Monday in the Major League Baseball season means it’s time for the official power rankings. However, here in Spring Training we continue to take care of your content requirements and select something to rank for each week. This time we will go with the starting positions. More specifically, which line-up offers the best offense? That’s all we’re about this week. Defense, pitching, base running, bank depth and everything else is secondary while the almighty bat runs the show.
It’s always fun to discuss and debate this time of year anyway, and the only thing that really hurts my feelings are those annoying laughing emojis on Facebook (really, I cry almost every time). Regardless, I will push forward. Let’s do it.
Which teams have the best offense heading into 2023?
One of baseball’s best offenses last season (second in home runs and third in runs scored), the Braves are looking better this time. Dansby Swanson’s loss is mitigated by receiving a full season from Ozzie Albies, a fully healthy Ronald Acuña Jr., along with another year of comfort for Matt Olson (freshman in 2022) and Michael Harris (rookie). Vaughn Grissom takes over at short notice and there have never been any questions about his racquet. Oh, and they added Sean Murphy behind the plate. This offense is loading.
If you have a pick to lead the majors in runs scored, pick the Braves.
In the actual power rankings, the champions sit at the top and it wasn’t even really a difficult decision. It’s a well-rounded ball club with one of baseball’s best pitching staffs and second-best roster, I say. The Astros actually finished seventh in runs last season, but they’re better this year. Jose Abreu is a huge offensive upgrade at first base, and we’re now looking at a full season from Michael Brantley (he only played 64 games last season). One of the biggest questions last season was how the Astros would replace Carlos Correa, and Jeremy Peña passed the test with flying colours. Mainstays Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman are still in their prime, while Kyle Tucker is an All-Star and Jordan Alvarez is good enough to be MVP.
This is your AL pick for most runs and I wouldn’t argue with anyone wanting to take them over the Braves for top spot.
The Padres got MVP caliber work from Manny Machado last season, but otherwise they haven’t been anywhere near as good as they could be in 2023.
I see no reason why Machado is in for a major relapse. Juan Soto has had the worst offensive season of his career in more ways than one, which is likely due in part to dealing with the trade rumors and then the actual trade. As of 2021, he lost an average of about 70 points, 64 points on base and over 80 points on slugging. He gets all of that back. And he’s only played 52 games for the Padres anyway. Fernando Tatis Jr. kept a clean sheet and is capable of an MVP season, especially now that his shoulder and wrist are repaired. He will miss time to complete his PED suspension but will be back before May. Xander Bogaerts would be the top hitter on at least a handful of teams, probably more. He’s the fourth best hitter here. Jake Cronenworth is a good fifth.
Anything left for Nelson Cruz and/or Matt Carpenter?
Austin Nola and Trent Grisham are a pretty powerful duo as they are also the 8th and 9th hitters.
Damn good lineup.
The 2022 Blue Jays felt so disappointing to me in more ways than one. It’s not their fault I picked them to win the World Series, but it’s their fault for only scratching the surface of their potential. And yet they finished fourth in runs scored.
Teoscar Hernández’s trade hurts, sure, but Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. and Bo Bichette can do a lot more (we’ve already seen it from Vlad). George Springer is still an elite leadoff man while Alejandro Kirk’s outburst was real. Daulton Varsho is also poised for a bigger break, especially in this lineup and batting environment. Matt Chapman, Brandon Belt and Whit Merrifield aren’t as good as they used to be, but that’s the bottom half of the lineup. Lots of potency here, not just with the power, although the power is there.
It remains to be seen how pitching and defense will react to Willson Contreras being behind the plate instead of Yadier Molina, but as mentioned earlier this is an offensive only ranking and Contreras is a huge improvement over Molina. Tommy Edman and Brendan Donovan are great supports for Contreras and perennial MVP contenders Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado. There’s a lot more depth, too, with the potential for guys like Juan Yepez, Lars Nootbaar, Dylan Carlson, Nolan Gorman and Tyler O’Neill saying this offense could be downright scary if everyone’s right. Uber prospect Jordan Walker isn’t far away either.
Too low? It is possible. The Dodgers led the majors by 40 points last season. They also lost Justin and Trea Turner. Still, it’s a great group. Starting with two MVPs in Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman, the needle will always move. Will Smith is one of the best bat catchers in baseball, and we’ve seen Max Muncy and JD Martinez deliver a big hit in recent years.
However, there are questions as to why they are not higher. After Freeman, Betts and Smith, it’s really just questions. After a brutal 2022, will Muncy bounce back? Has Martinez entered his decline? Will Gavin Lux Ever Escape? What will the likes of Trayce Thompson, David Peralta, Miguel Vargas and Miguel Rojas offer? How about Chris Taylor?
There are an awful lot of questions, and I’ve gotten used to saying that not every question can be answered positively. Nevertheless, there is a lot of potential here.
In the second half, the Yankees had arguably the most annoying offense in baseball. It just seemed like they should be that much better and not rely so much on a player who had one of the best offensive seasons ever. They still finished second in baseball in runs scored in 2022.
We could nitpick the rest of the lineup and say there’s only so much Aaron Judge can do, but he’s back and there’s no reason to think he’ll be significantly worse. Anthony Rizzo and Giancarlo Stanton are capable of hot streaks that could result in a criminal offense. Gleyber Torres still has a lot of potential to become great. A full season from Harrison Bader will be interesting. I don’t have a lot of faith in Aaron Hicks or Josh Donaldson at all, but youngsters Oswald Peraza and Oswaldo Cabrera offer advantages.
We know the Yankees are polarizing. I’ll probably get a lot of complaints that they’re too high with the nonsense that it’s a ‘one man offense’ but if anything I’m too low on them.
I liked them a lot better in December when they “had” Carlos Correa!
Still, this is a solid top half. Brandon Nimmo is a very good table cover to come to base. Starling Marte is still a well above average offensive player and then it’s MVP potential Francisco Lindor ahead of perhaps the best cleanup man in Mets history, Pete Alonso. Jeff McNeil’s average, low strikeout skills also make this a very balanced offense.
But what do they get from the back half? Daniel Vogelbach has raw power and strikes on base, but he’s not great. Mark Canha’s upside potential is limited.
Overall, it’s a very good, if not great, offensive. There’s a reason they’re in the top eight, after all. I just feel like there’s a chance they’ll go through more funks than one would expect from such a talented team.
One of the most important things I’m going to say in this column is to emphasize that Bryce Harper is likely to miss about half the season. That’s a big deal and reason for a several-spot downgrade. At the end of the season, it’s entirely possible that the Phillies will have a top 3 offense in baseball.
Let’s focus on all the negative aspects of the last year.
Nick Castellanos was actually pretty terrible after coming 12th in the 2021 MVP pick for the Reds. I mentioned Harper’s problem this season, but he only played 99 games last year. Alec Bohm can do better and was essentially a league hitter in the regular season. Bryson Stott was a rookie and had a lot of growing pains. Rhys Hoskins was incredibly inconsistent. They basically only had dregs in midfield for 41 games ahead of Brandon Marsh.
I’m mean to the defending NL champions to prove a point: All of this happened and they finished seventh in the majors in runs scored.
They added Trea Turner. Kyle Schwarber is a great bet to lead the NL in home runs again. JT Realmuto is one of the best offensive catchers in baseball. Castellanos certainly can’t be worse and he’s capable of a great season. Böhm and Stott should be better. A full season of Marsh should be good. Harper will be on a mission as soon as he gets back.
There’s a lot to like here.
Yes, the Angels are constantly overrated in the spring at this point, but if we focus on offense – and dream of a completely healthy group – this is a very talented group. Not only do they have two MVP-caliber racquets, they have three. No, I don’t expect Anthony Rendon to actually win MVP, but when he’s your third-best hitter after Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani, that’s stellar. Hunter Renfroe and Brandon Drury were nice cheap additions in the off-season, while Taylor Ward and Jared Walsh are perfectly capable of delivering plenty of supporting production. They will put runs on the board, at least until the seemingly inevitable injuries strike.
Other crimes in the mix: Gemini, Mariners, Red Sox, Orioles, Guardians, A’s (LOL, joke)