MLB power rankings: Bubble about to burst?

The Padres nearly won two games against the Dodgers. They took two of three from Sacramento. They've got the fifth-best record in baseball.

How?

Beyond a Mason Miller-led bullpen, it's hard to understand with their three best players - Fernando Tatis Jr. (.615 OPS), Manny Machado (.608 OPS) and Jackson Merrill (.599 OPS) - all ranking 149th or worst among qualifiers in OPS, the team ranking last in batting average (.220) and 29th in on-base percentage (.294) and OPS (.661) and the run differential (plus-6) sitting well behind the Dodgers (plus-106).

There are things to look forward to.

Like Nick Pivetta (elbow) and Joe Musgrove (elbow) rejoining the rotation. And Luis Campusano (toe) getting back in game action. And you know, the Big Four - Yes, Xander Bogaerts (.703 OPS), too - hopefully getting on track.

In fact, it's a must if the Padres are going to truly sustain a strong start to the season in the standings.

1 | Atlanta Braves (34-18; Last week: 1)

Baseball can be weird: The Braves are 0-8 when Grant Holmes-who struck out 10 in a loss on Saturday-strikes out eight or more batters in a game in his career.

2 | Tampa Bay Rays (34-16; LW: 2)

A Rays thing: Three of the Rays top-four winners are reclamation arms from other organizations-RHP Jesse Scholtens (5-2, 3.22 ERA), Nick Martinez (4-1, 1.51 ERA) and Steven Matz (4-1, 3.70 ERA).

3 | Los Angeles Dodgers (33-20; LW: 4)

A 7-2 road trip through Anaheim, San Diego and Milwaukee has given the Dodgers a 1½-game cushion in the NL West.

4 | Milwaukee Brewers (30-20; LW: 5)

The Brewers were swept in four games by the Dodgers in last year's NLCS, so one win in three games this weekend against visiting LA was an improvement.

5 | New York Yankees (31-22; LW: 6)

Back at it: Aaron Judge's walk-off homer on Sunday was his first blast since May 10. The Yankees lost seven of 11 between his home runs.

6 | San Diego Padres (31-21; LW: 7)

Fernando Tatis Jr.'s last home run: Sept. 27, 2025, a span of 225 at-bats. Meantime, journeyman minor league catcher Rodolfo Durán has a home run in his first 21 plate appearances. Yes, baseball is weird sometimes.

7 | Cleveland Guardians (32-23; LW: 9)

Rookie Travis Bazzana has three homers and a .294/.400/.424 batting line in 24 games as he begins to assert himself atop Cleveland's order.

8 | St. Louis Cardinals (29-22; LW: 8)

A mid-week series loss to the visiting Pirates was the Cardinals' first series loss since the Mariners swept a three-game set from April 24-26.

9 | Chicago Cubs (29-24; LW: 3)

The streaky Cubs have two 10-game winning streaks and are now riding an eight-game skid.

10 | Arizona Diamondbacks (28-24; LW: 17)

With 51 career triples, Corbin Carroll is two away from passing Stephen Drew for the most in franchise history.

The rest

• 11 | Pittsburgh Pirates (27-26; LW: 10)
• 12 | Washington Nationals (27-27; LW: 13)
• 13 | Sacramento Athletics (27-26; LW: 15)
• 14 | Cincinnati Reds (27-25; LW: 16)
• 15 | Chicago White Sox (26-26; LW: 11)
• 16 | Minnesota Twins (26-27; LW: 21)
• 17 | Philadelphia Phillies (26-27; LW: 12)
• 18 | Toronto Blue Jays (25-28; LW: 20)
• 19 | Texas Rangers (24-28; LW: 14)
• 20 | Miami Marlins (25-29; LW: 19)
• 21 | Seattle Mariners (25-29; LW: 18)
• 22 | Boston Red Sox (22-30; LW: 27)
• 23 | Baltimore Orioles (23-30; LW: 22)
• 24 | San Francisco Giants (22-31; LW: 23)
• 25 | Kansas City Royals (22-31; LW: 26)
• 26 | New York Mets (22-31; LW: 24)
• 27 | Houston Astros (23-31; LW: 29)
• 28 | Detroit Tigers (21-33; LW: 25)
• 29 | Colorado Rockies (20-34; LW: 28)
• 30 | Los Angeles Angels (20-34; LW: 30)

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This story was originally published May 25, 2026 at 7:19 AM.