MLB Power Rankings: What did we learn from each team’s first series? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Every week,​ we​ ask a selected group of our baseball​ writers​ — local and national — to rank the teams from first to worst. Here are the collective results.

Here is a link to last week’s MLB Power Rankings. If any of you changed your rankings based on the first half-week of the season, you are an official power-rankings sicko, and your brain should be studied for science. And not the good kind of science. The kind with secret lairs and wacky hairdos.

Which is another way of saying greetings, friends and power rankings aficionados! Thank you for keeping our house lighted and warm. We truly, truly appreciate you. This week’s installment will look at the ephemeral stats, the ones that are going to disappear over the course of a long, long MLB season. Everybody knows that small-sample gremlins run wild in the early weeks of the season, but there are already some stats you really can’t trust from each team’s first series.

Stats updated through Monday morning.

Record: 3-1
Last Power Ranking: 1

Most meaningless stat(s): A .222 team average, 0.00 bullpen ERA

It’s not like everyone on the Dodgers is cooking. Shohei Ohtani hasn’t gotten much to swing at, and he hasn’t done much with the swings he’s gotten off. Four of the everyday players — Mookie Betts, Teoscar Hernández, Kyle Tucker and Ohtani — were under the Mendoza Line for the first series of the season. This makes it more than a little terrifying that the Dodgers are still rolling, still laying waste to everyone in their path. At some point, and soon, they’ll really start hitting.

As for what won’t last, consider the Dodgers’ bullpen, which hasn’t allowed a run as of this writing. It’s a fine bullpen, and it might even be an excellent bullpen. But it has to be a tired bullpen, what with the extra month of baseball they have to play every season, the poor devils. Eventually, they’ll give up a run. Maybe. — Grant Brisbee

Record: 3-1
Last Power Ranking: T-2

Most meaningless stat: A 0.33 team ERA

Clearly, based on our Power Rankings, we think the Yankees are a good team. We’ll even buy them as the best team outside of Hollywood. And there’s something to like about their pitching. But allowing one run through the first 27 innings is a difficult pace to keep. Will Warren came out of the weekend with the highest ERA on the Yankees’ staff. It was an unsightly 2.08. (That bum allowed the only run the Giants scored all weekend.) The Yankees look good, but they aren’t going to dismiss opposing lineups quite like this all year. — Chad Jennings

Record: 3-2
Last Power Ranking: T-2

Most meaningless stat: Julio Rodríguez’s .289 OPS

This is a meaningless stat because I refuse to acknowledge the existence of Julio Rodríguez until July or so. I pretend that he’s on a distant planet, fighting space crime, for the early months of the season. Then, when he “returns,” I get to watch a young player who rakes and rakes and rakes, one of the heartbeats of a very fun team.

So spare me your lies about yet another slow start from Rodríguez. He’s in the Triangulum Galaxy, building enough evidence to present a space-RICO case against a spice lord. But he’ll be back in the summer, ready to mash, just like he always is. — Brisbee

Record: 3-1
Last Power Ranking: 7

Most meaningless stat: No extra-base hits for Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

The Blue Jays managed to sweep their opening series against the A’s despite Addison Barger going hitless, the bullpen blowing leads in the first two games, and Vlad Jr. doing everything except hit for power. Through the first three games, Guerrero was hitting .400 with four walks, no strikeouts, a .571 on-base percentage, and not a single extra-base hit. We’re betting that if he continues to avoid striking out, while getting on base more than half the time, he will run into a home run or two along the way. — Jennings

Record: 3-1
Last Power Ranking: T-4

Most meaningless stat: Six runs per game

The Mets have a good offense, and it wouldn’t be shocking to see them maintain a top-10 offensive pace. But they scored 18 runs in their first three games, and the way they did it was pretty weird. More than a quarter of their runs (5) came in extra innings, and another five runs came in that wild first inning against Paul Skenes on Opening Day. So, aside from scoring in extras and beating up on the best right-handed pitcher in baseball, the Mets opened with eight runs in 26 innings. It’s a good lineup, just a strange way for it to come out of the gate. — Jennings

Record: 3-1
Last Power Ranking: 10

Most meaningless stat: Brandon Sproat’s 21.00 ERA

Is it concerning any time a pitching prospect allows seven earned runs on six hits (three home runs) and four walks in three innings? Sure. It’s not a great outcome. Is it more concerning when the opposing team was the White Sox? Well, yeah, obviously. Does it make you sweat a little when you just traded your team’s ace for a package headlined by this kid? I’m sure it must!

TINSTAAPP was coined for a reason, but it’s not anything to get dogmatic about. Sproat should be a very good Brewer for the next 4-5 seasons, at which point he will be traded to the A’s for another pitching prospect. Rinse, repeat.

Honorable mention: With a .408 BABIP, and having played only the White Sox, the Brewers led the league in several offensive categories. Like … most of them. That seems unsustainable. — Levi Weaver

Record: 1-3
Last Power Ranking: 8

Most meaningless stat: Masataka Yoshida’s .600 on-base percentage

The Red Sox had a weird start to the year. They pitched well (2.30 ERA), but Sonny Gray struggled in Game 2 and a pair of trusted relievers lost a couple of games. Outside of Roman Anthony, Wilyer Abreu and Marcelo Mayer, the lineup didn’t do a ton. Maybe there’s a spark to be found in Yoshida, who had five plate appearances and reached base in three of them. But, no, the Red Sox still have no easy way to get Yoshida at-bats. He looked great in the WBC, but he’s buried beneath younger, more athletic, left-handed Red Sox outfielders. — Jennings

Record: 2-2
Last Power Ranking: T-4

Most meaningless stat: Going 1-2 in their first series

After a winter where the Cubs finally acted like a big-market team, it had to be at least a little disappointing to come out and lose two out of three, especially to a Nationals team that spent the winter offloading big-league talent. But it’s just three of 162. Right now, that’s completely shrug-offable, a blip on the schedule. If the Cubs go into a tailspin, it won’t be because of this, and if they’re a playoff team, it won’t even really be in spite of this. It’s just a thing that happened.

The only way it really matters would be if the Cubs miss a division win or the postseason by one game. If that happens, I promise to rewrite this entire section. — Weaver

Record: 1-3
Last Power Ranking: 6

Most meaningless stat: A .370 OPS in the first three innings

On Opening Day, Trea Turner opened the bottom of the first inning with a single, and Kyle Schwarber followed with a two-run homer. A sign of things to come? Nope, not at all. Three games later, those were the only runs the Phillies had scored in the first three innings of any game. They delivered that aforementioned .370 OPS in the first three innings, including going 1-for-20 in the second and third innings. The offense has been better later — .670 OPS in innings 4-6, .631 in innings 7-9 — but Opening Day was the only game in which the Phillies got off to a strong start, and it’s also the only game they won in their opening series. That lineup has more quick-strike ability than that. — Jennings

Record: 3-1
Last Power Ranking: 9

Most meaningless stat: Ronald Acuña Jr.’s .083 batting average

Not a bad opening weekend for the Braves, who took two of three against the Royals, including a terrific start by Chris Sale in Game 1 and a walk-off win in Game 2. Ozzie Albies, Drake Baldwin and Michael Harris are off to fine starts. Meanwhile, the Braves’ best player (probably) went just 1-for-12 with three strikeouts and one walk in those first three games. The Braves came through their Opening Series with the third-highest team fWAR in the National League, and that was despite Acuña so far being a negative-WAR player. — Jennings

Record: 2-2
Last Power Ranking: 11

Most meaningless stat: Javier Báez’s .143 batting average

Most of these sections have been something along the lines of “haha, look at this absurd stat that is technically true but wildly unsustainable.” This one … seems sustainable to me. I just don’t think it matters.

Sure, Báez had a nice little comeback last year. He was an All-Star after two down seasons in a row! But Kevin McGonigle has been a revelation. Jace Jung has looked pretty good early in the season. The Tigers have relatively young and high-potential players all over the field. So if Báez is relegated to utility bench bat, I don’t think that’s a huge problem. And if he recovers to be an All-Star again, great! — Weaver

Record: 2-2
Last Power Ranking: 12

Most meaningless stat: One home run

The Orioles signed Pete Alonso and traded for Taylor Ward. Gunnar Henderson is healthy, Coby Mayo had a great spring, and bat-first prospect Samuel Basallo made his first Opening Day roster. Yet, the only home run this team hit in the opening series came from Tyler O’Neill, and he didn’t even hit it on Opening Day. There’s a lot more pop where that came from. Two stats the Orioles hope mean something: Trevor Rogers having a 0.00 ERA after his Opening Day gem and Ryan Helsley going 2-for-2 in early save opportunities. — Jennings

Record: 2-2
Last Power Ranking: 13

Most meaningless stat: Carlos Estévez’s 162.00 ERA, 18.00 WHIP, .800 batting average against

This is the sort of line you would expect if you ran me out there, not a big-league pitcher who was an All-Star just last season. The good news is that it all came in just one very bad, horrible 1/3 of an inning, facing Atlanta. His career ERA — he’s pitched over 485 innings in the big leagues since 2016, mind you — jumped from 3.97 to 4.08.

Yeesh.

So maybe not meaningless as it pertains to the back of Estévez’s baseball cards. But hopefully it’s just a blip to start the season. — Weaver

Record: 3-1
Last Power Ranking: 15

Most meaningless stat: Wyatt Langford’s .071/.071/.071 (.142 OPS) slash line

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but Texas has been a pitching-first — or frankly, a pitching-only — team for a few years now. They made a lot of changes this offseason to try to fix that problem, but one player they have expected to be a load-bearing column for the future is Langford. One bad series doesn’t change that.

While we wait, though, it has been fun to see Andrew McCutchen get off to a hot start. He’s got a 1.444 OPS through his first three games. — Weaver

Record: 3-2
Last Power Ranking: T-16

Most meaningless stat: 3.5 barrels per PA (25th out of 30 teams)

The Astros should hit a little this season. They might not be a juggernaut, but they have a fascinating mix of grizzled vets and youngsters, with depth throughout the lineup. Right now, they’re not squaring the ball up. That’s likely to change.

The bigger story is that Yordan Alvarez carried over his encouraging numbers from last September, walking five times against Angels pitching, with a long home run. He added a stolen base, too, just to prove he was feeling a lil’ froggy. And if this is the version of Alvarez that the Astros get all season, they’ll have a lot more barrels than they did over the weekend. — Brisbee

Record: 1-3
Last Power Ranking: 20

Most meaningless stat: Paul Skenes’ 67.50 ERA

Look, I really wanted to pick something like “Brandon Lowe hit one home run per game for the first series, and I’m pretty sure he won’t keep that up,” but Skenes was the stat that inspired this whole topic. It’s bonkers to me that Skenes had posted sub-2.00 ERAs in each of his first two full seasons in the big leagues, and after one start in 2026, that career mark is up to 2.10.

That was one horrific start. But it was only one. I’ll be very interested to see if it ends up being the difference in a third consecutive sub-2.00 season or not. — Weaver

Record: 1-3
Last Power Ranking: T-16

Most meaningless stat: Jeremiah Estrada’s 54.00 ERA

Hey, look! It’s the only other NL West team to get a win through the first weekend of the season. That doesn’t mean they won their first series of the season, heavens no. But a win was enough to give them the second-best start in the division. They’ll take it, like Charlie Brown accepting a scratched-out valentine.

One of those early losses, however, came after a disastrous outing from Estrada, who couldn’t find the plate. His shiny 0.00 ERA in spring training also came with seven walks in 9 2/3 innings, so it’s not like the control problems can be ignored entirely. But he’s most likely a simple mechanical tweak away from being a bullpen monster (the good kind) again. — Brisbee

Record: 2-2
Last Power Ranking: 18

Most meaningless stat: Fewest strikeouts in the AL

Let’s assume you know nothing about the Rays because, well, people tend to not know very much about the Rays. What’s one thing you would assume about them? That they can pitch, right? Well, though the opening series, the Rays have the fewest strikeouts (16) and the second-highest ERA (6.84) in the American League. Drew Rasmussen was good on Opening Day, but Griffin Jax and Garrett Cleavinger — expected to be two of the better relievers in baseball — were each knocked around and took the Rays’ first two losses. Those two should be the least of the team’s problems (and they have Shane McClanahan lined up to make his much-anticipated return to the rotation on Tuesday). — Jennings

Record: 1-3
Last Power Ranking: 19

Most meaningless stat: Corbin Carroll’s .348 OPS

Here’s why that’s unlikely to continue:

• A .348 OPS would be a major-league record for the lowest OPS from a player who qualified for the batting average since Bill Bergen’s .319 mark in 1909.

• Carroll had an .883 OPS last year, his age-24 season. He might not have even peaked yet. He is a much better hitter than he’s shown so far.

• One thing to keep in mind is what’s known as “sample size,” which is the number of data points we have to measure offensive performance.

• In conclusion, the Diamondbacks’ best hitter will have better weeks than this last one.

The Diamondbacks also won’t face a fully armed and operational battle station every time they play. That was probably the real problem. — Brisbee

Record: 1-3
Last Power Ranking: 14

Most meaningless stat: .176 team SLG (0 HR)

The Giants might not be very good this year. Heck, they might lose 90 games or more. But if that kind of calamity happens, the lineup shouldn’t be to blame. The rotation after Logan Webb? Could be a problem, although Tyler Mahle and Robbie Ray both looked effective enough against the Yankees. The bullpen, which was the culprit in the series finale? Yeah, that part of the team is and will remain suspect.

Not the lineup, though. That’s filled with players you’ve actually heard of. It’s a lineup where the sixth-place hitter might actually make you feel good about the team. Compare that to not-so-distant Giants lineups that made you think, “That’s their cleanup hitter?” The Giants might flop, and a lot of these hitters could have disappointing seasons, just because baseball can be a jerk like that. But they shouldn’t be this bad. Nobody is. — Brisbee

Record: 3-2
Last Power Ranking: 23

Most meaningless stat: Only Chase DeLauter has hit a home run

It’s a funny stat, since the Guardians very clearly needed to address their offense over the offseason, and essentially decided, “Nah, the new kid will fix it.” So far, so good on that front — the Guardians went 2-2 against a Mariners team that a lot of folks are picking to win the AL, and DeLauter hit four homers in the four-game series.

However, the only reason I think the stat is meaningless is because José Ramírez exists. And Rhys Hoskins should hit a few (though his .500 batting average in that Seattle series was also a contender here). I still think they need more offense. — Weaver

Record: 3-1
Last Power Ranking: 22

Most meaningless stat: Zero hits from catchers so far

Here is something that I know to be true: Sal Stewart is not going to keep up the 2.069 OPS he posted over the first series of the season. But while that’s not a sustainable stat, it’s also not a meaningless one. The Red Sox have very good pitching this year, and Steward laid waste to it, smashing four extra-base hits, walking thrice and striking out zero times.

That’s incredibly encouraging, even if it won’t be this good all season.

So instead, let’s go with Tyler Stephenson and Jose Trevino getting goose-egged in the opening series. It happens. — Weaver

Record: 3-1
Last Power Ranking: 24

Most meaningless stat: 0.89 team WHIP

Through the weekend, these five teams did the best job keeping runners off base: the Yankees, Blue Jays, Dodgers, Mariners … and Marlins. Top five in ERA? Yankees, Tigers, Braves, Red Sox … and Marlins. Yes, the same team that traded away a couple of starters this offseason has so far been one of the best pitching staffs in baseball. New closer Pete Fairbanks is 2-for-2 in save opportunities, and the staff as a whole has issued only five walks (tied with the Dodgers for the least in baseball through three games). It’s either a terrific sign for Miami or damning confirmation about their opening-series opponents: the Colorado Rockies. — Jennings

Record: 0-4
Last Power Ranking: 21

Most meaningless stat: 6.7-percent launch angle from their hitters (30th in MLB)

The Athletics’ opening assignment wasn’t as gnarly as the Diamondbacks’ in Los Angeles, but it wasn’t far off. They also had to go into a viper’s pit of celebratory and ceremonial shenanigans, except they had to fly to an entirely different country to do it. It’s hard to muster a lot of momentum when you’re playing in front of fans drunk on pennant juice.

Against the Blue Jays, Athletics hitters kept pounding baseballs into the ground, one after the other. If the 2026 A’s are going to have a “thing,” it’s probably going to be hitting baseballs over the fence. They’ll need to get them in the air first, and they will. — Brisbee

Record: 2-2
Last Power Ranking: T-25

Most meaningless stat: Zero ABS challenges from Cardinals batters

If the young core of the Cardinals’ lineup really can slug all season as they did against the Rays, they’ll be one of the biggest surprises in baseball. The fact that none of the hitters bothered to challenge a close call, however, suggests that they were getting pitches riiiiight where they like them. They shouldn’t be so fortunate all season.

It was an encouraging start for a team that has a lot more reason to be optimistic for the future than you might think. We’ll see how they do when pitchers start hitting the corners against them, though. — Brisbee

Record: 1-3
Last Power Ranking: T-25

Most meaningless stat: 2026 attendance: 0 fans per game at home games

What is this, 2020?

Just kidding — the Twins opened in Baltimore this year; they haven’t played any home games. So this number is going to go up. Way up? Mmmm. Maybe not. Minnesota averaged 21,836 fans per game last season — seventh-lowest in the sport — but remember: that does include the pre-trade-deadline-fire-sale numbers.

Ownership had a playoff team. Their options were to invest in it, stand pat, or sell it for parts. They chose the latter, and fans were (rightfully) annoyed. I’ll be curious to see how far that attendance number drops this year. — Weaver

Record: 2-3
Last Power Ranking: 27

Most meaningless stat: A 5.7 fan optimism rating in the MLB Hope-O-Meter™

The Angels finished with the second-lowest optimism rating in our unofficial fan survey, above only the Twins. On one hand, there’s nowhere to go but up. On the other hand, that’s not true. There’s plenty of room for 5.7 percent of Angels fans to change their minds. I believe in them.

The Angels started off relatively hot, though, splitting a series against the Astros, and the most important rule of writing about baseball is this: At least wait until the team gets stuck in a bear trap before making fun of them. So far, so not-so-awful for the Angels. If they keep this up, that percentage of fans could even go up. — Brisbee

Record: 3-1
Last Power Ranking: 29

Most meaningless stat: Joey Wiemer’s 1.000 batting average and 3.333 OPS

Just to put this into context, here are the top five teams in OPS through the weekend: Brewers, Angels, Nationals, Cardinals and Rays. Honestly, are any of those teams going to be top five in OPS at the end of the year? No way, right? The Brewers were great last season, and even they weren’t top 10 in OPS, much less top five. Yet, here are the Nationals, having just won two out of three against the Cubs — a team expected to contend for the pennant — while their best hitter was Weimer, who went 6-for-6 with two walks, two home runs and the first triple of his career. Almost literally too good to believe. — Jennings

Record: 1-3
Last Power Ranking: 28

Most meaningless stat: Seven pitchers with ERAs over 10.00, only five under

This is a meaningless stat, but maybe not in the way the others are. Could the White Sox finish the season with a half-dozen pitchers wearing double-digit ERAs? I dunno, sure. Why not.

The reason it’s meaningless is because — as the White Sox have so frequently reminded their fans in recent years — we are on an infinitesimally small rock, floating through some distant corner of a universe that we have barely begun to understand. We grow wiser as we grow more fragile, but, compared to the age of rocks and oceans, we no sooner begin our time on this planet than we are whisked away into the arms of a mystery.

What does any of it even mean? How can we do anything at all but hold each other, look around in bewilderment at the whole construct, and thank our fellow man for being here to see it with us?

So no, you can’t make me care about the ERAs of White Sox pitchers. — Weaver

Record: 1-3
Last Power Ranking: 30

Most meaningless stat: 54 team OPS+

Did they get swept? Yes. Are they technically on pace to finish with a worse record than last season, which, in turn, was one of the worst regular-season records of all time? Yes. Am I doing that thing where I ask a string of rhetorical questions about the Rockies to pad the word count because I’m horrified that I’ve already run out of things to write about them? Perhaps.

All three losses in their opening series against the Marlins were by one run, though, and while it’s more than a little patronizing to point out the silver linings in a series sweep, they were competitive, mostly well-pitched games. Everyone on the roster has a reason to be there, and they look like a major-league team again. So while that team OPS+ doesn’t have to go higher than the 80s, they’ll be a little better than this. — Brisbee