Every week, the Pitcher List team will publish an update to our power rankings, highlighting three teams among the different tiers of contention. As always, the full rankings can be found at the bottom of this article, but where’s the fun in that?
With Pablo Figueroa unavailable for this weekend, yours truly will have to do as we try and make sense of the early-season numbers with another Power Ranking update. I ask that you bear with me on any outlandish takes, and we should be able to get through this without a hitch.
We shall do our best not to be too disruptive, so we’ll follow the usual format: highlight standout teams in all three sections of our ranks and discuss the most noteworthy points behind their campaigns.
Contender
No. 4 – New York Mets
What would you say of a pitcher that wraps up the year with a 14-7 record, a 2.27 ERA, and 200 strikeouts in 186 innings of work? Well, those are the numbers for the New York Mets pitching staff across these first few weeks, which helps explain their NL East-leading record despite an underwhelming start for many established bats. This includes the duo worth north of a billion dollars, Juan Soto and Francisco Lindor.
For much of the offseason, Pete Alonso was closer to leaving Queens than resigning with the only club he’s ever known. Not only was he a free agent, but the talk out of the Mets organization, as Steven Cohen likes to externalize these things, was that they weren’t particularly close. At the end of the day, Alonso re-signed with the Mets and currently leads the NL in SLG (.753). The weather is right for the Polar Bear, and we shall see if he keeps this up when summer rolls around.
This outstanding start from Alonso has helped keep the Mets offense afloat, with the likes of Francisco Lindor, Brandon Nimmo, and Juan Soto all yet performing well below their expected output. To be fair with Soto, he is doing much better than these other hitters, just short of the Hall of Fame-level stuff we’ve grown to expect from him.
Another struggling bat, but one who was beginning to find his way, was Mark Vientos. Sadly for the Mets, he left Saturday’s game early with right groin discomfort, and although the update is that it’s not a concern long-term, we’ll monitor him closely these next few days. The timing of this potential problem is particularly harmful, given Vientos had gotten a hit in six straight prior to his last game.
Pitching-wise, Kodai Senga is leading a staff whose starter with the highest ERA is Clay Holmes, coming in at 3.66 but with a 2.16 FIP. Looking closely, the only truly struggling piece in the Mets’ entire pitching staff might be the one who we’d least expect to see issues with, closer Edwin Díaz. Although his numbers are down across the board, even Díaz is showing signs of improvement, having tossed three scoreless appearances this past week and earning a couple of saves.
The offense will improve, and the pitching numbers will see some regression, but overall, there is a reason why this Mets team was pegged as one of, if not the favorite to win, a top-heavy NL East.
The middle
No. 12 – Seattle Mariners
Great pitching, but will they hit? That has been the storyline around the Seattle Mariners for a while now, and it’s no different in 2025. Particularly during a season in which the AL West doesn’t have the juggernauts of yesteryear, the Mariners’ staff is probably the most reliable unit in this entire division.
Going through their first true road trip of the year, the Mariners came out to play and showed there might be a division winner in this squad. The M’s won a pair of series against two solid teams in this early start, the Cincinnati Reds and Toronto Blue Jays.
Great American Ball Park is a known hitters’ park, but we should note that entering play on Sunday, the Reds and Blue Jays were both in the top 5 of all of baseball in ERA+. Against this group, the Mariners scored 33 runs in six games, including back-to-back eight-run outputs up in Toronto.
While Julio Rodríguez isn’t exactly lighting the world on fire, still struggling to live up to those rookie numbers, the strength of this offense has come from the one commonly known as Big Dumper, aka Cal Raleigh. Not to mention, surprisingly strong performances from Jorge Polanco and Dylan Moore.
Seattle has had a recent issue when it comes to improving their offense, as big-time hitter additions have fallen off the map in Seattle. Jesse Winker and Teoscar Hernández are names that come to mind. Their latest big addition was Randy Arozarena during last year’s deadline, and he seems to be breaking that mold, finishing 2024 on a strong note (117 OPS+) and opening 2025 with an impressive plate discipline, leading the AL in walks (16).
Some skepticism is warranted about the production to come from this lineup, but with Kirby working his way back to join Logan Gilbert and company, they’re not going to need that much to make a play for the AL West. Especially once Julio Rodríguez heats up.
Wait ’til 2026
No. 23 – Kansas City Royals
The Kansas City Royals beat Tarik Skubal to wrap up this week. In an ideal world, this would be the icing on the cake during a very good run, but in actuality, it was their sole win in the past seven days. Also, the only time they scored more than three runs, just four by the way.
A playoff team last season that returned virtually all of its roster, the Kansas City Royals have a very intriguing core in the AL Central. A division that, for a while now, no longer resembles the punchline for many jokes that it was a few years ago.
Interestingly enough, facing two other playoff teams from last season, the Royals’ offense proved completely inefficient, averaging just a little over two runs in the past week, scoring 15 in seven games. Bobby Witt Jr. did his part, getting a hit in each game and an extra-base knock in three of them, but nothing else worked.
Despite operating with a team ERA+ of 113, Kansas City has a Pythagorean win-loss record of 8-14, courtesy of one of the worst hitting lines in all of baseball. Some of that is bound to regress with reliable bats such as Salvador Pérez and Vinnie Pasquantino off to slow starts, but the quality, or lack thereof, in this outfield is getting exposed. The three main outfielders for the Royals combine for a negative 1.7 bWAR: MJ Meléndez, Kyle Isbel, and Hunter Renfroe.
We’ve seen Maikel Garcia playing in the outfield a bit, and his bat is certainly an improvement on any of those guys, but it’s a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul. Moving Garcia to the outfield just opens up an infield hole, with Michael Massey and Cavan Biggio not inspiring much confidence. This offense’s top addition, Jonathan India has 11 walks to 10 strikeouts, but not much else as he is slugging under .300. For as great as he is, Bobby Witt Jr. can only do so much to help out the pitching staff, and other names will need to step up if they’re to return to postseason baseball.
In many ways, the Royals remind me of the Braves as teams I expect a lot more from, still in 2025. That being said, we’ve seen enough negative signs early on that, at the very least, a wake-up call is warranted. We shall see how they respond with the opportunity of hosting the Rockies for their next series.
Full Week 4 Power Ranking
