We’ve made it past the first third of the MLB season, and what a wild marathon it has been so far. There has been a lot of movement at the top of the league, while the bottom has stayed more or less the same.

With a much larger sample size to base rankings on for this month’s power rankings, I’ll be able to start picking out the teams I believe are true contenders for this year’s World Series. 

#30 – Colorado Rockies (11-50)

Woohoo, the Rockies have won a series! Goes to show how bad this team is that this is the highlight of their season. The 2025 Rockies are the worst team in MLB history; not much else to say. 

#29 – Chicago White Sox (19-42) 

The White Sox picked things up a bit in May after starting out 5-21 in April. This team is still by no means good, but there have been some bright spots with some of their young players (Miiquel Vargas & Shane Smith), and flashes of talent in their farm system that should provide some hope for future seasons. 

#28 – Pittsburgh Pirates (22-39)

It looks like the National League’s longest playoff drought is going to continue this year, cause the Pirates’ offense has been abysmal. Oneil Cruz has been the only bright spot on that side of the ball, but he alone isn’t enough to support the excellent season this pitching staff, especially Paul Skenes, is having. 

#27 – Miami Marlins (23-36)

I considered putting them down at 29 purely for being the first team to lose a series to the Rockies, but I’ll be fair and give them the 27th spot. This is a young rebuilding team that is playing like a young rebuilding team. It’s no surprise that they’re at the bottom of the league; they just have to keep hoping that their young players continue to show promise.

#26 – Athletics (23-39)

Boy oh boy, what a nose dive by the A’s after starting things out 20-16 and looking like a wild-card team. Their pitching has completely fallen apart over the past few weeks, and the A’s will now be lucky to get back up to a .500 record at any point this season. 

#25 – Baltimore Orioles (23-36)

This season has been a total failure for the Orioles. Coming into 2025, they were supposed to contend for the AL East crown. Now, with their pitching staff floundering and unable to string wins together, they will likely be sellers at the trade deadline. The O’s are back into rebuild mode and will hopefully be able to put in a better showing next year. 

#24 – Atlanta Braves (27-32)

Getting Acuña and Strider back will help give the Braves a chance of turning things around, but they have quite the uphill battle ahead of them. The rest of the Braves’ roster has yet to live up to their projected potential, and Acuña and Strider are not going to be able to get this team into the playoff race on their own. 

#23 – Washington Nationals (28-32)

The Nationals continue to play as expected this season. They have seen great performances from CJ Abrams, James Wood, and MacKenzie Gore, as expected, but their lack of depth and terrible bullpen place them as a sub-500 ball club. This team is in rebuild mode and has plenty of things to be hopeful about for the future.

#22 – Los Angeles Angels (28-32)

Zach Neto, Logan O’Hoppe, and Nolan Schanuel have been major bright spots for this team, but sadly, they alone can’t make up for the awful pitching staff this Angels team has. Unless they make some drastic improvements, the Angels will once again find themselves at the bottom of the AL.

#21 – Arizona Diamondbacks (29-31)

The D-Backs, much like the Orioles, were supposed to be much better this season than they have shown. The offense continues to be amazing, but outside of Corbin Burnes (who is now hurt), the pitching staff has been unable to support their offense. There is still time for this team to turn things around and contend for a wild card spot, but that improvement is going to need to happen very soon. 

#20 – Boston Red Sox (29-34)

It’s pretty sad to see that the Red Sox might have had the best offseason of any team, adding Bregman and Crochet, and they are still below .500. Bregman is now going to miss an extended period of time, which will make things tougher on an already struggling group of position players. This team has lots of talent, but they have yet to find a way to put it all together. 

#19 – Cincinnati Reds (30-32)

The Reds’ offense continues to underperform, and we haven’t seen Elly De La Cruz take that next step like many people were expecting. The pitching staff has been good enough to string some wins together and avoid long skids, but this offense needs to step things up if they want to make a playoff push. 

#18 – Texas Rangers (29-32)

The Rangers have been carried by their pitching staff this year (deGrom, I miss you), while for the second straight year, their offense has floundered. The AL West is a pretty soft division, so the Rangers are still in striking distance of the playoffs, but they need to get things figured out on offense to make that happen. 

#17 – Kansas City Royals (32-29)

As expected at the beginning of the season, the Royals have leaned on their pitching staff to carry them. Their pitching staff ranks 4th in the majors in ERA and 4th in pitching WAR, but with one of the worst offenses in the league, the Royals are going to have to fight hard in one of the most competitive divisions in baseball to have a shot at the playoffs.

#16 – Toronto Blue Jays (31-29)

The players Toronto added during the offseason have contributed little to this team, but a weak AL East division has them tied for second place and a shot at the postseason. If they can start to get some contributions from a wider group of their lineup, this team could be a sneaky AL wild-card candidate.

#15 – Tampa Bay Rays (31-29)

The Rays are in a very similar position to the Blue Jays, benefitting from playing in a weak division and striving for a wild-card spot. Their pitching has been surprisingly fantastic, and an amazing season so far from Junior Caminero has helped the offense, but they need more consistency from the rest of the lineup to truly compete.

#14 – Minnesota Twins (33-27)

The Twins have turned things around from their 7-15 start to the season, but there are still plenty of red flags with this team. The pitching staff has been great, but their offense has been inconsistent, with Byron Buxton being the only player they can regularly count on.  With both the Tigers and the Guardians playing great baseball, this Twins team will have to battle to make the playoffs.

#13 – Cleveland Guardians (32-27)

This team has plenty of talent to compete for a playoff spot, but challenging the Tigers for the division is going to be a tall order. Their -17 run differential is a bit of a red flag and might suggest that they’ve been more lucky than good, but this team has a lot going for them this season. 

#12 – St. Louis Cardinals (33-27)

The Cardinals will soon face some difficult decisions. While they’ve been playing well, they’re on the outside looking in of the playoffs and might be tempted to sell high on some of their aging roster. We might see them make a run at the postseason, but I’d bank on them being sellers at the deadline. 

#11 – Houston Astros (33-27)

While the Astros’ depth may not be what it used to be, they remain a serious threat to contend for the AL West and have been playing solid baseball as of late. The fact that they’ve been able to play at this level without solid play from Yordan Alvarez speaks volumes, but they’ll likely need him to step up here to turn this team into a true contender. 

#10 – Seattle Mariners (32-27)

After years of relying either too heavily on the pitching staff or the offense, the Mariners have finally brought a balanced attack to the table. As I’m sure everyone predicted, Cal Raleigh has not only been the Mariners’ best player, but is a strong AL MVP candidate. They still have some holes to fill and really need Julio Rodriguez to begin producing, but in a weak AL West division, the Mariners have the talent to claim the division. 

#9 – San Francisco Giants (33-28)

The Giants have cooled off somewhat from their strong start to the season and have been struggling recently. Their pitching staff continues to be outstanding, ranking second in team ERA at 3.03; however, their offense has been relatively stagnant. Their offense makes it difficult to view them as a full-fledged contender, but this team certainly has the talent to make it into the postseason and cause some noise. 

#8 – Milwaukee Brewers (33-29) 

After a rocky start to the season, the Brewers have turned things around and demonstrated their ability to compete for a playoff spot. Great seasons from Rhys Hoskins, William Contreras, and Jackson Chourio have this team humming, but they’re going to have quite the battle to claim either the NL Central over the Cubs or take one of the three NL wild-card spots. 

#7 – San Diego Padres (35-24)

Each team going forward is a true World Series contender. Despite the Padres’ lack of depth, they have positioned themselves as one of the best teams in baseball so far this season, thanks to their star talent and excellent bullpen. They definitely have some holes to fill, but, as usual, they will likely make some moves at the deadline to improve upon an already great roster. 

#6 – Philadelphia Phillies (37-23)

Despite being one of the worst defensive teams in baseball, the Phillies are once again looking like one of the MLB’s best teams. Their rotation has been fantastic, and they are receiving solid production throughout their lineup. Look for GM Dave Dombrowski to make some moves at the deadline to add some more power to the lineup. 

#5 – New York Mets (38-23)

From spot #5 to spot #2, these teams could all be put in any order, and you wouldn’t be wrong. 

While the Mets have continued to play incredibly well and their pitching staff remains one of the best in baseball, their offensive struggles and inability to win on the road continue to be causes for concern. They’re still one of the best teams in baseball, but they need to start producing better with runners in scoring position. 

#4 – Los Angeles Dodgers (37-22)

While the Dodgers have still been winning despite their pitching injuries, it’s hard to imagine that, as is, this team could make another injury-laden push for the World Series. But, it is the Dodgers. Their lineup is fantastic, and they will likely grab some pitching assistance through the trade market. 

#3 – New York Yankees (37-22)

The entire Yankees roster has been performing well this season, with surprise performances from Trent Grisham and Ben Rice. Competing in a fairly division, the Yankees have a clear path to snag a division title and compete for a World Series. 

#2 – Chicago Cubs (38-22)

The Cubs feature the best offense in baseball, and what makes them jump up so much this month is the improvement they’ve seen in their bullpen. With Pete Crow-Armstrong leading the way as an MVP candidate, this team not only looks poised to claim the NL Central but make a push to win it all this year.  

#1 – Detroit Tigers (40-22)

Next to the Rockies at the bottom, this should be the most obvious pick on this list. The Tigers are insanely good. Unlike pretty much any other team in the league, the Tigers have no real holes. They excel in every phase of the game and dominate teams through a combination of excellent pitching and an explosive offense. They should be viewed as the team to beat this year.

Come back next month to see how the power rankings shift from month to month!

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