It has been an outstanding week for the two Chicago teams, with the Cubs pulling into clear Wild Card position (despite serious pitching injuries) and the White Sox pulling ahead in the AL Central. Perhaps the most fun aspect has been how great the crowds have been at both Chicago stadiums. Obviously, Wrigley Field is always a party, but Rate Field on the South Side seems to get a little more exciting every night. Both teams are zooming up the Power Rankings: They’re now both in the top eight.
These rankings, as always, are compiled from MLB.com contributors whose names you can find at the bottom of this (and every) piece, but the words are mine. If you dislike the rankings, yell at all of us. But if you dislike the words, feel free to yell at me.
1. Dodgers (previously: 1)
The last thing the rest of baseball needed was the Dodgers to add yet another terrific player to their lineup, but that’s what has happened over the last week: Tommy Edman has returned from his extending injured list stint and looks terrific, hitting .333 in his first 10 games back. Everything is working for him, from both sides of the plate. "This is one of the rare times where both swings feel good,” he said.
2. Brewers (previously: 3)
The National League Central has slowed down a bit of late, but it’s still one of the most competitive divisions, top to bottom, in all of baseball. Which is why it’s all the impressive that the Brewers have the best intradivision record (12-5) in all of baseball.
3. Braves (previously: 2)
There were some underlying metrics that argued that the Braves may have been playing a little bit over their heads during their hot start, and the downturn, however slight it might be, appears to have arrived. The Braves have scored 2.73 runs per game in 15 games since June 10, the lowest mark in baseball in that span (next: Mariners, 3.06 in 17 games). And you can still argue their biggest potential Deadline need is starting pitching.
4. Yankees (previously: 4)
The Yankees lineup is finally feeling the loss of Aaron Judge after an initial uptick without him. They’ve lost nine of their past 16 games, averaging just more than two runs runs per game, and the downturn is coinciding with a slump from Ben Rice, who is 2-for-27 with six strikeouts over his past seven games.
5. Phillies (previously: 6)
If there was a player who had a breakout week, it was absolutely Derek Hill, who made an over-the-wall catch that teammate Zack Wheeler called “the best one I’ve ever seen in person.” Even more impressed? Juan Soto, the guy whose homer Hill stole. “It was an unbelievable catch,” Soto said. “When you see the replay, when you see how impressive it was -- I mean, he didn't even have any timing, he just went straight to the wall and jumped. That was incredible.”
6. Rays (previously: 5)
When do we start thinking of Junior Caminero as a sleeper MVP candidate? His current hot streak has him third in the AL in OPS and third in homers for a team that has been one of the most surprising in the Majors. It’s not that wild of a notion: He was, after all, ninth in voting just last year.
7. Cubs (previously: 10)
The Cubs are so short on pitching that the struggling Mets starter David Peterson was a lifeline for them. After he gave up a home run on his first pitch as a Cub, he settled down to beat Kyle Harrison and the Brewers in a game the Cubs desperately needed. “I’m happy for David. Not an easy thing to do,” manager Craig Counsell said. “But I think it shows professionalism and some grit to come and do what he did today. He threw a lot of strikes. They were aggressive, but he threw a ton of strikes. … He gave us everything we could’ve hoped for tonight.”
8. White Sox (previously: 8)
Everything is going so magnificently for the White Sox right now that they’re conjuring up memories of some great White Sox teams of the past. A big figure in White Sox history, Tony La Russa, even says this team reminds him of the great 1983 team he managed. “Like last year, when you struggle, forget the history of the two years before [2023, 2024],” La Russa told MLB.com’s Scott Merkin. “Any team that has a struggle, and you get to the last half of the season, normally it’s, ‘How much longer, how much longer?’
“For them to rally like they did, it’s a testament to what they built. It’s very unusual. No doubt in the culture.”
9. Padres (previously: 13)
The Padres very, very much needed a week like they just had. A week ago, they were facing scary series against the Braves and the Dodgers, two of the best teams in the National League, really, in all of baseball. Now they’ve gone 4-2 against the cream of the crop in the National League, and all those bad vibes have vanished. And they’re right in the thick of the Wild Card chase again.
10. Mariners (previously: 7)
So, hey, the Mariners finally ended their 13-game streak of scoring three or fewer runs on Sunday. The problem of course is that they scored only five, which was once less than the Guardians scored. Regardless, this is not the offense Mariners fans had been promised.
11. Marlins (previously: 17)
The Marlins made the push this week in what they had been hinting at all year: They now have the best record in the Majors in June. It has been the pitching more than anything else; they’ve got the best starting pitching ERA in baseball this month. No one has been better than Max Meyer: He has now tied the franchise single-season record by winning his ninth consecutive decision.
12. Cardinals (previously: 9)
Last year on June 30, the Cardinals were 47-39 and right in the thick of the Wild Card chase; then it all came crumbling, and they immediately started trading players away before the Deadline. Is that happening against this year? A miserable week -- in which the hitting has fallen apart (they scored three total runs against the Marlins at home this weekend) as the pitching has faded -- certainly raises some potentially urgent and uncomfortable questions.
13. Guardians (previously: 11)
The Guardians are down several key players right now, from José Ramírez to Angel Martínez and Chase DeLauter, and they’ve been missed on the field, obviously. But on the road, they’ve been missed in the clubhouse, which is why they were relieved to be back home and see those guys these week. "We missed Hosey, Angel and Chase on this last road trip,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “Just to have them back in the clubhouse around the guys, it’s been a great pick-me-up.”
14. Pirates (previously: 14)
The Cardinals and Reds have struggled in the NL Central, but the Pirates have not been able to take advantage. And seriously: How in the world does Paul Skenes not have a win in nearly two months? His ERA in June is a shockingly high (for him) 3.58.
15. Diamondbacks (previously: 15)
How does manager Torey Lovello think about how this season has gone so far? "It's fairly unsatisfactory," Lovullo said. "I don't think we've played our best baseball. We've not combined all areas of our game for a sustained period of time. When we do, we're going to be very dynamic and get on a really nice run. These players are fighting every single day, so probably personally unsatisfied that we've yet to play our best baseball would be my answer." And here they are: In the middle, right around .500 … still in the chase.
16. Nationals (previously: 12)
In a rough week for the Nats, Foster Griffin is keeping them above water, becoming the first Nationals pitcher since 2022 (Aníbal Sánchez) to allow one run or fewer in five consecutive starts. He knows how important he has been during this rough stretch. “The boys out there have been going through it, but that’s the ebbs and flows of the game, right?” he said. “I think we all know that at some point this is -- we’re gonna get through it.
17. Rangers (previously: 19)
After a deeply disappointing 2025, Joc Pederson has looked like the two-time All-Star he is this year: His 132 OPS-plus is the third-highest of his career.
18. A’s (previously: 18)
MLB.com’s Martín Gallegos asked a question I’d been wondering about myself this week: Of Nick Kurtz or Shea Langeliers -- two obvious All-Stars -- who is this team’s MVP? He ultimately landed on Kurtz but, really, there is no wrong answer here
19. Astros (previously: 23)
The Astros might feel like a disappointment so far this year, but it should be said that they have an MVP (and maybe even Triple Crown) candidate in Yordan Alvarez and they’re right in the thick of the AL Wild Card chase. Sure, that says a lot about the state of that chase itself, but still: The Astros have every right to think they’re still in the thick of this, because they are.
20. Blue Jays (previously: 16)
The source of the Blue Jays’ recent struggles is not difficult to decipher: They have been outscored 16 to 1 in the 1st inning over their last nine games.
21. Reds (previously: 20)
Elly De La Cruz has taken a while to get going since coming off the IL with his hamstring injury: He was 2-for-18 with four strikeouts in his first five games back.
22. Orioles (previously: 22)
Say what you will about the Orioles’ offseason and how it has worked out this season, but you can’t complain about the acquisition of Taylor Ward. He is getting on base -- which is what the Orioles got him for -- at an incredible rate: He’s tied for second in the Majors in walks (behind Nick Kurtz and tied with Mike Trout).
23. Twins (previously: 21)
Saturday’s Byron Buxton Bobblehead Day is, in fact, the fourth Buxton Bobblehead Day the Twins have had, but there has never been a time in his career when he has merited one more: He’s having an MVP-level season, leading the AL in homers and 10 away from his career high already. He’s also on pace to play the most games in his career since 2017 … which, as always, is the real question.
24. Red Sox (previously: 26)
At the very least, even with everything going on with the Red Sox this year, you should never look past a four-game sweep over the Yankees at Fenway Park, their first over New York since 2018. Look, the Red Sox probably aren’t going to turn this whole thing around, but if they were to do so, having a game like Sunday night, which had so many highs and lows, would be the sort of thing that could conceivably get such a thing started. For what it’s worth: They are only 4 1/2 games out of the Wild Card.
25. Tigers (previously: 25)
Two Venezuelan Tigers pitchers, Keider Montero and Enmanuel De Jesus, threw a combined shutout Friday the day after a horrific earthquake devastated their home country. “Thinking abroad, we, as Venezuelans, we're strong,” said Montero through an interpreter. “God helped us to be resilient and strong every day. It hasn't been easy, but this is for them, and this is for trying to give good news to my country.”
26. Mets (previously: 24)
The firing of Carlos Mendoza felt inevitable, even if it really wasn’t long ago that he felt like a rising star in the profession; this is what happens to managers, after all. But the real question is whether there’s a larger issue with the Mets’ brass that won’t be able to be fixed by just a managerial change. It might be 2027 that answers that question.
27. Royals (previously: 27)
Cole Ragans and the Royals bowed to the inevitable this week, slating his elbow surgery for July 1. It is still not quite known how long the recovery is going to take; it could end up requiring another Tommy John surgery, which would be his third. Either way: It is just a huge bummer all around for everybody involved.
28. Giants (previously: 28)
It has, obviously, been a miserable season for the Giants so far, both on and off the field. But especially on the field: They were 15 games under .500 at the midway point of the season after being eight games over at the same point last year. Considering they ended up at .500 last year, that bodes poorly for how their record is going to turn out this time.
29. Angels (previously: 29)
It might not have been that surprising that the Angels fired general manager Perry Minasian, but his replacement certainly took many people aback: John Mozeliak, who had essentially run the Cardinals for more than two decades (winning two World Series in the process) before transitioning out for Chaim Bloom this year. Mozeliak is taking over only on an interim basis, but the sense when he left was that he would stay on the sidelines for a while. That was clearly not the case, and for what it’s worth, interim or not, he’s not old: He’s only 57.
30. Rockies (previously: 30)
Baby steps, but the Rockies have been better over the last couple of weeks, going 7-7 over their last 14 games. More “good” news: Their starting pitcher ERA is half-run better than it was last year. Though, uh, it should be said that they had the worst starting pitcher ERA in baseball history last year … and they still have the worst in baseball this year.
Voters: Dan Cichalski, Theo Derosa, Mark Feinsand, Jason Foster, Rick Gold Jr., Jared Greenspan, Thomas Harrigan, Will Leitch, Brent Maguire, Travis Miller, Arturo Pardavila, Shanthi Sepe-Chepuru, Andrew Simon, David Venn, Zac Vierra.