MLB Watchability Index: Rockies Last, Rangers Top Bottom Half
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- Colorado Rockies finished dead last in the Watchability Index with 4 points, fielding an opening-day rotation in which four of five starters were age 33 or older after allowing seven runs in the top of the first inning of their home opener.
- Los Angeles Angels ranked 29th with 8 points, led the majors in strikeouts last season, and are running back essentially the same roster, with Mike Trout failing to crack the top-100 players list.
- Washington Nationals (28th, 10 points) were so thin in starting pitching they signed Miles Mikolas, who allowed 17 runs in his first two starts including a club-record 11 earned in his second outing.
- Chicago White Sox (27th, 12 points) have no top-100 players but boast a stacked Triple-A rotation in Noah Schultz, Hagen Smith, and Tanner McDougal that the source flags as more intriguing than the big-league staff.
- St. Louis Cardinals (25th, 13.5 points) fielded a starless roster where rookie JJ Wetherholt may already be the best player, with a clear plan built around no position players or starters over 30.
- San Francisco Giants (22nd, 18 points) placed four players in the top 100 — Logan Webb, Rafael Devers, Matt Chapman, Willy Adames — and hired college-coach-turned-manager Tony Vitello, yet still ranked poorly in baserunning and defense.
- The index's intro warns that the sport's momentum — built on a record postseason, the World Baseball Classic, Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge, and a deep rookie class headlined by Pittsburgh's Konnor Griffin — could be undermined by a potential 2027 lockout.
Why it matters: The Watchability Index explicitly quantifies what fans already feel about losing teams: the Rockies and Angels earn single-digit scores in star power and baseball style, meaning casual viewers have little reason to tune in. With MLB riding a postseason ratings high and a generational rookie wave led by Griffin's Pirates, the 2027 lockout threat the index flags is the single variable that could erase the gains captured by this ranking.
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