MLB Power Rankings for week of September 1

The last day any team other than the Dodgers, Yankees, Phillies and Orioles appeared in the top four of our Power Rankings was July 8, when the Guardians had a two-week run. (The team they knocked out: The Yankees.) We now have a new team in our top four: The Brewers, who displaced the Orioles with a 5-2 week. The Brewers sure do deserve their spot: They now have the biggest division lead in all of baseball.

These rankings, as always, are compiled from rankings from MLB.com contributors whose names you can find at the bottom of this (and every) piece, but the words are mine. If you dislike the rankings, yell at all of us. But if you dislike the words, feel free to yell at me.

1. Dodgers (previously: 1)
Season high: 1 | Season low: 6

The Dodgers’ four-game win streak ended on Sunday with a thud against the Diamondbacks, but their first two wins in that series put some real distance between them and the chasing Arizona club. I’m personally not ready to say goodbye to the glorious start of their win on Saturday: Homers from Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman, 1-2-3 to start the game. Hope you weren’t stuck in the beer line.

2. Yankees (previously: 2)
Season high: 1 | Season low: 7

3. Phillies (previously: 3)
Season high: 1 | Season low: 8

Heading into Sunday night’s game, it was clear that the Phillies had raised their game against elite competition. Over a nine-game stretch against likely playoff teams in the Braves, Royals and Astros, the Phillies went 6-3, with a 1.48 ERA in those six wins. They also now have 14 shutouts, most in the Majors.

4. Brewers (previously: 5)
Season high: 4 | Season low: 19

The Brewers finally lost on Sunday, costing them a chance at their 81st win, which when they get it will clinch their seventh consecutive non-losing season (not counting the truncated 2020 season). Before this run, their longest streak of non-losing seasons was six, from 1978-83.

5. Orioles (previously: 4)
Season high: 1 | Season low: 5

The Orioles had losing months in both July and August, which is not exactly how you’d like to be making a charge for the top overall seed in the American League for the second straight year. September looks to start well, anyway: After their win on Sunday, they start a six-game homestand against two losing teams: The most losing team of them all, the White Sox, and the Rays.

6. Astros (previously: 6)
Season high: 5 | Season low: 26

It’s cool to have five starting pitchers, but you know what’s really cool? Having six. The Astros have moved to a six-man rotation upon Justin Verlander’s return, and they’re all so good: This is the best rotation in baseball and has been for a couple of months. Don’t put it past the Astros to make a run at one of the top two spots in the American League to get themselves a first-round bye.

7. Diamondbacks (previously: 8)
Season high: 7 | Season low: 19

Well, so much for catching the Dodgers. The much-anticipated battle in Phoenix this week turned out not as they might have hoped, with the Dodgers winning the first two games before the Diamondbacks recovered on Sunday. The Diamondbacks have done enough during their recent run to stay comfortably in an NL Wild Card spot, but those NL West-winning dreams may be nearing an end.

8. Guardians (previously: 7)
Season high: 2 | Season low: 21

The skids by the Royals and the Twins of late have done wonders for the Guardians, who haven’t exactly been lighting up the scoreboard themselves, thanks to a limp offense. At the middle of it has been Steven Kwan, whose batting average has dipped below .300 after sitting as high as .398 on June 16.

9. Padres (previously: 9)
Season high: 7 | Season low: 21

Manny Machado looks healthy, at last, and he’s playing like an MVP again. It’s great to see, not just because Machado is so fun to watch, but also because he’s at the pivot point in his career when he needs to start locking in his Hall of Fame numbers. He looks like himself again now — and sure looks like he’s going to do some October damage.

10. Royals (previously: 10)
Season high: 6 | Season low: 24

The Royals grabbed Tommy Pham off waivers right before the postseason-eligibility deadline, partly because of his postseason heroics last year for the Diamondbacks. But it’s telling that he batted leadoff for them — and went 2-for-5 — in his first game: The Royals’ offense has cratered during their current five-game losing streak, with just 14 runs scored during the skid.

11. Twins (previously: 11)
Season high: 7 | Season low: 23

The Twins were in danger of losing 10 of their past 13 games before Royce Lewis’ stirring three-run homer on Sunday. They have also been helped by no one else in the American League Wild Card chase making that big of a run at them: The only hot team in the race has been the Tigers, and they were so far behind a month ago that they traded one of their best pitchers. Still: The Twins best figure this out soon.

12. Braves (previously: 12)
Season high: 1 | Season low: 13

Last year the Braves had one of the best offenses in baseball, but if this current stretch ends up turning their season around in time to get them in the playoffs, it’ll be the starting pitching that did it: Their starters had 203 strikeouts in August, the highest total in a month in franchise history. (And, uh, the Braves have had some pretty good rotations.)

13. Mets (previously: 14)
Season high: 10 | Season low: 25

It’s a gift for a National League team to get a series against the White Sox right now, and the Mets took full advantage with a sweep over the weekend as they continue to creep up the Wild Card standings. The chill schedule is mostly in their rearview mirror: They have seven more games with the first-place Phillies the rest of the way.

14. Red Sox (previously: 13)
Season high: 11 | Season low: 22

The bullpen woes continued for the Red Sox on Sunday, with Rich Hill (aw) and Zack Kelly giving up a lead to a Tigers team right behind them in the Wild Card race. Since Aug. 7, the Red Sox have the second-worst bullpen ERA in baseball. They’ve now lost 15 of their past 24.

15. Cubs (previously: 17)
Season high: 8 | Season low: 22

The Cubs’ offense has been on an absolute tear lately, and right at the center of it has been Nico Hoerner, who has an eight-game hit streak in which he has hit .367 with 10 runs. The only real question with the Cubs: Is this all happening too late?

16. Mariners (previously: 15)
Season high: 6 | Season low: 21

Julio Rodríguez hit his first homer since July on Thursday, a truly amazing thing to say about a guy who some people (including your author) picked as their MVP favorite heading into the year. He has been, essentially, an average MLB hitter this year: A 103 OPS+ with 13 homers and 46 RBIs a season after he had 32 and 103.

17. Tigers (previously: 21)
Season high: 7 | Season low: 24

The Tigers likely aren’t going to make the playoffs. But it’s fun to watch them try to make it interesting, isn’t it? After taking two of three from the Red Sox over the weekend, the Tigers are now five games out for the third Wild Card spot. So it could happen! (I wonder if they wish they had Jack Flaherty in their rotation right now.)

18. Cardinals (previously: 19)
Season high: 12 | Season low: 27

The Cardinals let veterans Tommy Pham and Brandon Crawford go over the last week, partly out of an honest assessment of their postseason likelihood and mostly out of a desire to give everyday playing time to young players like Jordan Walker and Lars Nootbaar. It may be starting to pay off. The Cardinals scored 14 runs and had 21 hits in a series-winning victory at Yankee Stadium on Sunday, and Walker and Nootbaar were a combined 8-for-10 with eight RBIs and six runs.

19. Giants (previously: 16)
Season high: 12 | Season low: 23

The Giants had a nice little run, but this doesn’t look like a team that’s about to make the playoffs after all. They dropped under .500 this weekend, and they have the second toughest schedule down the stretch. So … what happens now with this franchise?

20. Rays (previously: 18)
Season high: 9 | Season low: 24

A year after he (finally) made the Hall of Fame, Fred McGriff was inducted into the Tampa Bay Rays Hall of Fame on Sunday. It was excellent to see him: He looks great! (I would watch any instructional video he made today.) There are now five people in the Rays Hall of Fame: McGriff, broadcaster Dave Wills, Wade Boggs, Don Zimmer and Carl Crawford.

21. Reds (previously: 20)
Season high: 11 | Season low: 25

Did you forget about Brandon Williamson? I think I might have forgotten about Brandon Williamson. The promising young Reds starter, who was solid in 23 starts in 2023 before having surgery on his throwing shoulder, finally made his season debut on Sunday and struck out five in 3 1/3 innings. He’ll be a handy addition for a team that will be looking to make a big jump next year.

22. Blue Jays (previously: 24)
Season high: 8 | Season low: 25

The Blue Jays had their first winning month in August, going 16-12, which was awfully welcome after a most miserable first four months of the year. If you’re looking to make the case for the Blue Jays hanging on to their stars under contract for next year to make a run in 2025, the last month is that best case.

23. Rangers (previously: 22)
Season high: 4 | Season low: 23

The Rangers have been playing better lately, particularly over the last couple of weeks, but it is rather clearly happening too late, even considering their relatively easy schedule down the stretch. The time for this win streak was probably a month and a half ago, alas.

24. Nationals (previously: 25)
Season high: 20 | Season low: 27

That groan you heard from any baseball fan over 35 resulted from us all learning that Darren Baker, the son of Dusty Baker, the kid who had to be swooped up and away from the plate by J.T. Snow in the 2003 World Series, had gotten called up to the Majors. The worst part: He’s actually kinda old for a rookie, at 25, which means we’re all at least three or four older than Baker’s callup made us feel.

25. Pirates (previously: 23)
Season high: 9 | Season low: 25

For all the excitement the Pirates have generated this season, it should be noted that they are on pace to have essentially the same record they did last year: 76-86. That’s still an improvement on the triple-digit loss seasons of 2021-22, but still: It’s probably time to make a bigger leap forward.

26. A’s (previously: 26)
Season high: 20 | Season low: 30

Lawrence Butler has been out of control lately — again. Butler became the third player in baseball this year to hit six homers in five games, a stretch that included his second three-homer game of the season. The other two are Aaron Judge and Juan Soto (who did it twice).

27. Angels (previously: 27)
Season high: 24 | Season low: 28

Anybody notice what Mickey Moniak did in August? After his two-homer game, including a walk-off, on the last day of the month, his final stats for August: In 19 games, he had a slash line of .359/.397/.719 with six homers and 13 RBIs. That looks like the line of a guy once picked first overall.

28. Rockies (previously: 28)
Season high: 27 | Season low: 29

It’s always a good thing to see Matt Holliday back hanging around at Coors Field, which happened this weekend for the best possible reason: His son Jackson made a trip there with the Orioles. We love ourselves a good emotional ceremonial first pitch.

29. Marlins (previously: 29)
Season high: 23 | Season low: 30

There isn’t much that triggers the ol’ nostalgia sensors than a guy with “CONINE” on the back of his jersey hitting a homer for the Marlins. Griffin Conine, all 27 years old of him, hit the first homer of his career on Saturday. That is only 119 fewer than his dad hit for the team.

30. White Sox (previously: 30)
Season high: 28 | Season low: 30

We all figured the White Sox would be worse after the All-Star break and especially after the Trade Deadline, considering how bad they were before they sent off their useful pieces. But 4-36 after the All-Star break? 4-36? They now have three different 10-game losing streaks this year, which is almost impressive.