By Grant Brisbee, Kaitlyn McGrath and Stephen J. Nesbitt
Every week, we ask a selected group of our baseball writers — local and national — to rank the teams from first to worst. Here are the collective results.
We’re approaching the business end of the season. With six weeks remaining, the postseason races are coming into focus, as well as the finalists for the annual awards.
Bobby Witt Jr. and Aaron Judge are each making a strong case for the American League MVP, while Shohei Ohtani is proving that even when he’s held to only hitting, he can be the heavy favorite to win his first National League MVP and third overall. Corbin Burnes and Tarik Skubal are the leading candidates for the AL Cy Young Award, while in the NL, Chris Sale and Zack Wheeler are favored for the honor.
We can all name plenty of players having standout seasons and getting deserved recognition — but what about those players flying just under the radar? In this week’s power rankings, we set out to identify those players having sneaky good seasons for their respective ball clubs.
Record: 74-52
Last Power Ranking: 3
Sneaky-good season: RHP Gavin Stone
The Dodgers would be absolutely hosed without Stone. Bobby Miller and Walker Buehler have combined for 17 erratic and ineffective starts this season, and Clayton Kershaw rejoined the team only recently. Without Stone and his modestly successful 22 starts (3.63 ERA, 4.04 FIP), there would be a lot more panic surrounding the Dodgers. They probably weren’t expecting an NL West race this close, and they definitely weren’t expecting to need 17 different starting pitchers (and counting) this season. The peripheral stats suggest that Stone won’t be dominant until he returns to missing bats like he did in the minors. The Dodgers needed one of their gaggle of young starters to be sneaky good this season, and they needed it in the worst way. — Grant Brisbee
Record: 73-52
Last Power Ranking: 1
Sneaky-good season: RHP Michael Tonkin
After the opening month he had, who would have thought the 34-year-old Tonkin would have a 2.73 ERA with the Yankees? After signing a split contract with the Mets and breaking camp with them, the journeyman reliever was DFA’d then traded to the Twins only to be DFA’d by them and picked up again by the Mets, who subsequently DFA’d him once more after which he was claimed by the Yankees — all before the end of April. But after a blown save in his Yankees debut, Tonkin has found a home in the Bronx and earned his way into Aaron Boone’s circle of trust. Upping the usage of his two-seam fastball along with some runway to get comfortable seems to be the recipe Tonkin needed to put together a sneaky good season after a chaotic start. — Kaitlyn McGrath
Record: 73-51
Last Power Ranking: 4
Sneaky-good season: RHP Orion Kerkering
Jeff Hoffman and Matt Strahm have been the standouts from the Phillies bullpen — and both received well-earned All-Star nods because of it. But behind them, having a season just as good, though perhaps more under the radar has been rookie Orion Kerkering, who has a 2.51 ERA in 47 appearances with 53 strikeouts in 46 2/3 innings. He’s succeeded especially by limiting hard contact, holding the opposition to a 31.4 percent hard-hit rate that ranks in the 92nd percentile in the majors. Kerkering shot through the Phillies system last year, and made his MLB debut last September. Expectations were high for Kerkering this season, and he has lived up to them. — McGrath
Record: 73-53
Last Power Ranking: 2
Sneaky-good season: 1B/OF/DH Ryan O’Hearn
O’Hearn had five unremarkable years with the Kansas City Royals, compiling a .683 OPS, before he was DFA’d and landed with the Orioles in 2023 in a make-or-break year for his career. The first baseman broke out and he’s carried that success into this season, too. The left-handed hitter has a .801 OPS in 107 games and has been particularly effective against right-handed pitching, with an .818 OPS and all 12 of his home runs coming in situations where he has the platoon advantage. On a team with many big hitters, O’Hearn is making the most of his part-time role and for that reason, he’s authoring one of the best sneaky good seasons. — McGrath
Record: 72-52
Last Power Ranking: 6
Sneaky-good season: 3B Joey Ortiz
The seriously good Brewers have had no shortage of sneaky good seasons — we’ve previously noted Jackson Chourio and Bryan Hudson and Brice Turang — so we’re going with a guy who’s mostly flown under the radar. After going to Milwaukee in the Corbin Burnes trade last offseason, Ortiz has played plus defense at third base and been a steady contributor at the plate: .248/.345/.401, eight homers, seven steals. There’s more power in the bat than he’s shown so far this season, but in the meantime, he’s getting on base and displaying exceptional plate discipline to help lengthen the Brewers lineup. A 3 WAR rookie season won’t win hardware, given the competition, but it’s still sneaky good. — Stephen Nesbitt
Record: 72-52
Last Power Ranking: 5
Sneaky-good season: RHP Hunter Gaddis
Sorry Cade Smith, but once you get the Ken Rosenthal notebook treatment you’re not sneaking by anyone anymore. So let’s go with the Guardians’ other set-up guy. Gaddis entered this season with a 6.57 ERA in almost 50 innings in the majors. That stinks! So when he started the season with 13 consecutive scoreless relief outings, that was a surprise. Then when he served up six runs across his next three outings, that was not a surprise. And yet, entering this week, Gaddis has allowed only four earned runs since the start of May. That’s an 0.84 ERA in 42 2/3 innings, cutting his season ERA to 1.40. Good luck staying sneaky good at that rate. Just look at this stuff! — Nesbitt
Hunter Gaddis, Filth. 😷 pic.twitter.com/FAjIRzAjOw
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) July 25, 2024
Record: 71-55
Last Power Ranking: 8
Sneaky-good season: C Kyle Higashioka
Sometimes you have the kind of season where almost nothing goes right. Like, say, most of the seasons in Padres franchise history. But sometimes you have the kind of season where even the backup catcher is contributing. Higashioka’s on-base skills still leave a lot to be desired, but he’s hit 14 home runs in just 189 plate appearances, which is more than anyone in the Yankees’ infield this season. The Padres were just looking for a catcher who wouldn’t mess things up, but they stumbled onto an accidental dinger machine, which is just how this team is rolling right now. — Brisbee