The Rays lead the AL East in the latest MLB Power Rankings, while the Tigers drop following Tarik Skubal's injury. The rankings reflect both current performance and future prospects.
Key points
Rays lead the AL East in MLB Power Rankings
Tigers drop after Tarik Skubal's injury
J.J. Wetherholt and Bobby Witt Jr. are standout players
Power Rankings reflect current performance and long-term outlook
Orioles noted for best giveaways
RaysTigersTarik SkubalJ.J. Wetherholt
MLB Power Rankings: Rays take charge in the AL East, Tigers tumble after Tarik Skubal injury
Featured in this week’s MLB Power Rankings, the Rays are surprising everyone, Elmo is a good luck charm for the Phillies, J.J. Wetherholt and Bobby Witt Jr. turn on the afterburners, and the Orioles have the best giveaways.
As a reminder, this article is a combination of current performance and long-term outlook.
Let’s get started!
Note: Rankings are from the morning of Monday, May 11
A tough week for the Braves organization as we lost both Ted Turner and Bobby Cox. Like most people in the U.S. in the 1990s, I got to watch a ton of Braves games because of their presence on TBS. What stuck out to me as a kid was how much Cox was willing to go to bat for his players. It’s one of those things that is hard to fully quantify, but it surely had an impact. Often times it was a call Cox disagreed with, but there was some strategy behind it too. I’m confident that his 162 ejections is one of those records that will never be topped.
The Cubs finally cooled down over the weekend against the Rangers, but they now have two 10-game winning streaks this season. Keep in mind that no other team has even one 10-game winning streak this season. It’s clear the Cubs are here to stay, but starting pitching remains an area of concern after suffered a meniscus tear while “sitting down to play with his kids.” As a 40-something dad, I have never felt more seen.
Q&A
Why are the Rays leading the AL East in the MLB Power Rankings?
The Rays are leading the AL East due to their strong current performance and surprising success this season.
What impact does Tarik Skubal's injury have on the Tigers?
Tarik Skubal's injury has negatively affected the Tigers' performance, contributing to their drop in the Power Rankings.
Who are the standout players mentioned in the MLB Power Rankings?
J.J. Wetherholt and Bobby Witt Jr. are highlighted as standout players making significant contributions.
What factors are considered in the MLB Power Rankings?
The MLB Power Rankings take into account both current team performance and long-term outlook for the season.
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The Rays finally saw their winning streak come to an end on Friday, but Nick Martinez got them back in the win column on Sunday with another fantastic start. Martinez has allowed two earned runs or fewer in all eight of his starts this season and holds a stingy 1.70 ERA. Back at The Trop, this franchise just keeps finding a way.
Winning the Cy Young Award is pretty much the only thing Shohei Ohtani hasn’t done at this point. How much longer can we say that? While Ohtani isn’t posting otherworldly numbers with the bat this season, he’s been nearly untouchable on the mound. He’s boasting a 0.97 ERA through six starts with 42 strikeouts and just nine walks through 37 innings. How fun would it be to see Paul Skenes and Ohtani duking it out for the award down the stretch?
The Yankees got swept by the Brewers over the weekend and have now lost four out of five to fall out of first place in the AL East. Carlos Rodón was shaky in his season debut on Sunday, allowing three runs on two hits and five walks across 4 1/3 innings. The good news is that the Orioles are up next.
6) Milwaukee Brewers ⬆️
Last week: 12
A big statement for the Brewers over the weekend, as they swept the Yankees capped off by Brice Turang’s walk-off two-run homer on Sunday.
It was an eventful weekend in Milwaukee, as fellow NBC Sports colleague CC Sabathia was inducted into the Brewers’ Wall of Honor in recognition of his incredible run with the club in 2008.
While Fernando Tatís Jr. is still searching for his first home run of the season, his bat came up big on Sunday. After breaking his own bat, Nick Castellanos used Tatís’ bat to deliver a game-tying homer with the Padres down to their final strike.
Tatís is now up to 167 plate appearances without a home run this season.
On one hand, this is an embarrassing moment for Fernando Tatís Jr., but it’s also a lot of fun to watch.
Wetherholt circled the bases in just 15.2 seconds, which is very fast, but if you keep reading this article, you’ll find that someone else got him beat this weekend.
10) Athletics ⬆️
Last week: 13
Nick Kurtz drew a walk on Sunday against the Orioles to stretch his on-base streak to 34 games. That’s the longest on-base streak for an A’s player since Nick Swisher reached safely in 36 straight games 20 years ago.
The Guardians pulled off a fascinating trade with the Giants, acquiring Gold Glove catcher Patrick Bailey for left-handed pitcher Matt Wilkinson and the 29th overall pick in July’s MLB Draft. Bailey is widely regarded as one of, if not the best, defensive catcher in all of baseball, but he holds a weak .224/.281/.328 batting line over 384 major league games. Not sure what backup catcher Austin Hedges had to say about the move, but I can imagine it was probably something like, “Hey, I’m literally right here.”
The Reds lost eight in a row before winning the final two games of their series against the Astros over the weekend. Cincinnati’s starters rank 24th in MLB with a 4.61 ERA, but Chase Burns has been magnificent. He tossed six innings of one-run ball on Saturday, lowering his ERA to 2.11 ERA on the year.
13) Philadelphia Phillies ⬆️
Last week: 17
Alec Bohm hadn’t hit a home run since Opening Day and found himself on the bench for back-to-back games, but he broke out with a pair of homers on Saturday while driving in four runs. If Bohm had it his way, Elmo would be in the broadcast booth for every game.
The Phillies are now 10-3 under Don Mattingly as they continue to move up the rankings. I have a feeling they aren't done climbing.
Credit to the Rangers, who stopped the Cubs’ 10-game winning streak and shut out their potent offense in back-to-back games on Saturday and Sunday. Is Jacob Latz the most underrated pitcher in baseball at the moment? It sure feels like it. The southpaw has allowed just two runs and five hits over 20 2/3 innings this season. He’s a big reason why the Rangers have had the best bullpen in the majors so far.
One step forward, one step back. The Mariners took two out of three from the red-hot Braves to begin the week before dropping two out of three to the White Sox over the weekend. Cal Raleigh is in the midst of the longest hitless streak of his career. He’s hitting just .161 through 38 games. Perhaps a matchup against the Astros to begin the week, a team they have dominated lately, will get Raleigh and the M’s going.
The Tigers lost five in a row before besting the Royals on Sunday Night Baseball on Peacock and NBCSN. Tarik Skubal is reportedly aiming to return sometime in June, but it’s could be rough in the interim while they try to hold down the fort with all of these injuries. Also, that sort of turnaround for Skubal would be pretty much unheard of in baseball.
18) Chicago White Sox ⬆️
Last week: 25
Munetaka Murakami’s home run-hitting prowess has been one of the biggest stories of the 2026 season so far, but Colson Montgomery and Miguel Vargas are also doing their part on the power front. The White Sox are the only team who has three players with at least nine home runs.
It’s been rough lately, but the Diamondbacks have won back-to-back games for the first time since April 17-18. Top prospect Ryan Waldschmidt has made his presence felt with the bat and the glove in the early going.
It took until Xavier Edwards’ 278th major league game for him to hit his first homer against a right-handed pitcher. That was on Friday against the Nationals. And because of course he did, he homered against a right-hander on Saturday as well.
C.J. Abrams begins the week tied with Atlanta's Matt Olson for the MLB lead with 36 RBI. He’s already up to nine homers, which puts him on pace to easily pass his career-high of 20 homers from 2024. His barrel rate is on the rise and he’s showing much more patience as the Nationals’ regular cleanup hitter.
Even with Sunday’s loss to the Rays, the Red Sox have won four out of their last six games. Roman Anthony could return later this week after he went down with a wrist injury last Monday.
On Friday, the Orioles drew their largest crowd since Opening Day. And let’s be honest, the team on the field was sort of secondary. The fans came out in droves and waited in absurdly long lines for this Tupac bobblehead. And I have to admit, it’s pretty awesome.
The Orioles are leading the league in cool giveaways. I’m currently plotting a way to get a Turnstile jersey on July 10th.
While the Twins have fallen a bit from their early-season perch, you certainly can’t blame Byron Buxton. He’s connected for 13 homers in his last 24 games.
26) Houston Astros ⬇️
Last week: 24
The injuries keep coming for the Astros. This time it’s Carlos Correa, who felt a pop in his ankle while taking batting practice last week. Turns out he tore a tendon in the ankle and will miss the rest of the season. Call me crazy here, but it’s beginning to feel like this just isn’t the Astros’ year.
The Giants are missing their ace Logan Webb due to right knee bursitis, but at least Rafael Devers’ bat is starting to perk up. He homered in back-to-back games last week and is hitting .333 (10-for-30) so far in May. This team has been hurting for offense, which is one reason behind the Patrick Bailey trade, but Devers simply finding his groove would go a long way to getting them back on track.
On their nine-game roadtrip, the Mets took two out of three from both the Angels and the Rockies before losing two out of three to the Diamondbacks while scoring just five runs in 28 innings. Juan Soto and Bo Bichette went a combined 0-for-20 in the series. With the Mets’ depth being tested, it’s very difficult to win if those guys aren’t hitting.
29) Colorado Rockies
Last week: 29
Hunter Goodman broke out with 31 homers last season and he’s backed that up by launching 10 homers through 37 games so far this season. Oddly, he’s been much better on the road (.283 average, eight homers, .946 OPS) than Coors Field (.197, two homers, .656 OPS) so far.
You might have missed this past Friday, but Alek Manoah pitched in his first major league game since May 29, 2024. That’s a span of 709 days for the former Blue Jays right-hander. He pitched a clean inning with a strikeout against his former team as he tries to revitalize his career.
