MVP season may have been a fluke. Rowdy Tellez has been great smacking eight home runs but he alone will not be enough to carry this offense. — Sabin
5. Baltimore Orioles
Average: 5.3
(Matt 5, Julian 6, Jack 5)
Despite a shaky start from the rotation, the Orioles find themselves 3.5 games behind the scorching hot Tampa Bay Rays and 10 games above .500. They’re third in the AL in wRC+ (113) and are incredibly dangerous on the basepaths (in the best way imaginable) — looking at you, Jorge Mateo and Cedric Mullins. They also have a dominant bullpen to lean back on — spearheaded by Bryan Baker, Mike Baumann and closer Felix Bautista. If their rotation figures it out, watch out.
4. Pittsburgh Pirates
Average: 4.7
(Matt 3, Julian 8, Jack 3)
By far the most surprising entry on this list comes from this Pirates. I don’t know how sustainable it will be but as of now they are one of the best teams in the league and I never thought I would be saying that about the Pirates. Bryan Reynolds has been amazing and showing why he deserved that monster extension. Andrew McCutchen has turned the clock back and solid play from guys like Ji Hwan Bae and Carlos Santana has rounded out a surprisingly dangerous lineup. Their pitching has also stood up to the test ranking seventh in team ERA. This Pirates team is dangerous and I 1000 percent am here for it. — Sabin
3. Toronto Blue Jays
Average: 4
(Matt 4, Julian 4, Jack 4)
Don’t look now, but the Toronto Blue Jays are one of the hottest teams in MLB after their sluggish 10-game road trip to begin the season. The Jays’ six-game win streak was snapped Sunday in its series finale against Seattle, but they have still won eight of their last 12 and Matt Chapman is tearing the cover off the baseball. He leads the American League in hits (38), batting average (.379), on-base percentage (.462) while topping MLB in doubles (15) and OPS+ (214). Kevin Gausman has also been one of the best pitchers in the American League and hasn’t allowed a run over his last 16 innings.
2. Atlanta Braves
Average: 2
(Matt 2, Julian 2, Jack 2)
Safe to say the Braves have lived up to expectations thus far. They’re second in our May rankings for a reason. It’s still early but it’s looking like once again it will be Atlanta’s Division to lose in a loaded NL East. Ronald Acuna is having an MVP-like start to the season and Spencer Strider has become the odds-on favorite to win the NL Cy Young. The depth is also there making this Atlanta team very dangerous once again. — Sabin
1. Tampa Bay Rays
Average: 1
(Matt 1, Julian 1, Jack 1)
Tampa Bay is the top team in this month’s power rankings. They came out of the gates scolding hot. This club matched the best start in MLB history through 13 games. All they’ve done is find a way to win day in and day out, sitting at an incredible 23-6. Tampa did pay the price, however, when they lost starting phenom Jeffery Springs for an extended period. Without him, they are still pitching well, especially the new acquisition Zach Eflin. They have three players in the top 10 in MLB in home runs. Oh, and by the way, Randy Arozarena has a legitimate case for American League MVP just a month in. The Rays will be dangerous come October. — Casciano
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