MLB power rankings: Astros and Brewers join Phillies, Dodgers at the top as stretch run begins

Jordan Shusterman

Over the course of this season, we’ve used these MLB power rankings as a vehicle to explore a multitude of topics surrounding each team, from standout rookies to All-Star candidates to how we measure collective success. But with September finally here and the stretch run to the postseason about to commence, there’s no need to stray too far from the most basic purpose of this exercise: assessing how good the baseball teams are.

With less than a month of regular-season games remaining, here’s a temperature check for all 30 major-league clubs:

It’s no secret that the Phillies weren’t playing their best ball for much of July and August, but they had built such a big cushion atop the division (and National League) that they could afford an extended stretch of underwhelming play. Taking three of four from Atlanta this past weekend was a good way for Philadelphia to reassert its dominance atop the NL East and keep its focus on pursuing the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage in October — a particularly strong one considering the caliber of the crowds at Citizens Bank Park.

As expected, the healthier the Dodgers get, the scarier they look, and they were extremely close to seizing the top spot from the Phillies this week. Very few, if any, lineups can match the firepower of a fully operational Dodgers offense, but there remain just enough health questions on the mound to prevent me from anointing Los Angeles as the definitive best team in baseball at this stage. Should Tyler Glasnow and Yoshinobu Yamamoto return in short order, however, that could change quickly.

This is not just an overreaction to their domination of Kansas City over the weekend; the Astros have baseball’s best record since the start of May, and they’ve suddenly emerged with one of the strongest rotations (and overall pitching staffs) in the league after a first half rife with turmoil on the mound. Consider this a commentary on both how impressive Houston has looked and the frustrating flaws of the other top AL contenders.

If you had told me before the season that come September, the Brewers would be running away with the NL Central, I would’ve assumed that involved Jackson Chourio breaking out as one of the best young players in baseball. And while that has clearly happened over the past three months — Chourio’s .900 OPS since June 2 ranks 13th in MLB, and the dude is just 20-years-old! — I’m still struggling to wrap my mind around just how good Milwaukee has been, especially with no Christian Yelich for the past month or the rest of the season due to back surgery. This has been a spectacular all-around effort, and while the rotation looks a bit thin on paper, this squad does enough else well to warrant a top-five spot in the rankings — and has a legitimate chance to secure a first-round postseason bye.

Alex Verdugo aside — and I’d imagine his days as the every-day left fielder are numbered — I’m really not concerned about the Yankees’ second-level offense beyond the spectacular duo of Aaron Judge and Juan Soto, especially with the recent returns of Giancarlo Stanton, Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Anthony Rizzo. At the same time, I’m not sure what to make of this pitching staff or which pitchers I’m supposed to feel especially good about with October approaching. Gerrit Cole has looked more like himself recently, but even a return to form for the defending AL Cy Young winner wouldn’t compensate for the rampant inconsistency elsewhere on the staff. Fortunately for New York, the team they’re battling atop the AL East is having similar issues.

I’m admittedly a bit spooked by Adley Rutschman’s lengthy slump and Corbin Burnes’ sharply declining strikeout rate, as those are two championship-caliber players who will need to be at their best over the next month-plus if the Orioles want to win the division and/or make noise in October. There’s still more than enough high-end talent on this roster to warrant a spot near the top of this list, but the subpar form from two of the team’s brightest stars and continued bullpen woes give me pause when it comes to projecting the O’s as legitimate World Series contenders.

Matt Boyd and Alex Cobb have been exactly what Cleveland hoped for as veteran starting pitching reinforcements, but questions remain about the overall strength of the rotation and the depth of the lineup beyond Jose Ramirez. That said, Ramirez — who might go 40/40 this year, in case you didn’t notice — is a sensational superstar, and the bullpen — headlined by arguably the best closer in baseball in Emmanuel Clase — is this team’s superpower; those two things might be enough to capture a division title, regardless of the shortcomings elsewhere on the roster. However, a return to first-half form from Steven Kwan and Josh Naylor would go a long way.

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That the Snakes have been without Christian Walker, Gabriel Moreno and Ketel Marte for multiple weeks now yet have managed to tread water is a tremendous testament to the rest of the roster, most notably a seemingly fully rejuvenated Corbin Carroll. Once those three bats return — Walker and Marte are expected back soon — and join a pitching staff that is as healthy as it has been all season, the D-backs will look even more formidable. Seven games in September against Milwaukee will be an excellent litmus test for both clubs.

In a similar vein, the Padres have been without Fernando Tatis Jr. for more than two months but now add an All-Star outfielder into the mix with a month left to play. For how good this offense has been in Tatis’ absence, let’s not forget how well El Niño was playing before he was injured, hitting .354/.407/.596 in 26 games. Should he manage to pick up where he left off, this San Diego lineup will be one of baseball’s best entering October.

The Twins have been so steady all season that it’s difficult to tell if they’re about to reach another gear and surge past Kansas City and Cleveland, or if this is just what they are: a good, not great, team that, as currently constituted, lacks the elite talent of the other AL contenders. That said, if Carlos Correa returns soon and Pablo Lopez continues to pitch like he has since the All-Star break, I’m probably underestimating Minnesota a bit.

Chasing down the Phillies is likely a lost cause after this past weekend in Philadelphia, but a wild-card spot remains firmly within reach as Atlanta’s ragtag crew of injury replacements on offense — Whit Merrifield, Ramon Laureano, Gio Urshela — continues to perform admirably under difficult circumstances. With an excellent pitching staff still in place, this team just needs to get into the dance to give itself a shot to go on another 2021-esque run.

Losing first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino for the rest of the regular season due to a broken thumb was a far more significant loss than any of the defeats in Houston over the weekend. The Royals brought in a trio of veterans — Tommy Pham, Robbie Grossman and Yuli Gurriel — to help backfill some of Pasquantino’s production, but the pressure remains squarely on the pitching staff and MVP candidate Bobby Witt Jr. to not let Pasquantino’s injury derail their season too drastically.

Francisco Lindor continues to headline one of baseball’s most underrated offenses, but it’s the pitching staff that has stepped up enough in recent weeks to enable an exciting push to within striking distance of the third NL wild-card spot. While the seven games against Philadelphia in September represent the toughest task remaining on the schedule, a three-game set in Atlanta during the final week is only getting juicier by the day.

Here come the Cubbies! Since being swept in Cleveland in mid-August, the Cubs have won 12 of their past 16 games against mostly bad teams to surge back into relevance in the NL postseason picture. If Chicago can prove it with respectable showings against the Dodgers and Yankees over the next couple of weeks — and the Mets continue to play well — we might have a race on our hands for the final NL wild-card spot.

Despite nearly identical records and a series loss in Detroit this past weekend, I’m keeping the Red Sox slightly ahead of the Tigers because I still believe Boston’s offensive star power enables a higher overall ceiling when projecting the final month (and beyond). However, the bullpen continues to struggle badly, and the bats have gone relatively cold recently, pushing Boston further from the AL wild-card pack and necessitating an ultra-strong finish if this team wants to return to October. It’s not going to be easy.

The Diamondbacks' Corbin Carroll and the Astros' Yordan Alvarez have helped drive their teams' surge up the power rankings (Bruno Rouby/Yahoo Sports).
The Diamondbacks' Corbin Carroll and the Astros' Yordan Alvarez have helped drive their teams' surge up the power rankings (Bruno Rouby/Yahoo Sports). (Bruno Rouby/Yahoo Sports)

Among AL teams, only the Astros (33-21) have a better record since the start of July than the Tigers (32-22), who have quietly climbed into the group of teams seeking a surprise postseason berth on the outskirts of the AL wild-card picture. Even if they come up short of the playoffs, the strong showings from much of Detroit’s young core have certainly buoyed the team’s outlook for 2025.

Recent series wins against the Brewers, Twins and Yankees have the Cardinals back within range of the NL wild-card picture, albeit with considerable work to do to be considered a real threat to return to the postseason. For a franchise that hasn’t had consecutive losing seasons in nearly 30 years, this final month is of utmost importance for the players, coaching staff and front office to prove that last season’s catastrophe was an outlier and that the Cardinals are still a team worth fearing — or, at least, respecting — in the NL landscape.

Despite a pitching staff that ranks No. 1 in ERA and WHIP, Seattle’s offensive ineptitude has put its playoff hopes in precarious position. A team that has averaged 89 wins the past three seasons might struggle to finish above .500 in 2024. There’s just enough time left in the regular season for a potential reversal of fortune, but the M’s are staring at an awfully difficult offseason if things continue to go south in September.

The new-look roster played well in the immediate aftermath of the dramatic sell-off at the trade deadline but has started to look a bit overmatched recently, with three consecutive series losses. Tampa Bay’s streak of six consecutive winning seasons — tied with Atlanta for the third-longest such streak in MLB, behind only the Yankees and Dodgers — might be in jeopardy, but this should be only a temporary setback for a Rays team that still projects to be quite competitive in 2025.

I was ready to buy the Giants as viable candidates to challenge for a postseason spot after they won 13 of 17 games to get within 1.5 games of the NL wild card on Aug. 10. Since then, though, San Francisco’s only series win has come against the White Sox, and that wasn’t even a sweep — a legitimately disappointing outcome considering the opponent. A series loss to the lowly Marlins over the weekend has the Giants multiple games under .500 for the first time in more than a month, and they face baseball’s toughest schedule the rest of the way. Yikes.

There’s no sugarcoating it: This will go down as one of the more disappointing title defenses in recent baseball history. A seemingly loaded returning lineup produced nothing like the juggernaut we witnessed a year ago, and the lack of depth on the mound undermined any chance of racking up wins with regularity. The question now is how will Texas respond this winter? Will it get back to spending big in free agency or try to flush this season as an aberration and run it back with largely the same group in 2025?

Not one player in Sunday’s starting lineup vs. Minnesota was in the lineup for Toronto on Opening Day, a humbling reminder of how far off-track this season has gone. But the Blue Jays had a winning record (16-12) in August — their first winning month of the season! It’s obviously too little, too late as far as 2024 is concerned, but it’s good to see some of the younger players expected to contribute in 2025 already having some success. And how about Bowden Francis, with a 1.06 ERA in 34 innings across five starts in August? He’s suddenly a fascinating candidate for next year’s rotation.

The injury bug that ravaged Cincinnati’s position-player group in the first half has now impacted the rotation as well, leaving the roster in a troubling state of uncertainty entering the final month. Any hope for an exciting encore to last year’s surprisingly competitive squad has slipped away; let’s see if the Reds can regain any sort of optimism heading into the offseason.

The A’s have played legitimately well for about two months now, a huge credit to the players and coaching staff, considering the difficult (and unusual) circumstances of the franchise’s impending departure from Oakland and coming off an MLB-worst 112 losses in 2023. The pitching remains fairly inconsistent, but this team is really fun to watch swing the bat. Only two teams in MLB have multiple players with at least 17 homers since the start of July: the Yankees (Aaron Judge with 20, Juan Soto with 17) and the A’s (Lawrence Butler and Brent Rooker with 18 apiece).

A dreadful August (8-19) sapped much of the positive energy Pittsburgh built in June and July with the excitement surrounding Paul Skenes’ arrival and subsequent dominance. There is still real reason to be excited about what this rotation could look like in 2025, but there are even more reasons to be concerned about the state of the offense moving forward. This season was supposed to be a definitive step forward for the organization after the team won 76 games last year following consecutive 100-loss campaigns. Given how things are trending, it’s not clear that such progress will be achieved.

Top prospect Dylan Crews has joined an army of rookies getting regular playing time for Washington. While the abundance of inexperience makes the Nationals far more susceptible to some growing pains as the season winds down, it also makes them eminently more entertaining. Young players are always more fun to watch than veteran retreads, even if the record isn’t necessarily pretty in the early going.

How far can Shohei Ohtani take the Dodgers in October? (Bruno Rouby/Yahoo Sports)
How far can Shohei Ohtani take the Dodgers in October? (Bruno Rouby/Yahoo Sports) (Bruno Rouby/Yahoo Sports)

After being swept in Seattle to open June and losing 11-0 in a series opener in July, the Angels beat the rival Mariners in eight of their next nine tries, including five comeback wins in the seventh inning or later. Those results could ultimately be the difference between Seattle making the playoffs and the Angels avoiding their worst record in franchise history.

Injuries and trades have made this roster a shell of itself compared to spring training, but top acquisition Connor Norby has started to settle in nicely to his every-day role, and the bullpen still features some bright spots; neither Declan Cronin nor Calvin Faucher has allowed a home run this season. While this offense is light-years away from being contender-worthy, there is still a ton to look forward to on the mound in 2025, providing a glimmer of hope that this rebuild won’t last forever.

Unlike the White Sox, who can’t seem to avoid lengthy losing streaks, the Rockies have enough talent to snag a few victories here and there, even against quality opponents. But even if you adjust for Coors Field with a park-adjusted metric such as ERA+, this is the worst pitching staff in baseball (83 ERA+ ranks 30th; the White Sox are at 87). Until that changes, the losing will continue in Colorado.

The top thing driving Chicago’s push toward one of the worst seasons in baseball history is its woefully inadequate offense. The 52-point difference between its 30th-ranked .618 OPS and the 29th-ranked OPS (Seattle at .668) is the same as the difference between Seattle and the 13th-ranked OPS (Atlanta at .719). It has been more than 50 years since we saw a team post an OPS as low as Chicago’s, and if the Sox don’t start swinging it even slightly better, a record number of losses is the likely end result.

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