While the Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Dodgers and Baltimore Orioles hold the top three spots in this week's MLB power rankings, there is no doubt that one of the hottest teams in all of MLB is the Seattle Mariners.
After dispatching the Kansas City Royals on Sunday, the Mariners are now 11-1 in their last 12 games, 19-4 over their last 23, 21-5 over their last 26, 24-6 over their last 30, and 27-8 over their last 35 contests. Is it any wonder why they have shot to the top of the American League West?
Oh sure, the Texas Rangers and Houston Astros will still have something to say about the division, but what is going on in the Pacific Northwest can't be ignored. Right now, the team you don't want to face in the American League is the Mariners ... but what is this hot streak doing to their standings in our latest MLB power rankings? Well, let's find out, starting at the bottom of the MLB food chain and working on our way up.
MLB Power Rankings: 30. Oakland Athletics
It hasn't just been a painful season for the A's in the standings, but also at the plate as well. On Saturday, the A's were hit by a pitch for the eighth consecutive game, a new Athletics record. During that painful stretch, 13 Oakland batters have been hit by pitches, giving them 76 for the season. That's the fourth-most in MLB and tied for fourth-most in Oakland history. The good news? The streak was snapped on Sunday.
MLB Power Rankings: 29. Kansas City Royals
Seattle flexed their muscles against the Royals on Saturday, posting a 15-2 win. Of those 15 runs, 13 were scored thanks to seven Mariners homers, setting a Royals franchise record for homers allowed in a game. All five Royals pitchers on Saturday were tagged for a home run, including three off starter Jordan Lyles, all of which came in Seattle's seven-run, 46-pitch third inning.
MLB Power Rankings: 28. Colorado Rockies
In a season of not-so-great things in Colorado, kudos go out to manager Bud Black, who managed his 1,000th game for the Rockies on Sunday. Black also managed 1,362 games with the San Diego Padres from 2007-15, making him the 12th manager in MLB history to manage at least 1,000 games with two different clubs. He joins Leo Durocher (three teams), Tony La Russa (three teams), Sparky Anderson, Bruce Bochy (active), Terry Francona (active), Bucky Harris, Hurdle, Jim Leyland, Gene Mauch, Bill McKechnie and Bobby Valentine on that list.
MLB Power Rankings: 27. Chicago White Sox
With a home win over Oakland on Sunday, the White Sox are now 12-21 against teams from the American League West this season, including a 6-10 record at home. That's a big dropoff from previous seasons when the White Sox went 18-16 against the division in 2022 and 16-17 in 2021.
MLB Power Rankings: 26. Washington Nationals
Maybe it's time we start putting a little respect out there for the Nationals, a team that has now won five consecutive series. Washington heads to Toronto on Monday for a three-game set, so it will be interesting to watch if the Blue Jays can cool off the Nationals (that's a sentence I wasn't sure I would type in 2023).
MLB Power Rankings: 25. St. Louis Cardinals
In what has been a disappointing season for the ages under the Gateway Arch, the Cardinals accomplished another feat with a road loss on Sunday to the Philadelphia Phillies. By taking all three games against St. Louis this weekend, Philadelphia recorded the first sweep of the Cardinals at Citizens Bank Park (it opened for the 2004 season).
MLB Power Rankings: 24. Detroit Tigers
Kerry Carpenter went 0-for-3 on Sunday in a loss to Houston, but was hit by a pitch, allowing him to reach base and continue a career- best 23 consecutive game streak of getting on base. That's the longest active on-base streak among all MLB players.
MLB Power Rankings: 23. Pittsburgh Pirates
Despite another losing season, maybe the fans in Pittsburgh sense some hope? Attendance for Saturday night's home game against the Chicago Cubs was 34,782, which was the ninth time this season at least 34,000 fans attended a game at PNC Park. Last season, the Pirates had three crowds of more than 34,000.
MLB Power Rankings: 22. New York Yankees
DJ LeMahieu hit a solo home run on Sunday, and he's now hit safely in 18 of the 21 games where he has seen action for the Yankees in August. That includes on Saturday against Tampa Bay when he recorded the only two hits for the Yankees, hitting singles in the sixth and ninth inning.
MLB Power Rankings: 21. New York Mets
Brandon Nimmo went 0-for-3 with a walk in Sunday's home win over the Angels, one of the few times in recent games he has been held in check. In the previous 15 games, the New York leadoff man was batting .345 with two doubles, three home runs, four RBI, nine walks, a .433 on-base percentage and a .534 slugging percentage.
MLB Power Rankings: 20. Los Angeles Angels
Despite the disappointing news about his UCL injury, Shohei Ohtani is still doing incredible things at the plate. With 44 home runs and 19 stolen bases on the season, Ohtani is one home run and one stolen base shy of his second career season with 45 or more home runs and 20 or more stolen bases (he had 46 homers and 26 stolen bases in his 2021 MVP season). If he reaches the mark in 2023, Ohtani ould join Ken Griffey Jr. and Alex Rodriguez as the only players with multiple 45 homer/20 stolen base seasons.
MLB Power Rankings: 19. Cleveland Guardians
Since making their MLB debuts, Tanner Bibee (10-3, 3.01 ERA) and Gavin Williams (1-5, 3.52 ERA are etching their place in recent history. The duo is currently the first pair of rookie starters (minimum 60 percent of appearances being starts) to each pitch 64 or more innings and each have an ERA+ of 118 or greater since the 2013 St. Louis Cardinals when Shelby Miller and Michael Wacha accomplished the feat.
MLB Power Rankings: 18. San Diego Padres
It's safe to say the Padres being swept in Milwaukee by the Brewers over the weekend was the realistic end of San Diego's postseason hopes. Part of the sweep was a result of poor starting pitching from the Padres, with San Diego starters allowing five earned runs in the first two games of the series. That was just the third time all season in which San Diego starters allowed five or more earned runs in back-to-back games.
MLB Power Rankings: 17. Miami Marlins
Do you sense the change in south Florida? Heading into Sunday's series finale against the Nationals, Miami's offense had struck out a combined 1,033 times this year, the fifth-lowest total in MLB, behind Cleveland (916), Washington (925), Arizona (1,012), and Houston (1,029). The last time the Marlins ranked in MLB's top 10 in strikeouts was 2017 (10th).
MLB Power Rankings: 16. Cincinnati Reds
Let the kids play! The Reds are the first team in MLB history with three rookies with at least 10 home runs and 10 stolen bases each in a single season (Elly De La Cruz, Matt McLain, Spencer Steer). And, for the first time since 1890, when Cincinnati joined the National League, three Reds rookies have produced at least 10 home runs, per @EliasSports.
MLB Power Rankings: 15. San Francisco Giants
How bad has it been for the Giants in August? Since August 5, heading into Sunday's series finale against the Braves, San Francisco had lost 14 of 19 games to fall from 12 games over .500 at 61-49 to 66-63. San Francisco's .263 winning percentage in that span tied the New York Yankees for 28th third-lowest in MLB, just ahead of Kansas City and Colorado (.250).
MLB Power Rankings: 14. Arizona Diamondbacks
In the four-game series at Chase Field against the Reds, Diamondbacks pitchers combined to allow just one run during the first through fifth innings. That's the good news. On the flip side, after the sixth inning, Arizona pitchers surrendered 19 runs. If the Diamondbacks are going to make a run to the Wild Card, the bullpen has to perform better.
MLB Power Rankings: 13. Toronto Blue Jays
Hyun Jin Ryu pitched 5.0+ frames on Saturday, surrendering three runs (two earned) on four hits with no walks and five strikeouts. The southpaw has gone 3-1 with a 2.25 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP while keeping hitters to a .211 batting average in five starts since returning from Tommy John surgery.
MLB Power Rankings: 12. Boston Red Sox
Boston scored a pair of runs in the sixth and eighth innings of Sunday's 7-4 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers at Fenway Park. The Red Sox have now scored multiple runs in an inning at least once in each of their last 14 games (24 multi-run innings in that time).
MLB Power Rankings: 11. Minnesota Twins
Michael A. Taylor was back in the lineup on Sunday after missing the previous two games with a tight hamstring. He homered twice on Thursday night, giving him 19 on the season, which tied his single-season career high, done in 2017 with Washington. Taylor has homered seven times in 19 games this month and entered Sunday tied for seventh in the AL in homers in August and tied for third most among AL outfielders.
MLB Power Rankings: 10. Chicago Cubs
The Cubs posted a 10-1 win in Pittsburgh on Sunday, pushing them to 13-7 in their last 20 games, 16-8 in their last 24 and 27-11 in their last 37 games since July 18. Chicago is 9-1-1 in its last 11 series dating to July 17. Following play on July 20, the Cubs sat 7.0 games out of a Wild Card spot. They enter Monday's big series opener at home against Milwaukee in control of a Wild Card spot and their own postseason destiny.
MLB Power Rankings: 9. Milwaukee Brewers
Speaking of the Brewers, with a sweep of the Padres over the weekend (Milwaukee's first home sweep of San Diego since a three-game blanking in 2003), Milwaukee heads to Wrigley Field with an eight-game winning streak, Milwaukee's longest since winning 11 in a row from June 22 through July 3, 2021.
MLB Power Rankings: 8. Texas Rangers
Aroldis Chapman tossed a scoreless ninth inning on Saturday, his ninth scoreless appearance in 10 outings during the month of August (0.82 ERA), before allowing a run on Sunday. However, on Sunday, he struck out the side against the Twins, in the process logging his 1,135th career relief strikeout, tying him for 11th in MLB history with Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera.
MLB Power Rankings: 7. Houston Astros
Sunday had plenty of historical feel to it in the series finale between Houston and Detroit. While Miguel Cabrera smacked his 510th career homer, he did it after former teammate Justin Verlander has exited the game after throwing five scoreless innings. With that outing, Verlander earned his 100th career win at Comerica Park, becoming the only pitcher to ever reach triple-digits in wins in the stadium's history (it opened in 2000).
MLB Power Rankings: 6. Philadelphia Phillies
With a 3-0 win over St. Louis on Sunday, the Phillies are now a season-high 14 games over .500. It is the first time they have been 14 games over .500 since October 4, 2022, the same night they clinched a postseason berth. It was also their fourth shutout of the season, with all four blankings coming at home.
MLB Power Rankings: 5. Tampa Bay Rays
Yes folks, the Rays are back. Sunday's 7-4 home win over the Yankees moved Tampa Bay to 18-9 in their last 27 games, including wins in eight of 10 and 11 of their last 15. This impressive run follows the valley of the season for Tampa Bay, a stretch where the Rays posted an MLB-worst 5-15 record from July 1 through July 26.
MLB Power Rankings: 4. Seattle Mariners
Just how good has Seattle been in August? Seattle is 18-5 (.782) during the month of August. The Mariners are scheduled to play four more games during the month and have a chance to break their franchise record of 20 wins in a month (done six times previously, including four times by the 2001 Mariners squad that went 116-46.
MLB Power Rankings: 3. Baltimore Orioles
We should start referring to the Orioles as the American League Kings of the Comeback. On Saturday, Baltimore recorded its 40th comeback win of the season, tied for the most in all of MLB with Cincinnati. Additionally, their 76 come-from-behind wins since the start of 2022 are second-most behind the Dodgers, per Elias Sports Bureau.
MLB Power Rankings: 2. Los Angeles Dodgers
With Sunday's 7-4 win in Boston, the Dodgers are now 21-4 in August. It's the fourth straight season Los Angeles has earned 20 wins in the month of August, but there's something even better about this month than the past. L.A.'s .840 winning percentage in August is the best for the month in franchise history, surpassing the 1953 squad's mark of 25-6 (.806).
MLB Power Rankings: 1. Atlanta Braves
The hits just keep coming for Austin Riley, who hit his 30th homer of the season on Saturday. Riley had 33 homers in 2021 and a career-high 38 in 2022. He is the first Braves player with three straight 30-homer seasons since Andruw Jones did so in four consecutive years from 2000-2003. He's also one of five players in baseball with 30 homers in each of the last three seasons, joining teammate Matt Olson, the Phillies' Kyle Schwarber, the Angels' Shohei Ohtani and the Mets' Pete Alonso.
