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2024 MLB Power Rankings: Week 5

We update the ranks for all 30 teams as the calendar turns to May.

Christian Otteman
Baseball 5/3/2024

Every week, the Pitcher List team will publish an update to our power rankings, reviewing the biggest risers and fallers of the past seven days.

As always, the full rankings can be found at the bottom of this article … but where’s the fun in that?

 

First and Worst

 

We’re through the first month of the 2024 MLB season, which means the fog of first-month uncertainty is lifting and the identities of teams across the league are becoming more clear. It should come as little surprise, but there still isn’t a ton of movement at the top and bottom of our lists. The Los Angeles Dodgers overtook the Atlanta Braves for our top spot this week in a back-and-forth that is sure to continue all season, but the rest of the top five remained unchanged, with the Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees, and Philadelphia Phillies rounding out the top of the list.

Meanwhile, although they’ve played better baseball as of late, including a weekend sweep of the Tampa Bay Rays, the Chicago White Sox remain in last place on our power rankings with the worst record in the majors at 6-25. The Colorado Rockies are just ahead of the White Sox at 7-23. The Oakland Athletics have been a surprisingly scrappy team these past few weeks and are only two games under .500, which was enough for them to jump ahead of the floundering Miami Marlins.

Let’s dive into our biggest risers and sliders in this week’s Pitcher List Power Rankings.

 

Movin’ On Up

 

Minnesota Twins

 

Record: 17-13

Rank change: +9 (22 to 13)

It should come as no surprise that the Minnesota Twins, winners of 10 straight, are our first featured team for this week’s risers. Has it been the stiffest competition? Well, not exactly. Their 10-game win streak comes in the form of a four-game sweep of the White Sox, followed by three-game sweeps of the Angels and… the White Sox. Ah.

This shouldn’t be used as a knock against the Twins, however. Good teams are supposed to take care of business against inferior opponents, and that’s exactly what Minnesota has done over the past week and a half. As with any winning streak, there have been a couple of close calls, including a ninth-inning come-from-behind win capped off by an Alex Kirilloff walkoff single.

So aside from the Twins facing some less-than-stellar competition, what has Minnesota done well to keep this winning streak going? Well, getting healthier has surely helped. Star closer Jhoan Duran is finally off the Injured List and secured his first save of the season on Tuesday, bringing depth to an impressive bullpen that already has Griffin Jax and Brock Stewart. Carlos Correa also returned to action this week and has scored three runs in as many games. Max Kepler also deserves credit as the man who started this winning streak, as the team hasn’t lost since he was activated from the Injured List on April 22. Kepler tallied three RBI in that first game and has brought his season total to 10 in just nine games of action, delivering clutch hits in crucial moments on several occasions.

Perhaps the most important thing, though? The team’s Rally Sausage. I’ll let Rocco Baldelli explain:

 

Detroit Tigers

 

Record: 18-13

Rank change: +4 (21 to 17)

Credit to the surprising AL Central, which is currently the only division in the MLB to have four of its five teams above the .500 mark. The aforementioned Twins are one of those teams, as are the surging Detroit Tigers, who many had pegged as a team that could impress in 2024.

And impress the Tigers have, especially from a pitching perspective, with ace Tarik Skubal looking every bit like the bona fide Cy Young candidate many expected him to be. Skubal’s 1.72 ERA is 11th in the league among qualified starters while his 0.74 WHIP ranks second behind only Ranger Suárez. But Skubal isn’t the only starter who’s come through for the Tigers as of late. In case you missed it, Jack Flaherty had a pretty great game this week:

While the offense still isn’t quite performing like a playoff team (their 127 runs are 19th in the MLB), there have been signs of a lineup that could heat up in Comerica Park as the temperatures rise. Riley Greene has excelled in his role as the Tigers’ everyday leadoff man, boasting a .383 OBP to go along with seven home runs through the end of April. Perhaps the most surprising hitter of the past week or so has been rookie Wenceel Pérez. Perez has three home runs in his first 47 at-bats in the bigs, including a two-homer game against the Cardinals in which he hit one home run from both sides of the plate. If some struggling hitters like Spencer Torkelson can get things going to support this great pitching staff, we might be talking about playoff hopes in Detroit come summertime.

 

Hittin’ the Skids

 

Toronto Blue Jays

 

Record: 15-17

Rank change: -4 (10 to 14)

Pop quiz: what do the Colorado Rockies, Miami Marlins, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Washington Nationals all have in common? Answer: they’ve all scored more runs this season than the Toronto Blue Jays. Sitting at just 111 runs in 2024, the Blue Jays sit above only the Cardinals, A’s, and White Sox in terms of runs scored so far. Their .670 team OPS is pretty bad on a surface level, but when you consider their league-worst .556 OPS with runners in scoring position, it’s easy to see why this team has been struggling mightily over the past weeks.

Now, maybe there’s a slight explanation for Toronto’s offensive struggles this year. According to Thomas Nestico, the Blue Jays have faced some of the toughest pitching this year when considering tjStuff+.

Additionally, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is the single batter who has faced the toughest pitching when using this metric. Vlad is off to a slow start in 2024, with his .683 OPS ranking 113th in the league. The Blue Jays need their hitting to get going, and it starts with their star first baseman. Hopefully, this is a case of water finding its level and Toronto can get their offense going shortly, as Justin Turner can only carry the lineup by himself for so long.

Unfortunately, the pitching hasn’t been much better for the Blue Jays either, as their 4.34 team ERA ranks 23rd in the majors. We haven’t seen the best versions of Kevin Gausman or Chris Bassitt yet this season, but José Berríos has shouldered the load by posting a 1.44 ERA and 1.01 WHIP across his first seven starts.

Clearly, there’s room for improvement for this Blue Jays team, and very few of their stars are playing close to the level they are capable of. If there’s a silver lining, it’s that their 15-17 record isn’t too deep of a hole to climb out of by any means. There’s still plenty of time for this team to right the ship, but it needs to start with that offense heating up, and soon.

 

Arizona Diamondbacks

 

Record: 14-18

Rank change: -4 (11 to 15)

We all know the myth of the World Series Hangover, but is there such a thing as a National League Champs Hangover? So far, the Arizona Diamondbacks are providing proof positive for this hypothesis, with their 14-18 record placing them fourth in the NL West.

The Diamondbacks aren’t struggling too badly from an offensive perspective, with their 162 runs and .719 team OPS being third and 11th in the league, respectively. Still, they’re missing offensive production from key positions in their offense, with the most widely discussed being the lack of power from Corbin Carroll. Carroll’s struggles this season have been widely advertised, and for good reason. The 28.4% Hard Hit rate to go along with a .197/.299/.248 slash line is not at all what you expect from the face of your franchise. Whether it’s a nagging shoulder issue, a classic sophomore slump, or something in between, having Carroll return to form and back at the top of the lineup will provide a boost to this lineup.

Still, there are reasons to be optimistic about this scrappy group of snakes. Christian Walker continues to be one of the most underrated first basemen in the league. Rookie Blaze Alexander has been a welcome surprise on offense, even if the defense has been subpar. Finally getting Jordan Montgomery going will bring stability to the rotation while Merrill Kelly is on the mend, even if he did just get shelled by the Dodgers (check the power rankings below to see if that should concern you. Spoiler alert: it shouldn’t).

It hasn’t been a great April for the Snakes, but as things heat up in the desert, this team has the potential to get hot as well. As we saw in 2023, as long as this team makes the postseason, they can hang with the league’s best. If you need any reassurance that things will be fine in Arizona, look no further than Tuesday night’s infamous Bee Game.

The vibes are still immaculate.

 

Week 4 Power Rankings

Christian Otteman

Christian Otteman is a hopelessly optimistic Cubs fan living in Milwaukee just looking to share his love of this beautiful game with others. He is especially a fan of the wild and weird things that only a game like baseball can produce. While he's not watching baseball, Christian is playing golf, hosting trivia, and working on his Ph.D. in Neuroscience at Marquette University.

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