With just under a month to go before the All-Star break, taking a look at our MLB power rankings provides more intrigue than usual. We now have a much clearer picture of which teams are the contenders versus which are the pretenders. Teams are no longer able to hide behind strength of schedule with 60+ games in the books. There is still a lot of season left, so rest-of-season outlook still plays a large factor in our rankings. Let’s take a look at how our power rankings have played out.
| Team | Previous | Record | Last 10 | Reasoning |
| 1. New York Yankees | 1 | 40-24 | 5-5 | The Yankees remain the most impressive team in baseball when their litany of injuries are taken into account. They are currently tied for first place in the AL East. |
| 2. Los Angeles Dodgers | 2 | 45-21 | 8-2 | The Dodgers are one of the best two teams in baseball. They are the only club in the top five in team ERA and runs scored per game. |
| 3. Houston Astros | 3 | 45-22 | 8-2 | Houston has won 12 of their last 16 and remain one of the best teams in baseball. They are one of only five teams in the top 10 in team ERA and runs scored per game. |
| 4. Tampa Bay Rays | 4 | 40-24 | 5-5 | The Rays move back into the top four after taking three of four in Boston. Tampa Bay is for real, and it is time the rest of the AL started to realize that 2018 was no fluke. |
| 5. Boston Red Sox | 5 | 34-32 | 5-5 | The Red Sox have gone 6-7 in their last 13. That includes dropping three games of a four-game series to the Rays. The Red Sox remain one of the most talented teams in baseball. However, their defending championship scholarship has all but expired. |
| 6. Minnesota Twins | 7 | 43-21 | 6-4 | The Twins have been on fire this season. They lead the majors in runs scored per game. They are one of only five teams in the top 10 in runs scored and team ERA. |
| 7. Chicago Cubs | 8 | 37-27 | 6-4 | The Cubs have been highly impressive this season and look like a lock to see some post-season action. It is still early in the season, but the Cubs remain one the league’s best. They are one of only five teams in the top 10 in runs scored and team ERA. |
| 8. Milwaukee Brewers | 9 | 38-28 | 7-3 | The Brewers sit atop the NL Central with a 38-28 record. They have won nine of their last 13 and continue to benefit from being moved to the senior circuit. |
| 9. Philadelphia Phillies | 5 | 37-28 | 4-6 | Philadelphia remains on top of the NL East. They have managed to win four of their last five after losing five straight. However, that losing streak taught us that the Phillies can find themselves in trouble with a rough patch of schedule. They have been poor on the road and have two wins above expectation. They will need to show more consistency to be anything more than a playoff pretender. |
| 10. Atlanta Braves | 10 | 36-29 | 6-4 | Atlanta has won six of their last eight and has turned their season back on the right track in the process. The Braves still want for consistency but have the ninth best record in baseball. |
| 11. Arizona Diamondbacks | 13 | 34-32 | 6-4 | Despite sitting only two games above .500, the Diamondbacks have been among the league’s most impressive. They suffered some major offseason losses but have found a way to win games. Amazingly, they are one of only five teams in the top five in both runs scored and team ERA. Thanks to a series against the lowly Blue Jays, the Diamondbacks are now over .500. |
| 12. San Diego Padres | 11 | 33-33 | 4-6 | The Padres still have a top 10 pitching staff which continues to give them a chance to compete. However, they have only scored four runs per game. They will be hard-pressed to sustain their success if they cannot find a way to pick up the pace on offense. |
| 13. St. Louis Cardinals | 12 | 31-32 | 5-5 | The Cardinals have lost 22 of their last 33 contests. They barely deserve to be this high on our rankings, but the onus is on the teams behind them to do enough to pass them. |
| 14. Washington Nationals | 16 | 30-35 | 7-3 | Washington has finally started to turn their season around. They are fresh off a record-setting game and have won seven of their last 10 contests. The Nationals can be a force if they can address their league-worst bullpen. |
| 15. Texas Rangers | 19 | 34-30 | 7-3 | Texas has scored the second most runs per game. However, they have surrendered the seventh most runs per game. They will need to find a way to limit runs against if they are to take advantage of their offensive firepower. |
| 16. New York Mets | 15 | 32-33 | 5-5 | The Mets have shown flashes on both sides of the ball. However, they have not been able to put it together on a consistent basis. After dropping five of six, they have won four of their last five. |
| 17. Cleveland Indians | 14 | 33-32 | 5-5 | Cleveland has been a true disappointment this season. They have been one of the league’s best in terms of team ERA but are one of the worst at scoring runs. They have a wealth of offensive talent which makes one believe they can turn it around. However, at some point, one has to judge them based on their actual play. |
| 18. Cincinnati Reds | 17 | 29-35 | 4-6 | The Reds continue to impress in terms of team ERA. At 3.62 runs allowed per contest, they rank among the league’s elite. With that said, they have lost five of their last seven and have more tough tests ahead. The Reds could be much lower by the next time we do our power rankings. |
| 19. Colorado Rockies | 18 | 33-31 | 6-4 | Colorado has won nine of their last 15. They are back over .500 but are still allowing too many runs. Coors Field has been the issue. They have relinquished only 4.06 runs per game on the road compared to 6.03 at home. |
| 20. Oakland Athletics | 20 | 33-33 | 4-6 | The Athletics continue to score runs at a high level. However, they have lost seven of their last 12 since our last installment. The teams around them have allowed the A’s to stay in place, but they are trending in the wrong direction. |
| 21. Los Angeles Angels | 21 | 31-35 | 4-6 | The Angels have lost five of their last seven contests. They are one of only 12 teams scoring more than five runs per game. However, they still have a negative run differential. With just under 100 games to play, they have the talent to turn their season around. |
| 22. Chicago White Sox | 27 | 31-33 | 6-4 | Chicago has some interesting pieces but is still at least a year away from competing for a wild card spot. They have a winning home record but continue to give up too many runs. They could be a team to watch in 2020 if Michael Kopech returns to pre-injury form. |
| 23. Pittsburgh Pirates | 22 | 30-34 | 3-7 | Pittsburgh has lost 14 of their last 20. They are one of only four teams giving up more than five runs per game. |
| 24. Seattle Mariners | 23 | 28-41 | 4-6 | The Mariners pitching staff has been truly awful this season. They are ninth in terms of runs scored, but it is hard to translate that into wins when you are giving up the second most runs per game in the league. They have lost 29 of their last 40 games. |
| 25. Detroit Tigers | 25 | 24-38 | 4-6 | Detroit is giving up 5.38 runs per game at home, over a run more than on the road. Despite a few bright spots on the roster, their rest-of-season outlook remains gloomy. |
| 26. San Francisco Giants | 27 | 26-38 | 5-5 | The Giants are one of only four teams scoring under four runs per game. Their schedule will not be doing them any favors this season. This makes it likely the Giants remain one of the league’s basement dwellers this season. |
| 27. Kansas City Royals | 28 | 20-45 | 2-8 | The Royals continue their run as one of MLB’s worst. They are one of only four teams giving up more than five runs per game. |
| 28. Toronto Blue Jays | 24 | 23-42 | 2-8 | Owners of the third worst record in baseball, the Jays can find themselves at the bottom of these rankings in short order. They extended lame duck GM Ross Atkins for at least one more season, which should be just about as long as it takes them to sniff another .500 season. |
| 29. Baltimore Orioles | 29 | 20-45 | 3-7 | The Orioles have the worst record in baseball and are making a major push to reach the bottom of our power rankings. The Orioles allow the most runs per game in the majors. |
| 30. Miami Marlins | 30 | 23-40 | 4-6 | Three teams actually have worse records than the Marlins do right now. This means they are no longer in a class all to themselves as far as the worst of the worst the MLB has to offer. They remain at the bottom of these rankings by virtue of their poor play in the NL. |