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MLB Twitter Account Power Rankings

By Nick Fustor |
Oct 20, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; A fan takes a cell phone picture of the outside of Wrigley Field prior to game three of the NLCS between the Chicago Cubs and the New York Mets. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 20, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; A fan takes a cell phone picture of the outside of Wrigley Field prior to game three of the NLCS between the Chicago Cubs and the New York Mets. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
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Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /

Which teams have the best Twitter accounts in the MLB? Here are our MLB Twitter Power Rankings.

Two weeks ago, Complex Sports ranked each NBA team’s Twitter account from worst to best, and highlighted some of the best digital content on NBA Twitter straight from the teams themselves.  But at the same time, the rankings seriously exposed teams lacking in their Twitter game as compared to the rest of the league.

Complex notes that teams like the Boston Celtics, while ever-storied on the court, have struggled to keep up with teams embracing a youthful, energetic voice that has been captured so wonderfully by teams like the Atlanta Hawks.

Here’s an example of a Celtics tweet, highlighted by Complex.

And here’s one from the Hawks.

See the difference?  Sure, the tweets aren’t exactly of the same subject manner, but the Hawks clearly have a firm grasp of pop culture and how it can transform interactions with the audience.  Oh, and they actually use emojis.

It’s becoming ever clearer that the NBA is eclipsing MLB in popularity, so the online presence of MLB teams around the league is becoming ever more vital to attract fans. With that in mind, I decided to take a look at MLB Twitter to find which teams have embraced the platform and which are simply using it as a stat log.

Here’s how the rankings will be scored.

  • Proper voice
    • Better ex: Miguel Sano hits a moonshot to center to give the Twins a 2-1 lead!
    • Bad ex: The Twins take a 2-1 lead after Sano hits a homer to center field.
    • Also, as Complex noted, be conversational.
  • Images
    • Gifs, vines and solid graphics are really important.
  • Humor
    • If a team is hilariously bad, teams should acknowledge it.  Self deprecation is fun!
  • Emojis
    • People love the fire emoji, and for good reason.
  • Interaction
    • Some of the best NBA Twitter moments happen when teams @ each other, and more of that in MLB should be encouraged.

And with that, here are Call to the Pen’s MLB Twitter rankings.

Next: 30-26: Where are the gifs?

Rebuilding

30. Chicago White Sox (@whitesox)

Followers: 418,639

Best recent tweet:

After setting the baseball world on fire and overtaking the Kansas City Royals atop the American League Central, the White Sox have come plummeting back down to Earth with a 3-7 record in their last 10 games.  Coincidentally, their recent play has mirrored their Twitter feed.

Despite having stars like Chris Sale, Jose Abreu and Todd Frazier in town, the White Sox consistently fail to deliver quality content before, during and after games.  Instead of sharing gifs, vines or even videos during games, they choose to share images of their players along with stat lines throughout the game.

Here’s an example during Jose Quintana’s last start.

Okay, not bad.

Good to know he has legs.

Oh, a new angle.  Cool.

If Quintana was truly that dominant, why not share some videos of his performance?  The one thing the White Sox have that isn’t that bad is their pre and post-game graphics.

The slant doesn’t make much sense, but the font and image are solid.  Chicago has a lot of work to do on Twitter if they hope to escape the shadow of the Cubs.

29. Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers)

Followers: 349,502

Best recent tweet:

With a dearth of talent on the major league roster, the Milwaukee Brewers continually need to come up with creative ways to increase excitement through their social media.  But unfortunately, they haven’t been able to this season.

When a franchise is based around beer, though, there shouldn’t be any shortage of interesting content to post.  Plus, they could always revert to the beer emoji, which is a winner among group chats around the world.

Instead, the Brew Crew share a lot of images of their mascots, boring stat updates and retweet things happening in the community.  But typically, none of that content is attention grabbing.

When they do use visual content, it’s with Twitter video instead of Vine.  The following video is about 10 seconds too long, and would work much better as a loopable vine.

Every so often, they throw in a joke or emoji, and that’s just enough to keep the Brewers out of last place.

28. San Diego Padres (@Padres)

Stuck in the basement of the National League West, the Padres are forced to live in the shadows of the Dodgers and Giants on the field.  On Twitter, it’s more of the same. Without much star power on the roster aside from the declining Matt Kemp, the Padres are forced to stick to the basics of MLB Twitter.

With Wil Myers and Drew Pomeranz emerging as legitimate stars, the Padres should make more use of them on Twitter.

Instead, they’ll occasionally post videos like this.

A video of Melvin Upton Jr. playing catch isn’t the most stimulating content on Twitter, though.  Maybe a gif of an Upton home run would work, or a quick interview with him before the game.

Even when something exciting happens, the Padres manage to make it boring.

Not many people care about seeing stadium graphics outside of the actual ballpark.

At least they manage to match the color scheme throughout their Twitter graphics.

27. Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers)

Followers: 973,283

Best recent tweet:

With one of the larger followings in MLB, the Dodgers have a real chance to capture the attention of fans in the larger world of sports Twitter.  Unfortunately, they haven’t strayed too far from the typical game updates with occasional video that plagues so many teams toward the bottom of these rankings.

When you have a player like Clayton Kershaw, there’s no excuse to not have viral gifs and vines.  To their credit, the Dodgers do have over 38 million loops on Vine, but they haven’t posted one since April 28.

Since then, most of their in-game images have been shots of the field from the press box (this is at Wrigley Field).

They’ve also experimented with some unique ways to present their lineup, but not all have panned out.

The players swinging their bats is a great concept, but for a non-fan, at least share the names in the bottom of each square.

The Dodgers have the pieces in place to be among the best on Twitter, but they’re just not there yet.

26. Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles)

Followers: 462,729

Best recent tweet:

As the Orioles look to stay near the top of the AL East, their Twitter account is trying its hardest to get the team’s stars to the All-Star game.  Much of the Orioles recent content has focused on their #VoteOrange campaign, promoting players like Mark Trumbo and Manny Machado.

Other than that, the Orioles don’t do much in the way of visual content.  Their lineup cards are among the best in the league when they use a graphic with the cartoon Oriole, but they lack in creativity when it’s simply a picture of the printed lineup card.

When they do have visual content, it’s typically a link to an MLB.com video or article – and on Twitter, that’s unacceptable.  The Orioles don’t do one thing particularly well on Twitter, but none of their content is bad, which leaves them just outside the top 25.

Next: 25-21: Eh

Eh

25. Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies)

Followers: 1,180,920

Best recent tweet:

Like the White Sox, the Phillies got off to an incredibly hot start to the season that saw them competing with the Mets and Nationals atop the NL East.  Unfortunately for Philadelphia, they’ve come crashing down in the past few weeks and are now trending back toward the bottom of the NL, as they were expected to entering the season.

The Phillies boast some incredible young talent in the form of Odubel Herrera, Maikel Franco and Aaron Nola, but for some reason tend to focus on their heap of veterans looking to resurrect their careers.

Philadelphia falls into the same pitfalls of the other teams near the bottom of these rankings, but do one thing especially bad.  Graphics.

Just take a look at that lineup card.

That graphic looks like it was made in PowerPoint.  It’s time to break out InDesign and get into 2016.

But the Phillies have actually used gifs fairly frequently, and to positive results.

One thing holding them from the top 20 is this questionable #GoPhils graphic, that they seem to use more often than not.

If the Phillies stray away from that, they’ll be shooting up these rankings in no time.

24. Minnesota Twins (@Twins)

Followers: 390,141

Best recent tweet:

The Twins have been an utter disappointment to start the season, and that’s shown in their Twitter content.  While it’s clear their digital team is trying their best, there’s just not much to work with in the Twin Cities.

However, that doesn’t stop them from creating some of the best graphics of any MLB team.

Solid image, clear lineup and all the information necessary.  Pretty much the opposite of the Phillies lineup card.

Where the Twins lack is in their in-game content, as they typically share stock images or the dreaded stadium graphic.

Really not sure how this picture helps engagement.  Let’s see something from the game.

Oh, nice!  A home run!  Aaaand a stadium graphic.  At the very least, a picture of Grossman would’ve been better.

Aside from those issues, the Twins seem to be trending in the right direction on Twitter and on the field.  Add some humor, and they’ll be in a solid position going forward.

23. Miami Marlins (@Marlins)

Followers: 199,976

Best recent tweet:

There hasn’t been much fan support for the Miami Marlins since owner Jeffrey Loria opened their new stadium, and that’s pretty evident with their follower count on Twitter.  Just think that some Triple-A teams have around 50,000 followers.  It’s hard to imagine that the Marlins only have 200,000.

But that isn’t stopping the Marlins from producing quality content from time to time. With Giancarlo Stanton and Jose Fernandez in tow, the Marlins have plenty to work with in terms of marketability.  On days when Fernandez isn’t pitching, however, the team seems to lack in originality.

When it’s #JoséDay, the team really seems to thrive.

Their graphics are very clean and nice to look at, too.  Bonus points for the roof status.

In the team’s bio, the hashtag #FishFamily is featured, and surely they can think of something better than that.  It’s great that the Marlins are capitalizing on Fernandez’s star power, but they’ll need to do a better job with their other players to keep up with some of the other teams across the league.

22. New York Yankees (@Yankees)

Followers: 1,683,075

Best recent tweet:

The Yankees are still arguably the most popular team in MLB, but like the Dodgers, their Twitter falls into the same pitfalls as most of the other teams toward the bottom of these rankings.  Score updates become mundane, videos are linked to MLB.com and in-game images don’t tell a story.

At times, however, the Yankees Twitter has a personality that makes scrolling through their feed entertaining.  They even recognized they had made history with their 2-1, one-hit victory over the Rays last week with the hashtag #StartSpreadingTheNews

Note: That hashtag is rather useless, as it doesn’t really provide a feed of information to follow.  We’ll excuse it for now, since most teams around the league do similar things.

The main pitfall of the Yankees account is in their graphics.

Sure, the graphic isn’t as bad as the Phillies, but the dreaded slant is back along with text that just seems to be floating in empty space.  Ugh.

They do make good use of gifs and videos on occasion, which keeps them near the top 20.

21. Los Angeles Angels (@Angels)

Followers: 458,155

Best recent tweet:

The Angels have arguably the best player in baseball in Mike Trout, and do their best to utilize his star power.  But the main positive to come from the Angels Twitter is that they’re one of the few teams to provide visual updates throughout games.

Videos would be nice, but it’s better than the standard text score update.  Aside from that, their graphics are solid, but could be improved.

Not sure what’s going on with the gray bars behind Albert Pujols, but it’s kind of distracting.  Keeping the image of the stadium in the background would most likely work better.  Their more impressive graphics come in the form of game notes, something many teams don’t feature.

The main knock on the Angels is their stale use of language, as many of their posts are just a bit too formal.

Next: 20-16: Worth a Follow

Getting Better

20. St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals)

Followers: 816,515

Best recent tweet:

The Cardinals have always been known as one of the more formal teams in MLB, and while that extends into their Twitter, it’s clear they’re not afraid to have fun with things.

Not sure how this relates to the game, but it’s attention grabbing and better than the typical text-only post.  Actually, a lot of their gifs or images don’t relate to the text.

Aside from that, the Cardinals do a great job at highlighting the entire team’s efforts – and that’s mainly because their roster is full of studs.  They also highlight fans rather often, which is a great way to increase interaction.

19. New York Mets (@Mets)

Followers: 547,902

Best recent tweet:

The best part about the Mets Twitter is their willingness to experiment.  Whether it be through emojis, gifs or capitalizing different words, you can expect a variety of content from them.  The problem is that not all of those experiments work out.  Once they figure out what works and what doesn’t, they’ll be one of the better Twitter accounts in baseball.

When Steven Matz is on the mound, they’re huge fans of the fire emoji.

While Matz has been dominant, what’s more fire is the nickname they have for him, Long Island Lefty.  That gains them major points, but not enough to vault them into the top 15.

18. Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball)

Followers: 327,521

Best recent tweet:

My main gripe with the Rays is in their handle.  Really, @RaysBaseball.  They couldn’t convince Ray Slakinski to give up his @RayS handle?  Props to him though for joining in 2007 and going the simple route with Ray S.  The Baseball part is redundant.  Anyone following them knows they’re a professional baseball team.  Why not take the Giants approach and go @TBRays?  Anyways, I guess there’s not much they can do to fix that.

Back in the Joe Maddon days, the Rays were that sneaky cool team that no one knew they liked but deep down everyone did.  Now, not so much.  Without Evan Longoria launching bombs night after night and David Price throwing shutouts, the Rays lack in star power – and it shows on their Twitter.  But that doesn’t stop them from producing quality content from time to time.

Unlike many teams, the Rays actually share gifs and videos from the game, during the game.  The problems come in their pre and post-game content, which is typically links to previews and recaps.

17. Atlanta Braves (@Braves)

Followers: 778,794

Best recent tweet:

The Braves are among the most confusing Twitter accounts to evaluate.  Sometimes they’re witty and conversational, and at other times they’re drab stat pushers.  If the team is going to be consistently bad on the field, the Twitter account needs to make up for it more often than not.

When they’re not tweeting out stat updates, the Braves actually have some short, shareable videos and gifs that make their timeline pop.

They’re also one of the few teams to this point in the rankings to share original vines, which is an added bonus.  Once they stray away from bland score updates, the Braves will be in good shape on Twitter.

16. Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays)

Followers: 1,406,218

Best recent tweet:

Whereas the Toronto Raptors launched their popular #WeTheNorth campaign last year, the Blue Jays have stuck to a simpler approach with #OurMoment.  Seeing that the Expos have been long gone, it might make sense for the Jays to adopt the Raptors slogan, or something similar in hopes of uniting their fans.

The Jays shine in their score updates, as they typically sent out gifs or videos with witty captions.  Where they fall, however, is in their post-game content, which is typically a link to a recap and not much in terms of original Twitter content.

Pre-game, though, they do a great job.

(I didn’t get this at first, either.  Josh Donaldson’s Twitter handle is @BringerOfRain20.)

Next: 15-11: I'd Retweet That

Good, Not Great

15. Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks)

Followers: 288,861

Best recent tweet:

After the roll-out of their new uniforms that met some backlash, the Diamondbacks looked poised for a solid Twitter year because of how they handled it.  Their #JoinTheEvolution campaign is right in line with what the team promotes, being the first to unveil such interesting uniforms.

The Dbacks do a solid job on Twitter, but don’t excel at one particular thing.  The team’s in-game coverage is filled with images and gifs, but sometimes those gifs turn out to be stadium graphics.

Arizona uses plenty of emojis to keep things entertaining, but they’ll need to inject a bit more humor into their tweets if they hope to join the elites of MLB Twitter.

14. San Francisco Giants (@SFGiants)

Followers: 1,052,036

Best recent tweet:

Despite losing out on the @Giants handle to the New York Football Giants, the San Francisco Giants manage to make do with the SF cramping their style.  In an even year, the Giants are once again among the best teams in baseball – and their Twitter recognizes it.

Even with stars like Madison Bumgarner and Buster Posey, the Giants still highlight every player on the team.  And they use emojis rather frequently, which is always a nice touch.

Sometimes, they even have graphics like this.

Where the Giants could improve is in making their voice more conversational, but at this point, they’re well worthy of a top 15 spot.

13. Chicago Cubs (@Cubs)

Followers: 884,462

Best recent tweet:

The Cubs have enough star power to keep themselves in every baseball conversation, but their Twitter still does a great job at promoting the team’s dominance.  While much of their content has focused on All-Star voting promotion, that hasn’t stopped the Cubs from using funny visuals and comments to get their players to San Diego this July.

If the Cubs make it to the World Series this year, expect their Twitter account to blow up as the rest of Twitter goes insane over the possibility of the curse coming to an end.  Until then, we’ll continue to enjoy gifs of Kris Bryant sniffing baseballs.

12. Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates)

Followers: 486,795

Best recent tweet:

While the Pittsburgh Pirates are fighting to overtake the Cubs in the NL Central, that hasn’t stopped their Twitter account from sharing some of the best gifs and images of the season.  With Andrew McCutchen and Gerrit Cole as the faces of the franchise, the Pirates never lack in content.

Pittsburgh is slowly growing into one of the more desirable cities to live in, and the Pirates exemplify that excitement.  The team’s Twitter tries its best to capture that youthful voice, but has yet to fully do so.  With some work, they’ll be there in no time.

They also have some of the best graphics on Twitter, as literally any information you could want is presented in a clean design.

11. Houston Astros (@astros)

Followers: 394,696

Best recent tweet:

The Astros are solid in nearly every aspect of Twitter, but slightly lack with in-game images and videos to earn a place in the top 10.  Other than that, the ‘Stros are one of the few teams to interact with its players, or to use text tools (see: above).

In order to give fans a more personalized experience, player interaction is a one of the key ways to increase engagement.  The Astros are one of the few teams to use those goofy questions shown on stadium video boards on their Twitter accounts.

Next: 10-6: Accounts You'd Read Every Day

So Close, Yet So Far

10. Colorado Rockies (@Rockies)

Followers: 255,477

Best recent tweet:

The Rockies are one of the few MLB teams that are clearly having fun with their Twitter account, and it shows.  Whether it be ridiculous amounts of emojis or gifs mocking their own team, Colorado has a firm grasp on how their own fans are using Twitter.

Colorado has one of the lower follower counts among MLB teams, but if the Rockies can eventually make it back to the playoffs, their profile will surely explode.

9. Detroit Tigers (@tigers)

Followers: 864,953

Best recent tweet:

Like the team on the field, the Detroit Tigers twitter doesn’t do one thing particularly well. But unlike the team on the field, the Tigers Twitter excels at nearly everything.  Whether it be previews, recaps or in-game visual updates, the Tigers manage to consistently produce distinguishable content.

And they’re one of the few teams to retweet witty content from their fans – which is a big plus gaining devoted followers.  With one of the bigger followings in MLB, the Tigers have done a great job at finding ways to entertain in what has been a trying season for the team.

8. Cincinnati Reds (@Reds)

Followers: 519,230

Best recent tweet:

Despite having one of the worst rosters in MLB, the Reds Twitter manages to generate excitement in even the dullest of seasons.  With Joey Votto struggling and no other stars on the team (sorry, Billy Hamilton), the Reds are one of the teams experimenting most with gifs and images.

And it’s been to mostly positive results.  This tweet, while simple, is the perfect example of an in-game update.  Why just write something when a gif can easily tell the story?

On occasion, they’re pretty funny – and that’s a major bonus.

7. Boston Red Sox (@RedSox)

Followers: 1,284,707

Best recent tweet:

While the Red Sox aren’t particularly funny on their Twitter account, they have some of the best graphics and consistently use visuals to show off highlights from the games.  And in a season where the offense is the best in baseball, there’s plenty of highlights.

After Mookie Betts’ three-homer game, the team was all over promoting the 23-year-old through gifs, videos and vines.  Yes, vines, we all love them.

6. Seattle Mariners (@Mariners)

Followers: 364,138

Best recent tweet:

The Mariners have quickly become the darlings of MLB with their spectacular run to start the season, and their Twitter is capitalizing on the momentum.  With recent strings of witty tweets and solid visuals, the Mariners have established themselves as one of the best teams on MLB Twitter.

They’re also one of the few teams to use a poll recently, which is a great way to vote for a player of the game.  The M’s refer to 33-year-old outfielder Seth Smith as the #AllStarDad, which is by far and away one of the best parts of their feed over the past few weeks.

Next: No. 5: Bring Out the Fire Emojis

5. Texas Rangers (@Rangers)

Followers: 759,611

Best recent tweet:

The Rangers are one of the few teams in MLB to consistently use videos while in-game tweeting, and that’s almost enough alone to earn them a place in the top five.  But with good use of emojis and gifs, the Rangers are truly among baseball’s best on Twitter.

It’s even enough to excuse their occasional use of stadium graphics.  They also speed up videos into short gifs to share highlights, which is one of the better ways to share a home run.

Next: No. 4: Defending Champs

4. Kansas City Royals (@Royals)

Followers: 579,022

Best recent tweet:

What’s surprising about the Royals Twitter is their follower count, which sits in the mid 500,000s.  For a fan base that voted in virtually every starter to the All-Star game last season, it’s interesting that their following isn’t approaching that of the Yankees or Dodgers.

That doesn’t stop the Royals Twitter from sharing some of the best gifs and images on MLB Twitter.  With a charismatic, energetic team, the Royals are never lacking content as the team looks to make it to the World Series for a third year in a row.

The Royals’ feed is also pretty funny at times, which most teams are lacking.  Just look at this gif of Kendrys Morales.

Next: No. 3: Make Baseball Fun Again

3. Washington Nationals (@Nationals)

Followers: 386,243

Best recent tweet:

The Nationals have arguably the league’s best, young charismatic player in Bryce Harper – and they take complete advantage of that.  The Nats do a great job at promoting Harper, who has been at the forefront of the movement to inject some fun into baseball, but also highlight the rest of the team, too.

Sometimes they even have tweets like this in case anyone’s a bit tired of Harper.

During games, the Nats’ feed is full of gifs, videos and emojis.  The complete recipe for one of the best Twitter accounts in MLB.

Next: No. 2: More Than Moneyball

2. Oakland Athletics (@Athletics)

Followers: 325,814

Best recent tweet:

The Athletics have so perfectly captured the youthful voice that encapsulates NBA Twitter, that it’s hard to not have a good time reading their tweets.  Despite a lack of star power, the A’s have no trouble making even the mundane exciting.

Just look at this perfect use of a poll.

It’s also nice to see that the A’s haven’t resorted to posting Brad Pitt Moneyball gifs as the team continues to rebuild.

Next: No.1: The Tribe

1. Cleveland Indians (@Indians)

Followers: 414,385

Best recent tweet:

No team in MLB has perfected Twitter as well as the Indians have.  Most of their tweets sound like they’re texting another Cleveland fan, and it keeps scrolling through their feed entertaining.  I mean, just look at that tweet above.  No other team on MLB Twitter does that consistently.

Even when they’re sharing score updates or roster moves, the Tribe twitter manages to keep things light and fun.  Go ahead and scroll through the Indians Twitter and enjoy, even if you’re not a Cleveland fan.

And with that, we’re done.  Let us know which teams you think should be ranked higher, or lower, in the comments below.

Next: MLB Mock Draft

Before I’m gone, just let me get in my Twitter plug, @FustorThePeople

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