MLB Power Rankings Week 10: Are Dodgers or Braves No. 1?

Atlanta's reign atop our list continues for the fourth consecutive week, as the Braves narrowly beat out the Dodgers for the No. 1 spot in Week 10.

It was a big week for the National League as the Brewers round out our top three, marking the first time this season that the top three teams have all been from the NL. The Pirates, Phillies and Padres join the trio in our top 10, as the Yankees, Rays, Mariners and Guardians represent the American League in the top 10.

At the other end of the list, the Red Sox, Astros, Royals and Tigers all still rank near the bottom despite coming into the 2026 season with playoff aspirations. Will they be able to overcome their struggles and bounce back?

Our expert panel has ranked every team based on a combination of what we've seen so far and what we already knew going into the 162-game marathon that is a full baseball season. We also asked ESPN MLB experts Buster Olney, Jesse Rogers and Bradford Doolittle to weigh in with an observation for all 30 teams.

Week 9 | Preseason rankings

1. Atlanta Braves

Record:42-20

Previous ranking:1

According to three-year Statcast park factors, Truist Field is a mostly neutral venue in terms of scoring, with a slight tilt toward being a pitchers' park. This season, that tilt toward the moundsmen has become an avalanche. Through the end of May, only three parks saw a lower average run total than the 3.76 figure teams put up in Braves home games. And it's not just because of the Braves' sterling early-season pitching. Atlanta batters averaged 5.97 runs per game on the road during that period, the second-best figure in the majors, while they averaged 4.41 runs per contest, ranking 18th, at home. The road version of Atlanta's offense has hit nearly twice as many homers as the home version. What's up with the wind in Cobb County? -- Doolittle

2. Los Angeles Dodgers

Record:40-22

Previous ranking:2

Justin Wrobleski spun a gem against the Phillies in his last start as he continues to emerge for the Dodgers. He gave up just one run on one hit without walking a batter and struck out a season-high nine. It lowered his ERA to 2.87 after a couple of previous up-and-down outings. It's all part of the growth of the 25-year-old, who features a devastating slider -- opponents are hitting just .169 in at-bats ending in that pitch. Wrobleski has given up one or fewer runs in six starts already this season, giving manager Dave Roberts yet another option on the mound after Wrobleski established himself as a big leaguer last season. -- Rogers

3. Milwaukee Brewers

Record:37-22

Previous ranking:4

It's pretty rare for a player to be traded twice within eight months, but that's what happened to Kyle Harrison -- creating plenty of reason for regret for the teams that moved him, the Giants and Red Sox. Apparently, however, San Francisco and Boston didn't envision themselves unlocking Harrison's talent in the way the Brewers did: Incredibly, he has allowed just four homers in 11 starts for Milwaukee, and only one to batters 2-9 in opposing lineups. -- Olney

4. New York Yankees

Record:36-25

Previous ranking:5

The absence of Aaron Judge,who is being treated for a bone bruise in his shoulder, will only underscore the importance of Ben Rice, who has emerged as an early MVP candidate in the AL. Rice is producing at a pace that projects to more than 40 homers, more than 80 extra-base hits and around 120 runs and 120 RBIs. There has been media speculation that the Yankees might consider shifting Rice to catcher to squeeze Paul Goldschmidt and Giancarlo Stanton into the lineup together, after Stanton is activated from the injured list in two or three weeks. But for now, the team is inclined to leave Rice at first. -- Olney

5. Tampa Bay Rays

Record:36-23

Previous ranking:3

Shane McClanahan has been exceptional in his return to the Tampa Bay rotation this year after missing all of 2024 and '25. Over his last seven starts he has been utterly dominant, allowing a total of five earned runs. The Rays have been relatively careful in their handling of him, which isn't surprising in light of his injury history. He has not had a start of more than 90 pitches this season, and in spite of all the zeros he has thrown up, he has yet to throw a pitch in the seventh inning of any of his starts. That kind of handling seems likely to continue as Tampa Bay aims to protect McClanahan. -- Olney

6. Seattle Mariners

Record:33-30

Previous ranking:12

Seattle finally woke up from its slumber. In fact, it's the team's lumber that fueled a recent win streak. The Mariners hit 14 home runs over five games, vaulting them to the top of the AL West. There's a good chance they'll stay there considering it's June and no one else in the division is above .500. The power surge last week was widespread, as eight different Mariners hit a home run, led by Julio Rodriguez (three). Seattle might still run away with the division despite a slow start. -- Rogers

7. Cleveland Guardians

Record:36-27

Previous ranking:6

May was a banner month for Cleveland, if only because the Royals and Tigers -- the teams that figured to be the Guardians' primary challengers in the division -- went a combined 16-40. Cleveland played well, though, going 18-11 in May, including 10-4 on the road, while establishing itself as the front-runner in the AL Central race. A big part of that success was the rapid acclimation that hyped prospect Travis Bazzana seems to have made to big league pitching. The No. 1 overall pick from the 2024 draft led the Guardians with 32 hits, eight stolen bases and an 0.876 OPS during May. -- Doolittle

8. Pittsburgh Pirates

Record:33-28

Previous ranking:11

It's as if Don Kelly was made from the Aaron Boone mold as a manager. As a player, Kelly -- like Boone -- was known to be incredibly gregarious, highly approachable and easy to talk to for opponents, the media and, yes, umpires. But as manager of the Pirates, Kelly has shown a more fiery side. He's already got three ejections this season, after having four in 124 games last year. "What I've seen from Donnie is that he's got a really strong level of belief in players individually and what they are capable of collectively ... That belief in players comes out during the games sometimes," Pirates general manager Ben Cherington wrote in a text. -- Olney

9. Philadelphia Phillies

Record:32-29

Previous ranking:9

The formerly flailing Phillies kept their season alive with a terrific May that will always be remembered for one player's excellence. The word "literally" gets thrown around too often, but in this case, it's an apt description for what Cristopher Sanchez did in going the entire month without allowing a run. It was literally perfect. The Phillies' 3.19 ERA in May was fourth best in baseball. If you take Sanchez out of it, the staff ERA was 3.78 -- solid, but middle of the pack. Meanwhile, the Phillies did a tremendous job of holding leads; in games in May in which they held an advantage at some point, they lost a league-low two of them. -- Doolittle

10. San Diego Padres

Record:32-28

Previous ranking:7

The nightmare is over for Fernando Tatis Jr., who finally hit his first home run of the season last week -- in his 59th game. Though the power hasn't been there, Tatis has been an OK contributor to the Padres' offense, which has been sporadic so far this season. His on-base percentage is now up to around .350, and despite just that one home run, his OPS+ is just under 100, which is league average. None of that is great considering his history and contract, but if the best is yet to come for Tatis, then the worst wasn't all bad. Two games after hitting that home run, he had a three-hit day -- so maybe a hot stretch is coming. -- Rogers

11. Arizona Diamondbacks

Record:32-29

Previous ranking:8

The Diamondbacks' bullpen has found its sea legs, propelling them into the playoff race. Holdovers like Ryan Thompson and Kevin Ginkel have been better versions of themselves, while Paul Sewald has regained some of his former closing form. Meanwhile, rookie Brandyn Garcia has been lights out since coming up. After a couple of rough seasons on the mound since making the World Series in 2023, Arizona might be a contender once again. Remember, the Diamondbacks were the last team to beat the Dodgers in the playoffs. Back then, the D-backs did it with pitching. They could have enough again this season -- and we haven't even seen the return of Corbin Burnes yet. -- Rogers

12. Chicago Cubs

Record:32-30

Previous ranking:10

Manager Craig Counsell's rotation ranks 24th in ERA, 29th in average fastball velocity and 20th in strikeouts per nine innings. The production has been greatly affected by injuries to Cade Horton and others, of course, but the clear need for the Cubs leading up to the trade deadline will be starting pitching. Presumably, they'll be sorting through the names emerging in speculation: Tarik Skubal, Sandy Alcantara, Freddy Peralta, Joe Ryan, Robbie Ray, etc. It's worth noting: The Cubs' recent history shows that they aren't willing to make acquisitions high in prospect cost midseason. -- Olney

13. Chicago White Sox

Record:33-29

Previous ranking:18

Coming off one of the most successful months the White Sox have had in years, things are looking up on the South Side. Chicago's 18-10 mark gave it the third-best May winning percentage in MLB, as it ranked fifth in run differential. The White Sox dominated at Rate Field, going 13-3 and averaging six runs per contest. As the season bends toward summer, they face a brutal stretch of their schedule in the coming weeks. After three games at Minnesota, the White Sox visit the Phillies, return home for back-to-back series against the Braves and Dodgers, then head out for three games at Yankee Stadium. Are the White Sox for real? Chances are we'll know the answer to that three weeks from now. -- Doolittle

14. St. Louis Cardinals

Record:32-28

Previous ranking:13

Jordan Walker and JJ Wetherholt have been the headliners for the Cardinals' lineup this season, but others are having good years as well. Alec Burleson has an on-base percentage of .352, and Ivan Herrera has mustered 1.8 WAR in the first chunk of the season. As surprising as St. Louis playing over .500 into June has been, rival executives don't anticipate the Cardinals aggressively adding before the Aug. 3 trade deadline, even though they could use more offense among the outfielders and at third base. -- Olney

15. Toronto Blue Jays

Record:29-33

Previous ranking:15

Louis Varland is a strong candidate to be part of the AL All-Star team after saving Toronto's bullpen in the first months of the regular season. With Jeff Hoffman struggling, Varland has helped to plug the closer's role with a dominant campaign so far -- just one earned run allowed in 31 innings, with nine walks and 42 strikeouts. Incredibly, he has not allowed a home run this season. He is a major reason the Jays have been able to hang on in the AL East race. -- Olney

16. Texas Rangers

Record:30-32

Previous ranking:21

Closing in on his 38th birthday, Jacob deGrom turned back the clock once again, dazzling over five shutout innings againstthe Cardinals on Monday. He gave up four hits and a walk while striking out eight. It earned him his 100th career win, which seems strange for someone with so much talent who has been around since 2014. We know that his injury history has held him back from more success -- though not lately. DeGrom made 30 starts last year to go along with 12 so far this season. His career 2.61 ERA tells his story more than wins and losses do. He's a big reason the Rangers are even close in a down AL West. -- Rogers

17. Athletics

Record:30-31

Previous ranking:16

Perhaps Brent Rooker is coming out of his seasonlong struggles at the plate. He has been gobbling up hits after an 0-for-14 stretch helped his batting average drop to .189 last week. But then he had a two-hit day and a home run in a loss against the Yankees, which also came with some better at-bats. Rooker's average exit velocity is still under 90 mph and his expected stats are no better than his actual ones, but there are little signs of improvement. If he can handle off-speed/breaking pitches better, the old Rooker might return. Overall, the A's have underachieved at the plate but feel like a team that could get hot at any time -- just like Rooker. -- Rogers

18. Washington Nationals

Record:31-32

Previous ranking:17

Through the end of April, the Nationals ranked second in the majors with 175 runs scored. It was an exciting development for a franchise that's been stuck in rebuild mode for way too long, but it was probably a fluke, right? Well, in May, Washington's hitters slumped to ... second, scoring 149 runs in 28 games. For those still doubting this Nats attack, it's time to stop. This group is for real.

There are always multiple contributors to any teamwide breakout, but the avatar for it in Washington's case is 23-year-old James Wood, who, as it stands, would merit down-ballot MVP support if the season ended today. Wood has honed his approach, leading to a spike in walk rate. But the real fun begins when he swings: According to Statcast, Wood leads all qualifying hitters in average exit velocity (96.1 mph) and barrel rate (13.1%). -- Doolittle

19. Cincinnati Reds

Record:31-30

Previous ranking:14

You could make a case that Hunter Greene is the most important player in the Reds' organization as they try to get back to the playoffs for the second straight year -- and he's making progress in his return from an elbow injury. He will start to ramp up his throwing program, and if all goes well, Cincinnati is hopeful that he'll be back in the rotation sometime at the outset of July, and perhaps make a couple of starts before the All-Star break. -- Olney

20. Baltimore Orioles

Record:29-33

Previous ranking:23

The Orioles spent big on Pete Alonso, and they're finally starting to see some return on their investment in the Polar Bear. Since April 28, he's batting .279 with a .535 slugging percentage and an 0.871 OPS -- and in that time, Baltimore has been hanging around the wild-card race in the land of opportunity that is the AL, playing close to .500 ball. -- Olney

21. Minnesota Twins

Record:29-34

Previous ranking:19

The Twins' offense trailed off during May, and though the Twins still rank as a top-10 team in overall runs per game, the hyper-aggressiveness of their collective approach might be catching up to them. During the month, Twins hitters swung at first pitches 36.9% of the time, the second-highest mark in baseball. Meanwhile, they ranked 27th in walk rate (7.1%) and 26th in strikeout rate (24.2%). Minnesota managed to stay in the middle of the pack on the May scoring leaderboard, mostly thanks to a No. 4 ranking in OPS with runners in scoring position (.807). Still, you wonder how even that strength can hold up if the collective approach isn't moderated at least a little. -- Doolittle

22. Houston Astros

Record:28-35

Previous ranking:24

Do the Astros have a run in them? Josh Hader is back. Jose Altuve is close. Hunter Brown is also getting close, while Yordan Alvarez is doing Yordan Alvarez-type stuff at the plate. Even without Carlos Correa, the Astros still have a shot since their division and the AL as a whole are both experiencing growing pains. Brown might be the key to the whole thing as he made just two starts before going down in April. He has already made a couple of rehab outings, which means he can't be far away from returning. Adding Hader, Altuve and Brown back into the mix might be the remedy for what ails a Houston franchise that can still be a player in the playoff race, even if its best days are in the past. -- Rogers

23. Boston Red Sox

Record:26-34

Previous ranking:22

Trades in May or June are unusual in this era, but according to sources, the Red Sox are not only looking around for a right-handed hitter, but also indicating to other teams that they'd be willing to take on significant money -- maybe some other club's bad contract -- to make a deal. Of course, this stance will beg the question of why the Red Sox didn't simply offer more money to sign Alex Bregman in the offseason, a right-handed hitter who wanted to stay. But it reflects the desperation of the team to get back into the playoff hunt. -- Olney

24. Miami Marlins

Record:29-34

Previous ranking:20

A May swoon might have the Marlins staring at yet another rebuilding campaign, and if that's the case, it's not too early to start thinking of the in-season trade market and a possible deal including former Cy Young winner Sandy Alcantara. If that's the direction the Marlins take, obviously the better he pitches, the more alluring he becomes to potential suitors. May was not good in that regard. After posting a 3.04 ERA over seven starts through the end of April, Alcantara went 0-2 with an unsightly 7.39 ERA in May. He was better in his first June outing -- a seven-inning quality start against a dynamic Nationals offense. Still, the weeks to come are crucial for Alcantara, the Marlins and, potentially, the playoff outlook of some contender yet to be named. -- Doolittle

25. New York Mets

Record:27-35

Previous ranking:25

It's a low bar, but the Mets were better in May, going 16-12 -- including 9-3 at home, which seems particularly important given how surly Mets fans had gotten at Citi Field by the end of May. The most encouraging development was the play of rookie Carson Benge, who put a lackluster start to his career behind him by hitting .306/.375/.426 during May while leading the Mets with 33 hits. Add a little slug to that and you've really got something. Well, Benge hammered a pair of homers at Seattle in his second June game, lifting his season (and career) total to six and his OPS to around .700 mark.This is what the Mets had in mind when they gave Benge the Opening Day nod in right field. -- Doolittle

26. Detroit Tigers

Record:25-38

Previous ranking:27

The Tigers' disastrous 6-22 May -- which included 15 losses in games that Detroit led at some point, six more than any other team -- has received plenty of attention and may well have tanked their season. Rather than dwell on all that, let's focus on one happy story amid the misery: the play of catcher Dillon Dingler, who may be having the best all-around season of any backstop in the majors. According to the subcomponents of FanGraphs' version of WAR, Dingler ranks seventh among all catchers in batting runs above average but dominates all six players ahead of him in defensive metrics. If you zero in on fWAR earned only while catching, Dingler's 2.8 wins are 0.8 higher than any other backstop. -- Doolittle

27. Kansas City Royals

Record:24-38

Previous ranking:26

The Royals' disappointing season accelerated in the wrong direction in May. They went 10-18 and escaped falling into the AL Central cellar only because the Tigers were struggling even worse. Repeated failings in key moments fueled the slide, and blame lies on both sides of the ball. Kansas City hitters posted an 0.597 OPS in high-leverage situations on the month, per TruMedia, ranking 25th in the majors. The news was more grim on the pitching side: Kansas City hurlers allowed a ghastly .957 OPS in high-leverage spots during that span, 83 points worse than any other team and 265 points worse than the MLB average. Egad. -- Doolittle

28. San Francisco Giants

Record:24-38

Previous ranking:28

The Giants may have bottomed out on the mound, compiling a 9.29 ERA over a five-game span from Friday through Tuesday against the Rockies and Brewers. Monday's 16-2 loss to Milwaukee was particularly bad as all four Giants hurlers gave up multiple runs, including infielder Buddy Kennedy. Starter Landen Roupp gave up eight hits and five walks, resulting in eight of those 16 runs over just four innings. He wasn't the only culprit, as Adrian Houser and Caleb Kilian were among others to have a bad week. The pitching staff continues to lean on Robbie Ray and Logan Webb, but for how long? The trade deadline is inching closer. -- Rogers

29. Colorado Rockies

Record:24-39

Previous ranking:30

The Rockies had a good week at the plate, hitting 10 home runs and 13 doubles over five games, resulting in two of their better wins of the season Monday and Tuesday against the lowly Angels. A five-run eighth inning set the stage for a come-from-behind victory in the first game as Hunter Goodman's three-run blast was the difference-maker in the 9-8 win. Tuesday was a bit easier as Colorado got off to an 8-0 lead thanks to another Goodman home run and Willi Castro blast. Whenever the Rockies score runs away from Coors Field, they get extra credit. Now, can they parlay all that into some more wins? -- Rogers

30. Los Angeles Angels

Record:24-39

Previous ranking:29

Jose Soriano is going backward after a great start to his year. He has seemingly lost the feel on his four-seamer as his walk rate continues to climb. On Monday, he gave up seven free passes to the Rockies, a team that currently ranks in the bottom 10 of the majors in that category. The start before that he gave up four walks, and he gave up another six two starts before that. Soriano will begin the arbitration process after this season, so there's no huge need to trade him -- though he could be one of the better trade chips in the market if the Angels go that route. But first he needs to find his command again. -- Rogers

]