Remember when Mookie Betts was scuffling? It wasn’t all that long ago, really. As recently as April 17, the defending AL MVP was hitting .200 with a .676 OPS.
All it took was two weeks for Betts to turn his entire season around. In the 13 games since, he’s batting .449 with eight extra-base hits. Along the way, his season OPS climbed back to .922 and the Red Sox crept closer to .500.
That’s the kind of rebound every team dreams of when a key player gets off to a slow start. With Betts in mind, this week’s edition of the MLB Power Rankings highlights the player on each team most in need of a turnaround (last week’s rankings in parentheses).
1 (1) 
Los Angeles Dodgers
Thanks to the likes of Cody Bellinger and Joc Pederson, the Dodgers have been able to absorb some slow starts, but at some point they’ll need more from Corey Seager, who has just two home runs with a .674 OPS after one month.
2 (2) 
Houston Astros
The Astros have just one home run and a .671 OPS from their first basemen so far, but all things considered production at first is probably easier to find than, say, frontline pitching. If Yuli Gurriel keeps struggling, Houston could pursue someone like Justin Smoak at the trade deadline.
3 (4) 
St. Louis Cardinals
Last year, Matt Carpenter had 78 extra-base hits on his way to a top-10 finish in NL MVP voting. One month into the 2019 season, Carpenter has just nine extra-base hits.
4 (3) 
New York Yankees
Big picture, the Yankees need health more than anything. If there’s a bounce-back candidate on the active roster, it might be J.A. Happ, who has a 4.68 ERA due to some early-season home run issues.
5 (5) 
Tampa Bay Rays
The Rays have plenty of players exceeding expectations, but they could use a return to form from Mike Zunino, who has just two homers with a .589 OPS after consecutive 20-homer years with Seattle.
6 (7) 
Chicago Cubs
In Yu Darvish’s free agent year, he walked just 2.8 batters per nine innings. Last year that spiked to 4.7 batters per nine and in a limited 2019 sample he’s all the way up to 6.9. The Cubs need to see that trend reverse considering Darvish’s $126-million contract runs through 2023.
7 (8) 
Boston Red Sox
Now that Betts has turned his season around, the Red Sox need a similar revival from Jackie Bradley Jr., who’s hitting just .149 with a .417 OPS.
8 (6) 
Washington Nationals
It’s been a tough start to the season for Brian Dozier, who’s hitting .187 with a .625 OPS through his first 28 games in Washington.
9 (10) 
Philadelphia Phillies
Home runs have been an issue for Aaron Nola, who carries a 5.06 ERA into the month of May. That’s more than double the 2.37 ERA he had during his Cy Young-calibre 2018 season.
10 (11) 
Minnesota Twins
One of the Twins’ big free agent signings is off to a great start – Nelson Cruz has five homers and a .964 OPS. But the other, Marwin Gonzalez, is hitting just .176 with a .526 OPS after one month.
11 (13) 
Milwaukee Brewers
For a while there, Jesus Aguilar’s 2018 breakout seemed pretty distant. Even after homering three times this week, the first baseman has only a .593 OPS through 29 games.
12 (9) 
Cleveland Indians
Aside from his team-leading nine steals, Jose Ramirez hasn’t done much at all in Cleveland.
13 (12) 
New York Mets
Until recently, the answer here would have been Noah Syndergaard, who started slowly despite some strong peripherals. On Thursday, he answered his critics by pitching a complete game shutout in which he homered for the game’s only run. An incredible performance. Or, as Sam Miller calls it, a true win.
14 (14) 
Atlanta Braves
As the Braves usher their young pitching to the majors, they could use more consistency from veterans such as Julio Teheran (5.35 ERA) and Kevin Gausman (4.80 ERA).
15 (16) 
San Diego Padres
The Padres’ run prevention has been great, yet they aren’t scoring enough. More production from Ian Kinsler (.174 average, .566 OPS) would help on that front.
16 (18) 
Arizona Diamondbacks
Zack Godley leads the NL with 25 earned runs, and his peripherals are trending in the wrong direction, too.
17 (17) 
Colorado Rockies
Kyle Freeland quietly finished fourth in NL Cy Young voting a year ago. While the Rockies can’t necessarily expect the left-hander to replicate that 2.85 ERA, they need more from him if they’re going to contend.
18 (15) 
Oakland Athletics
It’d be one thing if Jurickson Profar’s struggles were limited to his hitting. That .165/.223/.272 batting line isn’t pretty. But he also appears to be battling the yips. All things considered, that’s a bad combination.
19 (19) 
Seattle Mariners
Realistically, you have to allow for an adjustment period for a player making his MLB debut. Even so, the Mariners hoped that Yusei Kikuchi could provide more than a 4.54 ERA when they signed him for $43 million over the winter.
20 (20) 
Pittsburgh Pirates
In a lineup filled with struggling hitters, Francisco Cervelli stands out. Through 24 games, he has just one home run and a team-worst .488 OPS.
21 (21) 
Los Angeles Angels
The Angels can hit a little, but they need more stability from the starting rotation. Newcomers Matt Harvey (6.54 ERA) and Trevor Cahill (5.93 ERA) haven’t done enough.
22 (23) 
Toronto Blue Jays
Through 23 games, Danny Jansen’s hitting just .192 with a .515 OPS. The Blue Jays were hoping for more from one of the sport’s best-regarded catching prospects, but they’ll have to be patient with a player who just turned 24.
23 (22) 
Cincinnati Reds
The Reds have gotten next to no production from the players they acquired in last winter’s blockbuster trade with the Dodgers. Yasiel Puig has a .538 OPS, Matt Kemp had a .493 OPS before hitting the injured list and back issues have sidelined Alex Wood for the first month and counting.
24 (24) 
Texas Rangers
Sometimes, a pitcher might fluke his way to a 7.99 ERA due to bad luck. That’s not the case with Shelby Miller, who has walked nearly a batter per inning while posting a career-low strikeout rate.
25 (25) 
Detroit Tigers
Miguel Cabrera has been healthy, so that’s a good start. Still, he’s slugging just .352. The Tigers are used to getting far more power from a player whose lifetime slugging percentage is .549.
26 (26) 
San Francisco Giants
The Giants’ lineup includes many underachieving hitters, including Evan Longoria, whose .606 OPS sits more than 200 points below his career OPS.
27 (27) 
Chicago White Sox
One way or another, the White Sox need better starting pitching. Their rotation has an MLB-worst 6.25 ERA and just saw Carlos Rodon hit the injured list. At least they can dream on Reynaldo Lopez, who struck out 14 in his last start.
28 (28) 
Kansas City Royals
Martin Maldonado seemed like the ideal replacement for Sal Perez, but he isn’t hitting yet, with just a .551 OPS through 24 games.
29 (29) 
Miami Marlins
It feels unfair to single out any one Marlins player, but this team has to find a way to score more often. Entering play Friday, they rank last in baseball with fewer than three runs scored per game.
30 (30) 
Baltimore Orioles
The Orioles have allowed an MLB-worst 200 runs scored this year. For context, the Rays have allowed exactly half as much offence (100 runs allowed), so it would be an understatement to say that Baltimore needs more from its pitching staff.
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