With just a shade under four weeks in the 2026 MLB season remaining, it’s crunch time. Our penultimate regular-season power rankings for the 2026 campaign have the World Series champions from 2024 and 2025 down from August, while the Yankees are on the rise.
The Bottom
- Athletics
- Angels
- Rockies
- Giants
- Royals
- Tigers (-6)
- Mets (-1)
- Nationals (+2)
- Reds
- Mariners (+4)
Not much changed at the bottom of the league rankings. However, this list does include several teams that just shouldn’t be here.
The Tigers’ recent skid pushed the club to 64-75, 5.5 games back of a Wild Card spot and 8.5 games out of the division. At the start of the year, this seemed nearly inconceivable. And on paper, a club with a run differential of +47 should be significantly better than this. However, that hasn’t been the case in 2026.
As for the Mariners, there can be some solace taken in the fact that Cal Raleigh, over the last week, looked more like the AL MVP runner-up from 2025. From August 20 through September 3, Raleigh slashed .302/.412/.837 with seven home runs. Randy Arozarena, meanwhile, had a .985 OPS in that same span.
Great production from the offense. However, Seattle’s pitching — a strength for years — has just not been the same.
Lastly, the Mets’ past few weeks have gone well. Juan Soto is healthy again, and Francisco Lindor has played the best that he has all season. But when the calendar shifts to 2027, will the lessons learned from 2026 carry over?
The Middle
- Pirates (+1)
- Twins (-4)
- Cardinals (-7)
- Orioles (+3)
- Marlins (+1)
- Blue Jays (-1)
- Rangers (+2)
- Guardians (+5)
- Astros
- Padres (-1)
The Guardians rode a favorable road trip in Colorado and Anaheim back into a Wild Card spot. But after losing two of three to the Toronto Blue Jays, that race narrowed yet again.
Cleveland led the quite literal wild race for the third AL Wild Card, with just a 70-70 record. It’s very likely at this point that one team with a record at or near .500 is making the playoffs in the American League this year. The question is which one(s)?
Toronto saw a rare monster game from Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who’s been banged up and just hasn’t looked right all year long. But an injection of new talent, including rookie Brett Bateman, has made the Jays a dangerous team once more.
The Orioles let games get away from them in Colorado. Baltimore lost two against the Rockies, and nearly lost a third had Colton Cowser not made, perhaps, the catch of the year to seal a 2-1 win. And on September 3, the Orioles lost another close game against the Red Sox. They’re still very much in it but losses like those are devastating this time of the year.
The Rangers and Astros, meanwhile, are fighting for the AL West and Wild Card. Right now, the Astros have the top spot in the AL West and have hummed right along thanks to pitching and the top part of that lineup. Texas, meanwhile, has had its own good fortune with pitching, even with Nathan Eovaldi on the IL.
San Diego, at #11, is right now just outside the third NL Wild Card spot.
The Top
- Diamondbacks (+3)
- Red Sox (-1)
- White Sox
- Phillies (-1)
- Cubs (-1)
- Yankees (+2)
- Dodgers (-4)
- Rays (+1)
- Braves (+1)
- Brewers
Not much has changed in the top ten, as far as new teams are concerned. The only new club is the Diamondbacks, currently in control of the third NL Wild Card spot.
Has it been a perfect year for Arizona? Not by any means. The D-Backs had to navigate more Ketel Marte drama, while Nolan Arenado slashed .152/.170/.239 over the last two weeks. But even with a banged-up rotation, the Diamondbacks have been just fine. Much of that is thanks to a strong overall bullpen and a rotation led by Eduardo Rodriguez.
Speaking of cold spells, Munetaka Murakami stalled during the second half of this season. Just in the last two weeks, Murakami struck out 41.9% of the time across all plate appearances, most in the Majors. Who was second? Colson Montgomery (41.8%).
The White Sox have gotten this far with a potent, yet high-risk offense. But of late, it’s been a grind to get runners on base and score runs.
With Aaron Judge‘s return looming, the Yankees’ hopes in October have risen significantly. New York’s stellar pitching has won the club a lot of games this year and is the big reason why the club is in the first AL Wild Card spot. But the offense has been very good of late, too, and that’s without Judge.
However, as of right now, the NL teams still hold the top spots. Milwaukee and the Braves, for now, lead the pack. The Dodgers, at #4, are in an interesting position. Shohei Ohtani is banged up, and the Dodgers’ offense has slowed. Can the club get it going before the playoffs?
Movement from the August rankings is shown in parentheses. No parentheses indicate no movement.
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