The MLB season continues to surprise us all, folks. We’re seeing some wild swings in the standings as we approach the midway point, with unexpected frontrunners dominating divisions while preseason favorites struggle to stay relevant. The largest division lead in baseball belongs to a team nobody saw coming – just like we all predicted, right? If you’re wondering who’s surging and who’s spiraling, you’ve come to the right place. Let’s dive into this week’s MLB landscape and see which clubs are positioning themselves for October baseball and which ones might be making early vacation plans.
National League
NL East
New York Mets
The New York Mets are the best team in baseball (for now). Based off their record, based off their statistics, based off the eye test, there is nothing that would stop me from believing otherwise for the time being. 5 games since last Thursday, 5 W’s, Juan Soto is reaching his full potential, Pete Alonso is an MVP candidate, David Peterson complete game shutout! What a time to be alive for Metropolitan fans who have waited very long to see a team this good.
Philadelphia Phillies
The Phillies season was awfully close to derailing entirely, however a quality series win against the Cubs over the weekend got them back on track for a moment. The Phillies took advantage of two quality starts from Zack Wheeler & Jesus Luzardo and kinda beat the Cubs pretty soundly. They’ll be home against the Blue Jays as they look to start making up some of the ground they lost recently.
Atlanta Braves
The Braves are another team that won a quality road series against the Brewers to stop the derailment of their season. The tough part is they might be derailed already. 2 of their last 10 & 9 games under .500 is not where this Braves team expected to be at this point in the season at all & they have some serious ground to make up if they don’t want to be deadline sellers.
Washington Nationals
I have a super soft spot in my heart for this Nationals team. Within this roster I see a playoff caliber team, but they will remain hidden for the next couple years until more playoff caliber players round out the roster. Tough 1-4 week for these fellas who had been playing well before the week started. They still sit above the Braves in the division for what that’s worth
Miami Marlins
Marlins are 2 for their last 10 & certainly the bottom feeders in this division. Extremely young lineup, they will continue to lose up until the all-star break. After that they will also continue to lose, but probably worse.
First career complete game shutout for @_David_Peterson! 👏 #LGM pic.twitter.com/Km3ZN3Slid
— New York Mets (@Mets) June 12, 2025
Show your dad the NL Central standings 😉 pic.twitter.com/GjWeoIPDEG
— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) June 15, 2025
NL West
Chicago Cubs
The Cubs are 5 of their last 10 & returning to planet earth a little bit. They dropped a weekend series against a cold Phillies team & dropped a series to the Tigers prior to that. Two tough opponents so no cause for panic, but their lineup has been a little slow as of late compared to what we are accustomed to. They have the Pirates to reset the ship on the right course this week
St. Louis Cardinals
The Cardinals had a fun series W against the Dodgers which was highlighted by a Nolan Arenado walk off fly ball against a 5 man infield. The next series was far less fun as they were swept by the Blue Jays. Blue Jays are no pushover and the series was competitive, but it hurts to squander the momentum they had leading up to that series
Milwaukee Brewers
The Brewers had gone on a hot spell for a while during my creation of the 1/3 Season MLB Grades blog. Naturally the kings of .500 baseball lost 4 of 6 this week to bring balance to the force. Their opponents this week are division rivals Cubs & Cardinals, which sets them up for their biggest week of the season yet
Cincinnati Reds
Remember when the Reds couldn’t score? They can now & they’re beginning to make up some ground in the playoff picture. A sweep of the DBacks which included a walkoff win, & 2 of 3 from the Guardians is a solid week against quality opponents. That string of good opponents continues as they take on the Tigers & Twins next week. Terry Francona might have this team back on track
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pirates had a helluva week! They impressively swept the Phillies in the latest edition of the Keystone Rivalry, & then took 2 of 3 in the toilet seat series against the Marlins. Good to see the Buccos rattle off some wins, been a rough year for them.
NL West
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Dodgers went 3-3 this week, however their series win was a nice road series W against their So. Cal rivals the Padres. This is not the Dodgers team people expected to see, there were talks of them winning the most games of all time & they have not been as dominant as advertised (probably mostly due to injury). With that said, any lineup with Betts, Freeman, Ohtani, Teoscar, & Smith is going to get you your W’s & they currently lead the division
San Francisco Giants
The days of denying the Giants success are over. We are nearly halfway through the season and there are no signs of this team slowing down. In fact they might be improving! Their series against the Braves was a thriller and a testament to this team’s ability to pull out close games. Each game was a one run game & two wins were walk-offs. This squad heads to LA this weekend with a chance to pull even at first place in the NL West standings
San Diego Padres
3-3 week for the Padres who failed to beat the rival Dodgers at home. Let’s just call a spade a spade, this team is not very good when good teams come to town. Their 16-23 record against teams above .500 is reflective of that. Their next two series will be against the Dodgers & Diamondbacks so they’ll have a chance to shut me up if they can pull out those series
Arizona Diamondbacks
The DBacks were swept in an ugly series loss against the Reds before putting their foot down and sweeping the Mariners. This team has really struggled to be consistent all year & they need to build off the energy of their last series to keep moving in a positive direction. Josh Naylor’s 11th inning grand slam to beat the Mariners is just the sort of electric moment that can put a team back
Colorado Rockies
The Colorado Rockies had a nice 3-run 9th to beat the Giants at home on Thursday. Everything else went about as well as you’d expect it to but this was a good moment for them.
🚨 MATTHEW JAMES CHAPMAN WALKS IT OFF 🚨 pic.twitter.com/iR53gi2ZII
— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) June 7, 2025
JOSH NAYLOR WALK-OFF GRAND SLAM pic.twitter.com/RNqCW8nK8i
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) June 10, 2025
American League
AL East
New York Yankees
The Yankees dropped a series to the Red Sox at home (always painful) prior to their 3 game sweep of the Royals. The Yankees dominance over the AL Central for years has been well documented & there’s no sign of that stopping any time soon. It’s interesting to see how they perform against their own division however, as despite their AL East leading record, they are only 8-8 against division opponents. Their potential revenge series this weekend against the Red Sox could correct this trend.
Toronto Blue Jays
The Blue Jays are another team that could have easily disappeared into obscurity, but it does not appear like that will end up being the case. Their sweep of the Cardinals & series win against the Twins (both above .500) is a sign that they aren’t ready to let this season slip away. They’re a pretty balanced team who can win with their pitching on some days & their hitting on others. They have the Phillies & Diamondbacks lined up next week, so we’ll see how they fair against some quality NL opponents
Tampa Bay Rays
The Rays took 2 from their in-state rivals the Marlins, before dropping 2 of 3 against the Red Sox in Boston. They’re another team who isn’t very sexy on paper, but they’ve hung around in the division race for the time being as well. In order to keep pace with the Yanks they’ll need to do better than 3-3 weeks moving forward.
Boston Red Sox
Last year the Mets were a team who was riddled with inconsistency, before some personnel change righted the ship. I have a feeling the Red Sox are on the same track. There is a buzz in Boston as their 3 top prospects, Marcelo Mayer, Kristian Campbell, & Roman Anthony have finally all arrived at the big league level. Their division wins against the Yanks & Rays prove that this buzz could carry them to new heights despite their sluggish start to the season. Pitcher Hunter Dobbins talked trash to the Yanks saying “if the Yankees were the last team to offer me a contract, I’d retire,” which re-instilled some of the bitterness of that rivalry (which I think is awesome). The Sox road back to relevance gets no easier this week as they have the Yankees (again) & Mariners in Seattle
Baltimore Orioles
The Orioles had been fighting hard to re-enter some sort of playoff picture before this week, rattling off a 6-game winning streak. They unfortunately fell back to earth this week winning only 2 of 6 & dropping series to the A’s & Tigers. The inconsistency issues remain & the spiral continues for a team who so much more was expected.
Jacob deGrom and 2 @Rangers relievers combine to toss a 3-hit shutout. pic.twitter.com/GfLNt4taBt
— MLB (@MLB) June 7, 2025
AARON JUDGE. 469 FT HOME RUN.
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) June 10, 2025
MY GOODNESS.
(via @mlb)pic.twitter.com/pseyMLhwvT
AL Central
Detroit Tigers
The Tigers 8-game divisional lead is the largest in baseball at this moment in time. They are the best team in the American League & far & away the best team in the Central. They picked up another 2 series wins against the Cubs (big W!) & Orioles. Skubal & Flaherty continue to impress at the top of the rotation, holding the Cubs to 0 and 1 run scored respectively during that series. They’ve got two NL Central foes, the Reds & Pirates, on the radar this upcoming week
Kansas City Royals
You want to talk about a team that’s skidding to a halt… Things have gotten ugly quickly in Kansas City, as they followed up an embarrassing series loss against the White Sox with an embarrassing sweep against the Yankees. The Royals vs Yankees rivalry is maybe the most one sided rivalry I’ve seen, as the Royals hate the Yankees, but their inability to beat them leaves them irrelevant in the eyes of the Bronx Bombers. Just a sad state of affairs
Cleveland Guardians
Tough week for the Guardians, they dropped both series against the Astros & Reds. Their lineup has gone temporarily cold as they scored under 4 runs in every game except their last against the Reds. Their road gets no easier next week as they have the Mariners & Giants.
Minnesota Twins
The Twins, similar to the Guardians, only won 2 of the 6 games they played last week and lost both series they played. They gave up 16 runs to the Texas Rangers on two different occasions which is concerning to say the least, as the Rangers offense is not very stellar. There is not much to say about these guys right now as they fall into the same tier of mediocrity as the Royals & Guardians
Chicago White Sox
The White Sox won a series against the Royals & we didn’t get to mention it but the previous series they split against the Tigers. Sure they lost the next series to the Astros, but the White Sox are a much tougher battle on a daily basis than they’ve been in years passed. Their pitching staff has held up this year through stretches, a sign that bolstering the lineup in the years to follow could have them out of the cellar of the league standings.
AL West
Houston Astros
The Astros continue to serve as the gold-standard in the AL West. They won both series they played this week and have opened up a 4.5 game lead over the Mariners in the division. Their 10 inning victory over Cleveland on the road is a testament to this team’s grit. & Hunter Brown continues to be one of the best pitchers in the MLB
Seattle Mariners
Tough week for the M’s as they lost 5 of 6 to the DBacks & Angels. They want to be the team that pushes the Astros in the division but weeks like this won’t help their case. Their series against the Guardians is an opportunity to return to form and challenge the Astros
Los Angeles Angels
The Angels keep fighting! 5 of their last 6 all against division rivals & they have crept right back into the playoff picture. Zach Neto has paced this offense in a big way with 2.5 WAR up to this point in the season, & I believe he has a chance to make this year’s all-star team. On the flip side, Yusei Kikuchi has been the team’s ace as he currently boasts a 3.05 ERA
Texas Rangers
The Texas Rangers are beginning to show signs of life which their fans have been longing for all season (better late than never). Their pitching took charge in the Nationals series as they stole the final 2 of 3 behind the stellar 7 inning shutout performance by Jacob Degrom & a well pitched bullpen game the following day. The next series it was their hitting who made some noise, as they took 2 of 3 from the Twins on the road & scored a combined 32 runs in the two games they won! Evan Carter, Jace Jung, & Kyle Higashioka were responsible for driving in 15 of those 32 runs. With the White Sox & struggling Royals on the agenda this week it could be a chance for the Rangers to gain some serious ground
Sacramento A’s
The A’s picked up a nice series win before squandering that momentum in a sweep against the Angels. A fitting week for a team that despite some fun pieces, will not be putting together any sort of playoff run this season.
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