Rays Rightfully Make Significant Rise in MLB Power Rankings

May 3, 2026; St. Petersburg, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Rays first baseman Jonathan Aranda (8) celebrates a win during the tenth inning against San Francisco Giants at Tropicana Field. Pablo Robles-Imagn Images

Rays Rightfully Make Significant Rise in MLB Power Rankings

Originally posted on Tampa Bay Rays on SI
By Nick Ziegler | Last updated May 4, 2026 6:00 PM ET

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The Tampa Bay Rays were able to continue their excellent play this week and continue to prove they are one of the best teams in baseball right now. Fortunately, they have finally started to get some recognition for their great play.

Coming into the year, the Rays were figured to be a team that was going to be hanging around the .500 mark and if some things went right, could potentially contend for a Wild Card spot.

So far, they have exceeded all of those expectations to begin the year. Through 33 games, the Rays have a very impressive record of (21-12), which puts them in second place in the American League East.

The team has been led by one of the best starting rotations in baseball so far, which was an area that figured to be a strength. Pitchers like Nick Martinez and Steven Matz have been great additions in free agency. Furthermore, Drew Rasmussen has been pitching at a high level, along with Shane McClanahan being healthy as well. Now, with the team winning, they are finally starting to be seen in a different light.

Will Leitch of MLB recently released his MLB Power Rankings, and the Rays made some significant progress upward and moved up from 12th to 6th.

Rays Rightfully Rise

Pablo Robles-Imagn Images

It was shocking last week to see that Tampa Bay came in ranked 12th, but this week, they were finally moved up significantly to where they belong. With a strong start to the season, the Rays have the second-best record in the AL behind only the New York Yankees.

With the third-best winning percentage in all of baseball, the Rays could arguably be even higher, but the six-spot jump is certainly warranted. This week, Tampa Bay went (5-1) with a series win over the Cleveland Guardians on the road, followed by a sweep of the San Francisco Giants over the weekend.

As the Rays try to continue to play well, this coming week is going to be an important one. Tampa Bay will be continuing to try and prove their legitimacy with matchups against the Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox. Both of these teams are off to poor starts, and the Rays will be hoping to take advantage of it now.

Overall, Tampa Bay should be extremely pleased with how they have performed so far. As they close in on being considered a Top 5 team in the power rankings, they have proven to be one of the best teams in baseball so far this year.

This article first appeared on Tampa Bay Rays on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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