This week featured one reminder of that after another, from Shohei Ohtani reaching a 40-40 season to Aaron Judge hitting his 50th and 51st homers to Bobby Witt Jr. trying to hit above 400 at home. The top four teams in these rankings have been the top four for weeks now, in varying order. The cream just keeps rising to the top, no matter what.
1. Dodgers (previously: 4)
Season high: 1 | Season low: 6
When we all tell the stories of Shohei Ohtani decades from now, recounting all the incredible things he did, don’t forget this one: The day after he became the first MLB player to ever reach the 40-40 mark in August, he threw his first bullpen session off a mound since having Tommy John surgery. “It went well,” Dave Roberts said, in case you weren’t scared enough already.
2. Yankees (previously: 2)
Season high: 1 | Season low: 7
It is really, really hard not just to type “Aaron Judge Aaron Judge Aaron Judge Aaron Judge Aaron Judge Aaron Judge Aaron Judge” over and over in the Yankees’ blurb this week: What he is doing is something that, quite possibly, no one alive has ever seen in baseball. It is possible he is having the best season by a right-handed hitter in baseball history. And there have been a lot of right-handed hitters in baseball history!
3. Phillies (previously: 1)
Season high: 1 | Season low: 8
It really is a good thing that neither the Braves nor the Mets have been on any sort of hot streak lately, because the Phillies have left the door cracked open for both of them. The Phillies have had a lot of slack in the division race lately, and they still haven’t used up all of it. We’ll see how much they have left when they face the Braves for four games in Philly this weekend; they get three games against the Astros heading into Thursday.
4. Orioles (previously: 3)
Season high: 1 | Season low: 5
Jackson Holliday was 0-for-20 before his massive three-run sixth-inning double on Saturday to beat the Astros. Holliday’s tear upon returning to the Majors in late July had slowed to a stop, but he’s a streaky player by nature, at least at this stage in his career: Don’t be the least bit surprised if he goes on another run now. The Orioles can just hope he’s on a hot streak come October.
5. Brewers (previously: 6)
Season high: 5 | Season low: 19
How are the Brewers doing this? How are they better than they were last year despite how much they’ve lost? There are many reasons, but here’s a quiet one: Heading into Sunday, they led all of baseball with runs scored with two outs, with 262. That tells you a lot about how they are winning despite all their injuries and defections.
6. Astros (previously: 9)
Season high: 5 | Season low: 26
A quiet key contributor to the Astros this season has been former World Series hero Jeremy Peña. He is one homer short of a 15-15 season, and here’s a fun fact from MLB Network’s research team: “Peña’s 12.1 WAR through his first three seasons is 10th highest by a SS in the last 50 seasons. He could surpass Cal Ripken Jr. (8th, 12.4) and Trevor Story (7th, 13.1) before the year ends.” Didn’t realize that, did you?
7. Guardians (previously: 5)
Season high: 2 | Season low: 21
The seasons that Aaron Judge and Bobby Witt Jr. are having shouldn’t take away from José Ramírez — who honestly should have won the MVP back in 2020 — making his own MVP case. He probably can’t compete with those two in 2024, but he is still having the best year of his career, on pace to set career highs in homers, RBIs and steals. He still has a chance at a 40-40 season of his own too.
8. Diamondbacks (previously: 9)
Season high: 8 | Season low: 19
The Diamondbacks have been so hot lately that they’re now on pace for 92 wins, which would be their fourth-best winning percentage in franchise history … and better than the 2001 and 2023 teams, both of whom reached the World Series.
9. Padres (previously: 8)
Season high: 7 | Season low: 21
If the Padres are going to make the playoffs — and right now Fangraphs gives them a 92 percent chance to do just that — they’ll need all the pitching they can muster. Which is why it’s good news that Yu Darvish is out facing hitters and ramping up for what looks like a mid-September return. Which might be just in time.
10. Royals (previously: 9)
Season high: 6 | Season low: 24
The Royals have a most important series in Cleveland starting on Monday, but right now, the Royals are intriguing for more than just what their team is doing. If you’re on Aaron Judge Triple Crown watch, the only thing stopping him from breezing to one is Bobby Witt Jr., who is 12 points ahead of him in batting average … but the gap is closing.
11. Twins (previously: 7)
Season high: 7 | Season low: 23
The Twins have a nice opportunity to make some real headway in the AL Central this week: The Royals and Guardians play four games against each other in three days while they have a homestand against the Braves. If they win, they’re going to gain on somebody.
12. Braves (previously: 13)
Season high: 1 | Season low: 13
Charlie Morton has aged enough that he’s now the same age as (and a former teammate of) many of the guys who come back for Alumni Night. He had a vintage Morton start in front of those old teammates on Saturday, which must have made them feel even older. That’s the thing about being Charlie Morton: He gets older, but his current teammates stay the same age.
13. Red Sox (previously: 14)
Season high: 11 | Season low: 22
The Red Sox’s Wild Card hopes are barely hanging on at this point, with every tough loss hitting a little harder this time of year. But here’s something happy: Rich Hill threw two hitless innings over the weekend, pitching against players half his age (and even a little bit younger than that). It’ll be fun to see him if he gets back to the Majors … and he may well help.
14. Mets (previously: 14)
Season high: 10 | Season low: 25
Can you believe Francisco Lindor hasn’t made an All-Star Game since 2019? He’s having an MVP-level season, again, and though Shohei Ohtani is going to make it harder for him to win the award, he’s a clear top-three vote getter … and maybe even higher if the Mets make the playoffs. This would be the sixth time he was in the top 10 of MVP voting, and the third season in a row.
15. Mariners (previously: 15)
Season high: 6 | Season low: 21
It was obviously a tumultuous week in Seattle with the firing of manager Scott Servais, replaced by former Mariners catcher Dan Wilson. It’s a long road back to the top of the AL West, but Wilson is looking at the right guy as inspiration: Lou Piniella. “He demanded our best every day,” Wilson said at his opening press conference. “I think those are things that hopefully I can instill as well.”
16. Giants (previously: 16)
Season high: 12 | Season low: 23
It was very strange, and worrisome, to see Camilo Doval sent to the Minors because of his struggles, so it was encouraging that his return on Saturday went so well. He escaped a jam in the seventh and added a scoreless eighth in a win over the Mariners. He doesn’t have his closer job back, but he looked like himself again: It’s a start.
17. Cubs (previously: 18)
Season high: 8 | Season low: 22
The Cubs crawled over .500 for the first time since June, and into second place in the NL Central, with a dominant 14-2 win on Saturday. It might be a little bit late for the Cubs to crawl back into the playoff chase, but the run of late looks more like the team Cubs fans thought they were getting.
18. Rays (previously: 19)
Season high: 9 | Season low: 24
The little Taj Bradley boomlet may be fading. The starter was fantastic in July, going 3-1 with a 1.45 ERA, but he has bottomed out in August, going 0-3 with a 8.14 ERA.
19. Cardinals (previously: 17)
Season high: 12 | Season low: 27
A dimming season got even dimmer on Saturday when Willson Contreras, by far the Cardinals’ best hitter this season, went on the IL with a broken finger. It’s the second fluke upper body injury for Contreras this season — a bat broke his arm behind the plate back in May — and is just the latest problem to befall a team that may end up with its second losing season in a row for the first time since 1994-95.
20. Reds (previously: 20)
Season high: 11 | Season low: 25
The Reds got some relieving news this week when they discovered that Hunter Greene’s injury did not involve any UCL damage, only inflammation. That probably won’t help much the rest of this year — it’ll be a couple of weeks until he would even try to throw — but he should be fine for next season … and maybe even a late-season run if the Reds need him.
21. Tigers (previously: 21)
Season high: 7 | Season low: 24
Are the Tigers going to fight their way over .500? If they can sneak over the mark, they’ll end a streak of seven consecutive losing seasons, the third-longest stretch in all of baseball. The only teams with longer losing streaks are the Royals (eight), who are on the verge of ending that very skid, and Angels (also eight).
22. Rangers (previously: 22)
Season high: 4 | Season low: 23
Have we seen Max Scherzer for the last time in a Rangers uniform? It’s possible. He was scratched before a rehab start this weekend and will be “evaluated” moving forward. Meanwhile, the Rangers are now a full 11 games under .500.
23. Pirates (previously: 18)
Season high: 9 | Season low: 25
There may have been some sour feelings when Barry Bonds left Pittsburgh more than 30 years ago, but there weren’t any over the weekend when Bonds, alongside Jim Leyland and Manny Sanguillen, was inducted into the Pirates Hall of Fame. “I was shocked it was happening,” Bonds said. “It’s nice coming back to a place where it started for me.”
24. Blue Jays (previously: 25)
Season high: 8 | Season low: 25
Bowden Francis was this close to pitching the first Blue Jays no-hitter since Dave Stieb’s way back in 1990, losing it in the ninth inning against the Angels. He had just won AL Player of the Week the week before … and considering he has given up just three runs in four starts in August, Player of the Month may be coming his way next.
25. Nationals (previously: 24)
Season high: 20 | Season low: 27
The Dylan Crews era has arrived. The MLB Pipeline No. 3 prospect, as you may have noticed if you have looked at MLB.com at all in the last few hours, is making his debut Monday night against the Yankees. That lineup is going to be something to watch for the next few years, to say the very least.
26. A’s (previously: 26)
Season high: 20 | Season low: 30
There are only two A’s in the last 20 years to have two 30-homer seasons: Khris Davis and, as of Saturday, Brent Rooker. Rooker is actually having a much better year than he did in 2023 when he made the All-Star Game: He’s likely going to end up with a 35 HR, 100-RBI season. He’s quietly one of the happiest stories in baseball over the last couple of years.
27. Angels (previously: 27)
Season high: 24 | Season low: 28
It has been a little under-noticed that, with all the Angels’ issues this year, Zach Neto has emerged as a player they can count on moving forward. He’s actually fifth among all MLB shortstops with 4.6 WAR.
28. Rockies (previously: 28)
Season high: 27 | Season low: 29
MLB.com’s Thomas Harding had a fun story this week about Ezequiel Tovar — who is quickly becoming the Rockies’ signature star — being the voice for the passenger trains at the Denver airport. It’s the year of the shortstop, and Tovar is one of the more underappreciated ones. And now you can listen for him when you’re traveling through Denver.
29. Marlins (previously: 29)
Season high: 23 | Season low: 30
The Marlins got a little glimpse of the future this week with the callup of Connor Norby, who has manned third base since arriving on Monday. He hit his first homer as a Marlin on Saturday and looks like he’s not going to be dislodged from third base for a long time.
30. White Sox (previously: 29)
Season high: 28 | Season low: 30
The only real positive news you’re going to find with the White Sox is happening down on the farm, so let’s focus on the professional debut of No. 5 overall pick Hagen Smith. He threw three scoreless innings for High-A Winston-Salem on Saturday night, striking out four and giving up only two hits. Good start, kid!
