The beginning of the MLB season always brings a lot of false hope that quickly fades to cynicism, but also plenty of hopelessness that can quickly turn into pleasant surprises. Things are often very rocky in the first few months of rankings, with balance restoring itself later. That of course makes these the most entertaining rankings as things change so drastically early in the season.
Below you will find the one month changes in Fan Optimism Scores for each MLB team following the first month of regular season ball. You can review the preseason scores here, along with the methodology.
Some notable changes:
- The Arizona Diamondbacks, Houston Astros, Colorado Rockies, and Chicago White Sox all saw their Fan Optimism Scores improve by 20 or more points.
- The Seattle Mariners, Texas Rangers, San Francisco Giants, and New York Mets all saw their Fan Optimism Score fall by more than 20 points after disappointing starts.
- The Washington Nationals, Baltimore Orioles, and Cleveland Indians all remained near the top of the rankings.
- The San Diego Padres, Atlanta Braves and Tampa Bay Rays all remained near the bottom of the list.
Get the full Fan Optimism Score rankings for May 2017 below:
| Team | Fan Optimism Score ™ | One month score change | |
| 1 | Washington Nationals | 48 | 1 |
| 2 | Baltimore Orioles | 46 | 3 |
| 3 | Cleveland Indians | 45 | -1 |
| 4 | Houston Astros | 45 | 24 |
| 5 | Colorado Rockies | 42 | 22 |
| 6 | New York Yankees | 40 | 16 |
| 7 | Arizona Diamondbacks | 39 | 26 |
| 8 | Chicago White Sox | 38 | 21 |
| 9 | Chicago Cubs | 35 | -13 |
| 10 | Boston Red Sox | 31 | -11 |
| 11 | Los Angeles Dodgers | 30 | -9 |
| 12 | Toronto Blue Jays | 28 | -2 |
| 13 | Detroit Tigers | 27 | -12 |
| 14 | Milwaukee Brewers | 27 | 13 |
| 15 | Los Angeles Angels | 25 | 11 |
| 16 | Philadelphia Phillies | 24 | 2 |
| 17 | Minnesota Twins | 20 | 16 |
| 18 | Miami Marlins | 19 | -2 |
| 19 | St. Louis Cardinals | 19 | -1 |
| 20 | Cincinnati Reds | 17 | 2 |
| 21 | Texas Rangers | 16 | -25 |
| 22 | Pittsburgh Pirates | 14 | 0 |
| 23 | Oakland Athletics | 14 | 2 |
| 24 | San Francisco Giants | 13 | -21 |
| 25 | Seattle Mariners | 12 | -30 |
| 26 | New York Mets | 10 | -21 |
| 27 | Tampa Bay Rays | 9 | 1 |
| 28 | Atlanta Braves | 9 | -1 |
| 29 | Kansas City Royals | 7 | -12 |
| 30 | San Diego Padres | 5 | -4 |