MLB Power Rankings: Magic in Milwaukee, trouble in New York

Welcome to the eighth edition of the MLB Power Rankings for the 2025 season. The last edition ran July 18, and the next one will be published Aug. 25.

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1. Milwaukee Brewers

The Brewers own the best record in the majors and boast the highest winning percentage in the franchise's history despite several injuries and key offseason departures. Andrew Vaughn's career resurgence has been amazing to watch: He's hit seven home runs to go with a 1.041 OPS in 25 games following a trade from the White Sox.

2. Philadelphia Phillies

While Kyle Schwarber justifiably receives most of the attention, Brandon Marsh has caught fire, hitting four home runs and five doubles over his last 10 games, raising his OPS 68 points. Jhoan Duran's Phillies tenure is off to a perfect start; he's allowed just one base runner in four appearances.

3. Los Angeles Dodgers

The Dodgers are getting healthy, and they're starting to look scary again. Max Muncy's given the offense a major boost since coming off the IL, hitting .438 with three home runs in six games. Blake Snell tossed five shutout innings with 10 strikeouts Saturday in his first start back, while Tyler Glasnow owns a 2.34 ERA over his last six starts.

4. Chicago Cubs

The Cubs' potent bats have cooled down, and they've gone 10-11 since the All-Star break. Chicago sits in the middle of the pack in several offensive markers in the second half, including homers, wRC+, and slugging percentage. Luckily, Matt Shaw is starting to show a lot of promise. The 23-year-old has seven home runs and a 1.119 OPS in his last 20 games.

5. Detroit Tigers

The Tigers' huge lead in the AL Central has shrunk considerably after they won just two series in the second half. Detroit's front office also failed to upgrade the roster in a significant way at the trade deadline. Chris Paddack, Charlie Morton, Rafael Montero, and Kyle Finnegan simply don't move the needle for a club hoping for a deep playoff run.

6. Toronto Blue Jays

The Blue Jays were given a taste of October baseball against the Dodgers, dropping two of three after beating up on the lowly Rockies. Max Scherzer appears to have turned a corner from his earlier thumb injury, posting a 2.84 ERA with 21 strikeouts over his last 19 innings. Toronto's starters need to figure out a way to keep the ball in the yard, though - they've given up the second-most home runs in MLB.

7. San Diego Padres

The additions of Ramón Laureano and Ryan O'Hearn should provide a boost to the offense, but San Diego's going to need more from Fernando Tatis Jr. to have any shot at winning the division. Tatis has one home run over his last 24 games and is slugging .292 over the last two weeks. Not trading Dylan Cease looks like it might pay off big time down the stretch.

8. Boston Red Sox

Boston is playing its best baseball of the season, winning five of its last six series but still sits four games back of the Blue Jays for the top spot in the AL East. Jarren Duran's been excellent of late, slashing .313/.377/.604 with eight extra-base hits over his last 12 games.

9. Houston Astros

Carlos Correa's return to Houston has given the Astros a jolt as they try to fend off the surging Mariners in the AL West. Correa is slashing .405/.476/.622 with four extra-base hits and six RBIs in nine contests since returning to his former team.

10. Seattle Mariners

Seattle is 9-1 since the trade deadline and looks like a team no one will want to face in October. The Mariners own the top wild-card spot and sit just a half game back of the Astros in the AL West as they attempt to win their first division title since 2001. Seattle has hit the second-most home runs in MLB in August, while its pitching staff owns the AL's second-lowest ERA.

11. New York Mets

The Mets lost their division lead in August after dropping seven straight and 11 of 12, with six of those defeats came via one run. Kodai Senga, Frankie Montas, and Sean Manaea have been getting rocked, allowing a combined 35 runs with 19 walks over 39 1/3 innings (eight starts).

12. New York Yankees

The Yankees are reeling, losing seven of their last nine, despite what appeared to be a nice deadline for the front office. Brian Cashman's acquisitions of David Bender, Camilo Doval, and Jake Bird combined to allow 14 runs and walk nine in 12 innings since arriving in the Bronx. Devin Williams is also a mess, allowing earned runs in seven of his last nine outings.

13. Cleveland Guardians

The division remains a long shot, but Cleveland is within six games of Detroit in the AL Central after sitting 15.5 games back on July 6. The Guardians' strength of late has come from its pitching staff despite losing both Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz. Cleveland ranks first in the AL in ERA in August, while sitting second in strikeouts, and third in WHIP. Gavin Williams has allowed just one run in 14 2/3 innings.

14. Cincinnati Reds

The Mets' struggles have opened the door for the Reds in the wild-card race, but Cincinnati needs its sputtering offense to pick up the slack. The Reds have scored just 32 runs in nine games since the trade deadline - with 14 of those coming Sunday - hitting six home runs to go with a .636 OPS. Spencer Steer, Elly De La Cruz, and Ke'Bryan Hayes are all under the Mendoza Line in August.

15. Texas Rangers

The Rangers are still within striking distance of the AL's last wild-card spot, but they can't let their current four-game losing skid spiral. In the middle of it all, Nathan Eovaldi is quietly enjoying another stellar campaign: The veteran right-hander owns a sparkling 1.38 ERA with 0.84 WHIP over 111 innings (19 starts).

16. St. Louis Cardinals

The Cardinals have taken back-to-back series off the Cubs and Dodgers and are hanging around the edges of the wild-card race. St. Louis has a favorable schedule the rest of the month, too, with 13 of its next 16 games against teams with losing records. The season's not over yet.

17. Tampa Bay Rays

The Rays have won just two series in the second half, posting a 7-15 record to further dent their wild-card hopes. Junior Caminero has been doing his part, going deep nine times since the All-Star break. The 22-year-old is on pace to become just the second player in franchise history to surpass the 40-homer plateau.

18. San Francisco Giants

The Giants suffer a big drop in the rankings, having already been swept three times in the second half, including one courtesy of the NL Central-dwelling Pirates. On a positive note, Rafael Devers and Willy Adames have been driving the offense with a combined 11 homers and 26 RBIs over 23 games.

19. Kansas City Royals

Mike Yastrzemski could end up being one of the biggest steals of the deadline if the Royals can make up ground in the wild-card race and appear in the postseason for the second consecutive campaign. Yaz is slugging .536 with a .817 OPS since the Royals nabbed him from the Giants.

20. Miami Marlins

The Marlins might not be that bad after all. Clayton McCullough's team owns a 13-10 record in the second half with series wins over the Brewers, Yankees, Padres, Royals, and Cardinals. Heriberto Hernandez looks like a core piece for this club moving forward: The 25-year-old already has seven home runs and a .864 OPS in 46 games.

21. Arizona Diamondbacks

Zac Gallen returning to form would have better served the D-Backs leading into the trade deadline as opposed to after. The right-hander owns a 2.25 ERA in two starts in August, and he hasn't surrendered a home run in his last three outings. Trading Eugenio Suárez opened more playing time for Blaze Alexander, who's hitting .387/.500/.645 in nine games this month.

22. Minnesota Twins

Since deconstructing its roster at the deadline, Minnesota has managed to play .555 ball thanks to terrific play from Trevor Larnach, Ryan Jeffers, Matt Wallner, and Luke Keaschall. The foursome has combined for eight homers, 26 RBIs, and 20 runs scored in August. Unfortunately, the Twins might have built themselves too wide of a gap to be considered a serious threat this late into the season.

23. Atlanta Braves

Not much has gone right for the Braves this season. Their entire Opening Day rotation, plus two of their biggest stars in Ronald Acuña Jr. and Austin Riley, are on the IL. However, Drake Baldwin has been a light in the dreadful campaign and looks like the NL Rookie of the Year front-runner thanks to his 13 homers and .834 OPS.

24. Baltimore Orioles

It's a lost season in Baltimore, with the Orioles trading away a number of their veteran players at the deadline, but Trevor Rogers has been a bright spot. With a 1.44 ERA and 2.56 FIP in 10 starts, the left-hander is putting to rest the idea that the Orioles lost the trade when they acquired him from the Miami Marlins. He could be a solid piece next season.

25. Athletics

Nick Kurtz has gotten a lot of the hype for the Athletics this season, but don't overlook Shea Langeliers. The catcher is having a career year and has hit better than every AL backstop not named Cal Raleigh. Langeliers ranks second in homers, slugging percentage, and wRC+ among catchers with at least 350 plate appearances despite playing the least amount of games of the group.

26. Los Angeles Angels

The Angels are 3-6 since declaring themselves as buyers at the trade deadline and enter Monday with 0.5% playoff odds, per FanGraphs. Los Angeles will at least get to see Shohei Ohtani pitch against his former club, with the right-hander scheduled to start Wednesday in Anaheim.

27. Pittsburgh Pirates

Can Paul Skenes win the NL Cy Young with a losing record? The right-hander leads the league in pitcher fWAR, ERA, ERA+, FIP, H/9, and HR/9 but has a 7-8 record. Eric Gagne became the only pitcher to win a Cy Young with a losing record in 2003 when the reliever finished 2-3 with a 1.20 ERA and 55 saves for the Dodgers.

28. Washington Nationals

The Nationals look like they're just going through the motions now. James Wood and CJ Abrams have hit a combined four home runs over the last month, while MacKenzie Gore allowed 23 earned runs over his last 21 2/3 innings before righting the ship with a strong outing against the Giants on Sunday.

29. Chicago White Sox

The White Sox have already won more games than they did last season and have 45 contests remaining, so things are improving on the South Side of Chicago. Colson Montgomery has been a big part of the improvement, ranking third in homers among major-league hitters in the second half.

30. Colorado Rockies

The Rockies found yet another low in a year filled with them - they got outscored 45-6 and surrendered an MLB-record 63 hits during a three-game series against the Blue Jays. Colorado's pitchers own an MLB-worst 8.49 ERA, 1.85 WHIP and .334 opponent batting average since the All-Star break.