We’ve grown accustomed to seeing a powerhouse atop the National League West. The Dodgers led the majors in wins in 2024, won 100 games in 2023, led the majors in wins in 2022, won 106 games — trailing only the Giants — in 2021, led the majors in wins in 2020 and led the National League in wins with 106 in 2019.
The easy assumption heading into this season was that it would be more of the same. That is to say that the overriding sentiment was the Dodgers would either lead the majors in wins or someone in the West, like the Giants in 2021, would have to go crazy in order to topple them.
The Padres emerged early as the team that might be, hopefully (in the eyes of many), up to the task.
It’s September now and both teams are limping toward the finish line. Both the Giants and Diamondbacks were closer to first place than the Mets were heading into Sunday. After Sunday’s results, the Giants are the same distance away from first as the Mets are. Remember, the Giants and D-backs were sellers at the trade deadline. This isn’t a matter of the Mets falling apart (though they haven’t exactly been lighting up the win column) and while the Giants have gotten hot, the situation is mostly a testament to the mediocrity of the Dodgers and Padres.
The Dodgers have lost seven of nine. They are 11-14 in the last month. They are 23-32 since July 3. They are 50-49 since May 15. The Dodgers are not a bad team by any stretch and still have a great roster, but the sample of them being mediocre this season is a lot bigger than the sample of them being elite or even great.
And while the Dodgers have injuries — who doesn’t? — they aren’t that depleted. The biggest names on the injured list are Max Muncy, Tommy Edman, Roki Sasaki and a few relievers, plus some starting pitchers they’ve been without all year. There’s injury impact, yes, but this isn’t a situation where the team is drastically worse off due to injury compared to every other team.
They just aren’t as great as they were supposed to be. They were just swept by the Pirates, for goodness sake.
The Padres refuse to take advantage, however. They’ve lost nine of their last 13 and have gone 9-13 since Aug. 13.
With the top two teams scuffling to such an extent, we’ve seen two teams that have the look of non-contenders — and it’s overwhelmingly likely they still are non-contenders — climb to within miracle range. They should have been eliminated by now, but instead the D-backs are 7 ½ games out of first place. That’s how far back the Cubs are from the Brewers in the NL Central.
And then there are the Giants, who were pitiful for a stretch (they went 9-25 from July 11-Aug. 22) but now are making an attempt at a last-second playoff run. After Aug. 22, they won 11 of 12. It’s still a major longshot for them to make the postseason, but they are four games out of the final wild card spot and seven back of the Dodgers. They have seven games remaining against the Dodgers, too, so they technically could control their own destiny there (while needing some help with the Padres).
It shouldn’t have been like this. With the Padres on pace to win 88 games, a juggernaut World Series champion that is too good for the rest of the baseball should have this division put away. By the same token, with the Dodgers being a mediocre team since the middle of May, where are the Padres? Why can’t they rise up and steal this thing? In the meantime, the door has been left ever-so-slightly open for a team that looked like one of the worst in baseball just a few weeks ago.
Of course, the funniest thing of all is that so few teams in all of baseball have truly separated themselves as great teams all season. We’ll get into that in these rankings.
Biggest Movers
|
Rk |
Teams |
Chg |
Rcrd |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
|
Here’s a question: If the Dodgers or Yankees or Phillies or a litany of other teams had the best record in baseball by more than five games, were on pace to win 100 games and had played like a 113-win team since May 24, how would they be viewed by the general population? | — | 89-56 |
2 |
|
Then again, the Phillies took two of three in Milwaukee, winning both a slugfest and a pitchers’ duel. This might well be a very fun NLCS. Hopefully Trea Turner’s hamstring gets better quickly. | — | 84-60 |
3 |
|
The Yankees went 4-2 in their first week of a two-week gauntlet. And the Tigers, who visit Yankee Stadium next, might not pose such a huge threat at this point. | 5 | 80-63 |
4 |
|
The Jays have only won half their games since July 26 and now only hold a two-game lead in the AL East. | 1 | 82-61 |
5 |
|
That was a 2-4 week at home which included losing a series to the White Sox. They’ve lost eight of 12 since I foolishly declared them back. There’s still time to get everything in order before the playoffs, but not much. | 1 | 82-62 |
6 |
|
You know that obnoxious narrative every time there’s a slugger in the Home Run Derby and then he has a bad second half? Seiya Suzuki hit .263 with a .547 slugging percentage and 25 home runs before the break. Since? He’s hitting .197 with a .268 SLG and only two home runs. Oh, wait, he wasn’t in the Home Run Derby. Sometimes it just happens. | — | 81-63 |
7 |
|
I still think the Dodgers win the NL West, but there’s a good chance they have to play in the wild card round. They trail the Phillies for the No. 2 NL seed by four games and the Phillies lead the season series, two games to one. Of course, there’s a three-game head-to-head in Dodger Stadium Sept. 15-17. | 4 | 79-64 |
8 |
|
That Roman Anthony injury was a gut punch and, sure enough, the Red Sox lost their next three. | 1 | 80-65 |
9 |
|
One of the most fascinating things to watch the rest of the season, for me, is how the Mets’ starting staff sorts itself out between the three kids and the four veterans, as they look for a 3- or 4-man October rotation. | 3 | 76-68 |
10 |
|
Off the top of my head, there aren’t many things a pitcher has done on the field that made me lose more respect for him than Framber Valdez pretty obviously crossing up his catcher on purpose. Ridiculous. | 1 | 78-66 |
11 |
|
The deficit is only one game. One! A seven-game homestand against the Reds (three games) and Rockies (four games) awaits. Can the Padres step up? | — | 79-65 |
12 |
|
The Rangers are really pushing hard for a playoff spot while Marcus Semien, Corey Seager, Adolis García and Nathan Eovaldi, among others, are on the injured list. | 1 | 75-70 |
13 |
|
In the last two days, the Mariners outscored the Braves 28-4. Before that, the Mariners had lost 15 of 21. Did they finally wake up? | 3 | 76-68 |
14 |
|
Carlos Estévez leads the majors in saves. The last Royals pitcher to do so in a single season? Dan Quisenberry in 1983. | — | 73-71 |
15 |
|
Though he still stumbles every few starts, did everyone notice Justin Verlander is pretty good again? He has a 2.98 ERA in his last eight starts with 47 strikeouts in 42 ⅓ innings. | 1 | 73-71 |
16 |
|
They must find more power before next season. To play in that ballpark, sit in the bottom third of slugging percentage and have zero 20-homer guys right now just isn’t acceptable at all for a team wanting to contend. | 1 | 72-72 |
17 |
|
José Ramírez remains amazing. This was his seventh 20-20 season. The only players in MLB history with more are Barry and Bobby Bonds (both with 10) and Bobby Abreu (nine). Ramírez is 32 years old. Maybe he can break into the Bonds forcefield in a few years. | — | 73-70 |
18 |
|
Junior Caminero now has 41 homers and 103 RBI. The franchise records are 46 and 121 (Carlos Peña in 2007). Caminero is 21 years old. | — | 71-72 |
19 |
|
He’s still only 23 years old, but you’d really like to see some positive signs from Jordan Lawlar at the big-league level the rest of this season. | — | 72-73 |
20 |
|
The Cardinals can still finish above .500. If they finish below that line, it’ll be the first time they’ve been under .500 in two out of three seasons since 1997-99. | — | 72-73 |
21 |
|
The team leader in home runs is Jackson Holliday with 17. They haven’t had a team with zero 20-HR guys in a full season since 2001 when Jay Gibbons and Chris Richard tied for the team lead with 15. | 4 | 66-77 |
22 |
|
Hopefully they do something better with the rotation next year, because this is an exciting, young nucleus of offensive players. | — | 66-79 |
23 |
|
What is the quietest 35-homer season you can remember? Whatever came to mind, does it top Jo Adell this year? Hard to imagine many people outside hardcore fantasy baseball players and Angels fans have noticed. | — | 67-76 |
24 |
|
Connor Norby’s quad injury is pretty annoying. He was 6 for 18 with three doubles and five RBI in his five games since returning from a wrist injury. It would be nice to see an extended run of success before heading toward 2026. | 3 | 66-78 |
25 |
|
Chris Sale in two starts since returning from the injured list: 12 ⅔ IP, 2 R, 18 K, 1 BB. He’s still got it at 36 years old. The Braves have an $18 million club option on him for next season that is a no-brainer. | 1 | 65-79 |
26 |
|
Oneil Cruz will be 27 years old next season and playing in his sixth MLB season, though he’s only at 363 games overall. Still, he’s hitting .201/.302/.384 with less than 1.0 WAR in 119 games this year. At some point, that potential needs to turn into much more consistent production. It looked like last year was the start of it, but 2025 has been a big step backward. | 1 | 64-80 |
27 |
|
Keep an eye on 22-year-old Daylen Lile, who has been an absolute force at the plate for the Nats since the start of August. | 1 | 59-84 |
28 |
|
The over (53.5 wins) has cashed. I never lost faith. Thank you, White Sox. I have more on this team below … | 1 | 55-89 |
29 |
|
My hunch is most other Power Rankings will have the White Sox mindlessly placed 29th due to overall record. The White Sox have a better run differential and just swept the Twins in four games. The White Sox have been 3 ½ games better since May 17, seven games better in the second half and three games better since the start of August. It seems pretty simple, to me, which team is better at this point and there’s no reason to continue to give the Twins credit for a winning streak that happened so long ago and with some different personnel. | 3 | 63-80 |
30 |
|
I’ve brought this up many times, but it needs to be hammered into the minds of every baseball fan: The Rockies had never had a 100-loss season through 2022. They’ve now had three in a row. Shouldn’t this call for drastic organizational changes? | — | 40-103 |