The opening weekend of the 2025 MLB season is officially in the books.
In the grand scheme of things, there are still 159 games left to play (158 for a select few). However, there’s plenty of overreaction fodder in the aftermath of baseball’s inaugural weekend, so let’s break it down.
The New York Yankees have MLB’s best lineup and will slug their way back to the World Series
There’s no denying what the Yankees did to the Milwaukee Brewers this past weekend: 36 total runs scored, 15 home runs (including four just from Aaron Judge alone) against just 14 Milwaukee runs. A complete bludgeoning of a National League playoff team from a season ago.
The @Yankees have tied the Major League record with 15 home runs in their first three games of the season! pic.twitter.com/FYoJcFGjF5
— MLB (@MLB) March 30, 2025
Overall, the Bronx Bombers lived up to the hype in their first series since Juan Soto’s departure to Queens. But can they keep up this torrid hitting pace? Or will the magic of their new ‘torpedo’ bats fade over time?
The Los Angeles Dodgers will easily defend their 2024 title
Los Angeles became the first team to reach five wins on the early season after two consecutive sweeps of the Chicago Cubs in Japan and the Detroit Tigers at Dodger Stadium.
The Dodgers should absolutely be considered the favorites once again in 2025 given their immense talent, but repeating is nevertheless a difficult feat: the last team to do so was the 2000 New York Yankees, who finished off a three-peat.
The St. Louis Cardinals might be the best team in the NL Central
It’s three games into the season, but the Cardinals do in fact sit atop the NL Central division following their three-game dominance of the Minnesota Twins at Busch Stadium, their best start since 2006. That year, the Redbirds won it all.
Another thing to note about that 2006 season: The Cardinals clinched the NL Central with just 83 victories. That may not be entirely out of the question in 2025 given how awful the rest of their rivals looked on opening weekend, but we’ll still need to see more before getting serious about St. Louis.
Boston Red Sox DH Rafael Devers will have his worst professional season to date
Devers has endured a brutal beginning to his 2025 season, with 12 strikeouts in 16 at-bats, while going hitless over his first four games. Perhaps the transition to DH, which he initially opposed, is feeding on the All-Star’s bruised ego.
Rafael Devers' day ends going 0-for-4 with 2 strikeouts and a walk, keeping his batting average at .000 with a .111 on-base percentage.
He has struck out 12 times in 16 at-bats this season, and 23 times in his last 31 ABs dating back to the final four games of last season.— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) March 30, 2025
Nevertheless, this has been an unusual cold spell for the otherwise prolific hitter, who slugged 28 home runs with an .871 OPS in 2024. But history says to trust the 28-year-old third baseman, whose career .853 OPS suggests a bounce back at some point or another.
In other words? He’s simply too talented to stay this bad.
The Atlanta Braves may not be able to dig out of their winless hole
Being swept by the San Diego Padres isn’t anything to be ashamed about, but it’s still surprising how uncompetitive the Atlanta Braves looked out of the gate in 2025.
Sure, Atlanta may not be fully healthy yet (Starter Spencer Strider and outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. are expected back around late April or early May), but this is still a stacked roster with high expectations. There really aren’t many excuses for a slow start, but the Braves have more than earned the benefit of the doubt considering their surprise playoff run off an injury-riddled 2024 campaign.
Honorable mention: The San Diego Padres are a legitimate contender
They shut out the vaunted Braves lineup in two consecutive games en route to a four-game sweep. Talk about an early statement from a team whose only major offseason move was signing right-hander Nick Pivetta, who was excellent over seven scoreless innings in his season debut on Sunday night.
Nick Pivetta and the @Padres one-hit Atlanta to complete the sweep and start the season 4-0 for only the second time in franchise history! pic.twitter.com/Z808vJRJ7K
— MLB (@MLB) March 31, 2025
If the Padres continue to punch above their weight, the National League playoff field may have gotten that much wider.
