Ranking Every MLB Team's Starting 9 After 1st Month of 2025 Season

With every MLB team having played at least 28 games, we are officially more than one-sixth of the way through 2025's baseball marathon.

While that's still relatively early in the campaign, the league's highest scoring offense (Chicago Cubs) has already racked up nearly twice as many runs as the lowest-scoring bunch (Texas Rangers).

How do the 30 lineups, well, line up from top to bottom thus far?

Though "Starting 9" is specifically in the headline, we aren't looking at just the nine players from each team who have made the most plate appearances or anything like that. Full-season, full-roster numbers are the driving force here.

Rather, the "Starting 9" is the nine-word summary that we'll provide for each team's season to date.

For each of the 30 teams, we'll highlight both a most valuable player and a least valuable player/position. Again, though, rankings were based on full-team numbers, not just who has the highest highs and/or the lowest lows.

30. Colorado Rockies: Remember when Coors Field used to be an advantage?

MVP: Jordan Beck

The 38th overall pick in the 2022 draft had a brutal pair of stints in the majors last season, posting a .521 OPS in 55 games played. It was a much different story after Beck was called up again in mid-April, going 8-for-19 with five home runs in his first six games back.

LVP: Kris Bryant

Plenty of options here, but only one of them is continuing to produce absolutely nothing in season No. 4 of his seven-year, $182 million contract. With a .400 OPS in 11 games before yet another trip to the IL, Bryant has now been worth negative-1.6 bWAR to Colorado since the beginning of 2022.

29. Kansas City Royals: Roughly on pace to match their 2020 HR total.

MVP: Bobby Witt Jr.

Aside from Aaron Judge with the Yankees, this is the easiest MVP pick of them all, even though Witt hasn't been quite as prolific as he was last season, at least in the home runs department. But he does have 14 extra base hits and eight stolen bases, leading the Royals by a wide margin in both categories.

LVP: Hunter Renfroe

Pretty much a carbon copy of last year's horrific start when he entered May with a .481 OPS. At least Renfroe did hit a pair of home runs last April, though. He has just two doubles and zero dingers amid his .467 OPS start to 2025.

28. Chicago White Sox: Wake us up when Colson Montgomery gets called up.

MVP: Edgar Quero

A staple in "top 100 prospects" rankings over the past few years, Quero made his MLB debut two weeks ago and is batting .344 with six walks to three strikeouts through 11 games played. At long last, Chicago may have found someone worth developing around in this rebuilding phase.

LVP: Jacob Amaya

The White Sox have a bunch of regulars batting below the Mendoza Line, but most of them are faring at least twice as well as Amaya's .080 batting average. Chicago has already used 21 position players this season, committed to throwing anything at the wall until it sticks. Not looking promising for this one.

27. Pittsburgh Pirates: Maybe they could ask Paul Skenes to hit, too?

MVP: Oneil Cruz

His defense in center field has been a travesty, but Cruz might be making history with his offense, racking up eight home runs and 12 stolen bases in his first 25 games played this season. That's a 162-game pace of 52 and 78, respectively. It's also at least twice as good as his closest teammate in either department.

LVP: Tommy Pham

A salary of $4.025 million wouldn't be much on most teams, but it makes Pham Pittsburgh's eighth-highest paid player this season. And after bouncing around between five teams over the past two years, the 37-year-old outfielder may have finally reached the end of the line, posting a sub-.500 OPS thus far as the Pirates' regular left fielder.

26. Texas Rangers: Things should improve considerably, but struggling mightily thus far.

MVP: Wyatt Langford

After entering last season as one of the top candidates for AL Rookie of the Year, Langford finally heated up late in the year with a .951 OPS, nine home runs and seven stolen bases over his final 29 games played. He has carried that momentum and then some into this season with a 1.044 OPS, six home runs and four stolen bases through 19 games played.

LVP: Joc Pederson

With an "honorable" mention to both Marcus Semien and Jake Burger amounting to very little on the right side of the infield, at least they have homered and occasionally produced some runs this season. Pederson is batting .100 with one RBI and three runs scored as the unofficial face of the Rangers' early woes on offense.

25. Toronto Blue Jays: At least they locked up Guerrero for life, right?

MVP: George Springer

Bit of a blast from the past here, as Springer had posted a . 705 OPS as more or less a replacement-level hitter over the past two seasons. The 35-year-old in the next-to-last year of his $150 million deal has been stellar out of the gates, batting .325 with a pair of solo home runs and four stolen bases.

LVP: Anthony Santander

During his eight years with Baltimore, Santander hit more home runs against Toronto (21) than any other team, slugging .520 in those 80 games played. He has yet to deliver that type of production as a member of the Blue Jays, though, slugging .302 through his first 27 games.

24. Houston Astros: Slow starts are nothing new for Houston, but woof.

MVP: Isaac Paredes

Through the start of play on Monday, there were 151 players with at least 30 plate appearances and an OPS of .735 or better. Of the 30 teams, 29 had multiple players on that list. But Houston had zero names on it, the mostly disappointing offense surprisingly being led by Paredes (.734 OPS, 4 HR) through 27 games.

LVP: Yainer Diaz

He has at least turned a corner since both batting and slugging .061 through Houston's first 11 games. However, Diaz still has a .200 on-base percentage and sub-.500 OPS for the year, becoming sort of the face of a franchise that is definitely missing both Kyle Tucker and Alex Bregman right about now.

23. Los Angeles Angels: Of their 39 home runs, 30 were solo shots.

MVP: Zach Neto

He missed the first few weeks while recovering from offseason shoulder surgery, but Neto has been awesome since his return, delivering what proved to be the game-winning RBI in two of his first six games back. He also had a Shohei Ohtani/Tungsten Arm O'Doyle-like performance on Saturday with a home run and three stolen bases...in a 5-1 loss to the sub-.500 Twins.

LVP: Anthony Rendon

He's likely going to miss most of the season following hip surgery in February, but the Angels are stuck paying him an exorbitant amount of money yet again. Since the beginning of 2023, Rendon has played in 100 games, hitting two home runs and making over $100 million.

22. Minnesota Twins: Royce Lewis' 2025 debut cannot possibly come soon enough.

MVP: Byron Buxton

Per usual, we shall see how long he can stay healthy. With six home runs and six stolen bases through 26 games played, though, early returns have been promising for Buxton. (Never mind the 37 strikeouts against just three walks, which is pretty terrible even by his career standards.)

LVP: Christian Vázquez

At no point in his three-year, $30 million contract has Vázquez been worth the investment Minnesota made, but it has really taken a turn for the worse in this final season, presently saddled with a .450 OPS, one run and one RBI.

21. Baltimore Orioles: O's lack of O has been an early stunner.

MVP: Cedric Mullins

Baltimore's center fielder broke out with a 30/30 campaign in 2021, but hadn't been the same hitter over the past three seasons. In what is now his contract year, though, he has reblossomed to lead the Orioles in hits, runs, home runs, RBI and stolen bases, roughly on pace for another 30/30 year. It speaks volumes to this team's early struggles, though, that a .292 hitter has been unquestionably their MVP to date.

LVP: Gunnar Henderson

After back-to-back top-10 finishes for AL MVP, Henderson missed Baltimore's first seven games with an intercostal strain and has yet to make any real impact with a .655 OPS and a strikeout rate of nearly 30 percent. A dreadful starting rotation has been Baltimore's biggest problem thus far, but getting little out of the 23-year-old hasn't helped matters.

20. Miami Marlins: Mostly mediocre offense in Miami, though better than expected.

MVP: Matt Mervis

With a tip o' the cap to Agustín Ramírez who is 9-for-23 with three home runs since making his MLB debut about a week ago, Mervis' slugging at first base has been a most welcome addition in south Florida. Once a promising prospect for the Chicago Cubs, he clubbed seven home runs in his first 69 plate appearances for the Marlins.

LVP: Jonah Bride

After hitting 11 home runs and posting an .818 OPS for the Marlins in 2024, Bride had a .300 OPS before getting designated for assignment two weeks ago and sold to the Twins. With Mervis thriving and Connor Norby returning from his early injury, Miami no longer had any use for him.

19. Cleveland Guardians: Bottom half overall, but second best in AL Central.

MVP: Steven Kwan

After 77 team games in 2024, Kwan was batting .385 with a 1.006 OPS, only to hit .221 and .632, respectively, the rest of the way. The good news for Cleveland is that he has gotten out to a mighty impressive start again, arguably the most valuable left fielder in the bigs at this early juncture.

LVP: Carlos Santana

While Josh Naylor has been awesome for Arizona, the 39-year-old the Guardians paid $12 million to replace him as their everyday first baseman has been a disappointment. Santana hit 23 home runs in each of the past two seasons with nearly identical OPS (.747 and .749) in each. But he's sitting at .598 with nary an extra base hit in his last 16 games.

18. Washington Nationals: Unfortunately, no lead is ever safe with this bullpen.

MVP: James Wood

Respectable last year as a rookie, Wood has been a sensation this season, already in 29 games matching his home run total (nine) from 79 games played in 2024. His ability to hit for power to all fields is something else. Dylan Crews has also gotten hot (.347/.373/.653 in his last 13 games) after a horrific start (.106/.143/.106 through 13 games).

LVP: Josh Bell

The Nats took a $6 million flyer on a reunion with Bell, which isn't going great. He does have four home runs and 13 RBI, but he's batting just .140. If that keeps up for another few weeks, this designated hitter might be designated for assignment.

17. San Francisco Giants: Giants averaging 0.5 homers at home; 1.3 on road.

MVP: Jung Hoo Lee

The former KBO star had a .641 OPS when he suffered a season-ending shoulder injury last year, but now the $113 million investment is starting to look like a good one. Lee is batting .324 with 16 extra-base hits and three stolen bases, reaching base safely in all but three games thus far.

LVP: Willy Adames

LaMonte Wade Jr. has been less productive with a .110 batting average, but he isn't the one making $182 million to be the face of this offense. And in that role, Adames has been a huge letdown, batting .202 with just one home run and one stolen base.

16. San Diego Padres: Hot start has been due to pitching, not hitting.

MVP: Fernando Tatis Jr.

Remember last year when Bobby Witt Jr. was worth more fWAR than every other Royals hitter combined? Tatis is well on his way to a similar fate with the Padres this season, batting .346 with eight home runs and seven stolen bases while everyone else seems to be average or worse.

LVP: The Rotating Cast of Left Fielders

Seven different players have appeared in at least one game in left field for the Padres and, well, they're still searching for an answer. Ideally, it will be rookie Tirso Ornelas, but he's 1-for-14 thus far. Jason Heyward and Oscar González haven't been much better.

15. Milwaukee Brewers: Just kind of an OK offense across the board.

MVP: Brice Turang

Normally prized for his glovework at second base, Turang entered Tuesday leading the National League in hits (37) and leading the majors in runs scored (28). He has also stolen eight bags, almost on track to match his mark of 50 from last season.

LVP: The Black Hole at SS/3B

Joey Ortiz moved from third base to shortstop with the departure of Willy Adames to San Francisco, but he has struggled woefully while the hot corner back-filling of Oliver Dunn and Vinny Capra has been a total disaster. Rookie Caleb Durbin has been making some productive starts at third lately, but the Brewers are batting a collective .173/.242/.240 between short and third.

14. Cincinnati Reds: Streak of 1-0 losses feels like a lifetime ago.

MVP: Elly De La Cruz

After racking up 25 home runs and 67 stolen bases in 160 games played last season, EDLC is on pace for a near-identical 29 and 64, respectively, this season. Of course, at this time a year ago, he was on pace for around 45 and 100, but maybe he can maintain what he's doing this time around.

LVP: Jeimer Candelario

That three-year, $45 million contract Candelario signed two offseasons ago might be highway robbery at this point. At least he was a replacement level hitter last year. Presently, he's batting .113 and striking out in nearly one-third of plate appearances.

13. Philadelphia Phillies: Six hitters making eight figures, but middling offense overall.

MVP: Bryce Harper

Close call between Harper and Kyle Schwarber, but we'll take the one with five home runs, six stolen bases and a requirement to actually bring a glove to the ballpark. Harper's batting average is a bit low by his two-time MVP standards, but he's both walking more and striking out less than usual.

LVP: Alec Bohm

He is at least showing signs of life, batting .306 over his last 13 games compared to slugging .167 through his first 14 contests. Still waiting on Bohm's first home run of the season, though. In fact, if you include the postseason, he has hit just four home runs in 333 plate appearances since partaking in the 2024 Home Run Derby.

12. Atlanta Braves: Slightly better than 2024; a far cry from 2023.

MVP: Marcell Ozuna

As was the case last year, Ozuna has been the lone wolf carrying this offense at times. Sean Murphy has also been mashing since returning from opening the season on the IL, but Ozuna leads the majors in walks drawn (26), leads the NL in on-base percentage (.473) and has an OPS just north of 1.000. The 34-year-old slugger is probably going to secure another substantial, multi-year contract this winter.

LVP: Corner Outfield

Ronald Acuña Jr. will be back relatively soon to hopefully save the day to some extent. With him out and Jurickson Profar getting hit with an 80-game suspension less than a week into the season, though, Atlanta's LF/RF situation has been a nightmare, with both Bryan De La Cruz and Jarred Kelenic already sent down to Triple-A.

11. Tampa Bay Rays: Not yet household names are keeping the Rays afloat.

MVP: Jonathan Aranda

After playing sparingly as a utility infielder over the past three seasons, Aranda has carved out a regular job at first base by virtue of a .968 OPS nearly 100 plate appearances into the season. Kameron Misner is also thriving in the outfield, while Chandler Simpson is hitting .400 since getting called up last week.

LVP: Danny Jansen

The 30-year-old former Blue Jays catcher slugged .516 three years ago, .474 in 2023, .349 last year and is down to .233 in the current campaign. His replacement level production would be more acceptable if he wasn't both one of the highest-paid players on this roster and one of the 10 best-compensated catchers in the majors at an $8.5 million salary.

10. St. Louis Cardinals: Coming back to earth after hot first two weeks.

MVP: Brendan Donovan

It's rare to find a heart-of-the-order utilityman, but Donovan has been batting third more often than not for the Cardinals while making starts at second, short and left. And with a .349 batting average and an NL-best 37 hits, why not? He was a career .280 hitter heading into this season, but he's really thriving in his age-28 campaign.

LVP: Jordan Walker

One of the top prospects in all of baseball heading into the 2023 season, Walker is knee-deep in yet another disappointing season. He hit .201 in 51 big league games played last year and is barely ahead of that at .208 early this year. The Cardinals still have high hopes for the 2020 first-round pick who turns 23 next month, but he has had a negative bWAR every year in the majors.

9. Athletics: Hitting better on road than at Sutter Health Park.

MVP: Tyler Soderstrom

Through 19 games, Soderstrom was on pace for 77 home runs. He has since been held without a dinger for 10 straight contests, but he still put together a few multi-hit games, maintaining an impressive .291 batting average and .940 OPS. Rookie Nick Kurtz is now their regular first baseman, but Soderstrom has thus far done a fine job in left, including an outfield assist on Sunday.

LVP: Max Muncy

There's just something about this name this year, as the other Max Muncy is also struggling for the Dodgers. The rookie infielder for the A's was batting .176 with 21 strikeouts in just 71 trips to the plate when they sent him back down to Triple-A to make room for Kurtz.

8. Detroit Tigers: Even Javier Báez is batting almost .300 for Detroit.

MVP: Spencer Torkelson

After a winter in which it looked like his days in Detroit were numbered, the No. 1 pick in the 2020 draft is leading the AL Central in both home runs and RBI. His batting average (.245) has plummeted back to a mediocre level in recent days, though it's hard to get too worked up over that while he's outslugging (.547) Shohei Ohtani (.533).

LVP: Colt Keith

After a rookie season batting .260 with 13 home runs, Keith has really floundered through the first month to the tune of a .176 batting average in what is no longer everyday work. At least he's drawing a lot of walks, good for a .325 on-base percentage. That and a contract that runs through at least 2029 will keep him in the regular rotation.

7. New York Mets: That 19-run outburst on Monday provided a ranking boost.

MVP: Pete Alonso

It was a long offseason of contract negotiations for the Polar Bear, but he evidently got all the hibernation he needed for a .337 batting average and an NL-best 1.088 OPS entering play on Tuesday. No one exactly expects Alonso to remain in the mix for a batting title after he entered the year with a .249 career average, but it has been great to see him slugging well again.

LVP: Center Field

Jose Siri was 1-for-20 when he landed on the IL, and Tyrone Taylor hasn't been a whole lot better with a .467 OPS. Utilityman Jeff McNeil may well become the regular center fielder now he's back from his oblique strain, as that would leave second base open for Luisangel Acuña and eventually Ronny Mauricio.

6. Boston Red Sox: At least the big offseason acquisition has paid off.

MVP: Alex Bregman

Getting Bregman and keeping Rafael Devers happy in the process was a months-long saga for the Red Sox, but he sure has been worth the trouble so far, batting .319 and leading the team with five home runs and 22 RBI.

LVP: Triston Casas

The one thing about Bregman that hasn't panned out is his defense after already committing an near-MLB-worst five errors at the hot corner. But putting either him or Devers at first base could be a "two birds, one stone" solution if Casas continues to struggle until former DH Masataka Yoshida is healthy enough to return. Casas had an .800 OPS last year and an .856 mark in 2023, but he's sitting at .583 at the moment.

5. Los Angeles Dodgers: Must be nice to "underachieve" to the fifth-best offense.

MVP: Shohei Ohtani

Cases also could be made for each of Tommy Edman, Teoscar Hernández, Freddie Freeman, Will Smith and recently scorching-hot Andy Pages, but the three-time MVP employed by the Dodgers isn't exactly struggling. Ohtani is batting .290 with six home runs, seven stolen bases and 27 runs scored as the leadoff hitter extraordinaire. If he stays healthy, it's plausible he will become the first player to score at least 153 runs in a season since Lou Gehrig got to 167 in 1936.

LVP: Max Muncy

Michael Conforto has also struggled in left field with a .592 OPS, but at least he's hit a pair of home runs. Muncy hit at least 35 round-trippers in four of the past seven seasons, but he has a goose egg in that department through 100 plate appearances in what is now easily his longest drought since joining the Dodgers in 2018.

4. Seattle Mariners: Where the heck was this offense one year ago?

MVP: Jorge Polanco

Cal Raleigh's MLB-best 10 home runs stand out in a big way, but Polanco exploding from a .651 OPS in a disappointing 2024 to a 1.145 mark this year is the biggest reason Seattle has gone from incapable to unstoppable. In the recent sweep of Miami, he went 6-for-12 with three home runs.

LVP: First Base

Seattle didn't invest a ton in Rowdy Tellez ($3.5 million) and Donovan Solano ($1.5 million) this winter to address its gaping hole at first base. And, unfortunately, the M's are getting what they paid for, with their "As 1B" triple slash split sitting at .130/.223/.294.

3. Arizona Diamondbacks: Might lead majors in runs scored like last year.

MVP: Corbin Carroll

Honorable mention to Pavin Smith, who broke out in a part-time role last year and has broken out even further this spring with a 1.103 OPS as Arizona's primary DH. Carroll is the face of the franchise, though, and he has nearly twice as many total bases (80) as Smith's 44. Carroll has nine home runs, eight doubles, an MLB-best four triples and five stolen bases, his fingerprints and footsteps all over the basepaths.

LVP: Lourdes Gurriel Jr.

After seven consecutive years with an OPS north of .740, Gurriel has sputtered to a .540 mark this season. But with Jake McCarthy back in the minors after batting .073 in his own right, the Snakes don't exactly have an in-house Plan B in left field if Gurriel continues to struggle.

2. New York Yankees: Hard to believe this offense lost a generational superstar.

MVP: Aaron Judge

Trent Grisham and Ben Rice have been the surprisingly potent contributors, but no one could possibly argue with this choice for team MVP. Judge is batting .405/.496/.703, leading the majors in all three departments, as well as hits (45) and RBI (28). Perhaps this is the year he gets the Triple Crown that narrowly eluded his grasp in both 2022 and 2024.

LVP: Cody Bellinger

It's truly astounding that teams are still pitching to Judge with Bellinger's .574 OPS directly behind him in the lineup on most nights. Teams used to walk Barry Bonds to pitch to Jeff Kent during the Hall of Fame-bound second baseman's six-year run with 175 home runs and a .903 OPS, but they're afraid Bellinger in his current state is going to make them pay for walking the best hitter in the world? Alrighty then.

1. Chicago Cubs: Cubs score 10-plus runs 25 percent of the time.

MVP: Kyle Tucker

Whether the Cubs will be able to sign him beyond just this one season is already a budding talking point, due to how well the former Houston Astro has been hitting as the star of what has been the most potent offense. Tucker leads the Cubs in hits, home runs, RBI and walks drawn, reaching base just a shade under 40 percent of the time.

LVP: Dansby Swanson

As good as the Baby Bears have been, their most expensive player has yet to get going. Swanson does have four home runs and four stolen bases, but he has a .577 OPS for the year and a horrendous .376 mark dating back to April 9. He often does start a bit slow, though, so we'll see if he turns a corner in May to help keep the Cubs atop this list.