MLB Power Rankings: Yankees rising as AL East race tightens, can the Rangers sustain recent momentum?

Featured in this week’s MLB Power Rankings, Kyle Schwarber is slugging his way into the NL MVP race, Aaron Judge is chasing down history, help has arrived for the Astros, a bizarre homer in Boston, the wounded Rangers are streaking, two firsts for Byron Buxton, and a lot more.

(Please note these power rankings are a combination of current performance and long-term projected outlook)

Let’s get started!

Note: Rankings are from the morning of Tuesday, September 2.

1) Milwaukee Brewers

Last week: 1

The Brewers have been treading water a bit in recent weeks (9-10 in their last 19 games), but they still own the best record in the majors. We’re looking at a potential playoff preview this week, with the Phillies taking an entertaining series opener on Monday.

2) Philadelphia Phillies ⬆️

Last week: 3

Behold all four home runs from Kyle Schwarber as he tied the all-time single game record. The impending free agent is making a late charge to challenge Shohei Ohtani for the NL MVP Award, but he also has a chance to chase down Ryan Howard’s club record of 58 homers from 2006.

3) Detroit Tigers ⬇️

Last week: 2

The Tigers are cruising to the AL Central title, but much like last year’s postseason run, manager A.J. Hinch is largely going to live or die with bullpen decisions on the non-Tarik Skubal days as we look toward October.

4) Toronto Blue Jays

Last week: 4

Coming off a heartbreaking loss to the Reds on Monday, the Blue Jays have lost three out of four and four out of six to give the Yankees and Red Sox some life in this division. The bullpen is a lingering concern for Toronto.

5) Chicago Cubs

Last week: 5

The Cubs have won three out of four since being swept by the Giants last week, including a thrilling walk-off win over the Braves on Monday. They still have five more against the Braves over the next week and a half, as well as a three-game series against the Nationals. The NL Central isn’t decided yet just.

6) Los Angeles Dodgers ⬆️

Last week: 7

The Padres cooled last week as the Dodgers got healthy with a series sweep against the Reds. The highlight was Shohei Ohtani’s best start to date last Wednesday, as he allowed just a solo homer across five innings while striking out nine. It was also his first win with the Dodgers as a pitcher.

7) New York Yankees ⬆️

Last week: 10

While the Yankees saw their six-game winning streak snapped on Sunday against the White Sox, the vibes remain strong as September begins. After slugging his 358th career homer (and his 43rd of the season) on Sunday, Aaron Judge is now tied with Yogi Berra for fifth on the Yankees’ all-time list.

Up next is Joe DiMaggio at 361 home runs. No big deal.

8) San Diego Padres ⬇️

Last week: 6

The past week hasn’t been kind to the Padres, who have lost six out of their last eight. They also lost a key piece of their bullpen on Monday against the Orioles, as Jason Adam ruptured his quadriceps tendon and will miss the remainder of the season.

9) Boston Red Sox ⬇️

Last week: 8

I’ve watched this “Pesky Pole” home run from Trevor Story about 15 times and I’m still confused.

10) Houston Astros ⬇️

Last week: 9

Down a spot, but the news is mostly good here. Yordan Alvarez is hitting .333/.519/.500 in seven games since returning from his hand fracture and Luis Garcia was victorious Monday in his first MLB start in over two years.

11) New York Mets

Last week: 11

Remember all the talk about Juan Soto’s “down” season? Coming off a monster game on Monday, Soto is slashing .288/.449/.625 with 11 home runs, 28 RBI, 11 steals, 29 walks, and 29 runs scored in his last 29 games dating back to the start of August.

12) Seattle Mariners

Last week: 12

The Mariners have lost nine out of their last 11 games on the road. You could argue 10 out of 12 depending on how you categorize the Little League Classic game against the Mets. Either way, it’s important to turn the tide as they play the Rays and Braves on the road this week.

13) Texas Rangers ⬆️

Last week: 15

The final spot in the AL Wild Card race is far from settled, as the Rangers have won six straight and nine out of their last 11 games. Can they keep it up while missing Corey Seager and Nathan Eovaldi?

14) Kansas City Royals ⬇️

Last week: 13

In addition to the Royals giving prospect catcher Carter Jensen his first call-up to the majors, the club activated Jac Caglianone on Monday after he missed five weeks with a left hamstring strain. Caglianone struggled big-time during his first stint in the majors, but he crushed during his rehab assignment in Triple-A and will try to carry that over to the majors as the Royals try to stay alive in the playoff race.

15) Cincinnati Reds ⬇️

Last week: 14

After losing eight out of nine, the Reds have won back-to-back games, including a three-run ninth to walk off the Blue Jays on Monday. The win helped the Reds from falling five games back of the Mets for the final Wild Card spot.

16) San Francisco Giants ⬆️

Last week: 20

It might be too little too late, but the Giants are back at the .500 mark for the first time since early August. Justin Verlander did his part with 10 strikeouts over five scoreless innings Sunday against the Orioles, giving him the 265th win of his brilliant career.

17) Cleveland Guardians ⬇️

Last week: 16

The Guardians haven’t scored more than five runs in a game since August 14, a span of 16 games.

18) Tampa Bay Rays ⬆️

Last week: 19

The Rays have won four straight games and they can make things interesting this week by taking care of business against the Mariners and the Guardians, who are both in front of them in the Wild Card race.

19) Arizona Diamondbacks ⬇️

Last week: 17

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. was second in the majors in RBI for the month of August, but unfortunately it looks like his season could be over.

20) St. Louis Cardinals ⬇️

Last week: 18

How many more chances will Jordan Walker get? After a brief surge at the plate, the 23-year-old is hitting .127 (7-for-55) with two extra-base hits and a 22/4 K/BB ratio over his last 16 games. He now holds a .688 OPS through 259 major league games.

21) Miami Marlins ⬆️

Last week: 23

Now that’s the Sandy Alcantara we remember. The former Cy Young Award winner holds a 2.82 ERA over his last eight starts and has completed seven innings in each of his last three outings. Maybe the Marlins were smart to keep him at the deadline and reexamine the situation this offseason?

22) Los Angeles Angels

Last week: 21

Zach Neto smacked his 25th homer of the season Monday against the Astros, giving him a new career-high. With 24 steals, he still has an outside shot at a 30/30 season despite missing most of the first month after shoulder surgery.

23) Athletics ⬆️

Last week: 25

Nick Kurtz (who hopefully won’t miss much time with an oblique injury) and Jacob Wilson are getting most of the attention among A’s rookies — and rightfully so — but young right-hander Luis Morales is also looking like a keeper. The 22-year-old struck out eight in a win over the Cardinals on Monday and holds a stingy 1.52 ERA and 26/5 K/BB ratio in 23 2/3 innings over his last four starts.

24) Minnesota Twins ⬆️

Last week: 27

Great tidbit here from my former colleague Aaron Gleeman, who noted that Byron Buxton stole third base for the first time in his career on Friday. He also joined the 20-20 club for the first time, which on one hand is fairly surprising given his raw athleticism, but also not that surprising since staying on the field has been a struggle.

25) Atlanta Braves ⬇️

Last week: 22

Interesting move by the Braves on Monday, as they claimed Ha-Seong Kim off waivers from the Rays. He’s still owed $16 million for 2026, at least assuming he picks up his player option. Given his injury issues this year, it sure seems like he’ll be manning shortstop for Atlanta next year.

26) Pittsburgh Pirates

Last week: 26

The Pirates have played well of late, but they’ll square off against the Dodgers and the Brewers this week.

27) Baltimore Orioles ⬇️

Last week: 24

The Orioles have seen a steady wave of position players reach the majors in recent years, with Samuel Basallo garnering most of the attention of late. However, it’s Dylan Beavers (.333 with a .918 OPS in 15 games) and Jeremiah Jackson (.337 with an .877 OPS in 27 games) who are making the most noise with their first opportunities against MLB pitching.

28) Washington Nationals

Last week: 28

Don’t feel bad if you weren’t familiar with Nationals rookie Andrew Alvarez before his MLB debut on Monday, but he now owns a special place of Nationals history. He took a no-hitter into the fifth inning against the Marlins and became the first pitcher in Nationals history to deliver at least five scoreless innings his debut.

29) Chicago White Sox

Last week: 29

Wherever Giancarlo Stanton’s career home run total ends up, just remember that he could have had one more.

30) Colorado Rockies

Last week: 30

Poor Chase Dollander. After getting tagged for six runs over five innings in a loss to the Giants on Monday, the rookie right-hander holds a brutal 9.98 ERA with 12 homers and 25 walks allowed in 46 innings through 11 starts at Coors Field this season. I have no idea how the Rockies fix this, but it has to be demoralizing for a young player.