MLB’s biggest winners and losers as a chaotic April comes to a close

The month of April is officially complete, and boy, was it a chaotic one in MLB. Only three American League teams ended the month above .500, while each of the five NL Central teams is at least .500 or better. On the player side, Mason Miller is off to one of the most dominant starts we’ve ever seen from a reliever, while it feels like Munetaka Murakami is hitting home runs every other day.

With the first full month now complete, let’s pick out some of the best of the best and worst of the worst in terms of teams, players and everything in between.

Winner: New York Yankees

I get it, it’s been 15 years since the New York Yankees have won a World Series title, and fans have seen enough strong regular seasons fizzle out to not care until October. With that being said, this Yankees team sure feels different. New York is a well-oiled machine right now.

At 20-11, the Yankees not only lead the AL East by 1.5 games but have the best record in the AL by the same margin. Not only do they have arguably the best dynamic duo of position players in the sport right now in Aaron Judge and Ben Rice, but they have Max Fried and Cam Schlittler dominating in the rotation as well. It would not be all that surprising to see New York end the year with the MVP and Cy Young winner, plus an additional finalist for both of those awards.

This is the best team in the AL right now by a wide margin, and that’s with Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodon and Clarke Schmidt combining for a grand total of zero innings pitched. Sure, there’s work to do in the bullpen and potentially the left side of the infield, but the Yankees are as equipped as anyone to win the World Series right now.

Loser: Craig Breslow

The Yankees are even bigger winners because the Boston Red Sox are an absolute mess, and Craig Breslow deserves a bulk of the blame for that. Expectations were high for the Red Sox this season following a disappointing Wild Card Series exit in 2025, but they haven’t come close to meeting them yet.

At 12-19, the Red Sox sit in last place in the AL East and have the second-worst record in the American League. A big reason for their struggles is a lackluster offense: Boston is tied for 24th in runs scored while ranking dead last in the AL in both home runs and OPS. Breslow built this team around run prevention, and as a result, they don’t produce nearly enough offense, a predictable result after the team let Alex Bregman walk in free agency just months after trading Rafael Devers away. Their outfield jog jam, which Breslow refused to resolve via trade over the offseason, has been a clear detriment as well.

To make matters worse, Boston isn’t even preventing runs at a high level right now. The team’s 4.35 ERA is 22nd in the Majors, and their 4.85 rotation ERA is 26th. The starting staff was supposed to be their biggest strength after giving Ranger Suarez a $130 million deal and trading for both Sonny Gray and Johan Oviedo, but just about everyone Boston has turned to has disappointed.

Things have gone so poorly for Boston that Breslow fired Alex Cora, seemingly out of panic and ego. I’m not here to say Cora is blame-free for how things have unfolded thus far, but Breslow deserves far more blame. There’s reason to believe this team will improve once Roman Anthony starts hitting and once the starting pitching gets a bit healthier, but the Red Sox had clear, predictable flaws from the onset, and Breslow didn’t address them.

Winner: Atlanta Braves

It felt like deja vu all over again for Atlanta Braves fans, as they lost Hurston Waldrep, Spencer Schwellenbach and Spencer Strider to injuries and Jurickson Profar to a season-long suspension before the regular season even began. Yet, despite all the woes that plagued them in 2025 seemingly coming back with a vengeance in 2026, the Braves ended April with the best record in the Majors.

Not only is Atlanta an MLB-best 22-10, but they lead the NL East by 6.5 games. No other division leader leads by more than 1.5. I’m not here to say the NL East is over by any means, but given how good the Braves have been — and how putrid the Mets and Phillies have been — why can’t they go virtually wire-to-wire?

It feels like there’s a ton of room for improvement, too. Sure, guys like Bryce Elder and Dominic Smith are bound to come back to earth, but Austin Riley has a .588 OPS. Ronald Acuña Jr. has just two home runs and a .724 OPS. Again, 60 percent of their projected Opening Day rotation is out as well.

I don’t know if I’d pick this Braves team to overtake the Dodgers in October, but they’re certainly close.

Loser: New York Mets

As if watching the Braves rebound isn’t painful enough for New York Mets fans, the Mets are MLB’s biggest disaster right now. Their 10-21 record is the worst in the Majors, and as if that isn’t bad enough, they’ve won just three of their last 20 games.

It’s been bad on every front. The Mets are 29th in the Majors in runs scored, 26th in home runs and dead last in OPS. They’ve scored two runs or fewer in 16 of their 31 games. Virtually nobody not named Juan Soto and MJ Melendez is hitting on this team, and with Francisco Lindor, Jorge Polanco and Luis Robert Jr. all injured, who knows if that’ll change anytime soon?

Their run prevention has improved, but there are clear holes. New York has gotten virtually nothing positive from two of their rotation spots, and the back-end of their bullpen is an unmitigated disaster right now.

I don’t know what the fix is. Carlos Mendoza probably isn’t going anywhere any time soon, and the same goes for David Stearns. There’s a lot more talent on this team than the record suggests, but it’s hard to think of a bigger loser in April than the Mets. At least Mets fans have Nolan McLean to watch every fifth day.

Winner: Mike Trout and Yordan Alvarez

Mike Trout and Yordan Alvarez entered the season in similar spots. Not only are they both on flawed AL West teams, but both of them were coming off lost seasons and both had clear injury red flags. But it goes without saying that these two superstars are back in superstar form.

Alvarez would be the AL MVP if the regular season ended today, as he’s slashed .356/.462/.737 with 12 home runs and 27 RBI. He leads the Majors with those 12 dingers and would win the AL Triple Crown if the season ended after April. To put into perspective how badly last season went for Alvarez, he hit just six home runs in 48 games. He’s doubled that total this season in 16 fewer contests. The Houston Astros are only 12-20, but Alvarez is a clear bright spot.

As fun as it is to see Alvarez bounce back, Trout’s resurgence has been even cooler. Trout’s .797 OPS in 2025 was his lowest since his brief 40-game cameo as a rookie in 2011, giving Los Angeles Angels fans reason to believe his best days were behind him. Well, Trout is slashing .248/.431/.569 with 10 home runs and 29 RBI thus far in 2026.

Trout’s 1.000 OPS is fifth among all qualified players, and he leads the AL with 29 runs scored. No, he doesn’t hit for as high an average as he once did, but Trout is getting on base at will and doing a ton of damage at the plate. Like the Astros, the Angels are only 12-20, but Trout being Trout has been a welcome sight.

Loser: 2027 free agents not named Tarik Skubal

Tarik Skubal is the crown jewel of the 2027 free agency class, and thus far he’s pitching about as well as expected. As for just about everyone else hitting the market next winter, though, it’s hard to find much to like.

This list doesn’t even include guys like Jack Flaherty and Chris Bassitt, both of whom have struggled. It also doesn’t include guys like Brandon Woodruff and Shane Bieber, both of whom are currently injured. Sure, there are some exceptions like Kevin Gausman and Shota Imanaga, but for the most part, who is impressing right now?

It’s possible, if not likely, we’ll see most of the guys listed above turn things around to an extent, but other than Skubal, it’s hard to get too excited about any upcoming free agent. With a potential lockout looming, that’s less than ideal.

More MLB news and analysis:

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow