Inaugural MLB The Show Players League rankings

The first week of the MLB The Show Players League has exceeded all expectations. The fan support has been tremendous, the friendly banter has been hilarious and watching the competitive side of the players has been fun to watch.

Now that a week is in the books, we have a better idea of which players are legitimate contenders, who’s still trying to figure it out and who’s just happy to be here.

• Players League standings, schedule, video

After watching a lot of virtual baseball over the last week, here are the inaugural MLB The Show Players League power rankings.

1. Joey Gallo (11-1, Rangers)
Gallo is an MLB All-Star and an MLB The Show savant. The Rangers slugger has made his stream a must-watch event every time he gets on the sticks. Gallo has outscored his opponents 76-27, which isn’t even fair.

2. Blake Snell (10-2, Rays)
Snell has won nine in a row after a tough loss to Gallo on Opening Night. A couple more 4-0 nights and Snell will claim the top spot in the rankings. And yes, he really does “need it so bad,” as he often says on his stream.

3. Gavin Lux (9-3, Dodgers)
Lux is the only player to take down Gallo, and that’s good enough for me.

4. Bo Bichette (9-3, Blue Jays)
It was a tough call between Lux and Bichette for the third spot, but Lux’s win over Gallo gave him the nod. Despite that, Bo knows his way around the game and has established himself as one of the favorites.

5. Dwight Smith Jr. (6-2, Orioles)
If you don’t think Smith deserves to be in the top five, I want you to turn on your PlayStation 4 and play a ranked game with the 69 overall Orioles. Let me know how it goes.

6. Amir Garrett (6-2, Reds)
“I’ve never seen someone try to fight an entire team and then lay down a bunt.”

That’s what Snell had to say about Garrett after the Reds reliever beat him on a bunt. Will Garrett lay down the occasional bunt in order to try and win a game? Yeah. But he’s always flexing during his stream, so I won’t really argue with it.

7. Jeff McNeil (6-2, Mets)
McNeil almost made it higher on this list. Not because of his skills at the game (which are actually very good) but because his dog, Willow, is just the best boy ever.

8. Ian Happ (6-2, Cubs)
Happ took an 18-1 loss to Snell on Opening Night, but he has actually been pretty good ever since, winning six of his last seven. Happ is also the happiest guy on the stream, always encouraging his teammates. Get you someone like Ian Happ.

9. Fernando Tatis Jr. (5-3, Padres)
Tatis could be 0-8 and he would probably still make the Top 10 after he went absolutely insane as he celebrated during his first streaming session. But luckily for Tatis, he’s actually pretty good and the world needs him to make a postseason run.

10. Lucas Giolito (5-3, White Sox)
Giolito plays “Homecoming” by Kanye West every time he gets a new follower on his Twitch account. That’s top-ten worthy.

11. Rhys Hoskins (5-3, Phillies)
Hoskins has some work to do if he wants to make it to the playoffs, but he’s always due for a couple of good stories on his stream. And you never know, you might watch Bryce Harper text him and help him out with some managerial moves.

12. Trevor May (7-5, Twins)
May is the commissioner of the league and he shows off that passion when the game makes him commit errors. We’re not rooting for May to lose, but we are rooting for some more errors just so we can hear him rant. Is that too much to ask for, commissioner?

13. Jesús Luzardo (4-4, A’s)
After a 1-3 start to the tournament, we wrote that Luzardo needed to get in the video game lab and work on his game. He responded with a big 3-1 day, getting the prized pitching prospect into the playoff mix.

14. Niko Goodrum (5-3, Tigers)
Goodrum has been battling with the Tigers and he’s been hitting inside-the-park home runs with himself. Pretty good.

15. Matt Carpenter (4-4, Cardinals)
Carpenter has the Cardinals hovering around .500, which is just where he wants them. Now we wait for Carpenter to rally off 10 consecutive wins, with the 26th man on the roster serving as the unlikely hero.

16. Jon Duplantier (4-4, D-backs)
Duplantier has been wearing overalls during his streams and we haven’t decided if that earns him points or just flat-out hurts his ranking.

17. Brett Phillips (4-4, Royals)
One of the biggest takeaways of the first week of the league is that Phillips looks like a great guy to go out with and have a burger with. He’s having a blast with the Royals.

18. C.J. Edwards Jr. (3-5, Mariners)
Edwards was hurt by the errors bug all week. If he cleans that up, he can make a run with the pesky Mariners. If he doesn’t, he’ll continue to rage at the game. Win-win.

19. Luke Jackson (5-7, Braves)
Jackson took a poll on Twitter, asking his followers what he should wear on the stream. Is anything off limits here? If not, Jackson’s stream could get very interesting.

20. Josh Hader (3-5, Brewers)
Hader’s run differential is only minus-three and he’s won the last two games. Watch out.

21. Tommy Kahnle (3-5, Yankees)
It’s hard to be under .500 with the Yankees' lineup. But don’t worry, New York. Kahnle appears to have figured out some things and has won three in a row.

22. David Dahl (2-5, Rockies)
Dahl is struggling, but he’s making his wins count. After beating Cole Tucker, he decided to give him a FaceTime call just to talk some trash. We can respect that.

23. Hunter Pence (2-6, Giants)
Nobody is having more fun in this league than Pence. The Giants outfielder loves the league so much that he celebrated his 37th birthday by playing four games of MLB The Show.

24. Ty Buttrey (1-7, Angels)
Buttrey said he enlisted “The Mike Trout of MLB The Show” to help him out after a 1-3 start. We’re still waiting for that to kick in.

25. Eduardo Rodriguez (1-7, Red Sox)
Rodriguez probably won’t make the playoffs in the league, but we’ll always have the quadruple fist bump after he took an early lead on Gallo, and the “Fun Guy” shirt.

26. Lance McCullers Jr. (2-6, Astros)
McCullers has only scored 18 runs with the Astros' lineup, which is actually kind of hard to do.

27. Cole Tucker (2-6, Pirates)
Tucker and the fighting Buccos are 2-6, but the run differential is just minus-four through eight games. Tucker deserves some credit for that.

28. Ryne Stanek (2-10, Marlins)
Stanek is in trouble, but his dog, Goose, has stolen the show.

29. Juan Soto (1-6, Nationals)
Soto is averaging just one run per game. World Series hangover, am I right?

30. Carlos Santana (1-9, Indians)

Santana has spent his time listening to music and taking his losses, which is admirable. On the bright side, he hasn’t smashed his TV. Yet.