This AL Central team ascends to No. 1 for 1st time in '25

If you’re a sad White Sox or Rockies fan right now, if it all seems lost and hopeless, look at the Detroit Tigers. The 2019 Tigers, just six years ago, lost 114 games. They lost 96 in 2022. They missed the playoffs every year for nearly a decade. And now? Our Power Ranking voters have them as the best team in baseball. Ahead of the Dodgers. Ahead of the Yankees. Ahead of everybody. There is always, always hope.

These rankings, as always, are compiled from MLB.com contributors whose names you can find at the bottom of this (and every) piece, but the words are mine. If you dislike the rankings, yell at all of us. But if you dislike the words, feel free to yell at me.

1. Tigers (previously: 3)
Tarik Skubal had his two worst starts of the season two weeks ago, giving up five runs in 6 1/3 innings against the Red Sox on May 14 and three runs in 5 2/3 against the Cardinals on May 20. It is fair to say Skubal took that personally: He immediately dashed off 16 consecutive scoreless innings against division rivals Cleveland and Kansas City; that Cleveland game, in which he set the record for most strikeouts in a Maddux (a complete-game shutout under 100 pitches) in baseball history with 13, might be the best game anyone has pitched all season.

2. Dodgers (previously: 2)
You know what you and I definitely take for granted? Wearing closed-toed shoes. We do it all the time! I’m doing it right now! But we don’t have a fractured toe, like Mookie Betts does. Thus, it was a big deal that Betts, for the first time since he broke his toe walking around his home on Wednesday night, wore closed-toed shoes on Sunday. It’s a further good sign that Betts will avoid the IL from the injury and could be back in a couple of days. Which is probably faster than you or I would make it back, if we fractured our toe.

3. Cubs (previously: 5)
Ben Brown was pulled from the rotation after giving up eight runs in his last start, but the Cubs used him out of relief Saturday, his usual start day. He turned in the best outing of his season, striking out nine in six scoreless innings. The Cubs could very much use him being effective back in the rotation -- he may well be back there quite soon.

4. Phillies (previously: 1)
Bryce Harper will return on Tuesday after missing five games after being hit on the elbow with a pitch, on a play that the Phillies will likely remember the next time they play the Braves. The Phillies sure will be happy to have him back; after running into the Brewers' buzzsaw over the weekend, they find themselves suddenly out of first place.

5. Mets (previously: 6)
It takes about 30 seconds, maybe less, after turning on a Mets game to get a sense of just how exciting it is to be at Citi Field this year: That building, and those fans, create an environment that’s entirely unique in Major League Baseball right now. It’s no wonder, then, that the Mets have been so successful at home this year: They’ve started the season 23-7 in Queens, tied for their best start ever at home, tied with … the 1986 Mets. Hey, how’d the season turn out for that team?

6. Yankees (previously: 4)
The Yankees salvaged the third game of their series against the Dodgers on Sunday, which kept their longest-in-baseball streak of avoiding sweeps alive: They haven’t been swept in a series since last July. Only two other teams haven’t been swept this season, by the way: The Mets and, surprisingly, the Reds.

7. Padres (previously: 9)
For a while, it looked like Fernando Tatis Jr. was building himself an NL MVP case, and while that might still happen, a recent skid -- he has hit .188 over his last 23 games -- has cooled a lot of that conversation. But it’s worth noting that he has still been instrumental in the Padres’ excellent play of late, particularly with his play in right field, including a fantastic play on Friday that Nick Pivetta credited with saving the game. “It’s just teammates helping teammates,” Pivetta said. “He’s an extraordinary right fielder out there and an extraordinary athlete.”

8. Cardinals (previously: 12)
Brendan Donovan has won a Gold Glove, finished third in Rookie of the Year voting and homered at Rickwood Field. But one thing he hasn’t done? Make an All-Star Game. That is almost certainly going to change this year: He’s third in the NL in batting average, leads in hits and doubles and leads all second basemen in almost every category. He has been the best player on the most surprising team in baseball so far.

9. Mariners (previously: 8)
We’ll see if the Mariners can win the AL West this year, but if they do, one wonders if we will look back at May 30 as a pivotal day in their journey. That was the day the Mariners fell out of first place with a loss to the Astros and -- perhaps more important -- the day the Mariners called up 2022 first-round pick (and No. 43 MLB Pipeline prospect) Cole Young. Young was smashing the ball in Triple A -- hitting .370 in his last 118 plate appearances despite being the youngest player in the Pacific Coast League -- and you wonder if he’s exactly the spark the Mariners need after their recent slight downturn.

10. Giants (previously: 7)
The Giants’ bats struggled mightily during a series sweep at the hands of the Tigers, and there are three batters in particular who are nosediving: Willy Adames, Patrick Bailey, Lamonte Wade Jr. MLB.com’s Maria Guardado got a great interview with Giants hitting coach Pat Burrell in which he nailed down exactly what’s going on with each hitter; it’s exactly the sort of piece that brings you inside a clubhouse and gives you a clear understanding of a team’s thought process. I bet those guys all come around, probably sooner rather than later.

11. Guardians (previously: 11)
Steven Kwan went 2-for-4 on Opening Day and has been above .300 ever since, getting as high as .350 on April 26. A recent slump dropped him down, but he got hot again over the weekend, raising that average back to .313, which is of note because, in a fact you’ll probably find surprising, he has never actually batted above .300 in a season: He peaked at .298 his rookie year.

12. Twins (previously: 10)
This weekend marked the return of Byron Buxton from the concussion IL after his collision with Carlos Correa on a popup back on May 15. That means that the Twins currently have their holy triumvirate of oft-injured stars -- Correa, Buxton and Royce Lewis -- together on the roster again, which tends to lead to a lot of Twins victories. One potential issue: Lewis is struggling badly right now, on a dreadful 0-for-30 streak.

13. Astros (previously: 13)
The Astros climbed back into first place for a bit this week, but if they’re going to stay there, they’re really going to need Yordan Alvarez, who hasn’t played since May 2, to return. It’s going to take a bit longer than anyone anticipated, though: With Alvarez seemingly close to coming back, the Astros found a “very small fracture” in his right hand. It may be “very small,” but a fracture is a fracture: There is going to be another, longer delay.

14. Brewers (previously: 22)
The Brewers are never better than when Christian Yelich is playing like his old MVP self, so it shouldn’t be a surprise, after a hot week that may have helped turn their season around, that Yelich was at the forefront: during his seven-game hit streak, he slashed .472/.493/.967 with five HRs and 12 RBIs. And fortunately: X-rays on his wrist after he was hit by a pitch Sunday were negative.

15. Royals (previously: 16)
The Royals have the fourth-worst record in baseball since May 10 -- behind only the A’s, Rockies and Orioles -- and it has been almost entirely because of their offense: They’ve scored the fewest runs in baseball over that span. It has come at an inopportune time, with division rivals Minnesota and Detroit taking advantage of their struggles by beating them in series over the last week ... that's probably why they're calling up top prospect Jac Caglianone.

16. Rays (previously: 21)
The Rays, who have been excellent for a couple of weeks now, made the surprising move to send down phenom speedster Chandler Simpson despite him tying for fourth in the Majors in steals (19) and hitting .285 so far. The issue was the return of Jake Mangum, the switch-hitter with a similar skillset to Simpson; the Rays just ran out of outfield spots. One still suspects Simpson won’t be gone long.

17. Blue Jays (previously: 20)
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. extended his career-long on-base streak to 32 games on Sunday, the longest such Blue Jays streak in half a decade. But more fascinating: He’s now one game behind his father’s longest career streak of 33, set when he was with the Expos in 1999.

18. Diamondbacks (previously: 15)
A miserable week for the Diamondbacks got even worse on Sunday when Corbin Burnes called for a trainer and appeared to mouth “my elbow.” The Diamondbacks had an uphill climb to get back in the NL West and Wild Card race with Burnes. If they lose him for any period of time -- or even a long period of time -- the whole equation of both those races will change dramatically.

19. Reds (previously: 18)
The Reds, they are very mid. How mid are they? They are the very definition of a .500 team. Check this out: Heading into Saturday, they had a 29-29 overall record, 15-15 on the road, 14-14 at home, and 15-15 against teams .500 or better. They were 5-5 in their previous 10 games, 10-10 in their last 20, and 20-20 in their previous 40. Very mid! (Then the Cubs beat them in the next two games and ruined the whole thing.)

20. Braves (previously: 17)
We live in Georgia, and you should know: Most friends of ours who are Braves fans are starting to panic. The Braves have history in the last few years making second-half comebacks, but it’s worth noting not only are they 9 1/2 games behind the Phillies in the NL East, they’re 5 1/2 games out of the Wild Card … and they actually fell behind the Nationals in the division this week, all the way down to fourth place.

21. Red Sox (previously: 14)
The Red Sox offense is starting to warm up, and it’s not surprising to see who is leading the charge. He might not be playing the field, but that seems for the best, because Rafael Devers sure has taken to the DH spot: He'd tied for the MLB lead in RBIs (52), which is particularly impressive because he’s also leading the AL in walks. The problem is, of course, everything else with the Red Sox right now: They have fallen all the way to fourth in the AL East.

22. Rangers (previously: 19)
Bruce Bochy has seen just about everything, and he had a very specific name for how the Rangers offense has looked so far this season, a term he came up with when he was in San Francisco with some struggling teams: “We called it torture baseball, and that’s kind of what we’re doing to our fans right now.”

It did get a little better against the Cardinals this weekend, though.

23. Nationals (previously: 25)
James Wood is on an absolute tear right now, and his hot streak has elevated his team to within sniffing distance of .500. Wood is is among the league's best in Fangraphs WAR for the season and is a little bit of a stealthy MVP candidate.

24. Angels (previously: 23)
Mike Trout returned on Friday -- it’s good to see how much he still loves being out there:“I caught myself getting excited in the last at-bat, so I had to calm myself down a little bit,” he said after his first game. “It felt good to be back."

And he has plenty of time to raise his season numbers. Because it should be said: His stats so far are the lowest they have been in any year of his career, by a wide, wide margin. Interestingly, in his first game, he batted fifth for the first time in his career.

25. A’s (previously: 24)
It’s not difficult to figure out why the A’s imploded in the month of May. Their pitching staff put up a staggering 6.88 ERA for the month, the worst ERA for a month in franchise history. There have been many culprits, but the bullpen has been the biggest offender: There are three relievers (Michel Otañez, Anthony Maldonado and Mason Miller) who had six or more appearances in the month and put up an ERA of 10.00 or higher.

26. Marlins (previously: 26)
Few teams have had historically more trouble at first base than the Marlins, who really haven’t had a reliable daily first baseman since … Derrek Lee? The one year of Carlos Delgado? It’s a problem this year, with Opening Day starting first baseman Matt Mervis released this weekend after hitting .117 over his last 23 games. He will be replaced primarily by Eric Wagaman. Here are some other Marlins to start at first base on Opening Day over the last 20 years: Garrett Cooper, Justin Bour, Mike Morse, Garrett Jones, Casey Kotchman and Mike Jacobs.

27. Orioles (previously: 27)
It remains to be seen whether or not if it’s already too late, but you should know: Some help is coming for the Orioles. Both Colton Cowser and Jordan Westburg are likely to return from their injuries this week. The Orioles certainly need them: Both Ryan Mountcastle and Cedric Mullins went on the injured list themselves this weekend.

28. Pirates (previously: 28)
No one expected new manager Don Kelly to be a miracle worker, and he hasn’t been. It must be said, though: The Pirates have been playing better since he took over for Derek Shelton. The Pirates are 10-12 with Kelly in the dugout, after going 12-26 under Shelton.

29. White Sox (previously: 29)
The White Sox have lost enough games over the past two seasons that it’s reasonable for fans to wonder: Are we making progress here? The White Sox very much believe they are. Manager Will Venable, after a tough loss to the Orioles this weekend, let it be known that while losses aren’t pleasant, they’re part of the process.

“Regardless of the result, that’s what’s going to be part of our process and continue to get better, so that’s what we’re doing. It’s a daily process,” Venable said. “Wins and losses matter, but regardless of what you get that day, you got to go get better the next day, too.”

30. Rockies (previously: 30)
So, now that the Rockies have officially set (and continue to hold) the all-time record for consecutive series defeats with 22, the question must be begged: When are they most likely to end it? Their best chance in a while may come this week in a three-game set against the Marlins. After that? The Mets, Giants and Braves. Their next home series against a non-contending team is … July 4, against the White Sox.

Voters: Nathalie Alonso, Jason Catania, Mark Feinsand, Daniel Feldman, Doug Gausepohl, Will Leitch, Brian Murphy, Arturo Pardavila, Andrew Simon, David Venn, Zac Vierra