The 2021 MLB.tv Watchability Rankings (Part 2)
Every year, I rank the MLB teams by MLB.tv watchability. It’s not a ranking of the best teams, it’s a ranking of the most interesting ones: some great teams are boring and some terrible teams are train wrecks you can’t take your eyes off of.
Typically, I do this exercise in March before the season starts. It’s intended as a guide of sorts as we try to figure out how to manage our time over the course of something like 2400 MLB games per year. This year, we’re doing things right around Opening Day so you should be all set for a long summer of masked fans, foul balls bouncing through nearly empty sections, stupid Rob Manfred-mandated rules, and baseball! Below is Part 2.
Part 1 of last year’s rankings: the top 10 teams you should watch in the abbreviated 2020 season, is here. Parts 2 and 3 are here and here You can check out the 2015 MLB.TV rankings here, and part 1, and part 2 of the 2016 version here. The 2018 version is here, and 2019 is here. (Yes, there is no 2017.)
Without further ado, the 2021 MLB.TV Watchability Rankings (Part 2)! Part 1 will publish later today because we’re giddy with Opening Day optimism and don’t care.
16. Kansas City Royals
Your knee-jerk reaction is wrong. This is suddenly a fun team. They have Jorge Soler ready to chase 50 homers again, Adalberto Mondesi running free, Whit Merrifield and Hunter Dozier wearing the heck out of the Royal blue, and Salvy Perez’s smile. That crew has been joined by can’t-look-away Andrew Benintendi, must-watch reliever Josh Staumont, and a rotation that’s not terrible led by Brad Keller and Brady Singer trying to prove themselves at the Major League Level.. Plus, they have a fun fountain in the outfield. This is a perfect mid-summer meaningless baseball game team.
17. Chicago Cubs
The Cubs get knocked down this year because we’re used to them. I’m tired of watching Jason Heyward’s ground balls to the right side. Javier Baez is fantastic to watch, Kyle Hendricks is ridiculous old-man fun, and Craig Kimbrel is trying to determine if he’s a dumpster fire or a Hall of Famer. It’s a fun team, if not one we’ve been watching for 7 years now.
18. Milwaukee Brewers
The draw here is really Josh Hader and Devin Williams. When those guys are pitching, this is a top 5 watchable squad. When they aren’t, this is a lower tier club. Brandon Woodruff and Corbin Burnes are good, but not good enough to make me tune in. The same goes for Christian Yelich, who has the crown for most boring superstar. They also lose points for playing the Pirates, Reds, Cubs, and Cardinals so often.
19. San Fransisco Giants
Opening Day starter Kevin Gausman isn’t great fun, but Johnny Cueto shimmies! They lose points for running Brandon Crawford out there for his 11th season in the Bay, but they gain points for posting two likely Hall of Famers in the lineup in Buster Posey and Evan Longoria. Is MIke Yastremski a star? Is Donovan Solano going to hit .330 again
20. Philadelphia Phillies
The Phillies might be ranked way too low on this list- after all, they have JR Realmuto, Andrew McCutchen, Alex Bohm, Jean Segura, Rhys Hoskins, and Bryce Harper all in the same lineup. They also have Aaron Nola, Zach Wheeler and a guy OTBB is rooting hard for to reinvigorate his career, Matt Moore.
But something about a mid-May Phillies- Marlins game started by Zach Eflin is the opposite of….interesting.
21. Miami Marlins
The “Name 4 Marlins” game gets harder every year and their decision to start Sixto Sanchez in the minor makes them less fun, but this is a team that thinks they have a shot in the tough NL East. They’re watchable if only for their strength of schedule, but their collection of average-ish veteran position players should be interesting. Does Starling Marte have enough in the tank? Does a middle of the order consisting of Jesus Aguilar, Adam Duvall, and Brian Anderson really make up a winning team?
22. Detroit Tigers
The Tigers are watchable because they’re featuring a bunch of guys that we haven’t really watched before. Casey Mize and Tarik Skuball join 3 guys you’ve heard of (Julio Teheran, Matt Boyd, and Jose Urena) in the rotation. The offense will get a major watchability boost when Spencer Torkelson debuts later this summer, but Miguel Cabrera, and Jonathan Schoop will keep the team watchable until then.
23. Cincinnati Reds
The Reds have made me look silly. I admit it. Last season, I ranked Cincy as the 10th most watchable team in all of baseball. They had Trevor Bauer, Joey Votto, Eugenio Suarez, still smelled like Yasiel Puig, and we’re ready for a Cinderella run for the NL Central. They ended up 31-29, 3rd place in a crappy division and now they don’t have Bauer or Raisel Iglesias. Maybe everything will click this year, it’s possible, but the Reds don’t go into 2021 as the most interesting team, that’s for sure.
24. Boston Red Sox
That the Red Sox are in a rebuilding cycle should deeply embarrass Rob Manfred. Unfortunately, that it took a hearty booing at the World Series last year for it to even dawn on Rob that he doesn’t have a 100% approval rating tells you everything you need to know about his level of self awareness.
Meanwhile, baseball’s second or third most famous and wealthy team is cruising for another season of being utterly unwatchable. Now featuring exactly zero of the ‘Killer B’s’ they were supposed to build their franchise around just three years ago, Boston has decided that the solution to their abominable pitching of a year ago was to add Garrett Richards and…. That’s kind of it.
The position players are interesting at least. J.D. Martinez should hopefully rebound and Xander Boegarts and Rafael Devers are really good. Plus, the Sox expect big time power from Bobby Dalbec.
25. Texas Rangers
Joey Gallo is great fun. Joey Gallo hitting homers with his team down by 8 runs is less fun. We also don’t get the outside optimism that a Rougned Odor punch is just around the corner. There’s a bunch of players on the roster who could sneak their way onto your middling squad in your 16-team fantasy baseball league, but that’s hardly a compliment.
26. Colorado Rockies
Without Nolan Arenado, this isn’t a great team. After Trevor Story departs, this is going to go from bad to worst. The Rockies need to be fixed, but none of the steps that Evan lined up involved me watching their games.
27. Seattle Mariners
You’d think all those trades would lead to a more watchable team, if not a better one. Honestly, while there’s some good players on the roster that I’d be happy to see if the Mariners were the opposing team; there’s just not a single guy on their Opening Day roster that would make me flip to their channel.
28. Baltimore Orioles
Can you really run the risk of watching Chris Davis strike out again? Gary Thorne is a draw, so is the stadium, but it’s just not a fun team… yet.
29. Arizona Diamondbacks
The D’backs stadium is kind of a cool warehouse until you realize it’s an empty oversized warehouse with an enormous wall in center field. The club will feature big league talent in most places, but the quantity of Asdrubal Cabrera, Pavin Smith, and Taylor Widener airtime figures to be entirely too much.
30. Pittsburgh Pirates
We named the Pirates the worst team in the NL Central a few weeks ago. In that piece, we noted that the best performing hitter on the team in 2020, aside from rookie Ke’Bryan Hayes, who had a mere 85 at-bats, was catcher Jacob Stallings with a .248 batting average. Chad Kuhl is the Opening Day starter. Unforgivable.
