2025 MLB power rankings: What are the injuries worth monitoring?
Beyond the usual slate of arm injuries that inevitably occur early in the season, we’ve seen our share of freak incidents, too.
The last few days have been especially peculiar, with a series of collisions taking place in Houston, Toronto and Tampa. Luis Arraez suffered the most frightening outcome, as he had to be stretchered off the field and transported to Houston Methodist Hospital. Thankfully, the Padres announced soon after that he was "stable, conscious, responsive and able to move his extremities."
This week’s power rankings don’t feature much movement at the top, but they do feature the latest injury updates as we sort through the wreckage around the league.
2025 MLB Power Rankings
Veteran Martin Perez’s encouraging start to the year took a turn when he left his start Friday with forearm soreness and was placed on the injured list. On a more positive note, rookie catcher Edgar Quero is taking advantage of an opportunity.
Every NL Central team has scored more than 100 runs this year…except the Pirates, who are still trying to break 80. They’re the only team in their division with a negative run differential, and it’s at minus-25. Spencer Horwitz, the club’s biggest acquisition in an embarrassingly quiet winter, has yet to debut after dealing with a wrist injury.
The offense has been brutal, and having Royce Lewis and Matt Wallner on the shelf with hamstring injuries hasn’t helped. A hamstring injury also has starter Pablo López sidelined.
Max Meyer has had a brilliant start to his 2025 campaign. The rest of the rotation has struggled mightily. Ryan Weathers could be back by next month, and Eury Perez could return from Tommy John surgery by the season’s second half. In addition, Griffin Conine, one of the club’s top offensive threats, just dislocated his shoulder on a headfirst slide into second base this weekend.
Losing CJ Abrams to a hip flexor strain hasn’t helped an offense that ranks 22nd in OPS. The bigger issue, though, is a bullpen with an MLB-worst 7.19 ERA.
The offense, led by MLB home run leader Tyler Soderstrom, has some pop. But the A’s pitching staff ranks 26th in ERA, and it might have just suffered a hit with Jeffrey Springs exiting his Sunday start early with hamstring soreness. Sutter Health Park is not exactly a pitching haven.
Standout reliever Lucas Erceg is day-to-day after taking a line drive off his foot, but the issue is not with the pitching staff. The Royals have gone 16 straight games without scoring more than four runs. They lost six straight before snapping the skid in extras on Sunday. Outside of Bobby Witt Jr., Maikel Garcia and Mark Canha — who just returned from injury — the Royals don’t have another player with an OPS over .600.
The Cardinals were riding high after series wins at home against Philadelphia and Houston before hitting the road and getting swept in four games in Queens. Starting shortstop Masyn Winn could be back this week from the back spasms that have held him out for the last week.
Somehow this happened to Jonathan Aranda in a game this weekend, and he still returned to action and did this. Unfortunately, breakout starts for Aranda and Shane Baz have not led to many wins. Outside of Baz and Drew Rasmussen, it’s been a slow start for the typically sound Tampa Bay rotation, and the Rays are 2-6 in one-run games. At some point, Shane McClanahan should be back to help, though it’s unclear exactly when.
Spencer Strider is back, Ronald Acuña Jr. is inching closer toward a rehab assignment, and the offense is showing signs of life. Alex Verdugo provided a spark this weekend, and, more importantly, Austin Riley and Matt Olson have started to tap into their power.
As mentioned above, the Orioles just surrendered 24 runs. All five pitchers who entered the game ended the night with an ERA on the year over 10.00. That included Charlie Morton, one of the handful of additions the Orioles made in an attempt to make up for the loss of Burnes. Those maneuvers haven’t worked so far for a Baltimore rotation with the worst ERA in MLB. With Grayson Rodriguez going for a second opinion after an MRI on his sore shoulder, the Orioles have to be counting down the days until Zach Eflin returns from his lat strain.
The Reds went 3-3 last week, but it feels much better than that after winning the series Sunday in Baltimore with a 24-2 victory. The returns of Matt McLain and Austin Hays have provided a needed jolt to the lineup. Suddenly, the Reds have the fourth-most runs scored in MLB, and an offense that ranked 26th in wRC+ before this weekend is up to league average. .
All eyes will be on the midseason return of Shane Bieber. The question is whether the Guardians’ rotation can keep things afloat until then. So far, it’s been Logan Allen (0.56 ERA) — not Tanner Bibee (5.23) and Gavin Williams (4.63) — doing the heavy lifting.
The Angels have cooled considerably since jumping out to their hot start. But after getting swept by Texas, they bounced back taking two of three from San Francisco. The return of Zach Neto, who homered Sunday in his third game back, should provide a boost.
Lance McCullers Jr. doesn’t appear far off from returning to the big leagues for the first time since the 2022 season. He should help a scuffling Astros rotation, but he can’t fix an offense that has the fifth-lowest OPS in MLB. The lineup’s struggles are the primary reason for the team hovering around .500, and injuries aren’t to blame there.
Tobias Myers could be activated this week, while Brandon Woodruff continues building up on a rehab assignment. For a Brewers team that has a winning record despite a depleted rotation, that is welcome news. They’ve already started nine different pitchers this season.
Brayan Bello and Lucas Giolito are due back soon, which should help a rotation that has allowed the sixth-most runs in MLB (with little help from a defense that has committed the most errors in the sport) and underwhelmed outside of Garrett Crochet.
The latest Mariners series victory came at the hands of the Blue Jays, who’ve dropped five of their last nine games. The offense ranks fourth in batting average but 29th in homers and 22nd in slugging. It’s not great that Andres Gimenez still leads the team with three home runs. Maybe getting Daulton Varsho back soon will provide a boost.
Don’t look now, but the Mariners have scored more runs than any team in the AL West. That’s despite Victor Robles crashing into the outfield netting in San Francisco two weeks ago and fracturing his shoulder in the process. They’ve won four straight series since being swept by the Giants. It helps that Cal Raleigh is homering seemingly every night.
With injuries to Jon Gray, Cody Bradford and Jack Leiter, it would make sense if the Rangers’ rotation was scuffling. Instead, it’s their offense that has yet to kick into gear. After sweeping the Angels, the Rangers were shut out in two of three games at home this weekend against the Dodgers. They’re leading the division despite being tied with the Royals for the fewest runs scored in MLB.
Despite losing Ketel Marte to a hamstring strain eight games into the season, the D-backs still have one of the top offenses in baseball. Unfortunately, the addition of Corbin Burnes hasn’t fixed an Arizona pitching staff with the sixth-lowest ERA in MLB. Injuries to Kevin Ginkel, Kendall Graveman and now A.J. Puk in the bullpen haven’t helped.
Since jumping out to an 8-1 start, the Giants have dropped seven of their last 13 games. They lost Casey Schmitt to an oblique strain in the process, but injuries otherwise haven’t played a role in the recent slide.
The Guardians are on the Tigers’ heels in the standings, but Detroit has emerged as the best team in the Central in the early going. An extra-inning loss Sunday prevented them from sweeping the Royals in four games. In that loss, Kerry Carpenter left with right hamstring soreness. If he has to miss time, that’ll be a big blow to a Detroit offense already playing without Parker Meadows and Matt Vierling as San Diego heads into town.
Brandon Marsh is on the injured list with a hamstring strain after a forgettable start to the year, but this has otherwise been a relatively healthy start to the season for the Phillies. The addition of Jesus Luzardo and a bounceback start to the year from Taijuan Walker have more than made up for the early absence of Ranger Suárez, who should be back soon.
The Yankees’ offense has helped make up for the starting pitching woes in New York with Gerrit Cole and Luis Gil on the shelf. Ben Rice, a hard-hitting standout in the early going, has been a big part of that. He was hit by a pitch on the elbow Saturday, but the Yankees appear to have avoided disaster as X-rays came back negative.
It doesn’t match the impact of the Kyle Tucker trade, but don’t overlook the importance of the Matthew Boyd pickup this offseason. His exceptional start is all the more important now with Justin Steele out for the year. The Cubs may still need to grab another starter at the deadline, but until then, it helps that they have the highest-scoring offense in the sport helping deliver them the best run differential in MLB.
The Mets’ pitching staff looked to be in rough shape when Sean Manaea and offseason pickup Frankie Montas both started the year on the injured list. It’ll still be a bit before they’re back, but it doesn’t seem to matter. With Kodai Senga (3-1, 0.79 ERA) leading the way, the Mets’ rotation has looked like one of the best in baseball. All five pitchers who have made multiple starts this year have an ERA under 3.50. Offensively, Mark Vientos is day-to-day with groin discomfort, but Francisco Alvarez (hamate fracture) and Jeff McNeil (oblique strain) could be making their 2025 debuts before month’s end.
After dropping three straight series, the Dodgers bounced back by sweeping the lowly Rockies and would have made it an undefeated week if not for a walk-off homer in Texas by Adolis García. Kirby Yates took the loss in that one, but what seemed like a superfluous pickup in the offseason now looks like a rather vital one for a Dodgers team that just added Blake Treinen to its long list of pitching injuries. On a positive note, Evan Phillips is back, Blake Snell, Tony Gonsolin and Michael Kopech don’t seem far off, and the Dodgers appear to have averted anything serious after Tyler Glasnow left his Sunday start with leg cramping.
The Padres’ depth was a question coming into the year, and it’s already getting tested. Outfielders Jackson Merrill, Brandon Lockridge and Jason Heyward and infielder Jake Cronenwroth are all on the injured list, and on Sunday a much more alarming injury scare unfolded as Arraez collided with Mauricio Dubón at first base. It remains to be seen what Arraez’s status will be for the shorthanded Padres going forward. For now, despite a litany of injuries, they retain the top spot on our rankings.
Rowan Kavner is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the L.A. Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved back to the West Coast in 2014. Follow him on X at @RowanKavner.
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