12 - Los Angeles Angels (6-4)

While all the attention was on the Astros and Mariners last weekend, the Angles snuck themselves to the top of the AL West. This team rakes, they rank 4th in runs, 6th in BA, and 5th in Slug%. The team pitching still isn’t great but Noah Syndergaard adds a huge spark to their rotation and is off to a great start. Also, thank god Mike Trout is okay!

11 - Atlanta Braves (5-6)

No doubt this team is going through a bit of the classic World Series hangover to start the season. The pitching hasn’t been great but the return to Marcell Ozuna and productivity of Matt Olson is huge. They will right the ship and climb these rankings. A big test with the Dodgers this week.

10 - Tampa Bay Rays (5-5)

The Rays only had two wins last week and lost 3 of 4 to the A’s (yikes). There is nothing statistically that makes me wave the red flag just yet but they need to be better to compete in their division. I think it was just a rough week.

9 - New York Yankees (5-5)

This is a tough team to figure out but they’ve gotten off to a decent start. The offense is not as good as it should be. Their pitching, however, is doing very well early. They rank 4th in team ERA and 3rd in team BAA. They need that to hold strong to really make a deep run.

8 - San Diego Padres (6-5)

They lost both series last week to the Giants and Braves, both teams this team needs to start beating if they’re gonna climb these rankings. The Padres aren’t fully healthy yet but I have a feeling they are gonna get hot when they do so don’t count them out just yet.

7 - Houston Astros (5-4)

The Astros ran into some trouble in Seattle, which should be a preview of what will be a fun division race to watch. But a 5-4 road trip to open the season is pretty solid. Justin Verlander looks filthy so far and it looks like Carlos Correa’s replacement, Jeremy Pena (.345 BA), will do just fine.

6 - St. Louis Cardinals (5-3)

I’ve said it before the season started, this team is gonna be sneaky good and I have every bit of confidence they can win the division over the Brewers. Nolan Arenado looks fantastic to start the season and there’s something about seeing Albert Pujols back with the red birds that brings some swagger back to this team.

5 - Toronto Blue Jays (6-4)

The Blue Jays have run into a bit of inconsistency early in 2022. But they have so much talent and have done enough to keep my confidence as a top 5 team. This team will have several big winning streaks coming. Also, how fun is it to watch Vladimir Guererro Jr. hit?!

4 - San Francisco Giants (7-2)

A big series win against the Padres and a sweep of the Guardians has the Giants in a tie for first with the Dodgers in the NL West. They have the best team ERA in baseball and veteran Brandon Belt is off to a great start. So far, the Giants have picked up right where they left off from last year’s run.

3 - Chicago White Sox (6-3)

A very good start to the season for my pick to win the American League. Biggest bright spot so far is the development of starting pitcher Michael Kopech, who has a 1.00 ERA through 2 starts.

2 - New York Mets (7-3)

The Mets starting pitching has posted a 1.07 ERA through the first 10 games of the season, an MLB record, and that’s without Jacob deGromm. The bullpen has been a different story but the offense ranks 2nd in runs scored and the bottom line is that this team is gonna be very dangerous in 2022.

1 - Los Angeles Dodgers (7-2)

All is going as expected for the Dodgers so far. They dominated the Twins and Reds this week, going 6-0 and out-scoring them 40-9. Clayton Kershaw looked incredible during his first start of the season, throwing 7 perfect innings. LA’s starting pitching as a whole posted a 0.56 ERA last week.

MLB Power Rankings: Week 2