The rest of the NL West was starting to sneak up on the Dodgers over the last couple of weeks, but even with their usual batch of pitcher injuries, they’re starting to look like themselves again -- as you can tell from Shohei Ohtani’s back-to-the-halcyon-days-of-Anaheim double-duty game on Sunday. Can the Tigers, who have held the No. 1 spot for four weeks now, hold them off? The voting has never been as close as it was this week.
These rankings, as always, are compiled 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. Tigers (previously: 1)
Considering this is a franchise that lost 114 games just six years ago, the Tigers aren’t going to freak out about a little three-game losing streak. After their Saturday loss, manager A.J. Hinch, amusingly, simply sniffed, “[Sunday], 12 noon, come watch us if you’re here,’’ Hinch said. “If you’re not, watch us on TV. We have a good team. We’ll be fine.’’ He was right. The Tigers won Sunday. The Tigers will be fine.
2. Dodgers (previously: 5)
It had been a while since we saw him do it, so you can forgive us baseball fans for being a little taken aback to see Shohei Ohtani dazzle us yet again on Sunday, pitching a scoreless first inning with two strikeouts and then hitting a homer and a two-run triple later in the game. We’ll be used to this by August, I have no doubt, but it was pretty amazing to see that guy do that again, wasn’t it?
3. Cubs (previously: 3)
That’s all the Cubs need, another guy launching baseballs. Ian Happ, through June 4, had only three homers this year, far off his usual pace. But he has very much been catching up to that pace since, hitting eight in his next 16 games. “I was definitely frustrated,” Happ said. “I just wanted to do more and wanted to help more. But I think I’ve done this long enough that I have confidence that it’s going to show up at some point. Just keep making the right swings.”
4. Phillies (previously: 6)
It sure looks like the Phillies and Mets are going to be at each other’s throats in the NL East all season, which begs the question: When is Bryce Harper going to be back and a part of this? The future Hall of Famer has been out since June 5 with a flare-up of his ongoing wrist problem, and even though he took some swings off a tee over the weekend, it doesn’t look like a return is imminent. “We haven't really gotten too many answers about it," Harper said. "There's no structural issues, like I won't need surgery or anything like that. We've talked to multiple doctors, but just a lot of inflammation in that area."
5. Mets (previously: 2)
The Mets’ seven-game losing streak cost them first place, and you sense it may be starting to cost them a little bit of patience as well. Francisco Alvarez, still a big part of the Mets’ future and someone they imagine being their catcher for a long time, was sent down by the team on Sunday (a day after homering, no less), largely because of his disappointing .652 OPS and his perhaps even more disappointing defense. Still: He remains only 23 years old. He’ll be back soon.
6. Astros (previously: 7)
Is Jeremy Peña going to make his first All-Star Game this year? He has won an ALCS MVP, a World Series MVP and a Gold Glove, but his monster season so far -- with a .326/.380/.493 slash line -- looks like it’s about to give him one more honor; he’s quietly one of the main reasons this team is in first place.
7. Yankees (previously: 4)
The Yankees’ struggles of late put a little bit of a scare into them and their fans, at least when it came to the AL East, but they’ll surely still be fine. One thing that the swoon definitely did? It put an end to the Aaron Judge going-for-.400 story. Judge has gone 6-for-32 in his last nine games, dropping him down to .367. It was fun while it lasted.
8. Rays (previously: 10)
The Rays didn’t end up finishing off that series sweep of the Tigers on Sunday, but it should be noted that it was yet another home series victory. They seem to have figured out their temporary home: After an 11-18 record at George M. Steinbrenner Field to start the season, they have fired off a 16-5 record there. Unfortunately, they only have three more home games before the All-Star break.
9. Giants (previously: 8)
MLB.com’s Maria Guardado asked a tough question this week, one that most Giants fans have been too giddy about the acquisition of Rafael Devers to really dig into: How does this affect Bryce Eldridge? The Giants’ top prospect, and MLB.com’s No. 18 overall prospect, is 20 years old and, reasonably, might have thought he was the Giants first baseman of the future. Now Devers looks primed to take over the position. The Giants don’t anticipate much changing just yet: “I see his development path as the same,” Giants general manager Buster Posey told Guardado this week. “He’s going to keep playing first, keep developing at the plate. It’s a conversation that Raffy and I have had already, about Bryce and the future that we potentially see him having. Par for the course for [Eldridge] going forward.”
10. Brewers (previously: 11)
Rhys Hoskins homered in the second inning of the Brewers’ 9-8 win over the Twins on Sunday, the Brewers’ fourth win in a row. The homer did end a rather wild streak for Milwaukee: They had scored 27 runs in the Twins’ series up to that point without the benefit of even a single homer. Since 1946, only two teams in MLB history had scored more than 26 runs over two games without hitting a homer.
11. Padres (previously: 9)
The Padres, rather famously, essentially go as far as Fernando Tatis Jr. can take them, which is why his big homer against the Royals on Saturday could end up looming large. He had only one homer in his previous 29 games leading up to that one, which, not coincidentally, aligned with the Padres’ worst stretch of the season. They very much need to get him going.
12. Cardinals (previously: 13)
The Cardinals, if you can believe this, haven’t played their hated rivals the Cubs yet this season. That will finally happen on Monday, when they host the Cubs for a four-game set at Busch Stadium. The Cardinals come into the series hot, having won five of six, and if they were to somehow find a way to sweep the series, they would be only half a game out of first place. It’s going to be tough without the services of their best hitter, Iván Herrera, who will miss “two to six weeks” with a left hamstring strain.
13. Blue Jays (previously: 12)
After a downright miserable 2024 season, it should be noted that Bo Bichette -- who, you may remember, is a free agent this offseason -- has taken a big step forward this year. His OPS is more than 160 points higher than it was last year, and it is in fact him leading the Blue Jays in homers, though that may say more about the Jays than it does Bichette.
14. Diamondbacks (previously: 15)
The world is a vast and mysterious place. When Corbin Burnes left his start on June 1 with elbow pain, pain that would lead to him having Tommy John surgery, the presumption was that the D-backs’ season was essentially over. Well: They’re 12-7 since then. Guess it’s a good thing they didn’t get so upset that they stopped playing.
15. Red Sox (previously: 14)
Rob Refsnyder on Sunday became the first Red Sox player to appear as the DH for a second time since they traded Rafael Devers; in the five games before that, they’d tried five different guys. In those five games, the spot was 2-for-18 with six strikeouts since the trade. Apparently giving a guy a second try worked: Refsnyder went 2-for-5 with a homer.
16. Reds (previously: 18)
Before their series loss to the Cardinals over the weekend, the Reds had won four straight series against teams with winning records, crawling their way into the Wild Card hunt. You know what would help them out, though? Doing better in their own division. They’re 29-23 outside of the NL Central … and 11-15 inside it.
17. Mariners (previously: 19)
We’re all having fun playing the on-pace-for game with Cal Raleigh and his homer binge, but you don’t have to even start projecting out to see him on the cusp of history: He’s, right now, only 17 homers behind the all-time record for single-season homers by a primary catcher, Salvador Perez’s 48 in 2021. The way he’s going, he might get there by the All-Star break.
18. Guardians (previously: 17)
The Guardians nearly fell under .500 this week for the first time since the beginning of April, but the A’s bailed them out. It should be said that Slade Cecconi is pitching in a way worthy of such a tough-guy name like “Slade.” Over his last four starts, he has a 2.05 ERA.
19. Rangers (previously: 20)
Remember when Marcus Semien was struggling so badly people wondered if he'd gotten too old to hit? (I feel like a couple of people were saying things like that.) Well, over his last 20 games, he’s hitting .398 with 13 runs scored, and he's looking a lot more like the MVP candidate we’ve seen throughout most of his career.
20. Braves (previously: 21)
The Braves are still fighting their way back into the pennant race, with a very critical week coming up with games against the Mets and Phillies. Unfortunately, they’ll be without Chris Sale, who is now on the IL with, ouch, a fractured rib. If you’re looking for some All-Star hype, though, here’s something fun: Ronald Acuña Jr. says if asked, he’ll be a part of the T-Mobile Home Run Derby at Truist Park this year. (I bet someone asks him.)
21. Royals (previously: 22)
Did the Royals save their season with their road win streak this week? They appeared to be falling apart heading into a scary trip to Texas and San Diego. But then they rattled off four wins in a row, briefly getting them back to .500 and poking their heads back in the Wild Card chase.
22. Twins (previously: 16)
All the teams losing in the AL Central so much are turning the division into the one real runaway in baseball right now. The Twins are as big an offender as anyone: Since June 5, they have the worst record in the American League and the second-worst record in baseball. The pitching is obviously the issue: They have a 6.59 ERA in June.
23. Orioles (previously: 24)
You know the Orioles are having an all-timer of an injury-riddled season when Adley Rutschman is hitting the IL. The Orioles catcher, the rare catcher who had never been on the IL before, is now there with a left oblique strain. It’s particularly frustrating because, after a slow start, Rutschman was heating up: He was hitting .309 with two doubles, three homers, five RBIs and an .890 OPS in June.
24. Angels (previously: 23)
Everyone’s thoughts are with Ron Washington, who will be out of the Angels dugout indefinitely with health-related issues. Bench coach Ray Montgomery will be filling in for him until he returns. Montgomery is, in fact, a former Major Leaguer who played for the Astros from 1996-98. Old-time Astros fans may remember that his first MLB homer was a walk-off in July 1996 during a very tight playoff chase with the Cardinals.
25. Nationals (previously: 25)
Look out below: The Nationals have had a nightmare of a fortnight, dropping them all the way into battling the Marlins to stay out of last place in the NL East. They’ve also been baseball’s worst team so far in June. The hope was that all the young talent on this roster would take a step forward this year. Instead, they’ve got a worse winning percentage than each of the last two supposedly rebuilding seasons.
26. A’s (previously: 27)
Rookie Nick Kurtz had a very fun week. He has been on an absolute heater of late, hitting five homers over a six-game stretch, including two walk-off homers. Manager Mark Kotsay said: “[TV broadcaster] Dallas [Braden] asked me, ‘What comes to your mind when I say the name Nick Kurtz?' I said, ‘homers.’”
27. Pirates (previously: 26)
Pity poor Mitch Keller. After yet another loss on Saturday, he is now 1-10 … with a perfectly respectable 4.02 ERA on the season. The lack of run support is downright criminal: The Pirates have scored two runs or fewer in nine consecutive Keller starts, the longest such streak in at least the last 125 seasons.
28. Marlins (previously: 26)
I don’t know how you could possibly not root for a 29-year-old career Minor Leaguer named Jansen Junk. Junk has pitched 21 games in his career, over five seasons, for four teams, and never more than six games in a season. But over those six games for the Marlins this season, he has two wins, including a big one over the Braves on Friday. He has been so good in those six games, he’s currently fourth on this team in fWAR.
29. White Sox (previously: 29)
One of the primary reasons to watch the White Sox -- at least if you’re not a White Sox fan or the Pope -- is to keep an eye on potential trade acquisitions. So it should be noted that Luis Robert Jr. is starting to heat up, at least a little: He has 11 RBIs in 17 games in June.
30. Rockies (previously: 30)
The current version of these Rockies might not necessarily be good right now, but they do look familiar to past versions of the Rockies in one key way: They’re hitting the ball. Would you believe that the Rockies have the best OPS in the National League in the month of June? They do, at .785.
Voters: Nathalie Alonso, Jason Catania, Mark Feinsand, Daniel Feldman, Will Leitch, Travis Miller, Brian Murphy, Arturo Pardavila, Andrew Simon, David Venn