David Lennon: Aaron Judge's injury hits Yankees hard in latest MLB power rankings
Aaron Judge of the Yankees looks on from the dugout against the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium on Sunday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
(Note: Statistics prior to Friday’s games; previous ranking in parenthesis)
1. Atlanta (3)
Looks who’s back. We weren’t an early believer in Atlanta, based on the avalanche of pitching injuries during spring training. But Chris Sale has once again been the staff’s stabilizing force, going 8-4 with a 2.23 ERA out of the gate, and the bullpen has picked up the slack, with the lowest WHIP (1.10) in the majors and the NL’s best ERA (3.10).
2. Dodgers (2)
It’s hardly surprising that LA’s run differential of plus-133 is tops in the majors, considering they have two-way threat Shohei Ohtani, who does more to impact that number than any individual player. The four-time MVP has a 0.74 ERA and 0.787 WHIP in 10 starts while his 161 wRC+ is tied with Juan Soto for MLB’s third-best.
3. Brewers (9)
OK, so Milwaukee has yo-yo’ed around the rankings this season, but it’s time to give the Brew Crew its due after a 21-9 stretch the past month, tops in the sport. They’re 21-8 against teams with a .500 record or better — also baseball’s best mark — at the low, low price of MLB’s 21st ranked payroll ($139M), which should leave room for deadline upgrades.
4. Rays (8)
Tampa Bay’s giddy dash through the season’s first two months hit a speed bump recently, including a sweep by the putrid Tigers, and they’re 2-8 over the past 10 games, just .500 (10-10) in the previous 20. They’re going to need some pitching help at the deadline, but the Rays still have a formidable rotation in place, with a 3.51 ERA that ranks fifth overall.
5. Yankees (1)
Dropping four spots has everything to do with the crushing loss of Aaron Judge, as the three-time MVP is likely out for two months and perhaps more with a stress fracture in the first rib near his right shoulder. Since 2021, Judge accounts for 21% of the Yankees’ MLB-leading homer production over that period. They’re also 10 games under .500 (41-51) during that stretch when Judge isn’t in the lineup.
6. Guardians (12)
Cleveland maintained its grip on first place in the AL Central by taking two of three from the Judge-less Yankees this past week to improve to 13-7 in their last 20 games. Jose Ramirez was 7-for-13 with a home run and three doubles in the series. He's hitting .407 (55-for-135) in 37 career games in the Bronx, with 10 homers and a 1.196 OPS.
7. Mariners (6)
Seattle scrambled back to the top of the AL West as the only above .500 team (33-30) in the division, and it has done so with virtually nothing from MVP runner-up Cal Raleigh, who was hitting .161 with a .560 OPS before he was placed on the IL with an oblique strain on May 14. The Mariners are 12-6 without Raleigh, who is expected back in the next two weeks.
8. Phillies (19)
Call it Mattingly Magic. The Phillies really have shown a knack for getting the most from a managerial firing, and now it’s happening again with Don Mattingly at the helm. Since promoting the bench coach on April 28, the Phillies have baseball’s best record (24-10) during that stretch. They’ve moved to four games over .500 (33-29) and are tied for the NL’s third wild card.
9. Pirates (20)
Paul Skenes still gets all the headlines, and rightfully so, even if his 3.09 ERA through 13 starts is considerably higher than we’ve come to expect after last season’s 1.97. But the Pirates’ 17-13 mark over the past month was boosted by an offense that ranked second in batting average (.267), third in runs (145) and fourth in OPS (.773) over that period.
10. Padres (4)
Will San Diego snap out of its offensive funk in time to stay in the playoff hunt? Or at least convince president of baseball operations A.J. Preller to pursue meaningful reinforcements at the trade deadline? Over the past month, the Padres ranked last in runs (78), batting average (.191) and OPS (.595) but are only a half-game out of the third wild card.
11. Cubs (5)
Things haven’t been great on the North Side lately, with the Cubs in a 12-18 spiral that dropped them to fourth in the NL Central. But this is still a talented roster that has a pair of 10-game winning streaks to its credit this season, and the Cubs’ pitching staff should get healthier with the returns of Edward Cabrera and Matthew Boyd.
12. Diamondbacks (15)
Ketel Marte hit his MLB-leading third walk-off homer Thursday to give the Diamondbacks a split of their four-game series with the Dodgers, keeping them within arm’s reach of LA (6 1/2 games) in the division race. In not-so-great news for Arizona, Corbin Burnes’ rehab assignment was delayed after he strained a shoulder muscle in his final live BP session.
13. White Sox (27)
It’s been a minute since the South Side got excited about its baseball team. But the encouraging start that has them in second place after an 18-12 month was tempered some by the injury to rookie sensation Munetaka Murakami, who suffered a Grade 2 hamstring strain last week. Murakami’s 20 homers are still third-most in the majors and nearly a fourth of the White Sox’s total (84).
14. Cardinals (17)
A funny thing happened on the way to a rebuilding season in St. Louis. Two months in, the Cardinals are actually in playoff contention, somehow the owners of the NL’s second wild card. On an already young team, 23-year-old second baseman JJ Wetherholt has stood out, with a 2.5 fWAR that leads all rookies in the NL.
15. Blue Jays (11)
The Jays aren’t sparking much talk about repeating as AL champs, but they are getting some players back, and at three games under .500, Toronto is very much alive in a wide-open wild card race. This week, they traded again for Simeon Woods Richardson, an original second-round pick by the Mets who was swapped for Marcus Stroman in 2019.
16. Athletics (13)
The A’s are already known for playing in a minor-league stadium, Sacramento’s Sutter Health Park. But it took going on the road for Shea Langeliers to hit a Little League homer, Thursday’s inside-the-park job at Wrigley Field. Langeliers’ 16th home run — his second blast of night — took some extra legwork to get around after Pete Crow-Armstrong lost his high fly ball in the lights.
17. Rangers (14)
After treading water in the AL West, the Rangers could be poised to make their move with the Friday returns of Cory Seager and Wyatt Langford, two of their most potent bats. Seager, the $325 million shortstop, hadn’t played since May 13 due to back inflammation. Langford, who hit 22 homers last season, was out since late April with a right flexor strain.
18. Reds (7)
Sal Stewart’s fast start as a 22-year-old rookie sparked conversation this past week about maybe pursuing an early contract extension, but reports suggested nothing was on the horizon. Stewart already has played three infield positions this season, and is hitting .258 with 12 doubles, 12 homers, 37 RBIs and an .818 OPS.
19. Orioles (16)
Pete Alonso is heating up down in Baltimore. At the end of April, the Polar Bear was hitting .198 with four homers and a .668 OPS through his first 31 games. Since then? Alonso is batting .290 with eight home runs and an .867 OPS over the next 32 games. True to his durable reputation, he also hasn’t missed a game this season.
20. Nationals (25)
The D.C. revival seems to be real, as the surging Nats (16-14 last month) are riding one of the sport’s most dangerous offenses to threaten for a playoff spot (just 2 1/2 games out of a wild card). Heading into Friday’s games, Washington had scored the most runs (331) in the majors with the sixth-best OPS (.734).
21. Astros (28)
If Houston is going to get back in the jumbled AL West mix, it’s going to need Jose Altuve, who returned Friday after missing the previous three weeks with a left oblique strain. Closer Josh Hader also was activated earlier in the week, as the hurting Astros continue to get healthier.
22. Red Sox (21)
Isiah Kiner-Falefa raised eyebrows this past week when he suggested the Red Sox were too distracted playing at home, which he tied to their 10-21 record at Fenway Park (compared to 16-14 on the road). Was Wally causing too much of a commotion? “Sweet Caroline” being cranked too loud? Probably has more to do with the Sox scoring the third-fewest runs in the majors and slugging just .380, ranked 24th overall.
23. Mets (24)
There may be a faint pulse in Flushing, thanks to the energetic rookie duo of Carson Benge and A.J. Ewing, the signs of Juan Soto doing Juan Soto things (9 HRs in a recent 15-game stretch) and Francisco Lindor’s return getting closer on the horizon. The Mets were 16-14 in their last 30 games before starting a weekend series in San Diego, but need to start building on that in a hurry.
24. Twins (30)
Twins righthander Bailey Ober blamed slick baseballs during a May start at Fenway Park for the elbow inflammation that recently landed him on the IL. Ober told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune that the sloppy, rain-soaked conditions forced him to grip the baseballs tighter, leading to the strain on his elbow.
25. Tigers (10)
It’s been a precipitous drop for the Tigers, who loaded up this winter for Tarik Skubal’s last hurrah in Detroit — but instead are likely to ship him out by the trade deadline. Initially it made sense for the Tigers to keep Skubal in his walk year, but at 13 games under .500, Detroit’s hole is too deep, leaving no choice but to cash in during this lost season.
26. Marlins (18)
The Marlins have been sinking fast. They were swept in Flushing last week, and are 13-17 over their last 30 games as Miami’s rotation has unraveled fast with a 5.23 ERA, the sixth-worst over that span. Sandy Alcantara, a perennial trade candidate, has a 4.59 ERA through 13 starts.
27. Royals (22)
When are the Royals going to put a championship-caliber team around Bobby Witt Jr.? Witt turns 26 later this month, and with the injured Judge pretty much out of the MVP race, this could be the shortstop’s year to snag the award as his 3.8 WAR is tops in the AL (Yordan Alvarez, a DH, is next at 3.1, followed by Ben Rice at 2.6).
28. Giants (23)
At 25-38, the Giants fired their third-base coach Hector Borg this week, which comes off like firing a waiter when the chef is a lousy cook. Based on the team’s performance, under a first-year manager who came from the college ranks, it makes sense to axe someone. But installing Gary Pettis to replace Borg isn’t much of a remedy.
29. Rockies (29)
Shortstop Ezequiel Tovar, a Gold Glove winner in 2024, made history with his bat and legs last week. Tovar swatted two home runs in an 8-6 victory over the Giants, including the walk-off winner, and also stole home to become the first player to ever accomplish those three feats in the same game, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Not bad for a .220 hitter.
30. Angels (26)
What happened to Jose Soriano? He was 5-1 with a 0.84 ERA through his first seven starts — with 49 strikeouts in 42 2/3 innings — but has completely come off the rails since as the Angels have plummeted. In his last six starts, Soriano is 1-3 with a 5.13 ERA, becoming just another problem to fix for a franchise headed nowhere again this season.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
