Padres Right With Dodgers in First MLB Power Rankings of 2025 Season

Apr 5, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; San Diego Padres second baseman Jake Cronenworth (9) can’t make the play as Chicago Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner (2) steals second base during the sixth inning at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images | Matt Marton-Imagn Images

The San Diego Padres lost their second game of the season Saturday, and are hoping to avoid a sweep in Sunday's finale against the Chicago Cubs.

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Nonetheless, the Friars' 7-0 start has caught the attention of the baseball world. In the first Major League Baseball power rankings of the season, the Padres are considered one of baseball's top teams.

Newsweek Sports' Noah Camras ranked San Diego as the second best team in the league, just behind the 8-1 Los Angeles Dodgers.

"The first full week of the 2025 Major League Baseball season is in the books, and the National League West has been the story thus far," Camras wrote. "The Los Angeles Dodgers (8-0) and the San Diego Padres (7-0) are the lone unbeaten teams left in MLB. This is just the fifth season in MLB history in which multiple teams started 7-0 or better, and the first since 2003, per MLB research Sarah Langs.

"Just behind the Dodgers and the Padres are the San Francisco Giants (5-1) and Arizona Diamondbacks (4-3) in the powerful NL West division. The Colorado Rockies (1-5) are the lone outlier."

Ironically enough, the Padres and Dodgers could not have had more polar opposite offseasons. The defending champions continued to spend millions by acquiring some of baseball's brightest stars. Meanwhile, the Friars kept their payroll relatively level from last season and saw many free agents sign elsewhere.

And yet, the Padres have a championship-caliber roster. Earlier this year, manager Mike Shildt spoke about the team's eagerness to take down the World Series champion Dodgers.

“We only take care of what we can control. We think about the Dodgers — you brought it up — we respect it, we compete against them, we compete against everybody. We have 162 games. They’re on the schedule. It’s really about how we compete, how we play and how we carry ourselves and how we take care of our business,” Shildt said.

“We do that and play the game the right way — regardless of opponent we’ll feel good about shaking hands a lot of the times. I don’t want to spend any mental energy on any other club. We’re gonna respect them. We’re gonna prepare like heck for them."

The two NL West teams are set to face off in June. Until then, the Padres will continue to cement themselves as one of baseball's premier clubs.

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For more Padres news, head over to Padres on SI.