MLB power rankings as the All-Star break nears
Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw tips (22) his cap after recording his 3,000th career strike out by striking out Chicago White Sox's Vinny Capra during the sixth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, July 2, 2025, in Los Angeles. Credit: AP
Rankings prior to Friday games. Number in parenthesis is prior power rank.
1. Dodgers (5) Shortly before celebrating Clayton Kershaw’s 3,000th strikeout to end the sixth inning on Wednesday night, the Dodgers lost Max Muncy for six weeks due to a bone bruise in his left knee, the result of an on-field collision earlier in the frame. Muncy was hitting .250 with 13 homers and 55 RBIs.
2. Tigers (3) Tarik Skubal is well on his way to a second straight Cy Young award, leading the AL with 10 wins, a 9.86 K/BB ratio (nearly double the runner-up), an 11.4 K/9 and a 0.835 WHIP. But the Tigers need more from Jack Flaherty, who has a 10.50 ERA over his last four starts, teeing up 21 hits and five homers in 18 innings.
3. Phillies (1) Philadelphia’s rotation remains the key for the club staying atop the NL East. Despite being just 15-15 over their last 30 games, the starters’ 2.60 ERA during that period is the best in MLB, the next closest being the Astros (3.35). Zack Wheeler has a 0.58 ERA and 0.87 WHIP in his last five starts.
4. Cubs (6) Pete Crow-Armstrong and Kyle Tucker will be the first pair of Cubs outfielders to start an All-Star Game since 1936, when Augie Galan and Frank Demaree did it for the North Siders. PCA, who has 23 homers and 26 stolen bases, leads the NL and is third overall with a 4.2 fWAR.
5. Astros (13) Houston entered Friday with MLB’s top record (22-8) over their last 30 games, thanks to a pitching staff with the third-best ERA (3.12) over that stretch. Framber Valdez (1.74 ERA) and Hunter Brown (1.78) have anchored the rotation during that surge with Jeremy Pena (.901 OPS) — placed on the injured list Monday with a fractured rib — and Isaac Paredes (6 HRs) producing at the plate.
6. Yankees (2) It’s been a shocking descent for Aaron Boone & Co., dropping 14 of their last 20 games heading into the Subway Series rematch at Citi Field. The Yankees also have the worst record within the division (10-16) and are just 12-17 in one-run games.
7. Mets (4) Edwin Diaz’s two strikeouts on Thursday night gave him 491 as a Met, tying him with Tug McGraw for the third-most by a reliever in franchise history. Since April 16, Diaz has a 0.66 ERA and 42 strikeouts in 27 1/2 innings, with 14 saves in 15 chances over those 27 appearances.
8. Blue Jays (18) The Jays, who were four games under .500 (16-20) on May 7 and trailed the Yankees by 4 1/2 games in the AL East on June 12, moved into sole possession of first place Thursday this late in a season for the first time since September 2016. The vehicle? A four-game sweep of the Yankees at Rogers Centre.
9. Brewers (20) Despite dropping two games to the Mets, their first series loss in a month, the Brewers entered Friday 23-11 since May 26, the second-best record in the majors during that stretch. They also were third in runs per game (5.36) and their staff’s 3.32 ERA was third-best in MLB.
10. Rays (17) Ha-Seong Kim made his Rays debut Friday after missing the first three months due to offseason shoulder surgery. Kim’s two-year, $29 million contract is the largest deal ever given to a free-agent position player by the Rays, who probably figure that he’ll opt out after this season anyway — and they’ll pocket the draft-pick compensation.
11. Padres (7) As presumptive ace Dylan Cease (3-8) continues to look wobbly with a 4.62 ERA and 1.325 WHIP, and Michael King (pinched nerve) remains out indefinitely, Yu Darvish (elbow inflammation) inches closer to a return after a three-inning simulated game the past week.
12. Cardinals (10) Willson Contreras keeps being used as target practice by opposing teams, as he’s been drilled an MLB-high 14 times by pitches, and he partly blamed his teammates for it. “Probably it can be bad luck,” Contreras told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “And we’re not protecting anybody, [so] that’s going to keep happening.”
13. Mariners (9) It’s a Cal Raleigh World and we’re all just living in it. The Big Dumper hit his MLB-leading 33rd homer this week, tying Kenny Griffey Jr. and Sammy Sosa for the third-most before the start of July. Only Barry Bonds (39 in 2001) and Mark McGwire (37 in 1998) hit more.
14. Giants (8) So what are the Giants getting from Rafael Devers after picking up the $250 million remaining on his contract? Not all that much so far. Since the June 15 trade, Devers is hitting .203 (12-for-59) in 15 games with two homers, six RBIs and 25 strikeouts — tied with the Rockies’ Ryan McMahon for the most in the majors during that span.
15. Diamondbacks (15) The D-Backs banned a fan from Chase Field for the rest of this season after he reached over the wall to catch a fly ball — interfering with an apparent Giants homer — because it was something that he apparently did too often, as the team cited “multiple offenses.”
16. Reds (21) Is the mound not so good at Great American Ball Park? That’s what the Diamondbacks claim after two pitchers told the “Pardon My Take” podcast that it’s literally below standards, as in not high enough. “Whatever they are doing, they're cheating for sure,” Arizona starter Merrill Kelly said.
17. Rangers (22) Kevin Pillar ripped the Rangers’ team culture in announcing his retirement this past week, saying the 2023 world champs didn’t respond well when the season began to go sideways early this year. “Guys got caught up in their own failures and then panic set in,” Pillar told the Foul Territory podcast.
18. Red Sox (19) Boston is 6-9 since making the blockbuster trade that sent Rafael Devers to the Giants on June 15. Post-Devers, the Red Sox have ranked 16th in OPS (.718), 20th in batting average (.237) and averaged 4.53 runs in that span — slightly less than the 4.84 runs with him.
19. Angels (23) Brooklyn native Christian Moore, who made his MLB debut at Yankee Stadium last month and tripled for his first hit the next day, was placed on the IL this past week with a sprained left thumb, suffered while diving for a ground ball. The former first-round pick was hitting .189.
20. Atlanta (11) Ronald Acuna Jr. is hitting .346 with nine homers and a 1.063 OPS since he returned from knee surgery on May 23. Somehow, Atlanta actually got worse over the next 36 games (15-21) while also losing starting pitcher Spencer Schwellenbach to a fractured elbow.
21. Guardians (14) Luis Ortiz was scratched from Thursday’s start and is reportedly under investigation for an alleged gambling plot that potentially could implicate him for throwing two questionable pitches as part of a micro-betting scheme. The pitches were flagged for unusual activity on sports-book sites.
22. Twins (12) With Bailey Ober going on the IL this week with a hip impingement, the Twins have lost three starters in the past five weeks, including ace Pablo Lopez, who is out for up to three months with a shoulder strain. Since June 1, the Twins’ rotation ranks 28th with a 5.27 ERA.
23. Royals (16) Kansas City’s struggling offense knows no bounds as it’s been held to two or fewer runs in 41 games this season, a mark of futility that leads the majors. The Royals’ .662 OPS is third-worst in MLB, better than only the Pirates (.654) and White Sox (.637).
24. Orioles (28) How about a Gary Sanchez update? The former Baby Bomber became the first righty to homer off Jacob deGrom this season (174 plate appearances) with his fifth blast of the year. Also, Sanchez entered Friday hitting .327 (18-for-55) with 20 RBIs and a 1.020 OPS in his last 15 games.
25. Pirates (27) Pittsburgh is only .500 (9-9) in starts by sophomore phenom Paul Skenes, but that tide has turned in both of their favors recently. Skenes has a 1.49 ERA in his last eight starts, with 53 Ks and just one homer allowed over 48 1/3 innings, and the Pirates are 6-2 in that span.
26. Marlins (26) Miami caught Atlanta for third place in the NL East this week with an eight-game winning streak, spurred by a youth movement featuring rookie catcher Agustin Ramirez, whose 13 homers and 15 doubles ranked second in MLB at that position since his April 21 debut. Ramirez, a former Yankees prospect, was sent to Miami on July 27 of last season in a trade for Jazz Chisholm Jr.
27. Athletics (24) Despite the A’s ditching their Oakland home, they somehow still got a fan-elected starter for the All-Star Game, as rookie Jacob Wilson will become the first A’s shortstop to start since Bert Campaneris in 1974, and first position player since Josh Donaldson in 2014.
28. Nationals (24) James Wood, the 22-year-old, 6-foot-7 slugger, is headed to the Home Run Derby — for good reason. He’s seventh in the majors with 22 homers, but in the top percentile in hard-hit rate and exit velocity, and he’s also drilled a pair of 451-foot blasts.
29. White Sox (29) The answer to the trivia question: Which team did Clayton Kershaw record his 3,000th strikeout against? For the record, it was third baseman Vinny Capra who went down looking on a slider.
30. Rockies (30) Not only is Colorado’s 66 losses tied for the most through a team’s first 85 games in the modern era, the Rockies also are 8-33 at Coors Field, which is tied with the 2003 Tigers for the worst start through 41 home games.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
