We’re just past the quarter mark of the 2025 season, which means it’s time to hand out some team grades based on what’s unfolded thus far.
This is no way predictive and the grades assigned aren’t meant to suggest that a given team will continue playing as they have thus far. Broadly speaking, these grades reflect performance to date in the context of preseason expectations. Exceed expectations, and you’ll get high marks. Fall well short of them, and you’ll get branded with a D or F. You know how this works.
With the necessary throat-clearing out of the way, here now are our quarter-mark grades for the National League.
Record: 22-20
The D-backs have faced the second-toughest schedule in baseball to this point and sit two games over .500. They are only in fourth place due to playing a tough division, but they have done enough to establish themselves as a playoff contender, just as expected. The offense, led by MVP-caliber Corbin Carroll, certainly looks the part. The pitching staff has to be a concern, however, with only Corbin Burnes and Brandon Pfaadt throwing well in the rotation and the bullpen remaining a bit unsettled. Also, the losing record at home seems worrisome. Basically: Overall pretty good, but things should probably be slightly better.
Record: 20-21
The Braves may yet find their level, and indeed they’ve fared much better since their jarring 0-7 start to the 2025 season. Still, that very same 0-7 start is a prominent part of their work across the first quarter, and as such it’s prominently taken into account. Expectations were high for Atlanta this season, but the current reality is that they’re below .500 and closer in the NL East standings to the last-place Marlins than they are the first-place Mets. By any standard, that’s a disappointment for the Braves.
Record: 24-18
At this here quarter mark, the Cubs find themselves in first place in the NL Central, albeit narrowly so. They’ve achieved that status, backed by one of the best run differentials in baseball, despite having played the toughest schedule in MLB to date (by a wide margin) and despite getting just four starts from Justin Steele before his season-ending UCL surgery. Pete Crow-Armstrong and Kyle Tucker have played like MVP candidates thus far.
Record: 20-22
The Reds’ strong run differential suggests they’ve been unlucky thus far in 2025, but their record is their reality. In order to make a move in the NL Central, the Reds will need better production from the bat-first positions of first base and right field, and they’ll need to get Hunter Greene back from the IL on the double. Injuries have hit the Reds hard thus far.
Record: 7-34
The Rockies had never had a 100-loss season before 2023. They’ve lost at least 100 games in each of the last two seasons. Not content to have that be the baseline for the franchise, these Rockies are on pace for the worst season in the history of Major League Baseball. They are the worst road team in the game and are a pitiful 5-16 at home. They’ve had three separate eight-game losing streaks and we aren’t even halfway through May. Manager Bud Black has already been fired, so radical changes should be on tap. It’s all unacceptable.
Record: 27-14
The Dodgers were expected to have the best record in baseball this season and they have the best record. Some might scoff at giving them an A since they aren’t running away with the division. In fact, the NL West has been a tight three-team race for the whole season, basically. Let’s look at the context behind the Dodgers, though. They’ve barely had a starting rotation due to injuries. Seven starting pitchers are currently on the injured list and that doesn’t include Shohei Ohtani, who still hasn’t returned to the mound from 2023 elbow surgery. They’ve already used 10 starting pitchers this season while only Yoshinobu Yamamoto has both avoided injury and been reliable. And they are still this good. That’s an A.
Miami Marlins: D
Record: 15-25
The Marlins were expected to be one of the worst teams in baseball in 2025, and they’ve largely met those expectations. They’re not the very worst, but their current run differential of minus-69 plus the fact that they’re on pace for 100 losses shows they’re, well, bad enough. Given the current state of the organization, one can argue that the most important thing for this season was positioning Sandy Alcantara as a prize trade candidate in his first campaign back from Tommy John surgery. That, however, has gone terribly thus far, as Alcantara is right now lugging around an ERA of 8.10, an FIP of 5.62, and a WHIP of 1.64. That’s what drops the Marlins from a C to a D.
Record: 20-22
The Brewers’ tested capacity to find starting pitching wherever they look has kept them from collapsing this season. The offense has been middling at a fundamental level, and the bullpen has been in the bottom tier of the league. Milwaukee is nothing if not a resourceful organization, and the NL Central is far from settled. Right now, though, there are just too many holes in the lineup.
New York Mets: A
Record: 27-15
The pleasant surprise in Queens has been the powerhouse rotation. Right now, the Mets lead the majors with a rotation ERA of 2.68 (!), and they’re backing it up with an MLB-best FIP of 3.23. Mets starters are also tied for third in strikeout rate. What makes this even more impressive is that they haven’t gotten a single inning from Sean Manaea, Frankie Montas, or Paul Blackburn, all of whom are injured. Elsewhere, Pete Alonso has hit like an MVP thus far. That’s all added up to first place for the Mets.
Record: 24-17
The Phils find themselves in second place, which is plainly not the objective. However, they also find themselves on pace to win 97 games and make the playoffs for a fourth straight year. So that second-place status says more about the Mets than it does the Phillies. The rotation outside of Aaron Nola has absolutely sparkled, and Nola will likely find his accustomed level soon enough. Speaking of likely to find his accustomed level soon enough, Bryce Harper isn’t producing yet, at least by his own lofty standards. That figures to change. The NL East could once again shape up to be a thrilling race.
Record: 14-28
When you fire your manager in early May, it’s a sure sign your season is not going as hoped. Owner Bob Nutting has never invested in his rosters at adequate levels, and that’s the leading cause in Pittsburgh’s ongoing playoff drought (nine years and very much counting). Since Nutting has owned the team, the Pirates have never ranked higher than 26th in Opening Day payroll, and that span includes Andrew McCutchen’s peak years when the Pirates have a championship-worthy core begging for complementary roster investments. If only Nutting had the fortitude to fire himself. This “F” in red ink lands directly on his forehead.
Record: 26-14
The Padres entered the season down Yu Darvish and Joe Musgrove from the rotation and following an offseason that included trade rumors of the shed-salary type. It was a thin roster, too, but one that included top-level talent and that talent has taken over thus far. The Padres have flashed an above-average offense behind MVP candidate Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado and, when healthy, Jackson Merrill. Michael King is throwing like an ace while Nick Pivetta has been a really nice get in free agency. The bullpen has overall been great, too, and the Padres have basically kept pace with the Dodgers all season. It isn’t like the Padres haven’t faced adversity or have seen everything break perfectly or anything, but any complaints here should be few and far between.
Record: 24-18
Few had the Giants are serious contenders for the NL West title heading into the season and many even believed a wild-card berth would take some major defying of expectations. So far, that’s what has happened with the Giants, who sit just 3.5 games out of first place. They were in the A range until just a few days ago, as they’ve now lost four straight games. Still, Logan Webb and Robbie Ray look like a formidable 1-2 punch in the rotation, the bullpen has been the best in baseball to this point by ERA and players like Jung Hoo Lee, Heliot Ramos, Mike Yastrzemski and Matt Chapman are leading a surprisingly frisky offense.
Record: 23-19
What coming into the season was variously described as a “reset” and then a “transition” at this juncture looks like plain old contention. Developmental success stories prominently include Victor Scott II and Matthew Liberatore, and that’s paired with valuable veteran contributions from names like Brendan Donovan, Sonny Gray, and Steven Matz. To be sure, the Cardinals remain underdogs in both the NL Central and the wild-card chase, but they’re right now much more relevant than they were expected to be.
Record: 17-25
One of the fundamental requirements of basic roster-building is putting together a competent bullpen. The Nats have failed miserably on that front. The D.C. relief corps right now has an ERA of 7.08 (!) for the season, and there’s just no way to win many games when you’re failing in the middle and late innings to such an extent. Yes, the bullpen’s 29th-ranked FIP of 4.90 is not as terrible, but that’s still a poor performance at that underlying level. There’s a promising core in place – especially the young fruits of the 2022 Juan Soto trade with the Padres – but the front office has failed to build around it.
