📈 Power Rankings

05.07.2025, 17:06 espn.com

Watch out Yankees ... the American League East is heating up.

New York has seen its division lead be entirely erased as it's now tied with the Blue Jays atop the division with the Rays just a half-game back. Both Toronto and Tampa Bay reached their highest rankings of the season this week at 10 and seven, respectively, while the Yankees hold fast at No. 6.

Elsewhere in the AL, the Astros have steadily moved up our list to No. 4, also their highest ranking of the season, after having ranked 17th as recently as mid-May. Houston has ridden its momentum to a seven-game lead over the Mariners, who have fallen to 14th after peaking at No. 8 in early June, in the AL West.

What will the next week and a half before the All-Star break bring?

Our expert panel has ranked every team based on a combination of what we've seen so far and what we already knew going into the 162-game marathon that is a full baseball season. We also asked ESPN MLB experts David Schoenfield, Alden Gonzalez and Bradford Doolittle to weigh in with an observation for all 30 teams.

Week 13 | Preseason rankings

Record: 55-32Previous ranking: 1

It's not just that Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow have yet to rejoin the rotation. It's not just that Shohei Ohtani is stretched out to only a couple of innings. It's not just that Michael Kopech joined 11 other pitchers by landing on the injured list Tuesday. It's that the Dodgers remain at the top of the standings even while getting very little from two of their most important offensive contributors. Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts combined to slash just .221/.293/.303 in the month of June. The Dodgers -- with their rotation shorthanded, their bullpen in flux and the top of their lineup compromised -- went 17-10 in June regardless. -- Gonzalez

Record: 54-33Previous ranking: 2

The legend of Tarik Skubal grows with each outing. When Skubal struck out 13 Twins over seven innings Sunday, it was the second time this season he has struck out that many hitters while throwing under 100 pitches. He also did it once last year. Baseball-Reference has pitch data mostly complete dating to 1988, and in that time, Skubal is one of only four pitchers to have three or more such games. Jacob deGrom has done it five times, and Freddy Peralta and Gerrit Cole are also at three. Skubal is as efficient as he is dominant. -- Doolittle

Record: 51-36Previous ranking: 3

There were 103 pitchers in June who threw at least 25 innings. They combined for a 3.76 ERA, giving up 1,261 earned runs in the aggregate. Only two of those earned runs were given up by Zack Wheeler, who had a 0.58 ERA over 31 innings in five June starts. There's a half-season to go, but Wheeler has moved into position to finally earn his first Cy Young Award after his second career second-place finish in last season's balloting. The Phillies haven't had a Cy Young winner since Roy Halladay in 2010, who in turn was the first Philadelphia Cy Young winner since the 1980s. -- Doolittle

Record: 52-34Previous ranking: 5

What was most impressive about the Astros' surge -- going 19-7 in June behind dominant pitching and dynamic performances from the likes of Jeremy Peña and Isaac Paredes -- was that they did it without Yordan Alvarez. That will have to continue. On Tuesday, just days before the Astros were getting ready to activate him off the injured list, Alvarez suffered a second setback in his recovery from a fracture in his right hand. He was at the team's spring training facility in Florida and reported that his hand felt sore after some swinging drills. He will now go see a hand specialist. The Astros can only hope for good news. -- Gonzalez

Record: 51-35Previous ranking: 4

Matthew Boyd continues to make a push for an All-Star selection, beating Cleveland -- the team that gave him a chance late last season to make a comeback after Tommy John surgery in 2023 -- on Tuesday with a strong seven innings to improve to 8-3 with a 2.65 ERA. He has lowered his ERA to 1.66 over his past seven outings. With Justin Steele out for the season and Shota Imanaga just back after sitting out seven weeks, Boyd has been the only steady presence in the Cubs' rotation. He has already pitched his most innings since 2019. Now the Cubs will look for some rotation help for him. -- Schoenfield

Record: 48-38Previous ranking: 6

The Yankees finished 13-14 in June, as the offense continued to stumble. After an .829 in OPS in April, it fell to .792 in May and .718 in June. Aaron Judge still hit nine home runs and had a .967 OPS in June, and Jazz Chisholm Jr. was terrific with a .318 average, seven home runs and 19 RBIs. But Paul Goldschmidt hit .143, Ben Rice hit .181 and Trent Grisham hit .229 with only two home runs. All three had been red hot to begin the season, helping to back up Judge early. Let's see if the Yankees look to add a bat at the trade deadline. -- Schoenfield

Record: 48-39Previous ranking: 9

Junior Caminero is having quite the season. With 21 home runs, he has a chance to become only the third player in his age-21 season to hit 40 home runs, matching Eddie Mathews (47 in 1953) and Ronald Acuña Jr. (41 in 2019). He's also chasing a more dubious record: Jim Rice's single-season record of 36 double plays grounded into (Caminero is already at 22). Caminero's strikeout-to-walk ratio improved in June, which bodes well for him continuing to mash in the second half. After a 26-6 ratio in April and 17-3 in May, it was 18-11 in June. Remember, this is his first full season in the majors. -- Schoenfield

Record: 48-38Previous ranking: 10

More Red Sox stars on the move? A former Cy Young available? Here are the big names your team could be targeting.Top 50 trade candidates »

Brandon Woodruff will rejoin the rotation this weekend in Miami to make his first MLB start since September 2023, when he injured his shoulder. Woodruff made 10 starts in his rehab assignment, a stretch that included a couple of setbacks when he sustained an ankle injury and was then struck by a line drive. His most recent rehab start Sunday had been his first since June 3 and he gave up four runs with only one strikeout in 3⅔ innings, throwing 82 pitches and topping out at 95.4 mph (averaging 93 on his fastball). Milwaukee's rotation has eclipsed expectations, but Woodruff would be a huge boost if he's close to what he was pre-injury. -- Schoenfield

Record: 49-38Previous ranking: 7

The Mets' slump has deepened to the point where it has changed the team's competitive context. On June 12, the Mets beat Washington, extending their winning streak to six games and going 21 games over .500. They held a three-game edge over the Cubs for the National League's top mark. Then New York dropped 14 of 18. Suddenly, the Mets were leading a close and crowded NL wild-card derby, only a couple of games from dropping out of the playoff picture altogether. Needless to say, things are getting stressful at Citi Field. -- Doolittle

Record: 48-38Previous ranking: 14

Alejandro Kirk is playing his best baseball since he started the 2022 All-Star Game. He hit .285 that season with a 127 OPS+ but fell off to a 92 OPS+ in each of the past two seasons. But he hit .365 in May and .337 in June and might be on his way to a Gold Glove Award. He leads all catchers in Statcast's catcher framing runs and has a caught-stealing rate above the MLB average. He trails only Cal Raleigh and Will Smith in catcher WAR via FanGraphs. The Blue Jays have never had a two-time All-Star catcher, as Kirk, John Buck, Russell Martin and Ernie Whitt each have one selection. -- Schoenfield

Record: 47-41Previous ranking: 11

Sonny Gray threw an absolute gem last Friday, a nine-inning one-hit shutout with 11 strikeouts and no walks to beat the Guardians. The game score of 96 was a career high for Gray and tied a Tarik Skubal start for best in the majors in 2025. Indeed, it was one of the best starts for a Cardinals pitcher since the division era began in 1969. Shelby Miller had a 98 in 2013 (9 IP, 1 H, 13 SO) and Jaime Garcia had a 97 in 2016 (9 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 13 SO). Jose DeLeon has the highest since 1969 with a 103, which came when he pitched 11 innings in 1989. -- Schoenfield

Record: 46-40Previous ranking: 12

The Padres finished the month of June with a losing record -- in large part due to their offense, which posted the sixth-lowest OPS and scored the fourth-fewest runs per game. Fernando Tatis Jr. slumped pretty badly, and Jackson Merrill didn't produce a single home run, but those two are bound to get hot again. The biggest problem -- one general manager A.J. Preller is motivated to fix before the trade deadline -- is the bottom of the Padres' lineup. The Nos. 7, 8 and 9 hitters combined to produce a .196/.280/.293 slash line last month. -- Gonzalez

Record: 46-41Previous ranking: 8

When the Giants beat the Dodgers on June 13, they were 12 games above .500 and tied for first place in the National League West. They have since lost 12 of 17 games -- including seven of their past nine -- and are suddenly fighting just to remain relevant heading into the trade deadline. On Tuesday, president of baseball operations Buster Posey picked up manager Bob Melvin's 2026 option and, in light of the recent stretch, defended the coaching staff, telling reporters: "If anybody deserves any blame from the top, it should be on me." -- Gonzalez

Record: 45-41Previous ranking: 13

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Sunday, 6 p.m. ET: Cardinals-Cubs | 9 p.m. ET: Rangers-Padres

Cal Raleigh is already one home run away from equaling the career high he set last season -- in 68 fewer games. If he manages at least two home runs in the Mariners' next 10 games -- a strong likelihood, given that he is averaging a home run every three games -- he will be one of seven players ever to reach 35 before the All-Star break. None of them were switch-hitters. And none of them, of course, were catchers. Before Raleigh, the most home runs a catcher had collected before the