After a whirlwind couple of weeks, the 2026 World Baseball Classic is officially in the books. But if you're in despair about having to wait years for the next one to come around, don't be — because while international baseball is taking a break, Opening Day is now right around the corner.
You'd be forgiven for putting spring training on the back burner a bit during the WBC. That's why we're here to update you on the breakouts and slow starts you may have missed, via a fresh batch of MLB power rankings. Who's rising and falling as the regular season approaches and teams face tough roster decisions? Let's get into it.
30. Colorado Rockies
The Colorado Rockies might be the worst team in the league again, but they’ll at least be more fun than they were in 2025. Top prospect Charlie Condon has 13 hits and three home runs in 35 at-bats so far this spring. TJ Rumfield, an underrated prospect, has four home runs and has been arguably Colorado’s best hitter. Former first-round pick Zac Veen looks like a different player. Even on the pitching side, Michael Lorenzen shut down Team USA in his lone WBC start and could be an adequate option for Rockies fans to watch every fifth day. They’ll be bad, but less unbearably bad.
-Zach Rotman
29. Chicago White Sox
We're one year closer to the next competitive Chicago White Sox team. That's the good news. The bad news is that doesn't mean the south siders will are headed to the postseason anytime soon. The White Sox hope to get Munetaka Murakami up to speed over the next week or so, as they'll want him ready for Opening Day. Speaking of, Shane Smith will make the first start of the season, with the rest of the rotation coming into focus shortly thereafter. A season-ending injury to Mike Vasil could hurt this pitching staff more than one might think, too. It could be another long 162-game stretch in Chicago.
-Mark Powell
28. Washington Nationals
James Wood just had a game in which he put five balls into play, and all five of the exit velocities were clocked at 103 mph or faster. Some of Washington's young players, headlined by Seaver King and especially Brady House, have opened some eyes. Cade Cavalli, recently named Washington’s Opening Day starter, looks like a breakout candidate. Wins will be hard to come by in D.C. this season, and C.J. Abrams might get dealt sooner rather than later, but if Wood can prove his second-half slump was a fluke and a couple of their young players can take steps forward, 2026 will have been a successful year.
-ZR
27. Los Angeles Angels
Another Robert Stephenson injury underscores the fact that this could be a frighteningly bad Angels bullpen, which isn’t great, because there’s also frighteningly little starting depth behind Yusei Kikuchi and Jose Soriano – Grayson Rodriguez still hasn’t regained his velo, and Reid Detmers flamed out the first time L.A. tried him in the rotation. (The less said about the Alek Manoah situation right now, the better.) Zach Neto is a very fun player, and Jo Adell might be in for a truly monster year, but other than that … well, it’s hard to find silver linings right now.
-Chris Landers
26. Minnesota Twins
Team USA manager Mark DeRosa hoped to have Joe Ryan join the Americans and pitch in the final against Venezuela. That wasn't meant to be, as Ryan is fully committed to preparing for his season with the Minnesota Twins. Ryan was named the Twins' Opening Day starter, and is a dark horse candidate to win the AL Cy Young. Byron Buxton, who started in the outfield for Team USA, is another cornerstone for this Twins franchise. But this hasn't been a normal spring training for either player, both of whom could be trade assets for Minnesota's cheap ownership group if the Twins get off to the kind of start we're predicting. L
-MP
25. St. Louis Cardinals
It's not all sunshine and rainbows for the Cardinals this spring. St. Louis tore this team down to the studs, as one does when Chaim Bloom is the president of baseball operations. However, a Jordan Walker resurgence could turn the tide for the Cards, as Bloom is looking for players to build around as the next great generation of St. Louis players. Walker, a former top prospect in the Cardinals system, could be one of those players. He'll have all the time he needs to prove St. Louis right or wrong in he regular season, as the Cards aren't going anywhere fast.
-MP
24. Tampa Bay Rays
The further we get into spring, the more it seems like we might finally get to see Shane McClanahan back on a big-league mound for the first time in almost three years. That’s something to feel good about, and this pitching staff could be dangerous if the lefty can join Drew Rasmussen, Ryan Pepiot and other big arms (file away the names Joe Boyle and Ian Seymour) in sneaky-strong rotation. I’m not sure there’s enough offense around Junior Caminero for that to matter much, but the Rays have proved us all wrong before.
-CL
23. Miami Marlins
I have questions about the Marlins’ offense, and sure enough, they’re dead last in the Majors in runs scored this spring. Some of that has to do with players who went to the WBC, but still: This lineup has major holes. With that being said, Jakob Marsee looks like a budding star, Kyle Stowers is healthy after an injury scare and Eury Perez is fresh off a ridiculously dominant outing. The pieces are there for this Miami team to surprise some people. While I don’t expect them to make the playoffs, they could finish the year closer than most think if everything clicks.
-ZR
22. Arizona Diamondbacks
Corbin Carroll’s injury scare has some Diamondbacks fans panicked ahead of Opening Day, but it looks like he’s doing whatever he can to play in their season opener. And even if he’s unable to do so, it shouldn’t be long before the star outfielder debuts, which is a great thing. Beyond Carroll, Arizona has gotten an incredibly encouraging camp out of former top prospect Jordan Lawlar, who looks poised to finally break out. And while he won’t make the Opening Day roster, Ryan Waldschmidt showcased some upside this spring. Pitching figures to hold this team back — especially after Merrill Kelly’s injury, which could result in a season-opening IL stint — but they could score a ton of runs.
-ZR
21. Athletics
I want to fully hop on the A’s hype train, although I still have my doubts about whether this team will be able to prevent enough runs to truly compete in 2026. Jacob Lopez has had a strong spring, and adding Aaron Civale to the back end of the rotation will help stabilize things at the very least, but there’s little in the way of known quantities behind Jeffrey Springs and Luis Severino right now. The A’s may well hit enough that it doesn’t matter; this lineup is that good, especially if Lawrence Butler can rebound after a disappointing 2025 season. But man, imagine this team with one more proven starter.
-CL
20. Pittsburgh Pirates
Konnor Griffin is doing Konnor Griffin things at Pirates spring training while future teammate Paul Skenes is away at the World Baseball Classic. Whether Griffin makes the roster straight out of camp remains to be seen, but he's the primary reason why Pittsburgh's ceiling is so high this year. The Pirates made plenty of moves to improve their lineup this winter – including adding Ryan O'Hearn, Brandon Lowe and Marcell Ozuna – which was among the worst in MLB last season. Pittsburgh can't afford to waste any more years with Skenes in their rotation.
-MP
19. San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants have some good foundational pieces like Logan Webb and Rafael Devers around which to build, but they did not do enough to will themselves into postseason contention in a stacked National League. The rotation beyond Webb has a ton of questions (particularly with durability), I don’t love the Luis Arraez fit at second base and the bullpen looks like a mess. Maybe Devers has a huge year, and maybe top prospect Bryce Eldridge shows off his immense power potential. But barring that , it looks like the Giants are in for another middling season, even with much of their rotation pitching quite well this spring.
-ZR
18. Texas Rangers
Brandon Nimmo seems to be adjusting just fine to his new team, and there’s a path here for Texas to rebound offensively after a dreadful 2025: A full season from Evan Carter would be a great start, plus Josh Jung getting back on track and Jake Burger reverting to 30-homer form. Add that to a rotation headlined by Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi and MacKenzie Gore, and that sounds an awful lot like a Wild Card team. Of course, that’s a lot of “ifs”, and it’s just as likely that the bottom half of the Rangers’ lineup struggles and deGrom and/or Eovaldi get hurt, exposing a lack of depth behind them.
-CL
17. Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds made a late-season run to the postseason in 2025, but if they hope to repeat that success in 2026, they'll need some help from unlikely sources. An injury to Hunter Greene could set the Reds back early in the season, but the good news is they have a skipper who can steady the ship. Terry Francona is one of the best in the business, and he sees something in this Reds team. However, the lack of urgency from the front office to add to a playoff team this past winter certainly won't inspire confidence.
-MP
16. Cleveland Guardians
The Cleveland Guardians won the AL Central last season. It's easy to forget that, but the Guardians overcame a double-digit game deficit in September. However, Cleveland was exposed in the postseason, as they featured Jose Ramirez and little else. One member of that 'little else' is outfielder Angel Martinez, who has absolutely dominated this spring and is likely to make the Opening Day roster. It will take more players like Martinez
-MP
15. Kansas City Royals
The entire world got a front-row seat to what Royals fans have known for months – Maikel Garcia is a legitimate Robin to Bobby Witt Jr.'s batman in Kansas City. The Royals are flirting with win-now mode, if only because they know how talented Garcia and Witt Jr. are. Salvador Perez can't play catcher forever. The rotation still needs some work, but the Royals didn't trade Kris Bubic, while Cole Ragans, Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha make for a capable rotation. If the AL Central favorite Tigers falter, the Royals should be hanging around to take advantage.
-MP
14. San Diego Padres
The Padres have a starting pitching problem, and that’s only emphasized with Joe Musgrove expected to begin the year on the IL while he continues to recover from Tommy John surgery. Their rotation can be decent if healthy, but Musgrove is a question mark, Michael King is too, Yu Darvish is already out for the year and whether Nick Pivetta will repeat his breakout year remains to be seen. The bullpen is excellent, and the lineup can be good (especially if Jake Cronenworth and Freddy Fermin’s strong springs can translate to the regular season). But having three rotation vacancies in mid-March and needing to rely on more than one of Walker Buehler, German Marquez, Randy Vasquez and JP Sears is not where any team wants to be.
-ZR
13. Atlanta Braves
Despite some injury woes, the Braves hold the best spring training record in MLB as of this writing. Key regulars like Matt Olson, Austin Riley and Drake Baldwin are routinely crushing baseballs, Mike Yastrzemski is helping fans forget all about Jurickson Profar’s PED suspension and Grant Holmes looks as good as he ever has. With that being said, navigating at least the first three-ish months without Spencer Schwellenbach and Hurston Waldrep will be difficult, and the Profar suspension was extremely crushing. The Braves will be better than last season, but health remains their biggest obstacle, and nothing we’ve seen this spring suggests they’re ready to overcome that.
-ZR
12. Houston Astros
Is it possible that we’re sleeping a bit on the Astros? Tatsuya Imai has been awfully impressive in his first spring training, and I can’t help but feel like this offense is in for a bounce-back season in 2026. Cam Smith is a sneaky breakout candidate after just trying to keep his head above water as a rookie, and vets like Christian Walker, Carlos Correa and Yainer Diaz have more juice left than they showed last year. Health will always be a question mark for this team, but I’m bullish on a solid rotation emerging behind Imai and Hunter Brown. If Yordan Alvarez gets a full season, watch out.
-CL
11. Baltimore Orioles
Jackson Holliday will miss Opening Day with a hamate fracture, while Jordan Westburg’s mysterious elbow ailment may or may not require Tommy John surgery. But the good news for Baltimore is that this offense still might be a wagon: Samuel Basallo is mashing everything in sight at spring training and Gunnar Henderson has been carrying Team USA at the WBC. And the rotation is healthier than it’s been in a long time, with Shane Baz looking every bit like the breakout candidate O’s fans were hoping for. Pitching depth remains a question, but the arrow is very much pointing up here.
-CL
10. Detroit Tigers
You could make a reasonable argument for the Tigers to be a little higher on this list given the signings of Framber Valdez and Justin Verlander this winter. However, Detroit's biggest weakness was exposed last October, and that was its lineup and lack of execution in big moments. The Tigers saw what happened against the Seattle Mariners – another team higher up on our list – and figured why not run it back in what could be Tarik Skubal's final season with the team. No spring training hype can save the Tigers from themselves.
-MP
9. Boston Red Sox
Ranger Suarez is a bit behind in his buildup thanks to Venezuela’s run to the WBC final, but if any team has the pitching depth to cover for him for a couple of weeks, it’s Boston. And beyond that, it’s been an exciting spring: Roman Anthony remains on a superstar trajectory, Caleb Durbin is making third base his own, heck even Masataka Yoshida showed signs of life for Team Japan. There are still concerns about the bottom half of this lineup, and I still would’ve liked to have seen a consolidation trade for another infielder, but I’d be shocked if the Red Sox weren’t in the thick of the East race this year.
-CL
8. Philadelphia Phillies
Not only did Jesus Luzardo sign a team-friendly extension this spring, but Aaron Nola dominated in each of his two WBC starts. I’m not going to say Nola is fully back, but if he is, the Phillies might not miss Suarez that badly. There are concerns regarding how Zack Wheeler will look coming off a procedure few pitchers have bounced back from, and Bryce Harper’s WBC showing has been anything but elite, but the vibes are fairly strong right now. Heck, even Alec Bohm and Bryson Stott have had promising springs. The Phillies will need those two to produce for them to make any noise in the postseason. Getting to October, though, shouldn’t be too much of a problem, even with their roster holes.
-ZR
7. Milwaukee Brewers
The Brewers traded ace Freddy Peralta to the New York Mets earlier in spring training. In doing so, Milwaukee bet on the youth in its starting rotation to replace Peralta's production. That includes pitchers like Jacob Misiorowski and Quinn Priester. However, the most impressive starter this spring might be Kyle Harrison, who could earn a rotation spot after being acquired via trade for Caleb Durbin. The Brewers tend to develop pitchers better than most. The smart money is on Harrison playing a role this season, and Milwaukee making the postseason yet again.
-MP
6. Seattle Mariners
For a team with a pretty massive gap between its top five and the rest of its MLB-ready starting pitching depth, news of Bryce Miller getting shut down due to tightness during a bullpen session isn’t what you want to hear. That said, it sounds like the Mariners dodged a truly worst-case scenario, and Cole Young has been tearing the cover off the ball all spring as he looks to bounce back from a disappointing rookie season. That would be huge in terms of lengthening a Seattle lineup that might get a little top-heavy, and top prospect Colt Emerson will make his mark at some point this season as well. It maybe feels a bit more fragile than you’d like for a team with legit World Series hopes, but that remains the ceiling.
-CL
5. New York Mets
Francisco Lindor appears ready to go for Opening Day after a hamate injury, and the Mets have avoided any other major injuries. Top prospect Carson Benge is hitting over .400 and is tied for the team lead in hits. Brett Baty and Francisco Alvarez are carrying over their second-half momentum into spring training. Freddy Peralta has looked like Freddy Peralta. Jorge Polanco has had a strong spring at the plate and looks comfortable at first base. Prospects Ryan Lambert and AJ Ewing have flashed immense upside. New York had a rollercoaster of an offseason, but this spring has brought a lot more good than bad. There are a lot of questions that need to be answered, but this team has the potential to be really, really good.
-ZR
4. New York Yankees
Dare I say it, the vibes at Yankees spring training are actually … pretty good? Anthony Volpe, Carlos Rodon and Gerrit Cole are all right on track (maybe even a little early) in returning from injury, and other than that it’s a clean bill of health – no small feat for this team of late. Contrary to what New York talk radio might think, running back the best offense in baseball from a season ago is not actually a bad thing, and with Jasson Dominguez, Spencer Jones and a bevy of young arms (Ryan Weathers, Carlos Lagrange, etc) having encouraging springs, the ceiling here is sky high. You know, as long as nothing goes wrong.
-CL
3. Toronto Blue Jays
Shane Bieber and Jose Berrios have been slowed by elbow issues this spring, which is never a good sign (and could put more pressure on the Max Scherzer signing than previously anticipated). There’s still a solid starting five here, though, and beyond that the situation remains largely the same in Toronto: Solid everywhere, but maybe not quite enough star power around Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to have you feeling really good about their chances of another pennant in an increasingly crowded AL (and AL East). Kazuma Okamoto sure looks like a steal, though, and that – plus a contract year from Daulton Varsho – could raise this team’s ceiling considerably. Either way, the Jays won’t be fun to deal with this year.
-CL
2. Chicago Cubs
There is some panic in Cubs camp, as outfielder Seiya Suzuki hurt his knee in Japan's loss to Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic quarterfinal. Suzuki is set to undergo an MRI, and it's unclear if he'll be ready for Opening Day. Thankfully for Chicago, star outfield Pete Crow-Armstrong is just fine. In fact, he's played quite well starring for Team USA. If the Cubs are going to take the next step this season, they'll need more consistency from PCA, who faded down the stretch. But there's few teams capable of giving the Dodgers – and Kyle Tucker – a run for their money. Thanks to investments made by the Ricketts family this winter, the Cubs are one of them.
-MP
1. Los Angeles Dodgers
There isn’t a team for which spring training matters less than the Dodgers, the back-to-back World Series champions who are clear favorites to threepeat. With that being said, Kyle Tucker has gotten on base nearly half the time he’s stepped up to the plate, Teoscar Hernandez has been even better than that and Tanner Scott has looked like the Tanner Scott of old. Even River Ryan looks like he can be a very strong option for a team that’ll likely need as much pitching depth as it can get. Breaking news: The Dodgers are, once again, scary.
-ZR