Featured in this week’s MLB Power Rankings, Quinn Priester keeps winning, Trea Turner hits the injured list, the Yankees are good at tipping pitches, Cal Raleigh continues to slug his way into the history books, the Orioles pull off the impossible, and much more.
(Please note these power rankings are a combination of current performance and long-term projected outlook)
MLB: Oakland Athletics at Seattle Mariners
2025 Fantasy Baseball Top 300 update: Ailing Bobby Witt Jr. tumbles, Julio Rodríguez joins top 10
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Mookie Betts jumps back up, and Brad Keller is the high debut in this week’s top 300 update.
Let’s get started!
Note: Rankings are from the morning of Monday, September 8.
1) Milwaukee Brewers
Last week: 1
Once again the top team in our rankings, the Brewers sit at 89 wins with 18 games to play, putting them in strong position to set a new franchise record with 97 wins. Speaking of wins, Quinn Priester set a franchise record over the weekend by winning his 11th straight decision. What a find he’s been for Milwaukee.
2) Philadelphia Phillies
Last week: 2
The Phillies have already lost Zack Wheeler for the season, but now Trea Turner (hamstring) and Alec Bohm (shoulder) are on the injured list. Turner, who is having one of his best all-around seasons, is the only qualified hitter in the NL with a .300 batting average. The Phillies are in good shape to win the NL East, but will Turner be at 100 percent in time for the postseason?
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3) Toronto Blue Jays ⬆️
Last week: 4
You probably all saw the confrontation over a home run ball from the Phillies-Marlins game over the weekend. I prefer we see more of what this kind Blue Jays fan did for a young Yankees fan.
4) Detroit Tigers ⬇️
Last week: 3
Kyle Finnegan landed on the injured list on Friday due to a right adductor strain, a tough blow for someone who has been one of the best trade deadline pickups. Finnegan has yet to allow a run since being acquired from the Nationals, posting 14 1/3 scoreless innings to go along with a 19/3 K/BB ratio. The hope is that he’ll be able to return to pitch in a couple of games before the postseason begins.
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5) New York Yankees ⬆️
Last week: 7
The Blue Jays’ lead in the AL East is down to two games after the Yankees took two out of three over the weekend. Pitch tipping was a hot topic after Sunday’s game, as it played a role in Ben Rice’s three-run homer against Max Scherzer.
It should be said that this is a perfectly legal thing to do. If the Yankees are guilty of anything, it’s just that they are a lot more obvious about it than most teams.
6) Chicago Cubs ⬇️
Last week: 5
Injury concerns abound for the Cubs. Kyle Tucker is nursing a calf issue, Pete Crow-Armstrong fouled a ball off his knee on Saturday, and closer Daniel Palencia hurt his shoulder on Sunday while getting crushed in the ninth inning against the Nationals.
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7) Los Angeles Dodgers ⬇️
Last week: 6
Shohei Ohtani slugged his 47th and 48th homers on Sunday as the Dodgers snapped a five-game losing streak. Fortunately for them, the Padres have been unable to take advantage of the struggles.
8) Boston Red Sox ⬆️
Last week: 9
Aroldis Chapman is in the midst of one of the most dominant runs of all-time. And that’s no hyperbole. He’s now retired 50 consecutive batters (remember, 27 outs would be a perfect game) dating back to July 23. His ERA sits at 0.98 through 60 appearances and opposing batters are hitting .113 with a .346 against him. No signs of slowing down for the 37-year-old
9) San Diego Padres ⬇️
Last week: 8
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The Padres won back-to-back games against the Rockies to close out the weekend after losing five straight games. Nestor Cortes is the latest Padre to go down, but Michael King is expected to make his long-awaited return on Tuesday against the Reds.
10) Houston Astros
Last week: 10
With a few monster games over the past week, Yordan Alvarez now boasts a ridiculous .425/.529/.700 batting line with three homers, nine RBI, and a 5/10 K/BB ratio over 12 games since returning from the injured list.
11) New York Mets
Last week: 11
The Mets won a very normal baseball game on Friday, as Edwin Díaz was forced to change his cleats in the middle of a bases-loaded jam against the Reds. He managed a miraculous escape thanks to a great play by Luisangel Acuña.
R.I.P. Davey Johnson
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12) Seattle Mariners
Last week: 12
Cal Raleigh connected for his 53rd homer as part of an 18-2 mauling of the Braves on Sunday, which leaves him just one homer behind Mickey Mantle (1961) for the most-ever by a switch-hitter.
13) Texas Rangers
Last week: 13
Winners of 11 out of their last 15 games, the Rangers find themselves just 1 1/2 games behind the division rival Mariners for the final AL Wild Card spot. They’ll face a tough test against the Brewers to begin the week.
14) Kansas City Royals
Last week: 14
Looking for a series with some serious playoff intensity? The Royals and Guardians will kick off a three-game series on Monday in Cleveland with just a half-game separating them in the AL Wild Card standings. Cole Ragans looked great in his first rehab start on Sunday, so things are looking up for KC.
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15) Cleveland Guardians ⬆️
Last week: 17
After a quiet August, José Ramirez has picked things up at the plate so far this month. He plated a run with a triple in Sunday’s win over the Rays, passing Jim Thome for the second-most RBI (938) in team history. Only Earl Averill (1,084), who played for Cleveland from 1929-1939, is ahead of J-Ram.
16) San Francisco Giants
Last week: 16
The Giants were one of the hottest teams in baseball before losing two out of three to the Cardinals in St. Louis over the weekend. It was a missed opportunity with the Mets losing back-to-back games against the Reds.
17) Cincinnati Reds ⬇️
Last week: 15
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Imagine if the Reds had Hunter Greene all season? The young ace gave up just one hit (a solo homer to Brett Baty) over seven innings with 12 strikeouts in Sunday’s win over the Mets and holds a 2.59 ERA through 16 starts on the year.
18) Arizona Diamondbacks ⬆️
Last week: 19
From the jump, to the angle, to competing with a fan at the wall, the degree of difficulty on this home run-robbing catch by Blaze Alexander was off the charts.
19) St. Louis Cardinals ⬆️
Last week: 20
Don’t look now, but the Cardinals are back at .500 for the first time since August 13. It was nice to see Jordan Walker (who we talked about last week) finally break out of his 0-for-25 hitless streak for a walk-off win on Saturday.
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20) Tampa Bay Rays ⬇️
Last week: 18
The Rays aren’t officially out of it, but after creeping back into the thick of the AL Wild Card race, they lost three straight to the Guardians over the weekend while scoring a total of four runs.
21) Los Angeles Angels ⬆️
Last week: 22
If you’re looking for a positive out of another losing season for the Angels, Jo Adell has to be near the top. He launched his 35th homer on Sunday against the A’s and is hitting .293 with 14 home runs, 33 RBI, and a 1.009 OPS over his last 31 games.
22) Miami Marlins ⬇️
Last week: 21
Ryan Weathers showed some promise during the first half before going down with a left lat strain, but he’s finally on track to rejoin the Marlins’ rotation this week. Miami has all sorts of upside on the pitching front, but it will be interesting to see what they decide to do with the likes of Sandy Alcantara and Edward Cabrera this offseason.
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23) Baltimore Orioles ⬆️
Last week: 27
Hats off to the Orioles, who pulled off one of the craziest wins you’ll ever see on Saturday. They went from being one out away from being no-hit by Dodgers hurler Yoshinobu Yamamoto to a dramatic walk-off victory. And on the day the Orioles celebrated the 30th anniversary of Cal Ripken Jr.’s consecutive games record, no less.
And then there’s this.
24) Athletics ⬇️
Last week: 23
Nick Kurtz had a recent scare with an oblique issue, but fortunately everything checked out well and it hasn’t stopped him from hitting absolute missiles.
I decided to show you this home run rather than the 32.5 mph pitch from position player Scott Kingery that struck him out later in the game. That was something, but it wasn’t baseball.
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25) Atlanta Braves
Last week: 25
Ronald Acuña Jr. hasn’t looked right since returning from a calf strain, and it saw him get pushed down to the No. 6 spot in the Braves’ lineup on Saturday. He has just one hit in his last 30 at-bats over his last nine games.
26) Pittsburgh Pirates
Last week: 26
After pitching out of the bullpen for his first three appearances in the majors, top prospect Bubba Chandler made his first start on Sunday against the Brewers and it didn’t go well. The 22-year-old fireballer allowed the first five hitters to reach base and was ultimately charged with nine runs while failing to make it out of the third inning. It can only get better from here?
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27) Minnesota Twins ⬇️
Last week: 24
In case you were wondering, things are going great with the Twins.
28) Washington Nationals
Last week: 28
Well, look at that. After losing eight in a row, the Nationals have won five out of their last six games, the apex of which was this ninth-inning go-ahead homer from Josh Bell against the Cubs on Sunday.
29) Chicago White Sox
Last week: 29
While the White Sox saw their winning streak come to an end on Sunday, Will Robertson did everything he could to prevent it. Those are some serious ups.
30) Colorado Rockies
Last week: 30
Hunter Goodman was named the National League Player of the Week on Monday coming off an impressive week where he notched three straight three-straight games. He also made some franchise history along the way.
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