MLB Power Rankings: Brewers rise to No. 2, Phillies rejoin top 5playShould the Marlins and Nationals look to add by the trade deadline? (3:04)Multiple AuthorsJun 25, 2026, 07:00 AM ET
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MLB teams are playing their 81st games this week, meaning we’ve hit the official midway point of the 2026 season.
The back-to-back reigning champion Dodgers hold tight to their No. 1 slot, with a new competitor behind them at two this week — Milwaukee. The Brewers reach their highest ranking of the season in Week 13, jumping over the slightly-slumping Braves for the second spot. The Phillies have made their way back into the top five after falling as low as No. 21 following an early-season dip in production that they seem to have rebounded from.
Where does your favorite club rank midway through the season?
Our expert panel has ranked every team based on a combination of what we’ve seen so far and what we already knew going into the 162-game marathon that is a full baseball season. We also asked ESPN MLB experts Bradford Doolittle, Jorge Castillo and Alden Gonzalez to weigh in with an observation for all 30 teams.
Week 12 | Preseason rankings
1. Los Angeles Dodgers
Record: 52-29
Previous ranking: 1
The Dodgers seemingly avoided a scare with Kyle Tucker, who exited Monday’s game early with back spasms. While Tucker doesn’t expect to land on the injured list, this development only makes a bad debut season even worse. When his back locked up, he was performing like a below-average hitter. He had accumulated just six home runs in 75 games, while slashing an underwhelming .234/.333/.374. Tucker is getting paid a whopping $55 million this year, the type of money lavished on someone who anchors a franchise. Most teams would not be able to survive subpar production from a player like that. To the Dodgers, it doesn’t matter one bit. — Gonzalez
2. Milwaukee Brewers
Record: 49-29
Previous ranking: 3
Brandon Woodruff returned from the injured list Monday to dominate the Reds. The 33-year-old right-hander, out nearly two months with a shoulder injury, held Cincinnati to one hit and no walks over six scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts. A healthy Woodruff could prove significant for a Brewers rotation that is alarmingly thin beyond Cy Young front-runner Jacob Misiorowski and breakout All-Star candidate Kyle Harrison. The offense, on the other hand, is third in the majors in runs scored per game behind the Nationals despite ranking 28th in home runs. — Castillo
3. Atlanta Braves
Record: 48-31
Previous ranking: 2
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After looking like a runaway locomotive over the season’s first couple of months, the Braves’ momentum slowed in June because of a slumping offense. We’re not talking collapse here, as their June record continues to hover around .500. But given the paces of the hard-charging Dodgers and Brewers, this stretch of mediocrity has dropped the front-running Braves into a three-team scrum for the eventual first-round byes in the National League’s side of the playoff bracket. The biggest problem at the plate has been a lack of the homers that fueled Atlanta’s offense early in the season. Through May, only the Yankees had homered more often. In June, only the Rays have homered less often than the Braves. Maybe in July we’ll find out the real level of their power bats. — Doolittle
4. New York Yankees
Record: 48-31
Previous ranking: 4
It’s been an eventful time for Jazz Chisholm Jr. Last Thursday, he fouled a ball off the ground that ricocheted into his groin, left him writhing in pain and forced him to exit the game. Chisholm returned to the lineup the next day and maintained he still doesn’t plan on wearing a protective cup. On Monday, he played second base with a green lollipop in his mouth, which manager Aaron Boone later reported, “pisses me off.” Boone reported he and Chisholm addressed the situation before Tuesday’s game. A few hours later, Chisholm smashed a go-ahead, two-run home run in a win over the Tigers. — Castillo
5. Philadelphia Phillies
Record: 44-36
Previous ranking: 6
Kyle Schwarber’s 2025 season was the stuff of fantasy — 56 homers, 132 RBIs, 4.6 bWAR, all career highs in his age-32 season. It was kind of a late age for a career season, but it happens. Schwarber might be somehow on his way to even better numbers at age 33, at least in the homer and WAR columns. His three-homer outburst against the Mets on Saturday put him right on pace for 60 on the season, a number that would boost him past Ryan Howard for the Phillies’ single-season mark (58). If Schwarber does get to 60 this season, that milestone blast would double as his 400th career Schwar-bomb. Finally, though Schwarber is only halfway through his fifth season with the Phillies, he’s already moved into the top 10 on the franchise’s career homer list. And if he gets to 60 this season, he will move into the top five. — Doolittle
6. Tampa Bay Rays
Record: 44-33
Previous ranking: 5
Tampa Bay’s unsustainable success in one-run games has regressed to the mean. The Rays began the season 9-1 in that department as part of their scorching 34-15 start. Since then, they’ve gone 1-8 in one-run games during a rough 10-17 stretch. But they’re still a force back home at Tropicana Field after a season spent at Steinbrenner Field; the Rays’ 27-12 home record is tops in the majors. — Castillo
7. Chicago Cubs
Record: 43-37
Previous ranking: 11
There might not be a better position player in baseball than Pete Crow-Armstrong when he’s rolling. And after a terrible start to the season at the plate, PCA is rolling again. The polarizing center fielder has been white hot in June with 10 home runs and a .410/.474/.867 slash line in 20 games. His 4.8 fWAR, also boosted by elite defense and baserunning, is second in the majors. And yet the Cubs’ 16-25 record since May 9 is the fourth-worst in the majors. — Castillo
8. Seattle Mariners
Record: 41-40
Previous ranking: 10
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The Mariners split six games in March, then went 13-13 in April, 15-13 in May and have begun June by going 10-11. They continue to be slightly above average, despite a makeup that suggests they should be much more than that. In a year when the AL West — really the American League in general — is watered down, it has been good enough to keep them in first place. But the Mariners are playing a dangerous game if they don’t get going soon. Given that they don’t have many major absences, outside of Brendan Donovan and Matt Brash, there’s no reason why they shouldn’t. — Gonzalez
9. St. Louis Cardinals
Record: 42-36
Previous ranking: 7
The Cardinals, behind their young stars, keep proving the doubters wrong and remain in the top NL wild-card slot. Right fielder Jordan Walker should make the NL All-Star team with 18 home runs and a 139 wRC+. Designated hitter Ivan Herrera (137 wRC+) and first baseman Alec Burleson (134 wRC+) are raking. Second baseman JJ Wetherholt, who clubbed two home runs Sunday against the Royals, is the NL Rookie of the Year favorite. But St. Louis began a stiff test Monday with 24 straight games against teams currently above .500. — Castillo
10. Cleveland Guardians
Record: 42-39
Previous ranking: 9
The Guardians’ first half topped out at nine games over .500, an apex reached on May 22 when they extended their season-best winning streak to seven games with a 1-0 win at Philadelphia. But they’ve struggled in the month-plus since then, failing to win more than two in a row at any point while scoring at an MLB-worst clip of 3.3 runs per game. The absence of Jose Ramirez hasn’t helped of course, and he’s not coming back any time soon. If Cleveland’s offense is going to snap out of its funk, it’ll probably be due to the rookies holding down everyday spots. That might be enough: Travis Bazzana’s speed-power combination continues to shine, and perennial prospect Kahlil Watson finally reached the show and bashed his first big league homer Tuesday in Chicago. — Doolittle
11. San Diego Padres
Record: 42-37
Previous ranking: 15
Is Manny Machado finally starting to heat up? The Padres sure hope so. Over his past five games, Machado is 6-for-18 with four extra-base hits. On Saturday and Monday, he hit the decisive home run. On Tuesday, he delivered a walk-off single. And though his batting average is still only up to .184, his teammates see this recent stretch as validation for what they’ve reported publicly all along — that Machado will eventually morph back into who he always has been. “I don’t think at any point during the season, regardless of the numbers, that anybody felt bad when Manny was up at the plate,” Padres closer Mason Miller told reporters. “We have way more images in our head of him succeeding than him failing.” — Gonzalez
12. Chicago White Sox
Record: 41-38
Previous ranking: 8
The White Sox’s feel-good first half teetered a bit when they dropped five of six during a tough road trip against the Yankees and Tigers. While the young Sox remain well-positioned in the soft AL Central, it’s too soon to know if they’ll be in position to add at the deadline. One thing that has marked this Chicago squad has been the number of successful promotions of internally developed prospects they’ve seen this season. And seemingly, the younger the White Sox have gotten, the better they’ve played. As long as this keeps up, a conservative deadline approach might end up being the best bet for the short and long term. — Doolittle
13. Pittsburgh Pirates
Record: 40-40
Previous ranking: 14
The Pirates have hit a wall in June, losing 11 of their past 17 games with a 4.79 staff ERA over that span. The good news is that the offense, which is much improved from last season, should soon receive a jolt with shortstop Konnor Griffin’s return from the IL. The 20-year-old rookie is slated to begin a rehab assignment Wednesday at Double-A Altoona. He has been on the IL since May 31 with a right forearm strain. — Castillo
14. Toronto Blue Jays
Record: 39-41
Previous ranking: 18
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Max Scherzer’s ugly season took another detour to the IL last week. In April, it was right forearm tendinitis and left ankle inflammation. This time, after just one start following the first IL stint, it’s for back spasms. Scherzer allowed five runs across 3⅓ innings in that one outing and left with a 10.23 ERA in 22 innings over six outings. The Blue Jays had some good news with Shane Bieber making his season debut Tuesday after missing the start of the season with elbow inflammation, although he gave up four runs on nine hits over 3⅔ innings. — Castillo
15. Washington Nationals
Record: 41-40
Previous ranking: 13
Halfway through their season, the Nationals own baseball’s highest-scoring offense. This attack, led by young stars James Wood and CJ Abrams, is for real, and it’s propelled the Nationals into the crowded NL wild-card derby. This is all a bit unexpected, but if they’re going to keep up this run at contention, they’ll have to find some answers in the bullpen. In a key division tilt against the Phillies on Tuesday, Washington coughed up leads of 5-0 and 8-6 as a small horde of Nationals relievers gave up 12 runs to the Phillies over the last three innings, including eight in the ninth. That gave Washington 21 losses in games it has led at some point, tied for the most in the NL. In June, Washington’s bullpen has MLB’s lowest strikeout rate, has allowed the most homers and has blown an MLB-high eight saves. — Doolittle
16. Miami Marlins
Record: 42-39
Previous ranking: 19
When the Marlins made the playoffs during the shortened 2020 season, they finished 31-29 despite being outscored by 41 runs. They repeated the trick in 2023, earning a wild-card spot with an 84-78 mark even though they were outscored by 57 runs. In fact, despite those two playoff appearances, Miami has not finished with a positive run differential since landing at plus-2 in 2010. The Marlins’ recent surge of good play not only pushed their record back over .500, putting them in the wild-card mix, but they also climbed into positive territory in the run differential department. It’s too soon to know if the surprising Marlins can keep this up, but at the very least, we can suggest that they are operating on more firm ground than the past two Miami clubs that made the playoffs. — Doolittle
17. Arizona Diamondbacks
Record: 41-39
Previous ranking: 12
Injuries continue to mount for a D-backs team fighting to remain in contention. Over a 48-hour period Friday and Saturday, closer A.J. Puk (shoulder capsule sprain), outfielder Jordan Lawlar (strained hamstring) and starting pitchers Michael Soroka (strained glute) and Ryne Nelson (strained flexor tendon) were all hit with injuries that will sideline them for several weeks, if not months. Not long before that, frontline starter Corbin Burnes suffered a setback in his return from Tommy John surgery. Arizona general manager Mike Hazen has reported publicly that he will look to augment the roster before the trade deadline, but he now has way more holes to fill than he hoped. — Gonzalez
18. Texas Rangers
Record: 38-42
Previous ranking: 17
A Rangers rotation that has remained relatively healthy all year was dealt its first major blow Tuesday, when it was unveiled that Jack Leiter would undergo surgery to remove loose bodies near his right ankle. Leiter had been pitching through the injury for almost two months, as evidenced by his 9.88 ERA in June. The expectation is that he will return before season’s end, but his timetable is fluid. In the meantime, though, the Rangers have enjoyed top-tier production from outfielder Wyatt Langford, who was activated off the IL on June 5 and has since slashed .306/.367/.611 with six home runs. — Gonzalez
19. Athletics
Record: 38-42
Previous ranking: 16
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In a league with Cal Raleigh and Alejandro Kirk, Shea Langeliers is running away with the fan vote for starting catcher in this year’s All-Star Game. When the newest news was released earlier this week, Langeliers had accumulated 1,414,697 votes, well ahead of the second-place Kirk at 837,289. Yes, Raleigh has struggled and Kirk has been hurt, but far more notable is how Langeliers has built on his offensive resurgence from last year. His 152 total bases this season are all the most among primary catchers. If not for Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s overwhelming popularity in Canada, the A’s would have two All-Star starters in Langeliers and first baseman Nick Kurtz at this year’s Midsummer Classic. — Gonzalez
20. Baltimore Orioles
Record: 38-44
Previous ranking: 20
The Orioles took two of three from the Dodgers over the weekend before driving south on Interstate 5 to beat the Angels on Monday despite having Leody Taveras, a career outfielder, play third base for seven innings. Taveras was tasked to play the position for the first time, when Blaze Alexander left the game with a knee injury in the second inning. The ball immediately found Taveras in his first inning at the hot corner, but he made a backhanded stop on a ground ball to his right side and completed the play with a one-hop throw to first base. — Castillo
21. Cincinnati Reds
Record: 37-42
Previous ranking: 21
Cincinnati’s offense was already scuffling when Elly de la Cruz landed on the IL with a strained hamstring on June 1. It was, unsurprisingly, worse without him, ranking last in the majors in batting average and 28th in wRC+ as the team went 7-11. De la Cruz returned Tuesday against the Brewers, though it didn’t matter much in the Reds’ 2-0 loss. Their .217 batting average with runners in scoring position is the worst in the majors. They’ll need to be better in the clutch to score runs and reverse a slide going on nearly two months. — Castillo
22. Houston Astros
Record: 39-43
Previous ranking: 22
The Astros in recent years have become notorious for bouncing back from slow starts — and they might be on the verge of doing that again. A 12-20 start to the season has been followed by a 27-23 record in May and June, highlighted by a much-improved bullpen and major production from Yordan Alvarez and Jeremy Pena. Any talk of firing general manager Dana Brown or manager Joe Espada, both of whom are on expiring contracts, has cooled. But the Astros are still four games below .500 and are jumbled up with five other teams for the final AL wild-card spot. If they want owner Jim Crane to be aggressive ahead of the trade deadline, they need another good stretch. — Gonzalez
23. Minnesota Twins
Record: 38-44
Previous ranking: 25
Are the Twins a playoff contender? What even is a contender? Do you have to be good to be one? This year’s American League landscape threatens to rewrite these definitions or at least force us to produce some kind of euphemism. Bracket filler? Anyway, 10 of the AL’s 15 clubs are mired within seven games of each other, a cluster that covers two of the league’s wild-card slots as well as the AL West lead. The Twins are in the middle of this group despite being under .500 and well into the red in terms of run differential. But the thing is the group in the aggregate is minus-235 in the run differential column. So if you’re the Twins, you have to be thinking that someone has to fill out that AL bracket, so why not us? — Doolittle
24. Detroit Tigers
Record: 34-46
Previous ranking: 24
Even before Tarik Skubal returned from his elbow procedure, the Tigers’ pitching staff had caught fire, keeping alive Detroit’s flickering playoff hopes that had grown dim. The rotation — with and without Skubal — has picked up the pace with Framber Valdez, Troy Melton, Keider Montero and Jack Flaherty all enjoying June with sub-4.00 ERAs. The bullpen has been especially airtight thanks to a plethora of arms bolstered by Kenley Jansen’s return from the IL. The Tigers’ season isn’t quite saved, but thanks to the pitching, it’s not over yet, either. — Doolittle
25. New York Mets
Record: 34-46
Previous ranking: 23
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You don’t need to dip into the new universe of pitching metrics to tell the story of Kodai Senga’s season. After being throttled by the Cubs on Tuesday, he fell to 0-6 on the season with a 10.08 ERA. He walked five and gave up two homers over 3⅔ innings and burned through 98 pitches to record 11 outs. All of those numbers are troubling, but perhaps the most worrisome are the nine walks Senga has issued over 7⅔ innings in two starts since coming off the IL. The Mets’ problems are too widespread to pin the blame on one player. Nor could anyone expect one player to turn the tide for the whole squad. Still, on a roster full of disappointing performances, Senga’s season stands out as one of the most discouraging. — Doolittle
26. Boston Red Sox
Record: 32-46
Previous ranking: 26
Boston’s miserable season encountered another lowlight Monday against the last-place Rockies when, after taking two of three games from the Mariners to rebound from four-game losing streak, Colorado’s Jake McCarthy delivered a game-winning, bases-clearing triple against Boston closer Aroldis Chapman in a 3-2 loss. The result snapped Chapman’s streak of 29 consecutive saves converted, going back to July 23 of last year. Boston had been 29-0 when leading after seven innings this season. It keeps finding new ways to lose. — Castillo
27. Kansas City Royals
Record: 34-47
Previous ranking: 28
The Royals have played better baseball in June after a brutal May during which only three teams scored at a lower clip. This month has seen that completely flip, even as the lineup has dealt with injuries to Bobby Witt Jr., Maikel Garcia and Vinnie Pasquantino. Only Milwaukee has scored more runs in June than the Royals, helping Kansas City remain competitive despite a pitching staff getting crushed by a deluge of injuries. Leading the way has been breakout slugger Jac Caglianone, who might be in line for AL Player of the Month honors. After his two homers off Rays lefty ace Shane McClanahan on Tuesday, Caglianone’s June OPS stood at 1.227, tops in the AL. — Doolittle
28. San Francisco Giants
Record: 33-46
Previous ranking: 27
A nightmare season only continues to get worse for the Giants. Rafael Devers, their highest-paid player, refused to come out of the game for a pinch runner Sunday, declined to speak on the matter postgame, then finally addressed the issue two days later and basically blamed the media for making him look bad. That same day, Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey awkwardly sidestepped questions about the team’s approach to Pride Night, further alienating a key part of their fanbase. None of this, though, should distract from the fact that the 2026 Giants are a really bad team — and that, given the makeup of their roster, there’s no real way to fix it. — Gonzalez
29. Los Angeles Angels
Record: 34-48
Previous ranking: 29
Mike Trout had recaptured his All-Star form in the same year that MLB’s Midsummer Classic is in Philadelphia, a stone’s throw from where he grew up. He was well on his way to starting in center field for that game on July 14, perhaps even participating in his first Home Run Derby the prior night. Then Trout strained a hamstring while running to first base on June 17. And though he doesn’t believe the injury is serious, there is no timetable for his return. The hope is that he can come back in time to get a few games under him and play in that All-Star Game but given how slowly he has recovered from injuries in recent years, there really is no telling when he’ll be back. — Gonzalez
30. Colorado Rockies
Record: 32-49
Previous ranking: 30
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The Rockies are still at a point in their trajectory when the highlights are few and far between, but a huge one occurred Monday night. They were held scoreless through the first eight innings against the Red Sox. But when Jake McCarthy came to bat against all-world closer Aroldis Chapman in the ninth, with the bases loaded, none out and his team trailing by two, the Rockies had amassed seven consecutive singles. McCarthy followed with a bases-clearing triple, sending them to an improbable walk-off victory. The Rockies became the first team in the expansion era (since 1961) with hits in each of their last eight plate appearances. — Gonzalez
