(8/14) Teams that Matter: Mid-Week Power Rankings
Welcome to the first edition of my Power Rankings. Everyone does them, so I’m going to jump in and see if we can spark some debate. But this far in the season, some teams are already dead, and more are dying by the day. Only 12 teams make the playoffs, but others will contend for those last spots, so I’ve decided to only focus on teams that matter (sorry Rockies, White Sox, Nationals, Pirates, Braves, etc.). We’re only going up to 15. That gives us our full playoff participants, plus some others that could sneak their way in. So let’s get to it.
1. Milwaukee Brewers - 76-44 (.633), 10-0, W12
Best record in baseball. 12 game winning streak (their second 11+ game win streak this year). 3-0 against the Phillies. 6-0 against the Dodgers. +116 run differential. Firing on all cylinders and can win in every way. What more do we need to say?
2. Philadelphia Phillies - 69-51 (.575), 7-3, L2
Coming off a disappointing showing in the rubber match against the Reds in Hunter Greene’s first start since the beginning of June, the Phillies still boast the second best record in the NL. You know all the names (Harper, Turner, Schwarber, Realmuto, Castellanos). The rotation is one of the best in baseball. Come October, they will be a team to reckon with.
3. Los Angeles Dodgers - 68-53 (.562), 4-6, L4
It’s tough to put them in this spot after blowing the 3 game set vs. the Angels. They have some serious bullpen problems. But have we even seen this team at 100% strength all season? I’d argue no, but yet they still have one of the best records in baseball and just yesterday ceded the division lead to the Padres. Just like the Phillies, I think the “superteam” will come out to play in October. Coming up…a weekend series with their “little brothers” in San Diego.
4. San Diego Padres - 69-52 (.570), 8-2, W5
2 out of 3 from Boston. 3 game sweep in San Francisco (remember the Giants?). Padres are on a heater and just jumped their LA rivals for the division lead. They have one of, if not the top bullpen in baseball which will need to be nails in October if they want to finally get over the hump. The deadline moves they made are looking to be paying off greatly already, and they head into a weekend series with the Dodgers that will be sure to spare no bad blood between the two organizations.
5. Chicago Cubs - 68-51 (.571), 4-6, W1
The rubber match between the Cubs and the Blue Jays is later on today. It was going to be either team at 5 or 6 so I’m predicting the Cubs pull it out today with Matt Boyd on the mound continuing on his incredible season. The Cubs were the best team in baseball early on, but haven’t been able to keep it together lately, with both PCA and Kyle Tucker expressing frustration with their offense (not you, Matt Shaw). Next week, all eyes are on the 5 game set between them and the Brewers, which will have major division and playoff seeding implications.
6. Toronto Blue Jays - 70-51 (.579), 6-4, L1
Here comes the AL! The Blue Jays have put together a great past couple months. Their lineup is full of guys who have great bat to ball skills and Vladdy Jr. is hitting nearly .400 in August. They hung on to take the last game against the Dodgers and are playing the rubber match against the Cubs this afternoon. This is all being done without the switch-hitting corner outfielder they gave a huge contract to this offseason (remember 40 HR Anthony Santander?). They have a weekend series coming up against the Rangers to prove to the rest of the league they can snuff out a potential wild card team.
7. Houston Astros - 68-53 (.562), 6-4, W1
The boogeyman of the AL is back. They don’t have a lineup full of the most flashy names, but getting Correa back (now at 3rd base) and still with Altuve anchoring the offense, the Astros are as formidable as it gets. They just took 2 out of 3 from the Red Sox and have a weekend series at home with the ghost of the Orioles coming up. The lineup is heavily righties, but if and when Yordan Alvarez plans on showing up from being gone off the face of the earth, the balance will come back (don’t forget the sneaky deadline move getting Jesus Sanchez for a lefty corner outfielder).
8. Seattle Mariners - 67-54 (.554), 8-2, L1
With their 8 game winning streak coming to an end with the walk-off loss against the Orioles, the Mariners find themselves a game back of the Astros for the division, but still 3 games up on the wild card. Their deadline lineup additions make them a scary 1 through 5 for an opposing pitcher to face. Randy’s hot. Julio’s hot. Naylor’s now a 20-20 guy. And Geno still hasn’t found his groove. Their rotation has been well-regarded as one of the best in baseball, and as long as they continue their ascent, they’ll find themselves poised for a World Series run.
9. Boston Red Sox - 66-56 (.541), 5-5, L1
After another slow start to the season and constant grumbling from their fanbase over ownership’s lack of direction regarding the Devers trade and minimal deadline moves, the Red Sox have found themselves in the driver’s seat of a wild card spot. The series against Houston showed they still have some teams to jump to get to a World Series push, but their young guys are showing out and Jarren Duran has been a plus bat finally, after a disappointing start. Aroldis Chapman closing out a Game 7 in a Red Sox uniform? We won’t think about any other alternative involving Chapman in a playoff closeout game.
10. Detroit Tigers - 70-52 (.574), 5-5, W1
Oof. It feels weird talking negatively about a team that still has the 4th best record in baseball and one of the top two pitchers in the sport at the top of their rotation, but the Tigers have been sliding. After Skubal, that rotation is getting further from bonafide starters and closer to “pitching chaos” they coined last year. Except this year, that chaos has a much darker feel to it. The bats have come down to earth. Is the magic still in there from last year’s second half + postseason run?
11. New York Yankees - 64-57 (.529), 4-6, L1
Hey, they beat up on the Twins. Things are always tumultuous in the Bronx and Yankees fans have been extremely vocal about the managerial decisions coming from Boone. The offense is still there, and the complaints about Wells behind the dish are unwarranted, even though his bat has fallen off from last season. Here we are again, talking about the Yankees defensive woes and what seems like a lack of engagement on the basepaths. Except this time, will it even be enough to make it to the World Series? They’re only a game up on the Guardians for the last wild card spot…
12. Cleveland Guardians - 62-57 (.521), 7-3, L1
The Guardians are back, baby! After being sub .500 well into the season and 15 games back on the Tigers in the division, they’ve clawed their way up to one game out of a wild card spot with a weekend series against the sad, sad Braves coming up. Manzardo, CJ Kayfus, Arias, Martinez, you know, all those household Guardians names coming up in big spots lately. If they can keep up the consistency, they’ll find themselves seated nicely in a wild card spot after looking out of it for most of the season.
13. New York Mets - 64-56 (.533), 2-8, L1
Phew, the AL run is over. Back to the NL. Well, the Mets snapped their losing streak in the first game against the Braves, only to blow a 6 run lead in game two after 11 unanswered runs from their division counterpart. Things are rocky in Queens (New York baseball in a state of emergency), and the Mets find themselves a game up on the Reds for a wild card spot when they were fighting the Phillies for the division title not too long ago. They can’t blame Juan Soto anymore. Did they figure out that starting pitching matters? Weekend series coming up against the newly anointed powerhouse that is the Seattle Mariners.
14. Cincinnati Reds - 64-58 (.525), 6-4, W2
Hunter Greene is back. They just took two out of three at home from the Phillies. Their rotation has been solid with the emergence of Andrew Abbott this season. Miguel Andujar has 3 homers in his last 4 games, with a grand slam being one of them yesterday (I think everyone had Andujar as being the crown jewel of the trade deadline, right?). They have the real test coming up this weekend, as they host MLB’s best Milwaukee for a three game set to see if they can prove to the rest of the league they’re contenders. Can they stop the Brewers’ run?
15. Texas Rangers - 61-61 (.500), 3-7, L2
The Rangers are getting very close to not mattering as they take the final spot in the rankings. They’re still only 3.5 games out of a wild card spot, and there was a brief period where they won six in a row at the end of July where we thought it had all clicked for the first time since they won it all in 2023. They have basically crashed and burned since, with their only series win coming against the Yankees, with series losses at the hands of the Angels, Mariners, Phillies, and Diamondbacks. The pitching is there. The defense is there. The hitting is not even close to being there. Seager is the only threat in the lineup when healthy, and the rest are interchangeable .600 to .750 OPS guys. That’s simply not going to be enough to matter come October.
The only team I can consider an honorable mention would be the Cardinals. They’re the only other team without a losing record, but they’re 4 games out of a wild card spot and have been wildly inconsistent this season. The Royals are a game under .500, but it’s hard to consider teams that can’t crack the top 15.
Anything I missed?