Last Power Rankings of 2024: Who's Ready for the Stretch Run? (2024)

We are nearing the end of the odyssey that is any Major League Baseball season, and now is when things really start to get good. September baseball is about seeing which teams can finish off the marathon with a great sprint, as teams angle for playoff positioning.

Unlike in years past, we have not seen any team really run away with either league, as there are two Wild Card round byes that are very much up for grabs with a little over 20 games left to play.

Meanwhile, the NL Wild Card race has four teams within four games of each other and a dark horse that has surged in the month of August. The AL Wild Card race is more set, but division races in the AL East and AL Central are sure to keep everyone on their toes throughout September.

Without further ado, let’s get into our final power rankings for the 2024 MLB season.

The Top 10 Best Teams in Baseball

Since this is the last ranking we’ll do of the top 10 teams in baseball for the 2024 season, we really wanted to take a lot of different things into account when making this list.

If you look at the top seven spots, you will notice that these are the teams who are in the best standing to, at the very least, make the playoffs come season’s end. Here we are looking at the Dodgers, Phillies, and Brewers, who are leading their respective NL divisions, while the top four teams in the AL round out our top seven.

Beyond that, the NL Wild Card leaders bridge the gap from the end of our top 10 to the middle-of-the-pack teams who will all be fighting tooth and nail to avoid elimination in September.

1. Los Angeles Dodgers (Prev. Ranking: 4)

August Record: 19-8

The Los Angeles Dodgers have officially realized the promise of being the “Super Team” everyone was worried about when Shohei Ohtani signed for $700 million. If Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman weren’t enough, Teoscar Hernández is not a bad cleanup hitter to round the toughest top four of any lineup in baseball.

After keeping their head above water with Betts out, largely thanks to Ohtani, Freeman and Hernandez, the Dodgers are now a rocket ship heading straight towards the top of the standings in the National League.

The Dodgers are 14-6 in their first 20 games with Betts off the IL and had the best record in baseball in August. Getting healthy is going to be critical for the Dodgers come October when it comes to their pitching, but right now, a healthy lineup will carry them to a Wild Card bye with ease.

2. Philadelphia Phillies (Prev. Ranking: 3)

August Record: 15-13

The Phillies have struggled a bit through the dog days of this season but still have everything it takes to make a deep run come October. They just showed their mettle this past weekend, facing the Atlanta Braves on Sunday Night Baseball.

The Braves entered the four-game series vs. the Phillies only five games back in the NL East. A strong showing could have made the division a race down the stretch. Instead, the Phillies took two of the first three, before completing the four-game series victory over Atlanta in walk-off fashion in the 11th inning.

It is looking very much like the Phillies are going to win the NL East for the first time since 2011.

Over the last two seasons, the Phillies have shown they have what it takes to win in the Wild Card round and make a deep run beyond that. This would be their first time entering the tournament as a true favorite, but they still have to hold off the Brewers to avoid playing in the Wild Card round.

3. Milwaukee Brewers (Prev. Ranking: 6)

August Record: 19-9

At some point, you just have to reward the team that keeps winning. We can all question if the Brewers have enough starting pitching to make a run to the World Series, but what we can’t question is that they have been one of the most dominant teams in baseball this season.

Entering play on September 3rd, it is not the Dodgers, Phillies, or even the Yankees who have the best run differential in baseball this season. No, it is the Brewers, who are well over 20 games over .500 with a +139 run differential.

The Brewers have run away with the NL Central and may be the first team to clinch their division this season.

4. New York Yankees (Prev. Ranking: 5)

August Record: 14-12

The next two teams on the power rankings were basically a coin flip, as they are in a tightly contested race to see who will win the AL East and a Wild Card round bye, and which will have to take the long road come October.

Last month, we ranked the Baltimore Orioles in the top two, but a sub-.500 August dropped them a few spots on this list. Instead, we are going to side with the team that has Aaron Judge and Juan Soto, putting the Yankees as our favorite to come out on top in the AL East.

5. Baltimore Orioles (Prev. Ranking: 2)

August Record: 13-15

The Baltimore Orioles are one of the most talented teams in baseball, who could easily catch fire at any time. Still, they rank in the top five largely based on what they did earlier this season.

The Orioles have posted two straight losing months in July and August, leading to their slip in our rankings. They still deserve to be considered one of the best five teams in baseball, but they will need to start to get hot in September if they hope to make a run come October.

6. Houston Astros (Prev. Ranking: 14)

August Record: 18-10

One of the biggest risers throughout the season, the Houston Astros have climbed from being ranked in the bottom 10 (No. 24 back in May), all the way up into the top 10. For all those who doubted the Astros, they suddenly look the part of a World Series contender yet again.

Houston is one of three teams who have won 50 games since June 1st, joining the Arizona Diamondbacks and the New York Mets. This makes them the hottest team in the American League, and they suddenly have the pitching to make another deep playoff run.

Framber Valdez is back in ace form, and the addition of Yusui Kikuchi has worked out so well it has almost justified his hefty price tag. As a team, the Astros pitched to a 2.56 ERA in the month of August, and their rotation pitched to an even better 2.36 ERA.

With Valdez and Kikuchi, as well as the emergence of Hunter Brown and Spencer Areghetti, the Astros could form a great playoff rotation. They also have Ronel Blanco, who has been consistent all season, while Justin Verlander is the ultimate wild card.

What was once seen as a glaring weakness for the Astros has turned into a huge strength. Houston will head into October looking to make their eighth-straight ALCS appearance and fifth World Series run since 2017.

7. Cleveland Guardians (Prev. Ranking: 1)

August Record: 12-17

The Cleveland Guardians have taken a bit of a dip in our rankings, as they put together a rough month of August that saw them play four games under .500.

Similar to the Brewers, the Guardians are a team that could have a starting pitching problem come October, one that was evident in August when they pitched to a 5.24 ERA. Cleveland’s bullpen could only pick up the slack so much, when they were asked to cover the fourth-most amount of innings in baseball, pitching to a 4.06 ERA.

The Guardians are in a tight division race, looking to hold off both the Minnesota Twins and the Kansas City Royals in the AL Central. They will also have to hold off the Houston Astros (4.0 GB) if they want to keep their first-round bye; otherwise, they will join the Twins and Royals in the Wild Card round.

8. San Diego Padres (Prev. Ranking: 8)

August Record: 18-10

Here we have reached another part of our rankings where it was basically a coin flip decision. This came down to the two teams leading the NL Wild Card race, the Padres and the Diamondbacks.

San Diego gets the edge, simply for having a slightly better position in the standings, and because they just got a huge lift by adding Fernando Tatis Jr. to a team that has won 20 of its last 30 games.

Jackson Merrill has become the favorite to win the NL Rookie of the Year, the Padres have the deepest bullpen in baseball and Joe Musgrove is healthy and pitching like a frontline starter again.

The Padres are all-in on this season and have put themselves in a good position to be a very dangerous team come October.

9. Arizona Diamondbacks (Prev. Ranking: 10)

August Record: 18-9

At one point in time, the Arizona Diamondbacks were surging in the standings thanks to contributions from MVP candidate Ketel Marte and All-Star snub Christian Walker. Without Walker for all of August and Marte since the middle of the month, the D-backs have found a way to remain one of the hottest teams in baseball.

Still, until they get Marte and Walker back, there are holes on this team that could begin to show themselves down the stretch. Josh Bell has been a good band-aid for the loss of Walker, but a platoon of Luis Guillorme and Kevin Newman is a far cry from the production Arizona was getting from Ketel Marte.

In Marte’s absence, it has been Corbin Caroll who has stepped up and flashed a glimpse of the MVP form we saw in the first half of the 2023 season. If the D-backs are going to hold onto a playoff spot down the stretch, they are going to need a lot of people to step up with the Braves and Mets at their heels.

10. Atlanta Braves (Prev. Ranking: 7)

August Record: 16-13

Man, these Braves have been absolutely decimated by injuries this year, and it doesn’t seem to be letting up any time soon. A whopping eight Braves players are on the injured list as of right now, with two of them hitting the shelf in the month of August (Austin Riley and A.J. Minter).

Injuries or not, the Braves continue to win ballgames and keep themselves in the running. Matt Olson led the NL in RBI in August (27) and Marcell Ozuna’s 154 wRC+ was one of the best in the league. The offense continues to roll, while on the pitching side of things, Chris Sale marches toward what could very likely be the first Cy Young Award of his storied career.

The Braves are more at risk of missing the playoffs than they have been in a long time, but with their winning pedigree, it is hard to count them out of the mix.

Power Rankings: Middle of the Pack (11-20)

As we reach the middle of the pack, we are confronted with teams that are sitting in a more precarious position when it comes to their playoff standing. The New York Mets headline the list, once again being ranked just outside the top 10.

The Mets are the first team on the outside looking in on the NL Wild Card race but are riding high off a 7-3 road trip to close out August strong. The Twins and Royals are holding playoff positions in the American League. Beyond that, we get into some teams who are dark horses to make the postseason if they can build off of the great runs they made during the season’s penultimate month.

11. New York Mets (Prev. Ranking: 11)

August Record: 15-13

One of many teams still in the hunt in the NL Wild Card race, the Mets rode Francisco Lindor’s red-hot bat and a promising rotation trio of Sean Manaea, Luis Severino and David Peterson to a record above .500 in the month of August.

They face significant competition in the NL East (Braves, Phillies), but their deficit in the Wild Card race is razor-thin, so they’re still in this thing.

The aforementioned trio of starters led the Mets to finish the month of August with the second-lowest starter’s ERA in the National League. They also finished with the second-lowest home run rate and are sporting a strong rotation despite the fact that Kodai Senga, Christian Scott and deadline acquisition Paul Blackburn are all on the shelf.

Now, as you get to the next two teams on this list, you may question why the Mets are ranked ahead of them when they are currently not in a playoff position. The answer is a 50-31 record over their last 81 games, as the Mets have been one of the best teams in baseball since June.

12. Kansas City Royals (Prev. Ranking: 16)

August Record: 15-13

This is another set of two where we could flip a coin as to who should have been ranked first. The Kansas City Royals and Minnesota Twins are both holding down playoff spots, while consistently remaining within a few games of each other for over a month now.

The tiebreaker in deciding between these two teams was two-fold. One was run differential, where the Royals (+91) clear the Twins (+51) by nearly 40 runs. The other reason is that the Royals have the best player among AL Wild Card teams.

Bobby Witt. Jr. is having an MVP-caliber season, although Aaron Judge will likely keep him from winning the award. Still, what Witt has done this season has been remarkable. He is heading towards winning the batting title and has remained within a few decimal points of Judge in fWAR, despite hitting 21 fewer home runs.

When you factor in his speed and defense, there are few players in baseball who are more valuable than Witt. And arguably none when you factor in the contract.

13. Minnesota Twins (Prev. Ranking: 9)

August Record: 14-14

The Twins took a step back in the month of August, capped off with an embarrassing 15-0 loss to the last-place Blue Jays on the 31st of the month.

Matt Wallner became an offensive machine, posting a 171 wRC+ in 25 games played, but Byron Buxton and Carlos Correa both missed most or all of August, which could very easily sink this ship as the season winds down.

Pablo López took a significant step forward in his five August starts, posting a sparkling 1.71 ERA across 31.2 innings of work. This is easily the sharpest he’s looked all year, which could provide the Twins with some necessary mojo on the pitching side of things, but then there’s the DFA of Trevor Richards, who was the club’s only trade deadline acquisition.

The point is, for every positive storyline there was one (or more) negative ones. The Twins are currently occupying the third and final AL Wild Card spot, but they’re going to need their top contributors to get healthy and return to the field ASAP.

14. Chicago Cubs (Prev. Ranking: 22)

August Record: 18-8

The Cubs are riding a six-game winning streak and are 9-1 in their last 10 games. While the gap between them and the first-place Brewers remains at 9 games in the Central, a 3.5-game gap in the Wild Card race signals hope for the Cubbies.

While the pitching staff finished August with the sixth-lowest ERA and seventh-lowest FIP, it was their offense that carried the team to where they are now. The Cubs did it all on offense last month, as they finished with the third-most runs scored, third-most stolen bases, third-highest walk rate, third-highest ISO and – you guessed it – the third-highest wRC+ in the National League.

The gap between the Cubs and Brewers is a large one, but Chicago’s path to the postseason may come in the form of a Wild Card spot, which there’s nothing wrong with.

15. Detroit Tigers (Prev. Ranking: 24)

August Record: 17-11

Like the Cubs, the Tigers are refusing to go down without a fight. In fact, they are one of four teams in the AL Central to be above .500 and are just five games back of a Wild Card spot.

While their offense took a month-long nap in August, Detroit’s pitching staff took a major step forward, carried primarily by Cy Young frontrunner Tarik Skubal – who’s likely already got a spot in his trophy case reserved for the hardware coming his way.

Tigers pitchers had a 3.06 ERA, which was the second-lowest in the AL last month. They don’t walk anybody, they don’t allow home runs and they do an above-average job at stranding baserunners. It’s unlikely that this alone is going to carry them to the playoffs, but they’re more than deserving of this jump up our power rankings.

16. Boston Red Sox (Prev. Ranking: 13)

August Record: 13-15

A losing record in the month of August has the Red Sox falling a few spots in our rankings. The club is only three games above .500 as of right now and is boasting a run differential that’s barely positive (+8).

David Hamilton, James Paxton and three relievers all hit the shelf last month and now the likes of Enmanuel Valdez and a slew of unproven relief pitchers are being forced into larger roles. It remains to be seen where the Red Sox will finish in the standings this year, but their hold on third place in the AL East is certainly not a very tight one.

17. Seattle Mariners (Prev. Ranking: 12)

August Record: 12-14

Armed with one of the best starting rotations in recent memory, the Mariners are running into a bit of a cold streak at the most inopportune time. As of right now, the club is just one game above .500 after a disappointing month of August and start to September.

Fortunately, Seattle remains in the AL West picture and is only 5.5 games out of a Wild Card spot, but they’re going to need what has been a dead silent offense (.207 AVG, 97 wRC+ in August) to get going if there’ll be any hope.

18. San Francisco Giants (Prev. Ranking: 20)

August Record: 14-13

The Giants were at or near the top of the National League in strikeouts and ERA throughout the month of August, but they’re in a similar boat to the Mariners in that the pitching did well and the offense did nothing.

Blake Snell and Logan Webb pitched like the uber-duo they were supposed to be when the Giants first landed Snell. The southpaw had a 1.64 ERA in six starts while Webb was at 2.16 through five outings. Again, the pitching staff was money but the offense as a whole struggled.

All hope is not necessarily lost though. Veterans Michael Conforto and Matt Chapman both had a wRC+ of 134 or higher and combined for 1.6 fWAR through the past month.

19. St. Louis Cardinals (Prev. Ranking: 15)

August Record: 12-16

Of all teams still firmly in contention, the Cardinals had what was easily the NL’s worst pitching staff last month. Their hurlers combined for a 4.60 ERA, which was above four teams, all of which are in the lowest tier of these power rankings.

While there were some noteworthy performances on an individual level offensively, the Cardinals only managed a 99 wRC+ in August which was good for 11th in the league. St. Louis is currently just one game above .500 but unlike the Tigers, who had a strong showing in August, the Cardinals seem to be trending in the complete opposite direction.

20. Tampa Bay Rays (Prev. Ranking: 19)

August Record: 12-15

For a while, it seemed like the Rays were destined to barely hang on to playoff hopes as they occupied the fourth-place spot in the AL East. A down month of August has all but erased those hopes, even though it’s been nice to have uber-prospect Junior Caminero up in the big leagues where he belongs.

The club’s pitching was decent last month, but it was bogged down by a complete implosion of Taj Bradley, who was at one point looking like the next big thing out of Tampa Bay. Offensively, there were nothing but crickets outside of everybody not named Josh Lowe and Yandy Diaz.

The pecking order in the AL East has largely been the exact same for the past few months, but the Rays are in legitimate danger of losing their grip on a non-last-place spot in the division.

The 10 Worst Teams in Major League Baseball Right Now

We have reached the saddest part of this list, the teams who are looking more toward their tragic number than their magic number down the stretch.

The first few teams you’ll read about entered the season with lofty expectations and have wildly underperformed. Then, further down the list, we will get into some of the teams who are clearly working through a rebuild and who probably can’t wait to get to the end of this marathon.

21. Toronto Blue Jays (Prev. Ranking: 26)

August Record: 15-12

The Blue Jays actually had a pretty good month in August, as their offense came back to life (119 wRC+) and their starting rotation was one of the best in baseball (3.27 ERA). Unfortunately, this hot stretch came after Toronto already sold off parts at the deadline.

The only thing the Jays can strive for over the rest of the 2024 season is to avoid further embarrassment.

22. Texas Rangers (Prev. Ranking: 18)

August Record: 12-15

The Rangers never got the big second-half boost to the pitching staff that they were hoping for; as of Labor Day, Jacob deGrom, Max Scherzer, and Tyler Mahle are all on the IL. And while deGrom is nearing his return, he won’t be back soon enough to give the Rangers any hope of getting back to October.

The defending World Series champions had a .659 OPS and 5.22 ERA in August.

23. Oakland Athletics (Prev. Ranking: 25)

August Record: 14-12

The Athletics have spent much of the 2024 season proving that they’re a good bit better than most of us thought they would be. That doesn’t mean they’ve looked like true contenders at any point, but they have played some genuinely competitive baseball – just look at their winning records in July and August!

Young stars like Mason Miller, Brent Rooker, Lawrence Butler, and JJ Bleday have continued to shine for the A’s, and it’s starting to look like this team has a new young core to build around.

24. Cincinnati Reds (Prev. Ranking: 21)

August Record: 12-17

The Reds needed a lot of things to go right in order to contend with their young core in 2024. Unfortunately, not enough has broken their way. Their latest hurdle? Three of their young, talented starting pitchers hit the IL in August: Hunter Greene, Andrew Abbott, and Nick Lodolo.

Elly De La Cruz is still a superstar, and Tyler Stephenson has been hot, but the Reds need more proven talent and more of their young players to step up if they’re going to contend in 2025.

25. Pittsburgh Pirates (Prev. Ranking: 17)

August Record: 8-19

The Pirates aren’t going to make the playoffs in 2024, but it sure was fun when it looked like they might have a chance to squeak in. Sad to say, a 5.65 ERA and an NL-worst 8-19 record in August squashed any hopes of a postseason run in Pittsburgh.

Things may have fallen apart for the Pirates in August, but at least Paul Skenes and Oneil Cruz continued to show why they’re the long-term faces of this franchise.

26. Washington Nationals (Prev. Ranking: 23)

August Record: 12-15

The Nationals have a lot in common with the Pirates: Both teams held on in the NL Wild Card race longer than anyone expected, but eventually, they fell back down to earth. Still, Washington has a lot to be excited about.

James Wood, Luis García Jr., and DJ Herz were particularly impressive performers in August. So was top prospect Dylan Crews, who made his debut toward the end of the month.

27. Los Angeles Angels (Prev. Ranking: 27)

August Record: 9-19

The Angels’ season all but ended on August 1st, when it was reported that Mike Trout was officially done for the 2024 campaign. Thus, it was no surprise that the Angels played their worst baseball of the season in August, as their opponents outscored them by 35 runs over 28 games.

If there was any silver lining, it was Zach Neto‘s strong performance; the shortstop has been one of very few bright spots in Anaheim this year.

28. Colorado Rockies (Prev. Ranking: 29)

August Record: 12-16

At the risk of offending Just Baseball’s large contingent of Rockies writers, I have to say that I think this might be the most boring team of the 2024 season.

The Rockies have been consistently bad all year – and indeed, for the past six years – but not so bad that it’s worth talking about. And unlike some of the other basem*nt-dwellers of the league, Colorado didn’t do anything noteworthy at the trade deadline either.

At least Brenton Doyle and Ezequiel Tovar are worth watching.

29. Miami Marlins (Prev. Ranking: 28)

August Record: 10-18

Jake Burger has been red hot lately, Xavier Edwards was a bright spark before he landed on the IL, and Miami’s bullpen has been surprisingly stable, even after a trade deadline fire sale.

Still, there is no denying that the Marlins have had a wildly disappointing follow-up to last season’s 84-78 campaign. All they can do over the final weeks of the 2024 season is look toward the future.

30. Chicago White Sox (Prev. Ranking: 30)

August Record: 4-22

Every time I try to write about the White Sox’s season, my first thought is always: “What more is there to say? How could it get any worse?”

Yet, somehow, this team keeps finding a way to look even worse than it did the day before. The 2024 Chicago White Sox are one of the worst teams in baseball history, and I wish we could put them lower on the power rankings. Number 30 out of 30 just doesn’t seem low enough.