The Baltimore Orioles have entered the chat. The Orioles, finally have displaced the Tampa Bay Rays as the top-ranked American League team in this week’s rankings. They keep winning baseball games with a foundation of timely hitting and very good pitching, specifically their dynamic bullpen.
Meanwhile, the Atlanta Braves continue to hold the top spot even with a blip on the radar this week, losing a series to the White Sox. Can’t win them all, right?
Here’s my latest top 10 as we start our sprint toward the trade deadline next month, with a few interesting factoids about each club.
1. Atlanta Braves (61-31; last week 1)
It appears the Braves are human after all. After going 25 straight games without losing back-to-back games, the Braves suffered consecutive losses against the Chicago White Sox at home this past weekend. Even more impressive: prior to these two losses, the Braves had won 11 straight in the home confines of Truist Park dating all the way back to their June 11th loss to the Washington Nationals.
Even with those two losses, Atlanta is still the only National League team with even 55 wins and has the most in the majors with 61. Simply put, nothing to worry about.
Braves’ Ronald Acuña Jr. goes OPPO for his second home run of the game against the White Sox
2. Baltimore Orioles (57-35; LW 3)
An improbable stretch continues for the red-hot Orioles, who came out of the All-Star Break taking all three against the Miami Marlins. Since starting 16-24 last season, the Orioles have a staggering 124-90 record, the fourth-best mark in the majors over that stretch. Only the Houston Astros have been better in the American League over that span. That mark obviously coincides with the promotion of All-Star catcher Adley Rutschman, but the real story here has been the bullpen, which has a 3.66 ERA over that period (8th in MLB) after having the highest bullpen ERA in MLB in 2021 (5.70).
3. Tampa Bay Rays (60-36; LW 2)
After stumbling into the All-Star Break, losers of seven of the last eight, the Rays started the second part of their season taking two of three from the Kansas City Royals. At first glance it doesn’t feel like a big deal, but it could end up a huge series when looking back. The Rays will now have a stretch of 15 straight games against opponents with a record over .500. With that stretch no doubt a big reason, the Rays have the hardest schedule remaining in the majors, with their remaining opponents’ overall win percentage sitting at .525 so far this season.
A large chunk of those games come against the AL East, the only division with each team sitting at 50 or more wins, but thankfully the Rays own a 17-10 mark against their division, which should prop them up during this upcoming stretch in which they face the Orioles and New York Yankees among others.
4. Texas Rangers (55-39; LW 9)
The Rangers had been one of the best teams in the league all season but limped into the All-Star Break with a 5-11 record over the last 16 games entering the break. Sometimes teams just need a break, and it seemed to do wonders for them. Texas took all three games against the Cleveland Guardians, winning by a combined margin of 20-9.
That elite offense that seemed to desert them prior to the break returned and showed why they have scored the most runs per game in the majors (5.86) as well as the most games with 10 or more runs (20).
5. Los Angeles Dodgers (53-39; LW 4)
After a season full of ups and downs, the Dodgers seem to have found their groove. Entering the All-Star Break on a four-game win streak, they took two of three from the floundering New York Mets. This stretch will be a noticeable one for Los Angeles as they are set to endure six more games on the East Coast before heading back home. They currently are 24-23 on the road this season, 13th-best in the majors.
Good thing for the Dodgers, though: those six games are also against the American League. They are 13-9 against the AL this year.
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6. Toronto Blue Jays (53-41; LW 10)
Coming off a sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Blue Jays have once again shown they can flex their offensive muscle when needed. However, their pitching has been coming around as well. Against the D-Backs they finished the three-game series with a run differential of +10, one of only two teams to finish this past weekend series with a positive double-digit run differential (Texas, +11). But unlike previous years, the pitching stepped up, allowing just nine runs in the series. The Jays are now fifth in the majors in runs allowed per game at 4.1.
One funky note as well: the Blue Jays have been playing fine against everyone…..except the Boston Red Sox. In games not against Boston, the Blue Jays are 52-34, a win percentage that would be fourth-best in the majors. Against the Sox, they are 0-7. Good news for them, they have just five remaining against the Red Sox.
7. Houston Astros (51-42; LW 8)
The defending champion Astros have been humming along and currently sit second in the AL West behind the Rangers. They have mainly stayed afloat due to their pitching. They currently are one of just two teams to be in the top seven in both starter and reliever ERA this season (Minnesota Twins). That has helped an offense showing less pop than usual. The Astros have hit 110 long balls this season, still good for 12th in baseball, but not quite what they are used to producing. In fact, in each of the last five full seasons, the Astros hit 200 or more homers and in four of those seasons, they have reached the World Series. This season they are on pace for 191, which would be their lowest full-season total since 2014, when they finished fourth in the AL West.
Prior to 2017, they had hit 200 or more dingers in just one season from 2001 to 2016 and reached just one World Series over that span. Since 2017, they have hit 200 homers five times and reached four World Series. They did get some late longball heroics in Sunday’s win over the Angels. If that continues, they’re prime World Seres contenders yet again.
Alex Bregman and Kyle Tucker smash back-to-back home runs in the Astros’ 9-8 victory over the Angels
8. San Francisco Giants (52-41; LW unranked)
Sneaking along this season, the Giants continued to do what they have done well all season: win on the road. San Francisco burst out of the All-Star Break with a three-game sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates, dominating and outscoring them 17-9 over the course of the series. But as previously mentioned, their winning ways on the road are no surprise. Since the start of a six-game road trip on May 22nd, the Giants have the second-best mark on the road in the majors, sitting at 19-6 when they play at opposing ballparks.
Thankfully for San Francisco, they are tied for the third-fewest road games played in the majors thus far, meaning they will need that road success to continue for them to earn a playoff berth this season.
9. Milwaukee Brewers (52-42; LW unranked)
The month of July seems to have done wonders for the Brewers, who suddenly are back to doing what they do best – just winning games, whatever it takes. They have now won three of the last four series and have won them in entirely different ways. In the three-game series against the Pirates from June 30-July 2nd, the Brewers won scoring 24 runs in just three games, bailing out multiple poor pitching performances. However, their last two series wins, both against the Cincinnati Reds, have shown a pitching staff that is delivering on their part of the bargain. They took two out three prior to the break by scoring 13 total runs against the Reds, and then continued that by winning this latest three-game series, scoring eight total runs and sweeping one of the hottest teams in baseball!
They are not in the top 10 in runs allowed per game or runs scored per game, but they are in first place in the NL Central and just took down the Reds in back-to-back series. They just get the job done.
10. Miami Marlins (53-42; LW 6)
July has not been kind to the Marlins as they are just 5-7 in the month, including struggling mightily on the road with an 0-5 record. The good news is they have a three-game set in St. Louis, but then head to Miami where they will play 10 of their next 12 games in their own stadium. But overall this second part of the schedule is unlikely to do them any favors. They have the sixth-toughest schedule according to opponent win percentage (.512).
The good news, though, is that a scorching-hot June, when they went 19-8, bought them some breathing room in their hunt for a wild-card berth.
Another thing that could save them? Their success in one-run games. They lead the majors with a 21-8 record in games decided by one run. It may not be sustainable, but it is their best hope at continuing to push toward October.
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