MLB Power Rankings: Wild-card roller coaster continues with two weeks left, Brewers move into top five

Braves
I’ve seen a lot of people lately talking about the Braves as if it’s possible they’ll go on a World Series championship run with relative ease, something similar to the 2018 Red Sox. It’s definitely possible, but let’s not forget about teams like the 2022 Dodgers, 2021 Dodgers, 2021 Giants, 2019 Dodgers, 2019 Astros, 2017 Dodgers and, well, every other team that’s ever won 104-plus games and failed to win it all. No team is ever bulletproof. — 96-53
2

Dodgers
Clayton Kershaw only threw 56 pitches in four innings Saturday night. This light workload has gone well past “saving bullets for the playoffs” and into “very concerning” territory for me. It’s not like their rotation is a bastion of depth right now. 2 91-57
3

Orioles
That split with the Rays means the Orioles hold a two-game lead, a three-game lead in the loss column and the tiebreaker over the Rays. After a three-game series in Houston, the schedule is relatively soft. This is all to say that the Orioles should win the AL East. If so, it’ll be their first division title since 2014 and only their second since 1997. 1 93-56
4

Rays
That blown game by the bullpen Sunday probably sealed their fate as a wild-card team. It has to feel a bit disappointing after starting 13-0, but there’s still a chance to make this a special season. 1 92-59
5

Brewers
This is the Golden Era of Brewers baseball. Before 2018, they had only won their division three times. This season will very likely be their third division title in a six-year span. Before 2018, they’d only been to the playoffs four times. This will be five times in a six-year span. 3 84-65
6

Astros
Their home-road splits are extreme, with awful offensive numbers at home producing one of their worst home records in years. Is it really the batter’s eye? We’ll start finding out this week, as it’s been altered. 1 84-66
7

Blue Jays
I still can’t get over that series against the Rangers. That was just an utter throttling. Even a split would’ve had the Jays sitting pretty right now. 1 83-67
8

Mariners
Even with this bad stretch, remember that the Mariners still control their own destiny all the way up to the division title and No. 2 seed. That’s because they’ve got seven games against the Rangers and three against the Astros left on the schedule. They’ll get three against the lowly A’s first, too. 1 81-68
9

Phillies
All these late blown games — especially after big Phillies comebacks — are becoming a serious concern heading toward October. — 81-68
10

Twins
Royce Lewis has now played in 68 career games. He has five grand slams. 1 79-71
11

Rangers
I think Shohei Ohtani is definitely going to win MVP, but it’s always possible Corey Seager goes bonkers these last two weeks and sways some folks. Can you name the five Rangers to win AL MVP? Lock this one down for future Immaculate Grid use: Jeff Burroughs, Juan Gonzalez, Ivan Rodriguez, A-Rod and Josh Hamilton. 3 82-67
12

Diamondbacks
They must be disappointed the Cubs aren’t on their schedule anymore. They won six of seven against the Cubs in a week-and-a-half span. They’re still technically struggling when they don’t play the Cubs. They lost three of four to the Mets between the two Cubs’ series. — 79-72
13

Marlins
Jorge Soler hit his 36th homer of the season on Sunday. He has a shot to get to 40. The only Marlins to ever do that are Giancarlo Stanton and Gary Sheffield. — 78-72
14

Reds
Starting to see some “we overrated Elly De La Cruz” chatter and that’s utter nonsense. He’s 21 years old. So many players struggle at that age and most aren’t even in the majors yet. Anyone who claims they were wrong about him or overrated him or anything is exposing their own ignorance to how baseball works. 1 78-73
15

Cubs
Pretty much everyone just stopped hitting all at once. They were headed to comfortably being in the playoffs and contending for the NL Central title, but instead are going to have a very tough fight to even make the playoffs. 5 78-72
16

Yankees
If they win out, the Yankees could still make the playoffs. They have six head-to-heads with the Blue Jays, too. The best bet, however, is the Yankees drama revolves around whether or not they end up with a winning record. They haven’t had a losing season since 1992. Their first-round draft pick that season? Derek Jeter. 2 76-74
17

Giants
Though he’s only caught in 87 games, Patrick Bailey has been the best defensive catcher in all of baseball by several metrics. His framing numbers are astounding. — 76-74
18

Padres
Too little, too late? Yeah, too little, too late, but the Padres have won 10 of their last 15. 1 72-78
19

Red Sox
I have to say, I was floored at the Chaim Bloom firing. There are legitimate reasons both for and against the move, I just did not see it coming here in 2023. 3 74-76
20

Guardians
It looks like the Guardians will fail to reach 80 wins. Excluding 2020, this would mark the first time this franchise didn’t get to 80 since 2012, the year before Terry Francona took over. 1 72-78
21

Pirates
David Bednar is having one of the best seasons a Pirates reliever has ever had, especially if we include only those pitchers in the one-inning era. 1 70-80
22

Tigers
Catcher Jake Rogers homered twice on Sunday. It was his second multi-homer game of the season. Tigers catchers who previously pulled off the feat of two or more multi-HR games in a season: Alex Avila, John Flaherty, Mike Heath, Matt Nokes, Lance Parrish, Bill Freehan and Rudy York. 1 70-79
23

Mets
One of the first orders of business for David Stearns has to be a contract extension for Pete Alonso, right? 1 69-80
24

Cardinals
Adam Wainwright finally grabbed win 199. He’ll have a few shots to get 200. If he makes it, he’ll be the 122nd pitcher in MLB history to win 200 games. 1 66-83
25

Angels
Shohei Ohtani has played his last game in an Angels uniform. Right? 5 68-82
26

Nationals
In late August, the Nationals climbed to the periphery of the wild-card race. They’ve gone 4-13 since. — 66-84
27

Rockies
It was pretty fun to watch the Rockies threaten a no-hitter on Friday. The Rockies have never had a home no-hitter. Hideo Nomo of the Dodgers has the only career no-no in Coors. The Rockies only have one no-hitter in franchise history and that was Ubaldo Jimenez in Atlanta. 1 56-93
28

White Sox
So much has gone wrong here, but Tim Anderson falling apart is toward the top of the list. He’s hitting .245/.287/.300 with just one home run. 1 57-93
29

Royals
The Royals won four games this past week to climb out of the Official Power Rankings cellar. They’ll need to get a lot hotter to avoid topping 106 losses, though. That’s the franchise record. 1 48-102
30

Athletics
The 103 losses are the most since 1979. They’re sure to pass 108, which would mean the most losses for this franchise since the Philadelphia A’s went 36-117 (LOL) in 1916. 1 46-103