MLB Power Rankings: Padres & Red Sox Tumble, Marlins Rising

One of the clearest themes emerging this week is the National League’s grip on the top of the sport. Four of the top five teams in these rankings come from the NL, with the Yankees standing as the lone American League representative among baseball’s elite. The Braves, Dodgers, Cubs, and Brewers have all paired strong records with underlying numbers that suggest their success is built on more than just a hot stretch.

That is why third-order wins remain such a useful lens for evaluating the league. Based on Clay Davenport’s adjusted standings, the metric goes beyond wins and losses by factoring in run differential, quality of competition, and ballpark effects. The goal is to identify which teams are genuinely playing the best baseball rather than simply riding favorable sequencing or a soft portion of the schedule.

The separation is becoming more pronounced as June moves along. While the NL’s contenders continue to strengthen their position, several clubs near the bottom of these rankings entered the season expecting to compete for playoff spots and are already running short on runway. Teams like the Astros, Mets, and Royals still have time to recover, but the margin for error is shrinking quickly as the standings begin to harden into something more meaningful than an early-season snapshot.

These rankings are built to highlight sustainable performance over temporary momentum. The arrows below show which teams are trending upward, slipping backward, or holding steady as the postseason race slowly starts to take shape.

1. Dodgers — 45.7–19.2 (.704)
Biggest Weekly Storyline: The Dodgers have a +126 run differential through 60 games. Seven of the nine teams with a better run differential at that point in a season reached the World Series and five won it.

2. Yankees — 40.1–22.8 (.638)
Biggest Weekly Storyline: Aaron Judge played with a fractured rib since April 27th and aggravated when he hit the wall to make a catch on May 3rd. He is expected to miss four-six weeks. 

3. Braves — 40.3–24.7 (.620)
Biggest Weekly Storyline: Atlanta’s .697 road winning percentage is MLB’s best this season. It’s also the third-best in the Integration Era (since 1947), trailing only the .728 mark of the 2001 Mariners and the .704 mark of the 2018 Astros.

4. Brewers — 38.3–23.6 (.619)

Biggest Weekly Storyline: Jacob Misiorowski (rightfully) gets a lot of attention in Milwaukee’s rotation. However, Kyle Harrison has been nearly as good. In 11 games, he has a 1.57 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, and 2.7 WAR. 

5. Pirates — 36.1–28.9 (.555) ⬆️
Biggest Weekly Storyline: The Pirates placed rookie shortstop Konnor Griffin on the 10-day injured list due to a right elbow strain. He has been streaky to start his big-league career but has a .729 OPS. 

6. Cubs — 35.3–29.7 (.543) ⬇️

Biggest Weekly Storyline: In one game, Pete Crow-Armstrong allowed an inside-the-park home run after losing a ball in the lights before hitting a walk-off homer in the ninth. It was his 50th career home run. 

7. Mariners — 35.2–29.7 (.542) ⬆️
Biggest Weekly Storyline: Seattle’s starters get a lot of attention, but their bullpen has been a strength this year. The bullpen ranks first in MLB in inherited runners scored, second in MLB in ERA, and HR/9.

8. Marlins — 34.5–30.5 (.531) ⬆️

Biggest Weekly Storyline: Max Meyer finished Wednesday’s start with seven innings while only giving up one run on two hits, walking two, and striking out seven. Meyer even tied a club record by going 13 consecutive starts without a loss.

9. Rays — 32.2–28.8 (.528) ⬇️
Biggest Weekly Storyline: Drew Rasmussen allowed one hit in seven dominant innings on Friday. He struck out a season-high nine and retired 17 straight after allowing an opposite-field single to right in the second.

10. Nationals — 33.4–31.6 (.514) ⬆️
Biggest Weekly Storyline: Luis García Jr. hit his first career grand slam for his second homer of the game as part of a five-homer effort for the Nationals on Friday. 

11. Rangers — 32.7–31.3 (.511) ⬇️ 
Biggest Weekly Storyline: Corey Seager returned from the IL and hit a two-run homer in his first game back. Seager had missed 19 games since May 13 while on the injured list because of lower back inflammation.

12. Blue Jays — 33.1–31.9 (.509) ⬇️

Biggest Weekly Storyline: Chad Dallas got his MLB debut call on Lou Gehrig Day, which is even more meaningful for him since his father died from ALS. In his debut, he pitched 3 2/3 innings while allowing just one run on two hits, walking two and striking out two. 

13. Guardians — 33.5–32.5 (.508) ⬆️
Biggest Weekly Storyline: The Guardians won a series against the Yankees in New York. This included taking games from early Cy Young candidate Cam Schlittler and Gerrit Cole. 

14. White Sox — 32.3–31.7 (.505) ⬆️
Biggest Weekly Storyline: Munetaka Murakami’s monster May earned him AL Rookie of the Month honors. However, he is currently on the IL with a hamstring injury. 

15. Red Sox — 31.1–30.9 (.502) ⬇️

Biggest Weekly Storyline: Aroldis Chapman is just seven strikeouts away from passing Hoyt Wilhelm and securing the No. 1 spot on the all-time strikeout list for relievers. Craig Kimbrel and Kenley Jansen are the only other active pitchers in the top 10.

16. Cardinals — 30.8–31.2 (.497) ⬆️
Biggest Weekly Storyline: Outfielder Lars Nootbaar was activated from the 60-day injured list on Friday after having had surgery on both of his heels in the offseason. In his first game, he had two hits, a double, an RBI, a run scored and a running catch in left field.

17. Tigers — 31.7–33.3 (.488) ⬆️
Biggest Weekly Storyline: Two-time AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal made a rehab start on Sunday and is expected to rejoin the Tigers rotation later this week. Detroit is well out of the race, so his return is more about showcasing himself for a potential trade. 

18. Diamondbacks — 30.1–33.9 (.470) ⬇️ 
Biggest Weekly Storyline: Corbin Burnes has a right lat injury that will sideline him from throwing activities in his recovery from last year's Tommy John surgery. He has only made 11 starts for Arizona since signing the richest contract in franchise history (six years, $210 million).

19. Giants — 30.3–34.8 (.465) ⬆️
Biggest Weekly Storyline: The Giants scored 30 runs in two games this week. It was their most in any two-game span since 1944, which was 14 years before the team moved to San Francisco.

20. Astros — 30.4–35.7 (.460) ⬆️
Biggest Weekly Storyline: The Astros activated Josh Hader after the star closer missed the start of the 2026 season due to biceps injury. 

21. Phillies — 29.4–34.6 (.459) ⬇️
Biggest Weekly Storyline: Zack Wheeler didn’t allow a hit to the Padres until the sixth, and finished with seven innings by allowing two runs and striking out eight. In the same game, the Phillies cleared the 4-run threshold for the first time since May 18.

22. Orioles — 29.6–35.5 (.455) ⬆️
Biggest Weekly Storyline: Trevor Rogers had a bounce-back start against Boston after the Orioles had lost seven straight games with Rogers on the mound. He allowed just one run in 5 2/3 innings of work.

23. Twins — 29.3–36.7 (.444) ⬇️

Biggest Weekly Storyline: The Twins recalled Royce Lewis after his recent demotion to Triple-A for a reset. In 15 games and across 60 at-bats, Lewis had a .333 batting average with a 1.303 OPS.

24. Royals — 28.8–36.2 (.443) ⬆️

Biggest Weekly Storyline: Josh Rojas played at Triple-A and the MLB level on the same day. He went 1-for-3 at Triple-A before being called up on Thursday. Because of a rain delay, he arrived in the eighth inning and hit the game-winning two-run single in the top of the ninth. 

25. Angels — 28.8–36.2 (.443) ⬇️
Biggest Weekly Storyline: Reid Detmers held the Dodgers to two hits over six shutout innings on Friday. Over his last three starts, Detmers has allowed just four runs on eight hits and five walks while racking up 27 strikeouts across 19 innings.

26. Mets — 28.2–35.8 (.441) ⬆️

Biggest Weekly Storyline: In a disappointing season, Christian Scott’s reemergence is among the Mets’ most positive developments. On Friday, he pitched 5 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing three hits and two walks as his ERA dropped to 2.50.

27. Athletics — 28.0–36.0 (.438) ⬇️
Biggest Weekly Storyline: The team elected to designate former closer Joel Kuhnel for assignment. Over his last seven appearances, he posted a brutal ERA of 7.88 in eight innings pitched. 

28. Padres — 27.5–35.5 (.437) ⬇️

Biggest Weekly Storyline: The Padres designated Nick Castellanos for assignment after he hit .191 with the team. San Diego also dropped 10 spots in the ranking compared to last week.  

29. Reds — 24.5–38.5 (.389) 
Biggest Weekly Storyline: Hunter Greene, who has been out the entire season, is set to begin throwing live batting practice. There’s a chance he makes a couple of starts before the All-Star break. 

30. Rockies — 22.8–42.3 (.350)
Biggest Weekly Storyline: Troy Johnston’s .320 batting average is fifth-best in all of MLB, and is the highest a Rockies player has had on June 5 since Nolan Arenado hit .343 in 2019.

What storylines stood out this week? Do you agree with the rankings above? Leave a comment and start the discussion.