The boys of summer are giving way to a sensational September. Such is the case in any MLB season. Eventually, the sun sets on the seasons of teams that entered the year with high expectations. Take the high-priced Mets, or the young Pirates as an example. Sure, there's still a chance those teams make the postseason, but does it many any sense to the trained eye? Doubtful.
The Wild Card races in both leagues are as tight as they've been all season long. A team with a sub-.500 record could very well win the third AL Wild Card spot. In the NL, the Phillies, Padres and Diamondbacks are fighting for two spots — and Arizona is doing so without one of their best players in Ketel Marte. The AL East and AL West remain up for grabs. You get the picture. No matter the season, the stretch run is always exciting, and this week's power rankings are merely a preview of what's to come.
30. Athletics
Just this week, Tyler Soderstrom and Jacob Wilson became the latest Athletics players to suffer season-ending injuries, as they joined Brent Rooker, Shea Langeliers, and likely Nick Kurtz and Luis Severino on the season-ending shelf. Given the lengthy list of injuries, it isn’t shocking that the A’s have had a brutal go of it, particularly of late. With how their roster looks right now, it wouldn’t be shocking to see them finish the year with the worst record in the majors, which would be a major disappointment given where expectations were to begin the season.
-Zach Rotman, FanSided.com writer
29. Colorado Rockies
Colorado was pretty competitive in a home series against the Dodgers this week? Of course, they lost all three of those games, then lost another set at Coors Field against the Guardians over the weekend. Oh, and Hunter Goodman is now on the IL with a shoulder issue, calling the rest of his season into question. At least young hitters like TJ Rumfield and Cole Carrigg represent meaningful developmental wins as the Rockies look to start this thing from scratch.
-Chris Landers, FanSided.com editor
28. Los Angeles Angels
This was a fun week for the Angels. They got to play spoiler in Houston, winning two of three (their first road series win since late May), capped by an 18-3 victory in the rubber game. They then watched Reid Detmers twirl another gem (albeit in a losing effort), and Ryan Johnson turn in arguably his best start in the majors the next night. They haven’t been hitting much, but they’ve been pitching extraordinarily well, which gives some hope for 2027 and beyond.
-ZR
27. San Francisco Giants
Rafael Devers’ return to Fenway Park didn’t have a happy ending on the scoreboard for San Francisco, the latest black eye in what’s been an ugly season all around. At this point, the Giants are well into “finding silver linings” territory, but there simply aren’t many to be found right now, Bryce Eldridge notwithstanding. At least we all got to watch a man named Tugboat make his MLB debut.
-CL
26. Kansas City Royals
They let the Royals get hot! Unfortunately, this happened a bit too late in a disappointing Kansas City season to matter. Bobby Witt Jr. is on fire, and the Royals have finally strung together some wins, including a couple over the Detroit Tigers, who just a week ago were competing for the final AL Wild Card spot. The Royals have a lot of work to do this offseason, but a winning streak in late August when the playoffs are seemingly out of reach makes matters all the more frustrating.
-Mark Powell, FanSided.com director
25. Washington Nationals
The Washington Nationals improved to 53-52 on July 25, the day they traded Curtis Mead to the Boston Red Sox. They’ve gone 8-18 since, going from being in the thick of the Wild Card race to being all-but out of contention. Trading Mead isn’t the only reason why they’ve collapsed (their bullpen is still awful, James Wood is hurt, trading Luis Garcia and Foster Griffin for mostly prospects wasn’t going to make their team better) but he was in the midst of a breakout year, and that was the first sign that the Nats were not serious about competing in 2026.There’s always next year.
-ZR
24. Detroit Tigers
The Tigers were a fun story just a week ago. Scott Harris traded Tarik Skubal away only to make a playoff run with a baseball version of the replacements. Yet, the Tigers young pitching staff, headlined by Jackson Jobe and Troy Melton, eventually came back down to earth. It turns out replacing Tarik Skubal isn't as easy as we thought. Harris better hope this rebuild isn't as long as it looks on paper — and lately on the field as well.
-MP
23. New York Mets
The New York Mets won their fourth series in five tries since the trade deadline after taking two of three against the red-hot Padres, and a pair of Luis Robert Jr. home runs in his return to Chicago lifted the Mets to a win on the South Side. The youngsters continue to be in the thick of the action, with Carson Benge gunning runners out at the plate seemingly every night, AJ Ewing continuing to provide a spark, and Nolan McLean continuing his stellar rookie year. Even veterans like Bo Bichette, Sean Manaea and newly-minted closer Kodai Senga are stepping up. It would’ve been nice to have seen the Mets play like this when their games mattered, but them doing so after gutting a third of their roster at the deadline is wildly impressive.
-ZR
22. Cincinnati Reds
Hunter Greene is out for the season. Elly De La Cruz and the Reds lineup has impressed of late. Unfortunately, the Reds dug themselves too deep of a hole for De La Cruz's breakout to matter much. It's been discussed ad nauseam, but this organization's failure to make a move at the trade deadline, especially when they could've dealt Brady Singer for some young talent, is inexcusable. Changes are coming in Cincinnati, or at least one would hope.
-MP
21. Minnesota Twins
The Twins are playing above their weight. Sure, the American League is bad, but Minnesota has elite offensive talent in Byron Buxton and Ryan Jeffers when healthy. The pitching staff could use some work behind Joe Ryan. In most years, the Twins wouldn't be a playoff team, but they're just a game back of the Rangers for the third and final Wild Card spot. This is the same ownership group that wanted to trade Buxton and Ryan just a few months ago. Hopefully this is the sign they needed to build around these players instead.
-MP
20. Texas Rangers
The Texas Rangers scored nine runs in five games against two of the league’s worst pitching staffs in the Nationals and the Angels, and five of them came in one game. Yes, it was good to see Jacob deGrom come back healthy and shove, and it’s nice to see MacKenzie Gore hit his stride, but it’s hard to take the Rangers seriously if they cannot hit a lick, which has been an issue for much of the year. They have the talent to hit, but it’s go time right now. The AL West is still winnable, but while Corey Seager is showing some signs of life, guys like Wyatt Langford and Joc Pederson need to get going.
-ZR
19. Seattle Mariners
The Seattle Mariners lost their first game this week by a score of 22-0, encapsulating just how dreadful a season they’ve had. As bad as the vibes were in Milwaukee, the Mariners did show signs of life at home, walking the Cubs off two nights in a row. Kade Anderson made his long-awaited debut in that second game, pitching well and giving Seattle a chance to win late. The Mariners still have ground to make up, and are going to need their stars to step up, but for now, vibes are a bit better.
-ZR
18. Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pirates had a chance to win both of their first two games against the Los Angeles Dodgers over the weekend. Yet, this is what separates teams like the Pittsburgh and Los Angeles. The Dodgers can win games they have no business being in. The Pirates find ways to blow those games. All in all, it hasn't been a bad season for the Pirates, but given the lineup investment and the regression of players like Paul Skenes, it's fair to wonder if Ben Cherington will have a job in a few months.
-MP
17. Baltimore Orioles
The O’s remain one of the hardest teams to predict in baseball, beating up on the AL-leading Rays in two separate series only to get swept at home by the Yankees in between. Pete Alonso is on the warpath right now, and when he gets enough help from guys around him like Gunnar Henderson, Samuel Basallo and Dylan Beavers, you can start to see the vision – it’s not like anyone’s running away with the third AL Wild Card spot. Unfortunately, the rest of this lineup – and too much of the rotation outside of Trevor Rogers and Brandon Young – is hard to trust right now.
-CL
16. Cleveland Guardians
If the supercomputer thinks the Guardians will make the AL postseason, then so do I. The only thing holding Cleveland back is themselves. The Tigers fell victim to their own sword as well. Cleveland has one of the easiest schedules in baseball down the stretch in part because they play in the putrid AL Central. If the Guardians can beat other AL Wild Card wanna-be's like the Twins and Tigers (which they should), then the playoff berth is theirs to lose.
-MP
15. Toronto Blue Jays
Somebody forgot to tell the Blue Jays they were sellers at the trade deadline. With Shane Bieber finally warming up and Jose Soriano in tow, this is not a pitching staff to be taken lightly. The offense remains a work in progress, but Brett Bateman has been a shot in the arm at the top of the order, and Alejandro Kirk has awoken too. They’re going to have to scratch and claw to get there, but why can’t this be a playoff team in the watered-down AL?
-CL
14. St. Louis Cardinals
The Cardinals are ahead of schedule. That's the good news for St. Louis fans, as this was expected to be a rebuilding year for Chaim Bloom and the front office. Bloom is a rebuild artist, and thrives at finding young players without many resources. Yet, he was handed a team with a low payroll and young players who just needed to be properly developed. Jordan Walker is an All-Star. JJ Wetherholt is the NL Rookie of the Year frontrunner (sorry, Reds fans). There's a lot to like about this team moving forward.
-MP
13. Houston Astros
This week figured to be a breeze for the Houston Astros, only for them to lose a home series to the Angels and then lose a Hunter Brown start against the A’s. They’re now a .500 baseball team, which is good enough to lead the way in the AL West (for now), but it remains incredibly difficult to take this team seriously. Yordan Alvarez has just one home run in August, Jeremy Pena has been really struggling, and Daulton Varsho hasn’t hit at all since the trade. The Astros are lucky to be in this putrid division, but luck can run out if they don’t get going.
-ZR
12. Miami Marlins
The season of sweeps continued this week for the Miami Marlins, who were swept in Philadelphia and have a chance to sweep the Nationals with a win on Sunday. Their offense has been unreliable at best, which makes sense with Otto Lopez struggling and Kyle Stowers hurt, but their rotation has MLB’s second-best ERA since the All-Star break, and that’s kept them afloat. The dynamic duo of Eury Perez and Sandy Alcantara has been otherworldly, and while I’m less confident in their lineup being good enough to get them to October, they’ll remain in the hunt as long as those guys are pitching as well as they are.
-ZR
11. Arizona Diamondbacks
Arizona’s week was swallowed up by the drama surrounding Ketel Marte, who bailed on the team in Boston and then was spotted at a casino after being sent back to Phoenix for an MRI on his knee. It could well be much ado about nothing as far as clubhouse chemistry is concerned, but on the field, it’s hard not to feel like the D-backs need Marte’s bat in the lineup if they’re going to chase down the surging Padres for the final NL Wild Card spot. Corbin Burnes’ return should help, but this team is going to need to hit its way to October, as some rough outings against the Reds and Red Sox this week can attest.
-CL
10. Chicago White Sox
The White Sox have been the same team all year. They have a great group of young players to build around, but also arrived ahead of schedule. Munetaka Murakami was not supposed to be this good, this soon. Miguel Vargas turned into a star overnight. Colson Montgomery has some work to do, but for now he is serviceable. The starting rotation has some issues. I'm not sure how far Sean Burke, Anthony Kay and Luis Castillo are going to take the Sox, but I admire their enthusiasm.
-MP
9. San Diego Padres
San Diego’s snakebitten rotation claimed its latest victim this week, as deadline acquisition Casey Mize tweaked his ankle while walking down the dugout steps on Saturday night. (Yes, seriously.) That fly in the ointment aside, though, Mize, Robbie Ray and Walker Buehler have really stabilized the pitching situation here, and when you combine that with the Padres stars finally hitting like stars, you get a pretty potent team that no one wants to face in a short series. There’s still a long way to go until October, but right now San Diego has to feel like the favorite to snag the final Wild Card spot.
-CL
8. Boston Red Sox
Boston righted the ship in a big way this week, beating up on the NL West in a pair of home series wins and receiving some good news as Roman Anthony, Trevor Story and Isiah Kiner-Falefa all near returns from the IL. The pitching has regressed just a bit, but if Anthony comes back looking like his rookie year – and Adley Rutschman finally gets on track – no one will want to play this team come October. Especially not with Garrett Crochet potentially coming out of the bullpen.
-CL
7. Philadelphia Phillies
Just last week, the Philadelphia Phillies dipped to 11th in our rankings and seemed to be completely out of the NL East race. Well, all of a sudden, they’re MLB’s hottest team, having won eight in a row following Saturday’s 12-3 drubbing of the Cardinals, pulling them to within just 3.0 games of first-place Atlanta. There’re still questions about the depth of their lineup, their bullpen beyond Jhoan Duran and the back end of their rotation, but everyone in those areas has played well of late, showing how good the Phillies can be if their stars get any help (which is admittedly a big if when the games really count).
-ZR
6. New York Yankees
New York’s year of injury hell continued over the weekend, as Ryan Weathers landed on the IL with a concerning forearm issue and Giancarlo Stanton suffered another calf injury – one that could potentially end his season. And yet, the Yankees got Cody Bellinger back into the lineup on Sunday, and they’ve continued to find ways to keep their head above water despite missing several of their biggest names. It seems like they dodged a bullet with Max Fried, and Aaron Judge is slowly but surely progressing in his rehab. Time is running out to get all those guys healthy at once, though, and this sensational pitching run can’t last forever.
-CL
5. Atlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves remain in first place, but how long will that last? Not only are the Phillies red-hot, but the Braves haven’t played well, getting swept in Minnesota and facing a potential sweep against the Brewers this week. What’s held them back has been an offense that continues to be up-and-down, with Matt Olson as the only real consistent presence for them to lean on. For the Braves to fend off the Phils, they’re going to need the likes of Ronald Acuña Jr., Ozzie Albies and Drake Baldwin to get going.
-ZR
4. Chicago Cubs
The biggest concern for the Cubs this past week was Pete Crow-Armstrong. PCA is an NL MVP candidate, and arguably the frontrunner until Shohei Ohtani starts pitching again. He is also prone to some legendary slumps. Crow-Armstrong brings value no matter how often he reaches base, as he's an elite defensive outfielder and base-stealer. A true five-tool player, the Cubs' face of the franchise will be just fine. Where they (still) need some work is the starting rotation, as Edward Cabrera hit the IL again. Deadline additions of Kevin Gausman and Clay Holmes will help matters, but Chicago will have to outhit their opponents to win a playoff series or two.
-MP
3. Tampa Bay Rays
Tampa has now lost three series in a row, all to Toronto and Baltimore, and suddenly their once-iron grip on the AL East has begun to soften a little bit. Liam Hicks has been raking since coming over from Miami, but the Rays’ other big deadline acquisition, Freddy Peralta, continues to struggle – and that’s left this rotation exposed a bit with Griffin Jax sidelined and Nick Martinez coming back to Earth a bit. Tampa remains the favorite for the AL’s top seed, but the cracks are starting to show as we head towards October.
-CL
2. Los Angeles Dodgers
Okay, so maybe the demise of the Dodgers had been exaggerated just a little bit. Or maybe it’s just nice to play the Rockies from time to time. Either way, Los Angeles strung five straight wins together this week, and with Tyler Glasnow returning and Shohei Ohtani slowly ramping up, the super-rotation of Ohtani, Glasnow, Tarik Skubal, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Blake Snell might be fully operational come October. That’s a pretty scary thought, even if the back end of the bullpen remains an issue and the lineup is still creaky.
-CL
1. Milwaukee Brewers
The Brewers are the best regular-season team in baseball. Barring a surprising losing streak, we're unlikely to move them out of the No. 1 spot in our MLB Power Rankings. Where the Brewers struggle is when it counts. Can they match up with the Dodgers in a seven-game playoff series? My money, unfortunately, is still on their opponent. Miz is elite, and Kyle Harrison, Dustin May and Logan Henderson are all scary in a playoff rotation. It's not Skubal, Yamamoto, Snell, Glasnow and Ohtani, but it's respectable. Milwaukee is better than Los Angeles within the margins. That's how playoff series are won, barring a complete collapse like the Brewers had in 2025.
-MP
Add us as a preferred source on Google