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Sports

MLB Power Rankings: What’s real after five days? Breaking down baseball’s opening week results

Published

2 days ago

on

mlb-power-rankings-03302026.jpg
Keytron Jordan, CBS Sports

The first half-week of the Major League Baseball season is always such a mixed bag. We know we aren’t supposed to get all emotional or draw wide-sweeping conclusions based on such a small sample of games, yet we sat around and waited all winter for meaningful MLB action. Deep down inside, we can’t help ourselves. 

As an example, most readers know I’m a Cubs fan. I will admit that while my head knew that the Opening Day loss wasn’t the biggest deal in the world, I was pretty bummed and even a bit angry about my favorite team getting pounded by what is likely one of the worst teams in baseball. I’m pretty livid about the series loss. Hey, we’re all human. 

Still, here in the Power Rankings, the key is to keep our wits about us. I often say in the early going that we need to react without overreacting. With only a half week of action, there’s hardly anything to react to at all. Let’s look back at last year for some examples of how reacting could lead us astray. 

The three teams with winning records above all missed the playoffs, while the teams that looked terrible ended up in the postseason. Of course, the Dodgers were 5-0 and that 0-4 Braves start was the beginning of a disaster of a season. 

How do we know what is real and what was a mirage? We don’t, really. We can judge teams based on confirmation bias (I knew the Dodgers were gonna be unbeatable!), but that’s about it so far. 

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Are the Braves and Orioles having bounceback seasons after falling apart last year? Are the Rangers for real? How about the Marlins?!?! The Brewers look great again, but was that just a lack of competition? The Yankees looked amazing, but do the Giants actually just suck? Are the Phillies taking a step back? How about the Blue Jays sweeping the Athletics; did that tell us anything? 

We just don’t know yet and that’s part of the fun. 

I do know one thing for sure: I missed this. I’m excited for the grind that is our marathon of a regular season. We’ll see plenty of surprises through the course of the season. The most unsurprising thing will be the Dodgers winning the NL West with ease. Again. But we’ll see plenty of other fun things. I promise. We’re back, baby! 

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1


Dodgers

 They’ll obviously go 162-0. We can cancel the rest of the season. — 3-0

2


Blue Jays

 Only one start, but it was interesting to see Dylan Cease throw his fastball at a much lower rate than in any previous season. And he struck out 12. 1 3-0

3


Yankees

 That was a pretty emphatic first series. I see nothing about which to complain. 1 3-0

4


Brewers

 Even trailing 7-2 is no concern for this juggernaut. 7 3-0

5


Tigers

 Kevin McGonigle through three career games: .417/.462/.583. That’ll play. 1 2-1

6


Mariners

 Is Emerson Hancock going to have a breakout season? Man, look out for this rotation. 4 1-2

7


Braves

 Given the injury woes in the rotation, what an encouraging start from Reynaldo López on Saturday. 1 2-1

8


Mets

 I wondered if being freed from a terrible team would rejuvenate Luis Robert Jr. So far, so good. 1 2-1

9


Orioles

 I’m bullish on an Orioles bounceback season and there were several good signs in the first series. Among them: Adley Rutschman is hitting. 5 2-1

10


Cubs

 Pete Crow-Armstrong last season had three bunt hits. So far this season, he already has two. It’s a nice wrinkle for a player who hit 31 homers last year and can fly. 5 1-2

11


Rangers

 Very nice series win in Philly to start the season, especially since they had to scratch Jacob deGrom from his start. 6 2-1

12


Phillies

 I had concerns heading into the season that the offense would be far too reliant on the top three hitters, as awesome as they are, and nothing in the first three games has alleviated those concerns. 3 1-2

13


Reds

 Quite a start to the season for Sal Stewart. That kid can rake. 9 2-1

14


Red Sox

 Rough Red Sox debut for Sonny Gray, but that bullpen has looked stellar outside of Greg Weissert. 4 1-2

15


Marlins

 The Marlins are 3-0 for the first time since 2009. And hey, how about Sandy Alcantara on Opening Day? 9 3-0

16


Astros

 Rough debut for Tatsuya Imai. The rotation behind Hunter Brown is concerning. 4 2-2

17


Royals

 Saturday’s loss had to be a tough one to swallow, but the Royals bounced back with a very good all-around game on Sunday. They’re fine. 4 1-2

18


Guardians

 They just scream mediocrity to me, but hey, splitting four games in Seattle is a success. 2 2-1

19


Pirates

 Obviously winning matters, but the Pirates weren’t really all that far from sweeping the Mets. Make Oneil Cruz catch two flies in the opener and then make better pitches in extras in game two. (Of course, they were awfully close to getting swept too). 4 1-2

20


Angels

 Mike Trout is amazing again? Dare we dream? 6 2-2

21


Athletics

 I still love the A’s offense for the season, but 49 strikeouts in three games in Toronto is a rough debut. 6 0-3

22


Padres

 Really good sign from Randy Vásquez to work six scoreless innings with eight strikeouts. The Padres’ rotation is worrisome, but a big step forward here could work wonders. 6 1-2

23


Nationals

 Joey Wiemer is apparently the best hitter in baseball. Who knew? 6 2-1

24


Cardinals

 The monster start to the season by Jordan Walker has to be encouraging. It’s not just the numbers. Everything about him looks the part. 1 2-1

25


Rays

 I’ve spoken with relievers before who have lamented that a bad outing early in the season can ruin their numbers for weeks or even months. Ian Seymour gave up five runs without getting an out on Opening Day. That’s gonna leave a mark. 6 1-2

26


Giants

 It took 20 innings, but the Giants finally scored their first run of 2026 on Saturday. Maybe their manager should’ve given more “fire and brimstone” speeches. I hear those definitely help with big leaguers. 8 0-3

27


Diamondbacks

 Zac Gallen’s problem innings last season were the first, second and fourth. He threw four scoreless innings against the Dodgers on Opening Day! And then he fell apart in the fifth. Back to the drawing board. 6 0-3

28


Twins

 Royce Lewis is 2 for 9 this season, but both hits are home runs. 1 1-2

29


White Sox

 Three games, three bombs for Munetaka Murakami. 1 0-3

30


Rockies

 The more things change, the more they stay the same. The Rockies are awful. — 0-3

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Sports

This is what a real leader looks like”, “Ronaldo would never

Published

9 minutes ago

on

1 April 2026

By

Lionel Messi was the subject of praise from fans after he gifted teammate Nicolas Otamendi a penalty during Argentina’s 5-0 win over Zambia on Tuesday. It was an emotional moment as the match was most likely Otamendi’s last game on Argentine soil, marking the end of an era for one of the country’s most committed defenders.

In a bid to head into the 2026 World Cup on a high, La Albiceleste started the game strongly and took the lead after four minutes through Julian Alvarez, with Messi providing the assist. Just before the break, Messi doubled the advantage following a one-touch move with Alexis Mac Allister.

The lovely gesture came after Albert Kangwanda committed a foul on Thiago Almada three minutes into the second half. Rather than take the penalty, Messi signaled to Otamendi and handed the ball to him. The veteran defender seized the opportunity and sent the goalkeeper the wrong way to score his country’s third of the night and his eighth goal for the national team.

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Zambia’s woes were worsened as Dominik Chanda scored an own goal midway through the second half while Valentin Barco added the cherry on top in stoppage time.

While Argentina fans were thrilled with the convincing victory, some were drawn to Messi’s ‘selfless’ act and took to X to laud him for it.

One wrote:

“This is what a real leader looks like.”

Another tweeted:

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“This is one of the many reasons players love sharing the pitch with him ❤️”

A third poked fun at Lionel Messi’s archrival, Cristiano Ronaldo, saying the Portuguese would never do something like that.

“Ronaldo would NEVER do something like this in a million years lol,” they remarked.

“That’s why they adore and respect him,” another chimed in.

Otamendi, meanwhile couldn’t hold back his tears after being substituted in the 69th minute, hugging his teammates including Lionel Messi before leaving the pitch.

Lionel Messi reaches goal scoring milestone after scoring in Argentina’s 5-0 win over Zambia

In what was his likely last-ever home game with Argentina, Lionel Messi added another feather to his illustrious cap. His 43rd minute stunner against Zambia meant he has now scored against 40 different countries with Argentina, for 117 national team goals.

Messi is expected to retire from the national team after the World Cup, which is scheduled to take place in the United States, Canada and Mexico. However, he has yet to guarantee his presence at this competition this summer.

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The 38-year-old is currently Argentina’s most capped player and all-time leading scorer.