The Baltimore Orioles sold at the deadline, are under .500 … and would be in the playoffs if the season ended today.
That’s the current state of affairs in the underwhelming American League, where five teams are fewer than two games behind the Orioles for the final playoff spot. Every AL team other than the Royals, A’s and Angels still feels like it’s in contention.
That’s not the case in the National League, where three teams with winning records (Arizona, Miami, St. Louis) are chasing the final wild-card spot, which currently belongs to San Diego.
All of those playoff hopefuls will need a late-season spark plug in order to make an October run. In this week’s Power Rankings, we identify one player from every team worth watching down the stretch.
The Angels decided to keep Zach Neto at the deadline, but he has a .489 OPS since the break. It’s hard to envision the team taking strides forward until it gets its shortstop on track.
It’d be fun to see Bryce Eldridge go on a late-season tear to bring some hope for the future in what has been a lost season in San Francisco. The rookie has 13 homers in 81 games.
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Rookie Bryce Eldridge has been a bright spot for the Giants in an otherwise lost season. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
The A’s were never going to do much with Nick Kurtz, Shea Langeliers, Brent Rooker and Tyler Soderstrom all injured, but they certainly weren’t expecting right fielder Lawrence Butler to be a below replacement level player in the second season of his seven-year extension. He has looked better lately, so maybe he can turn it around.
Could Zac Veen be a post-hype sleeper down the stretch? After raking in 100 games at Triple-A (.327/.402/.635), the Rockies outfielder is already providing a spark in his first four games back in the big leagues.
As bad as things have gone in Kansas City, Jac Caglianone is on fire in August. The 23-year-old is slashing .407/.429/.759 with nine extra-base hits and 18 RBIs in 14 games this month as he continues his breakout.
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After struggling as a rookie, Jac Caglianone has broken out the power bat in his second season with the Royals.(Photo by Ryan Sun/Getty Images)
Elly De La Cruz is 7-for-51 (.137) with one stolen base in August. The Reds need him to get back to being a dynamic force down the stretch if they want to challenge for a playoff spot.
It took until August, but the Mets are finally playing some ball. A significant part of that is the uptick from Bo Bichette, who is starting to resemble the player the Mets envisioned.
The Mariners mustered a big series win in Houston, but their road back to relevance won’t get any easier as their next three series are against the Brewers, Cubs and Phillies. Julio Rodríguez is heating up, and one of his annual late-season surges might be the only thing that can save Seattle.
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The Mariners need a late-season surge from Julio Rodríguez to help them sneak into the playoffs. (Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images)
Acquired as part of the Mackenzie Gore trade with the Rangers, 24-year-old first baseman Abimelec Ortiz has five home runs in his first 13 games.
Is Royce Lewis … back? The 27-year-old infielder has an OPS over 1.000 in August. After years of injuries, it would be a joy to see the former top overall pick find the form that made him such a captivating young talent a few seasons ago.
Unmoved by their deadline additions, the Guardians are 9-19 to start the second half, and José Ramírez hasn’t looked like himself since returning from his hamate fracture last month. The Guardians aren’t going to do much if Ramírez is a league-average hitter.
You simply can’t drop back-to-back series against the Angels and A’s when you’re trying to be taken seriously as a contender. Wyatt Langford, who had a 1.005 OPS in June and an .819 OPS in July, has a .597 OPS in August. The Rangers need to get him going again.
All eyes are on Paul Skenes as he tries to right the ship. Pittsburgh’s ace has a 5.62 ERA since the start of July, and the Pirates have won just three of his past 13 starts. Skenes’ velocity is down, he just threw 65 pitches in his last start, and he had his next start pushed back. Those are all ominous signs, but maybe he can figure it out in time to save Pittsburgh’s season.
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Despite his decrease in velocity and struggles on the mound, Paul Skenes and the Pirates say he’s not injured. (Photo by Peter Joneleit/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
They don’t have Adley Rutschman or Taylor Ward anymore, but they still have the Polar Bear. Pete Alonso is hitting .380 with four homers in August and giving the Orioles a chance to sneak into the playoffs even after their deadline selloff.
Framber Valdez signed a three-year, $115 million deal that gave him the highest average annual value of any left-handed pitcher in the sport, but his performances all year have been marred by inconsistency. The Tigers need Valdez to get in more of a rhythm with Tarik Skubal and Casey Mize gone.
Their spectacular pitching has the Blue Jays still dreaming of October baseball. The offense, meanwhile, has been the worst in the American League. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. can’t be a below league-average hitter all season, right? … RIGHT?
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Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has not hit a single home run at home all season. (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images)
Considering how thin their rotation is — they rank 28th in starters ERA — the Astros can’t afford for Hunter Brown (3.67 ERA) to simply be solid. Free passes continue to be a problem that he’ll need to figure out quickly.
Since returning from a leg injury in June, Eury Pérez has a 1.80 ERA over his past 10 starts. When Perez and Sandy Alcantara are pitching the way they are now, the Marlins have a chance against anyone.
Rookie Joshua Báez, who just became the first player ever to homer in each of his first three at-bats, is already helping jump-start a Cardinals offense that had the lowest OPS in the sport in July.
We know the Phillies’ top three starters give them a chance against any team they’ll see in October. But if they want to make it there, they’ll need to win some of the other games, too. On that note, Aaron Nola has a 2.91 ERA over his past four starts.
The seemingly indomitable Red Sox have suddenly dropped seven of their past nine games and have scored more than four runs just once in that stretch. Adley Rutschman is 1-for-17 to start his Boston career, which obviously has to change if the Red Sox want to make a run. (Of course, getting Roman Anthony, who’s been out since early May with a finger injury, back for the stretch will also help.)
The White Sox put a ton of faith in Luis Castillo to turn his season around when they traded for him at the deadline. In two starts with his new club, Castillo has already provided fodder for the believers (7 IP, 0 R, 10 K) and the doubters (4 IP, 5 R, 5 K).
With the return dates for injured starters Zac Gallen, Ryne Nelson and Corbin Burnes unclear, what Brandon Pfaadt is doing right now is invaluable. He has a 1.09 ERA over his last eight starts and hasn’t allowed an earned run in any of his past four starts.
The answer here is obviously Aaron Judge, whenever he gets back. For now, the Yankees can enjoy the spark provided by rookie George Lombard Jr., who’s giving them reason to get excited about the shortstop position again.
Sweeping the Brewers? You have my attention, San Diego. The Padres have had the best offense in baseball since the break, and Jackson Merrill has looked a lot more like the phenom who gave Paul Skenes a run for his Rookie of the Year Award two years ago.
After dropping three of four to the Brewers, the Dodgers are now 5-10 in August and 18-21 since the start of July. I’m putting the focus here on both of their major offseason additions: Edwin Díaz has a 10.66 ERA and has blown three of his past five save opportunities, while Kyle Tucker can’t hit at home. As talented as the Dodgers are, one of those two has to get right by season’s end if they want to three-peat.
After a pedestrian start to the year, Alex Bregman has been MLB’s most valuable third baseman since the All-Star break. The Cubs are going to be hard to stop if Bregman continues hitting like this.
The Braves have enjoyed this bounce-back campaign despite Austin Riley enduring the worst offensive season of his eight-year career. However, Riley has a .957 OPS in August. Can he keep it up?
The Rays won nine straight games on the road before returning home to welcome the Orioles, who then took three straight at Tropicana Field. One of those losses went to Freddy Peralta, who remains in search of his old form. The two-time All-Star’s past two starts (10.2 IP, 5 R) were at least an improvement on his Rays debut disaster (3.2 IP, 7 R).
After getting swept in San Diego, the Brewers had a statement series win in L.A. while playing without Brice Turang, who might need to manage his knee pain the rest of the year. Getting William Contreras going feels vital. The standout catcher has a meager .604 OPS in the second half, but he homered on Saturday and reached base twice Sunday.
