We’re just past the quarter mark of the 2025 season, and it’s time to see how teams are stacking up so far. These grades aren’t predictions about the rest of the season – they’re simply measuring how teams have performed compared to what we expected from them before Opening Day.
Let’s dive into how the American League teams are doing.
Sacramento Athletics: B+
Record: 21-20
Who saw this coming? The A’s are actually over .500 at the quarter mark! They’re just two games out of first in the AL West and were within a single game only a week ago.
The power is real. Tyler Soderstrom, Brent Rooker, and Shea Langeliers are crushing the ball, and there are enough interesting pitchers to make this team surprisingly watchable.
Sure, they’ll probably end up in fourth place when all is said and done. But right now? They’ve earned their good grade.
Baltimore Orioles: F
Record: 15-24
If I were an O’s fan, I’d be furious. After sitting through that painful rebuild, this is what we get in Adley Rutschman’s fourth MLB season?
Only the Pirates, White Sox, and Rockies have worse records. That’s terrible company to keep.
Their rotation has been a complete disaster. Their starters rank 28th in ERA (5.55) and dead last in WAR (0.0). The front office cut corners in the offseason, and injuries to Zach Eflin and Grayson Rodriguez have turned an already shaky rotation into one of baseball’s worst.
The offense isn’t much better, scoring just 3.77 runs per game (23rd in MLB). This team has earned every bit of this failing grade.
Boston Red Sox: C
Record: 22-20
The Red Sox feel like less than the sum of their parts. They have the talent to be one of the league’s best teams, but they’re just hovering around .500.
Alex Bregman and Garrett Crochet have been the difference-makers they were brought in to be, but the team hasn’t taken off. And those Rafael Devers controversies? Completely avoidable. That stuff should stay in-house.
The Red Sox aren’t bad – they’re just not great. They have the potential to be much better, but things haven’t clicked yet. Maybe they will in the coming months, but for now, it’s a solid C.
Chicago White Sox: C
Record: 12-29
Look, the White Sox are awful at 12-29, but they’ve actually been better than most people expected. Recent call-ups Chase Meidroth and Edgar Quero look like potential building blocks, and righty Shane Smith seems like a steal from the Rule 5 Draft.
Other young arms like Sean Burke, Jonathan Cannon, and Davis Martin show enough promise to be interesting. I’m feeling generous with this C grade, especially since their 12-29 record is identical to where they were at this point last season.
Compared to rock-bottom preseason expectations, they’re not quite as terrible as we thought they’d be.
Cleveland Guardians: B
Record: 23-17
Even with Emmanuel Clase having a few hiccups, the Guardians are still masters of close games – they’re 8-2 in one-run games and 3-0 in extra innings.
Steven Kwan, Kyle Manzardo, and José RamÃrez have carried an offense that’s slightly below average in scoring. Their rotation is the least impressive it’s been in years, and when you add a below-average defense, you get a bottom-10 run prevention unit.
The Guardians have a winning record despite a negative run differential. They’ve shown a knack for winning tight games in recent years, so I won’t call it luck. Cleveland walks a tightrope most nights with very little margin for error, but so far, they’re staying on the right side of those margins.
Detroit Tigers: A
Record: 26-15
I wasn’t sure what to make of the Tigers coming into this season. Would their "pitching chaos" (manager AJ Hinch’s term) hold up over 162 games? Could the offense produce enough?
A quarter into the season, Detroit is proving last year’s playoff push was no fluke. Former #1 overall picks Casey Mize (now out with a hamstring injury) and Spencer Torkelson have taken big steps forward. Tarik Skubal is pitching like a Cy Young candidate again, Reese Olson and the bullpen have been fantastic, and the offense is averaging the third-most runs per game in baseball (5.22).
Maybe guys like Javier Báez, Dillon Dingler, and Zach McKinstry won’t keep this up all season, but looking at what they’ve done so far? The Tigers have been aces.
Houston Astros: C
Record: 20-19
The bar is higher in Houston after what they’ve accomplished over the last decade. Seven straight postseasons, four pennants, and two World Series titles through 2023. Even last year when they didn’t make the ALCS, they still won the AL West.
Being just one game over .500 isn’t acceptable for this franchise. There are bright spots like Hunter Brown and several relievers, but consistency and road performance have been real concerns.
When you have the Astros’ recent track record, a C grade might be fine for other teams, but it doesn’t cut it here.
Kansas City Royals: B
Record: 24-18
The Royals might be the streakiest team in baseball this season. They went 2-9 from April 9-19, then immediately followed it with a ridiculous 16-2 stretch.
Their rotation is four deep with very good-to-elite starters (with Michael Lorenzen as a solid fifth), the bullpen has been one of baseball’s best, and Bobby Witt Jr. is a legitimate superstar. He just needs more help.
Well, more help beyond Maikel Garcia, who’s been awesome. Garcia and Witt have combined for an .873 OPS. The rest of the Royals? Just a .598 OPS. The outfield as a unit has a measly .620 OPS. That won’t cut it.
The offense needs more juice, but overall, Kansas City has been very good. Streaky, but very good.
Los Angeles Angels: D
Record: 16-23
The Angels started 7-3 and have been bad ever since. Sometimes they tease fans longer into the season, but the result is always the same – disappointment.
This continues to be a poorly run organization, and it now looks like Mike Trout’s prime is firmly in the rearview mirror as he sits on the injured list again. The most interesting thing left this season is what happens at the trade deadline.
This just isn’t acceptable for a team in this market. The only thing preventing an F grade is how low the bar has been set, and that’s not exactly a compliment.
Minnesota Twins: C
Record: 21-20
What a confusing team. There’s tons of talent here, but it took their current eight-game winning streak just to get one game over .500.
Byron Buxton is on one of those tears where he looks like the best player in baseball, and the rotation has been excellent, especially lately. But Carlos Correa has been flat-out terrible at the plate, and Royce Lewis has played only a handful of games since returning from a spring hamstring injury.
Getting those two going will be crucial going forward. Like the Red Sox, it feels like the Twins should be better than they are. Maybe their recent eight-game winning streak is a sign they’re turning things around, but for now, a 21-20 record earns them a C.
New York Yankees: B
Record: 23-17
Aaron Judge is on a historic pace, Max Fried has been worth every penny of his $218 million contract, and Paul Goldschmidt and Trent Grisham have performed at something close to their best-case scenarios.
The bullpen, especially Devin Williams, has let too many winnable games slip away – the Yankees have lost an MLB-leading six games when taking a lead into the seventh inning. Yet they’re still atop the AL East at 23-17.
At some point, they’ll need to find a way to win those close games instead of losing them late. For now, they’re leading their division despite getting zero innings from Gerrit Cole and reigning AL Rookie of the Year Luis Gil.
Seattle Mariners: A-
Record: 22-17
The Mariners were heading for a solid A, maybe even an A+, before getting swept at home by the Blue Jays over the weekend. Still, after a rough 4-8 start, they surged to first place in the AL West with a red-hot stretch where they won 18 of 24 games.
With Seattle, you expect a lot of low-scoring wins due to their pitcher-friendly ballpark. The pitching has been good, but surprisingly, the offense has been excellent when adjusted for their park. They take walks and hit for power, ranking ninth in MLB in OPS despite the heavy penalty for playing at T-Mobile Park.
They’re tied for fifth in home runs and tied for seventh in steals, too. That’s a well-rounded attack.
Tampa Bay Rays: D
Record: 18-22
Rays hitters apparently didn’t get the memo that George M. Steinbrenner Field is much more hitter-friendly than Tropicana Field. They rank 24th in runs scored per game (3.75) despite playing 28 of their first 40 games at homer-happy GMS Field.
Yes, you read that right – 28 of their first 40 games have been at home. No other team has played more than 23 home games. The Rays have completely failed to capitalize on one of the easiest travel schedules any team will ever have.
Also, it might be time to retire the "the Rays never lose trades" narrative when Curtis Mead (Cristopher Sánchez trade) and Christopher Morel (Isaac Paredes trade) are playing like this, and the Blake Snell trade was a total dud.
Texas Rangers: C-
Record: 20-21
The Rangers bought themselves some credit by starting 8-2, and they’ve pitched well for much of the season. But a terrible offensive stretch cost their hitting coach his job and forced a reshuffling of the coaching staff. At the time, they had scored two or fewer runs in 11 of 14 games.
There’s way too much offensive talent for that to happen.
A series win in Detroit pulls them to within a game of .500 and three games out of first place, which saves them from a D grade. But it doesn’t mean everything is fixed. The 2023 champs missed the playoffs last season, and they need to get back there this year or it’ll be a failure.
Toronto Blue Jays: C
Record: 20-20
Another team that’s not as good as it should be. Other than a few hiccups in Anaheim last weekend, the bullpen has been excellent in close games, which has kept Toronto afloat. Jeff Hoffman and company have locked down most wins.
The rotation has been okay overall, with some average performances and some poor ones (yikes, Bowden Francis). But Bo Bichette, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and Anthony Santander have combined for just 11 home runs through 40 team games. That’s way below expectations.
The Blue Jays have been outhomered 57-30 this season. It’s really tough to win consistently with that kind of home run deficit. I guess they deserve some credit for managing a 20-20 record despite that weakness.
