Major League Baseball

2024 MLB Power Rankings: The Yankees are back

Updated May. 20, 2024 2:12 a.m. ET

There might be more parity in today's MLB than we've seen in some time. Accordingly, for the fourth consecutive week, there's a different team atop these power rankings.

For the first time all season, baseball's No. 1 club hails from the American League. But it's not the one that has been pacing the AL standings for the better part of seven weeks.

So, without further ado, here are the top 10 teams right now!

10. Seattle Mariners (25-22, last week unranked)
The Mariners are back in the top 10 after a one-week hiatus. Taking a series from the Royals and then dropping one to the Orioles embodied their season. The pitching is often there, but the hitting isn't. Seattle did hit a robust .317 with runners in scoring position this past week, however, good for third in the majors.

9. Chicago Cubs (26-22, LW 7)
Perhaps no pitcher in baseball has generated more buzz this season than Cubs rookie Shōta Imanaga. The Japanese lefty delivered another two gems last week, firing 12 innings and striking out 15 batters while allowing zero runs. Meanwhile, Patrick Wisdom paced the Chicago offense, posting a .357 average along with a 1.043 OPS.

8. Milwaukee Brewers (27-19, LW 6)
At this point, there is little doubt that the best catcher in the majors resides in Milwaukee. William Contreras had another stellar week, with a .400 average powered by his team-leading 10 hits and seven RBIs. Moreover, he's on pace to score an eye-popping 144 runs, which would be the most in the modern era for a full-time catcher.

7. Kansas City Royals (29-19, LW 10)
No team in the American League has as many home wins as the Royals (18), who added three more with a sweep of the A's. One of the primary reasons is Seth Lugo having the best season of his nine-year career. The 34-year-old struck out 22 batters and surrendered three earned runs and just one walk while winning two starts this past week. His AL-best ERA currently sits at 1.79.

6. Atlanta Braves (26-16, LW 4)
This past week was a down one for the Braves. They're in the midst of a three-game slide, only their second of the year, and the offense continues to struggle. Atlanta has scored exactly one run in each of its past three games. One positive: Matt Olson might be turning a corner offensively.

5. Cleveland Guardians (30-17, LW 9)
The Guardians are on fire, having taken a series from the Rangers before sweeping the Twins. José Ramírez continues to look more like the MVP candidate he's long been, collecting eight RBIs while Cleveland went 5-1. The club's 5.83 runs per game was the third-best mark in the majors over the last week.

Highlights from Guardians completing sweep of Twins

4. Baltimore Orioles (29-15, LW 3)
The Orioles still haven't lost a series this month, but they've fallen two games behind the white-hot Yankees. Gunnar Henderson hit his MLB-leading 15th homer to propel Baltimore to a series win versus Seattle, while Adley Rutschman's parked for balls over the fence earlier in the week.

3. Los Angeles Dodgers (32-17, LW 2)
Los Angeles responded strongly to losing consecutive games for the first time in May, winning three in a row versus the Reds. Mookie Betts and Shohei Ohtani combined for 17 hits, four home runs, seven extra-base hits and seven RBIs from the top of the lineup. That's an MVP race that looks like it will play out all year.

Shohei Ohtani hits a walk-off single in the Dodgers 3-2 win vs. the Reds

2. Philadelphia Phillies (34-14, LW 1)
The Phillies are coming off a 6-1 week and have the best record in baseball. So, why did they drop to No. 2? I'll explain in a moment. While the offense has been stellar, the pitching has been even better. It almost feels like Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola and Ranger Suárez are in a competition to outdo one another. After Nola threw a shutout, Suárez tossed five scoreless frames to drop his ERA to 1.37 and improve to 8-0 on the season.

1. New York Yankees (33-15, LW 5)
Welcome to the best team in baseball. The Yankees have won seven straight, thanks in part to an absurd run from its captain. Aaron Judge launched four home runs and hit .500 in the past week to continue his torrid stretch. That slow start is officially over. And then there's rookie Luis Gil, who delivered 12 innings of one-run ball and struck out 17 batters. This is the best New York has looked since maybe the first half of the 2022 season.

Aaron Judge smashes two-run HR to extend Yankees' lead vs. White Sox

Out: Minnesota Twins (8)

Ben Verlander is an MLB Analyst for FOX Sports and the host of the "Flippin' Bats" podcast. Born and raised in Richmond, Virginia, Verlander was an All-American at Old Dominion University before he joined his brother, Justin, in Detroit as a 14th-round pick of the Tigers in 2013. He spent five years in the Tigers organization. Follow him at @BenVerlander.

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