MLB Power Rankings 4.0 (Week of April 21): A new No. 1, Mets hit top 10

The New York Mets are one of the hottest teams in baseball and their resurgence shows on the fourth edition of our 2024 MLB power rankings. 

They are, however, still looking up at two divisional rivals in the Atlanta Braves (our new No. 1) and the Philadelphia Phillies along with the crosstown-rival Yankees, who remain entrenched in the No. 2 spot.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have stumbled from their perch, but none have fallen farther than the Pittsburgh Pirates, who had a miserable week. But at least they are not the Chicago White Sox or Colorado Rockies.

MLB Power Rankings 4.0

1. Atlanta Braves (Previous #3): They swept the Astros and took two of three from the defending champion Rangers all while Ronald Acuna and Austin Riley struggle and their new ace, Max Fried, sports an ERA flirting with an 8.00. What happens when everyone wakes up?
2. New York Yankees (Previous #2): The Yankees shook off their first series loss of the season, dropping two of three to the Blue Jays, with two of three over the Rays
3. Baltimore Orioles (Previous #6): This is starting to look like the Orioles wagon we all expected. The young guns — most notably Colton Cowser — are coming along as they swept the Twins and took two of three from the Royals.
   

   

4. Los Angeles Dodgers (Previous #1): Everyone has been waiting for the Dodgers machine to kick it into gear but it hasn’t happened yet. They went a combined 2-4 against the Mets and the Nationals last week.
5. Cleveland Guardians (Previous #9): The Guardians are becoming an AL Central wagon and that is pretty fun to see. They took three of four from the in Boston against the Red Sox and demolished the Athletics. Does it feel like they’re playing with house money? A little bit. They rank second in runs scored despite placing out of the top 10 in both OBP and home runs.
6. Milwaukee Brewers (Previous #5): Milwaukee shook off losing two of three to the Padres by staking their claim as top dog in the NL Central with a sweep of the Cardinals.
7. Texas Rangers (Previous #4): Just like the Dodgers, the Rangers have not quite looked like themselves. Sure, they took three of four from the Tigers, but they did not look all too competitive against the Braves.
8. Philadelphia Phillies (Previous #11): Anything else feeels like it would have been unacceptable, but the Phillies get a bump in the rankings regardless after sweeps of the miserable Rockies and White Sox.
9. New York Mets (Previous #16): The Mets are going against organizational curses and finding ways to win rather than lose. Is this the David Stearns effect? It feels like it. They have won five straight series, which featured a sweep of the once-hot Pirates and two of three wins in Los Angeles over the Dodgers.
10. Kansas City Royals (Previous #8): Kansas City has been one of the more prominent power-hitting teams this season, which has fueled a solid start that was slowed down ever so slightly by losing two of three to the Orioles.
11. Chicago Cubs (Previous #10): A split against the Marlins will halt Chicago’s progress even if they did take two of three from the Diamondbacks to start the week. 
12. Detroit Tigers (Previous #12): Detroit rebounded from losing three of four to the Rangers with a series win against the Twins. They’re still hanging around near the top of the AL Central
13. Toronto Blue Jays (Previous #19): Two straight series wins over the Yankees and Padres have helped stabilize a shaky start from the Jays.
14. San Diego Padres (Previous #14): We’ll keep the Padres at 14 despite dropping that series against Toronto because they took two of three from the Brewers to start the week.
15. Boston Red Sox (Previous #17): The Red Sox ran into the hot Guardians and lost three of four at home but rebounded by sweeping the sinking Pirates. Boston pitching has been immense as they recorded their third shutout of the season already after Tanner Houk’s “Maddux,” on Wednesday in Cleveland.
    

    

16. Cincinnati Reds (Previous #18): They got swept by the Mariners to start the week but followed it up by sweeping the Angels. It’s Elly De La Cruz’s world and we’re all living in it.
17. Tampa Bay Rays (Previous #15): Richie Palacios has quickly become a nice story down in Tampa, but after taking two of there from the Anges, they lost two of three to the Yankees and sit in last in the AL East.
18. Seattle Mariners (Previous #21): How badly did the Mariners need last week to get back on track? They swept the Reds and took two of three from the Rockies to get back to within a game of first place in the AL West.
19. Arizona Diamondbacks (Previous #13): The Diamondbacks keep tumbling down the rankings and rightfully so. The defending NL champs lost two of three to the Cubs and split a four-game set with the Giants last week.
20. Pittsburgh Pirates (Previous #7): It sure feels like the Pittsburgh magic has run out rather quickly here. They were swept by the Mets and Red Sox last week to completely undo an 11-5 start to the season.
    

    

21. San Francisco Giants (Previous #22): How mediocre is the NL West right now? The Giants won two of three against the Marlins and split a four-game set with the Diamondbacks to improve to a measly 10-13 on the season and they’re still just 2.5 games back of first place in the division.
22. St. Louis Cardinals (Previous #23): The Cardinals took two of three from the Athletics, which was good. But man, do they look overmatched in the NL Central after getting swept by the Brewers.
23. Washington Nationals (Previous #27): One of the more prominent jumps made this week was by the Nationals, who took two of three from the reeling Astros and two of three from the sputtering Dodgers.
24. Houston Astros (Previous #20): The Astros stink and it derives from their pitching, which owns a 5.10 ERA that ranks second-worst in MLB. They were swept by the Braves and lost a series to the Nationals to drop to 7-16 this season. Yuck.
25. Minnesota Twins (Previous #24): The first thing that came into my mind while watching the Twins last week was “frauds,” which I think is unfair and probably way too harsh. But they have not looked like the team that many (including myself) picked to win the AL Central this year. They’re 7-13 after getting swept by the Orioles and losing two of three to the Tigers.
26. Los Angeles Angels (Previous #25): Is this where we start the GoFundMe to save the second half of Mike Trout’s career? The Halos lost two of three to the Rays before getting swept by the Reds.
27. Miami Marlins (Previous #28): At least they’re starting to win from ballgames, going 3-4 to the Giants and Cubs.
28. Oakland Athletics (Previous #26): The progress that Oakland made in the power rankings quickly dissolved with a series loss to St. Louis and a sweep at the hands of the Guardians. 
29. Colorado Rockies (Previous #29): They should be thanking their lucky stars that the Chicago White Sox exist. 
30. Chicago White Sox (Previous #30): Chicago is 3-18… THREE-AND-EIGHTEEN.

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