Featured in this week’s MLB Power Rankings, the Phillies are rolling, Fernando Tatís Jr. is a one-man wrecking crew, Jacob deGrom reaches an important milestone, Randy Arozarena and PCA are the pointing Spider-Man meme, and much more.
As a reminder, this article is a combination of current performance and long-term outlook.
Let’s get into it!
Note: Rankings are from the morning of Monday, August 24
1) Milwaukee Brewers
Last week: 1
The Brewers hold firm this week after winning six out of their last eight games, including a 22-0 victory over the Mariners last Tuesday. Per Sarah Langs of MLB.com, that tied the mark for the most-lopsided shutout victory since 1888.
Some surprising news this weekend, as it turns out that Brandon Woodruff didn’t undergo shoulder surgery and he’ll actually attempt to return this season. The Brewers probably shouldn’t bank on that, but he’s someone to root for down the stretch.
2) Los Angeles Dodgers ⬆️
Last week: 4
Now, that’s more like it. Six straight wins for the Dodgers, who continue to balance good news and bad news. The good news? Blake Snell has looked awesome since returning from the IL while Shohei Ohtani could soon make his return to the mound, as well. The bad news? Andy Pages is expected to miss 4-5 weeks due to a fractured hand while Edwín Díaz is back on the IL with an acute case of “reallybaditis.”
3) Tampa Bay Rays ⬇️
Last week: 2
Let’s check in on trade deadline addition Freddy Peralta, shall we? Have the Rays fixed him? I regret to inform you that no, they have not. Peralta was charged with five runs across seven innings on Friday against the Orioles and now owns a 7.17 ERA across his first four starts with the Rays.
Before we move on, Chandler Simpson’s bat was arguably the best part of Players’ Weekend 2026.
4) Atlanta Braves ⬇️
Last week: 3
The Braves lost 10 out of 15 games before securing the series finale in the Little League Classic against the Brewers on Sunday. It’s always a treat to see these players mingle with the kids in attendance. These acts seem small, but when we think about the future of the game, it’s so important.
And a final word about Karl Ravech. He wrapped up his multi-decade ESPN tenure with the Little League Classic broadcast on Sunday. As long as I’ve watched ESPN — an embarrassingly long time — he’s been there. And over time, he became synonymous with baseball on the network, whether it was with Baseball Tonight or Sunday Night Baseball. It’s unclear where he’s headed from here, but his passion and appreciation for the sport of baseball was always palpable. Thanks and best of luck.
5) Chicago Cubs
Last week: 5
Last Monday, Pete Crow-Armstrong became the sixth player in MLB history to hit a leadoff homer and a walk-off homer in the same game. He’s added three more homers since then, which puts him at 33 home runs and 32 steals for the year. With a chance at a 40/40 season and his otherworldly defense in center field, the narrative seems to be on his side in the NL MVP discussion.
6) New York Yankees
Last week: 6
Winners of six out of their last seven, the Yankees welcomed Cody Bellinger back on Sunday after he missed 25 games due to a Grade 2 hamstring strain. It wasn’t all good news over the weekend, as Ryan Weathers hit the IL with forearm discomfort and Giancarlo Stanton injured his other calf and might not be able to return this season.
7) Philadelphia Phillies
Last week: 7
The NL East isn’t over just yet. The Phillies have won nine in a row, punctuated by one of the more epic ninth-inning comebacks you’ll ever see. And of course, Kyle Schwarber delivered the coda in Sunday’s win.
With their perfect homestand in the rearview, the Phillies head out west to face the Mariners, Angels, and Diamondbacks.
8) Boston Red Sox ⬆️
Last week: 9
After a bit of stumble following their incredible turnaround, the Red Sox have won five out of their last six. Meanwhile, Roman Anthony is launching home runs like this on his rehab stint.
Anthony is set to move up to Triple-A early this week and a return this weekend is in play. The wait has been a long one, but it couldn’t come at a better time, as they’ll play a four-game series against the Yankees in New York. It’s going to be fun.
9) San Diego Padres ⬇️
Last week: 8
Fernando Tatís Jr. is doing it all right now. He mashed two homers on Sunday as the Padres finished off a sweep of the Twins. That gives him a pair of multi-homer games over the last week. In the first one, which came on Tuesday against the Mets, he also made this leaping catch to rob Francisco Lindor of a grand slam.
10) Arizona Diamondbacks ⬆️
Last week: 11
As the Diamondbacks fight to keep their playoff hopes alive, the saga of Ketel Marte continues. Marte was spotted at a casino near the team’s complex at Salt River Fields on Friday at the same time that the Diamondbacks were taking on the Reds at Chase Field. Marte is on the injured list, and he did his rehab work earlier in the day, so he didn’t break any rules here. Still, it was a bad look for a player who didn’t show up for a game earlier in the week and ended up on the restricted list for a brief time.
11) Chicago White Sox ⬇️
Last week: 10
The White Sox rode a pair of walk-off homers to a series win against the Mets this weekend. Now they’ll enter an important stretch where they’ll attempt to defend their playoff position against the Rangers, Twins, and Astros.
12) Miami Marlins ⬆️
Last week: 14
With a sweep of the Nationals over the weekend, the Marlins still find themselves in the hunt in the National League Wild Card race. And they’ll get an important bat back on Monday, as Kyle Stowers is ready to return from his hamstring strain.
13) Houston Astros ⬇️
Last week: 12
Well, this was unexpected. It was announced on Monday that the Astros and general manager Dana Brown “mutually agreed to part ways.” The move comes after the Astros went 3-6 on their homestand and blew a six-run lead against the A’s on Sunday.
Brown is worthy of criticism (offseason moves for Tatsuya Imai, Mike Burrows, failure to land a starting pitcher at the deadline), but despite all of that, the Astros enter Monday’s action tied for first in the AL West.
14) Texas Rangers ⬆️
Last week: 16
Congrats to Jacob deGrom, who reached 2,000 strikeouts on Thursday. In doing so, he became the fastest right-handed pitcher in history to reach the mark.
In many ways, deGrom doesn’t fit the historical profile of a Hall of Famer. He only has 105 career wins to his name, for instance. And the injuries haven’t helped, either. He’s likely going to be the litmus test for how we view starting pitchers in the post-Max Scherzer/Justin Verlander/Chris Sale generation.
15) Cleveland Guardians ⬆️
Last week: 21
It doesn’t take much to keep yourself relevant in the American League. The Guardians find themselves back in the third spot in the Wild Card after taking two out of three from the Giants and sweeping the Rockies. And they get an enticing start to the week with a series against the last-place Angels.
16) St. Louis Cardinals ⬇️
Last week: 15
Riley O’Brien was on the receiving end of the Phillies’ epic comeback on Sunday, as he allowed six runs in taking the loss. Amazingly, all six runs scored with two outs. In one day, O’Brien’s season ERA jumped from 2.94 to 3.93.
17) Toronto Blue Jays
Last week: 17
The AL Cy Young Award race could very well come down to the wire. Dylan Cease improved his argument in Saturday’s win over the Yankees, as he carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning and lowered his ERA to 2.37 for the year. Cam Schlitter still has the edge in ERA (AL-best 2.16), but Cease leads the American League in strikeouts. It should be a fun race to track down the stretch.
18) Minnesota Twins ⬆️
Last week: 20
I worked my magic by imploring the Rockies to call up Zac Veen a couple of weeks ago, so let’s try it again with Walker Jenkins. What else does he have to do to get a chance in the majors? The top prospect outfielder is absolutely tearing it up in Triple-A, including two multi-homer games in his last five. Hopefully he has a spot in the Twins’ outfield a week from now.
19) Baltimore Orioles ⬇️
Last week: 13
The Orioles were in playoff position a week ago, but they’ve lost five out of seven since. Still, Pete Alonso keeps mashing. He’s hitting .463 (25-for-54) with seven homers and 14 RBI over his last 14 games. His batting average was at .247 at the start of this stretch, but now he’s at .270. That’s very hard to do this late in the season.
20) Pittsburgh Pirates ⬇️
Last week: 18
The Pirates were handed a pair of one-run losses while getting swept by the Dodgers over the weekend. Oneil Cruz is finally back and Konnor Griffin is trending toward a return in September, but their playoff chances are dwindling by the day.
21) Seattle Mariners ⬆️
Last week: 22
Hello there, Kade Anderson. The prized pitching prospect allowed three runs in 5 2/3 innings in his MLB debut against the Cubs on Saturday, but Randy Arozarena ended up stealing the show with a leadoff homer, a home run-robbing catch, and a walk-off homer.
We noted with PCA earlier that pulling off the leadoff homer/walk-off homer combo was exceedingly rare. But two such occurrences in the same week? Get outta here, baseball. You’re crazy.
22) Cincinnati Reds ⬆️
Last week: 23
The Reds have lost seven out of 10 to effectively snuff out their playoff chances, but it was cool to see JJ Bleday’s cycle on Saturday.
23) Detroit Tigers ⬇️
Last week: 19
The Tigers stunned everyone by playing themselves back in the AL playoff race after parting with Tarik Skubal and Casey Mize, but losing eight out of their last nine games has them on life support.
24) Washington Nationals
Last week: 24
I’m just going to assume that Jacob Young was very excited about the release of the latest Spider-Man movie.
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Pete Crow-Armstrong probably has the Gold Glove Award on lock for center field in the National League, but Young is tied for 10th in MLB in outs above average.
25) New York Mets
Last week: 25
While we’re on the topic of defense, how about Carson Benge’s throwing exploits last Tuesday against the Padres?
The second throw checked in at 103.9 mph, which makes it the fastest throw by an outfielder this season. In addition to his rocket arm, Benge is hitting .360 with five homers and a .996 OPS over his last 23 games. He’s playing himself into consideration in the National League Rookie of the Year Award race.
26) Kansas City Royals ⬆️
Last week: 27
Do not adjust your set. Aside from the Phillies, the Royals are the hottest team in the majors. With their sweep of the Tigers over the weekend, they’ve now won eight straight. This surge has coincided with the return of Vinnie Pasquantino, who is slashing .385/.448/.769 since coming off the IL last Monday. Nice to see in what has largely been a lost season for him.
27) San Francisco Giants ⬇️
Last week: 26
Rafael Devers was greeted with more boos than cheers upon his return to Fenway Park on Friday. With the way things ended, it’s understandable. His refusal to play first base set the stage for the trade to the Giants. Still, it had to feel good for him to go deep in his return.
28) Los Angeles Angels ⬆️
Last week: 30
If Zach Neto isn’t the AL Player of the Week, it would be a big surprise. He had a seven-RBI game against the Astros on Thursday and hit .500 (14-for-28) during the Angels’ six-game road trip.
29) Athletics
Last week: 29
The Athletics have 31 games remaining and all but two of them (a brief series against the Angels in the final week of the season) are against teams in contention in the American League. We already saw them do a bit of spoiling against the Astros over the weekend, but the A’s should mostly be a welcome sight for these teams given how banged up they’ve been. Jacob Wilson is the latest to go down, as a nagging shoulder injury could keep him sidelined for the remainder of the season.
30) Colorado Rockies ⬇️
Last week: 28
Larry Walker was enshrined in Cooperstown six years ago and now he’s received the statue treatment at Coors Field.
The official unveiling took place on Sunday, a callback to a walk-off homer he hit against former Braves closer John Rocker on August 18, 1999. My favorite part of this statue is that MLB’s infamous “Turn Ahead the Clock” jerseys have been immortalized.
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