The playoffs are inching closer and closer and with each game we are eliminating teams from playoff contention. Only two weeks away from the start of the playoffs, the homestretch will be a fun race to see from almost every single team. The final weeks of almost every season are interesting, but with the shorter schedule and the expanded playoffs the final weeks of the 2020 season will ensure more chaos than ever before.
The MLB this season has its “March Madness” feel to it and we have already been seeing some Cinderella runs to the playoffs, including the Padres and the White Sox. While these two teams may not be a huge surprise to make the playoffs, the surprise comes when with just how good they are actually doing. While there are many teams shocking us for the better, that is not the case for every team. The Astros have been a major disappointment thus far, yet they are still primed for a playoff position.
These playoffs will bring a new sense of excitement to the game this season and it is clear that the last two weeks of the season will be only a small preview of what we will see in the playoffs.
Since there was a week break in between this edition and the last edition of power rankings, there will be teams that shot up the rankings such as the Blue Jays and there are also teams that have plummeted down in the past two weeks such as the Orioles.
1. Los Angeles Dodgers
2020 Record: 33-14
Prev. Week (1 ⏤)
Unless the Dodgers go extremely cold, they will remain in the number one spot for the rest of the season. They are still the team to beat in the MLB and lead the league with a plus-103 run differential. There is absolutely no weak spot on this team and even with Cody Bellinger not playing at an MVP level they are still as good. Mookie Betts has been everything that he was advertised as and is in contention for MVP, but the surprise of the offense has been Will Smith who sits with a 1.050 OPS. We know the lineup is great, but the pitching staff has been too. As a team they sit at a 2.97 Era best in the MLB and Clayton Kershaw is looking like a potential Cy Young with a 1.98 ERA, can any team compete with the Dodgers?
2. San Diego Padres
2020 Record: 31-17
Prev. Week (7 ↑5)
While it is tough to argue against the White Sox, the Padres may be even hotter than them, in fact, they are not just hot, but they are scorching. That’s how good they’ve been since the trade deadline and a large reason for that is thanks to their offense of Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado, Wil Myers, and Jake Cronenworth. The pitching has also been great with Mike Clevinger coming over from Cleveland to add to this rotation. On top of Clevinger you have Zach Davies and Dinelson Lamet looking good from the starters and Drew Pomeranz looking great out the pen. This is a great overall team and with how hot they are they should give the Dodgers a run for their money.
3. Tampa Bay Rays
2020 Record: 30-17
Prev. Week (2 ↓1)
The Rays haven’t had the best week which included getting swept against Washington and losing two out of four against Boston. While they have slumped a little, they have an easy schedule remaining so it should be smooth riding from here. Offensively Brandon Lowe has been preposterously good, and Willy Adames has started to pan out as the hitter they expected him to be, but someone else needs to help them out. Then the pitching has been good as always even though they have struggled at times out of the starting staff they have been good enough to get the victories. 10 of their next 13 games are against sub .500, so let’s see how the Rays will finish with the Yankees and Blue Jays creeping up on them.
4. Chicago White Sox
2020 Record: 30-16
Prev. Week (8 ↑4)
The White Sox made some huge offseason additions in hopes that they would be playoff contenders come season time. While Edwin Encarnacion may not be working out like they had hoped, Yasmani Grandal has been decent and Dallas Keuchel has regained some of his Cy Young form. While Keuchel may be leading the pitching staff, they are doing very good without him in Lucas Giolito, Dylan Cease, and Dane Dunning. The offense has been amazing to complement this with José Abreu, Tim Anderson, Eloy Jimenez, and the rookie sensation in Luis Robert. The White Sox are set up for years to come and the south side has a lot to be excited for.
5. Oakland Athletics
2020 Record: 29-17
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The Athletics may not be as hot as they once were as a team, they are still no doubt one of the top teams in the game. While they are not as hot, they did finish the week at 6-3, but while that did happen, they lost their star third baseman Matt Chapman. Losing Chapman could have huge implications on the remainder of their season, but the Athletics have always been able to make it work without the big names. While Chapman will not be easy to replace, if there was one team that could do it then it is the A’s. One good thing is that they almost certainly have the division locked up, so they have time to work out any issues before the playoffs start.
6. Minnesota Twins
2020 Record: 30-18
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The Twins had a great last week going 5-1 and if it were not for the White Sox being even hotter than the Twins then the Twins would be in first. While the starting pitching of Kenta Maeda, Randy Dobnak, and Jose Berrios have been good, the biggest story of the Twins this season has to be Nelson Cruz. Cruz is 39 years old and is hitting like he is in his prime. While no player has ever won MVP as a primary DH Nelson Cruz could potentially be the first. Now it most likely won’t happen but Cruz is part of the reason why the offense is so good and should continue to be good, now his teammates need to step up and help Cruz and the offense so pitching doesn’t have to be the main factor of the team.
7. Atlanta Braves
2020 Record: 28-19
Prev. Week (10 ↑3)
The Braves have been able to overcome an early season injury to pitcher Mike Soroka and still lead the division, this is not because of the starting pitching though. Starting pitching was always going to be the issue and while Max Fried has been great, he is on the IL and they need to count on their other starters. While Ian Anderson has looked great on the hill, they need more out of Kyle Wright, Tommy Milone, and Robbie Erlin. Luckily, they don’t hang their hat on starting pitching, the lineup is the dangerous part and Freddie Freeman, Travis d’Arnaud, Marcell Ozuna, Adam Duvall, and Ronald Acuna Jr. have all done exactly what was thought of them. This offense will take them deep but that doesn’t mean the pitchers don’t have to improve.
8. Chicago Cubs
2020 Record: 28-20
Prev. Week (9 ↑1)
Alec Mills capped off an excellent week throwing a no-hitter against the Brewers that brought the Cubs division lead to a staggering four games. Javier Baez and Kris Bryant have been massively disappointing, thankfully Ian Happ and Jason Heyward have brought their bats to lead the offense. However, it is not the offense taking the lead on this team, that would be the pitching. Yu Darvish is an easy Cy Young candidate while Kyle Hendricks and Alec Mills have both been good, if this team wins the division and it looks as though they will then it will be because of their pitching, not their offense.
9. Cleveland Indians
2020 Record: 26-21
Prev. Week (6 ↓3)
The AL Central is an insanely good division and even at 26-21 the Indians are 3.5 games out of second place, now, it doesn’t help they have lost 7 of their past 10 but that shows what they are up against. At the beginning of this month they were 22-14 and sitting atop the division, they are in a downward trend that needs to change quickly. The pitching has been great once again this season, but the bats have been a problem. Jose Ramirez and Franmil Reyes have been productive but no one else has stepped up, who is going to step up to fight for the division title?
10. New York Yankees
2020 Record: 26-21
Prev. Week (4 ↓6)
The Yankees are so injury ridden, but much like last season they have been able to work around it for the most part and they currently sit in a good position to make the playoffs. Now the position is up in the air, first in the division, second, or third we just don’t know but it does look as if they will once again make the playoffs. Luckily, they did just play the Orioles which gave them four wins but what will determine their position in the division is their games against the Blue Jays which is seven out of the final 13 games. If Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge are back before the end of the season and they make the playoffs, then this could be scary.
11. Toronto Blue Jays
2020 Record: 26-20
Prev. Week (14 ↑3)
The Blue Jays young talent is pushing them to the playoffs right now and on top of that they got Bo Bichette and Ken Giles both returning off of the IL. But it is hard to look at the Blue Jays without looking at their trade deadline acquisitions and both Taijuan Walker and Robbie Ray have looked very good on their new teams. About one month ago this team sat at 8-11 and the playoffs while possible didn’t seem likely, since then they are 18-9 and looking like that playoff team. Now fully healthy once again this is a not a team that will go down without a fight, watch out for the Jays.
12. Houston Astros
2020 Record: 23-24
Prev. Week (11 ↓1)
With only two weeks to go until the end of the season, the Astros are under .500, how many people saw this coming? While it seems as though they will not be winning the AL West (it’s still possible) the second spot in the division is wide open and the Astros still easily have it set in stone. While it is not the season that the Astros expected, there is still some good to be seen during the season. Kyle Tucker has gotten a chance to play on the regular and he is looking in replacement of Yordan Alvarez. This has still not been enough though to change their fortune and both hitting and pitching need to step up. The Astros are hopeful that Justin Verlander will be returning soon and this could change all the Astros fortune and get them back into the playoffs hands down.
13. Philadelphia Phillies
2020 Record: 23-22
Prev. Week (22 ↑9)
The Phillies played nine games last season and even though they finished 4-5 they are still sitting in a good position. The roughest part for them right now is that many key players including Zach Wheeler and J.T. Realmuto suffered injuries this weekend and they could be the difference between a playoff team and non-playoff team. How they are even in this position with the worst bullpen in the league is actually pretty impressive. If these injuries are serious and you never know with injuries, then this bullpen needs to shape up quickly over the next two weeks.
14. Miami Marlins
2020 Record: 23-21
Prev. Week (18 ↑4)
Who in the world thought the Marlins would be in this position at the end of the season, if it were to end today, they would be a playoff team. This comes after a 6-3 week which put them back over .500 as they are looking for their first playoff berth since 2003. Jesus Aguilar has proved a very good addition so far and the offense, while struggling to produce runs, does have talent in Aguilar, Miguel Rojas and Brian Anderson. While struggling to produce runs they need to rely on pitching, and they look like they may have found a pitcher of their future. Sixto Sanchez has looked great, pair him with Sandy Alcantara and Pablo Lopez and even if the playoffs are a no go this season than pitching will be something to look forward to in the future.
15. San Francisco Giants
2020 Record: 23-24
Prev. Week (15 ⏤)
The Giants currently sit in the last playoff spot in the NL, but the past week is not indicative of good things to come. The biggest question coming into the season was, how will this offense fare, while it could have been okay, it would have been hard to imagine what we have seen. The big stories of the team are Mike Yastrzemski and Donovan Solano, but Alex Dickerson, Evan Longoria, Wilmer Flores and Brandon Belt are all contributing as well. The pitching is about what was expected and with being right on the brink of elimination they need to step up if a playoff berth is in their future.
16. St. Louis Cardinals
2020 Record: 20-20
Prev. Week (12 ↓4)
The Cardinals have a tough schedule coming up with 20 games to be played in 14 days. This is going to make it tough to fight for the playoffs, but they have the players to do so. This whole season was dependent on Paul Goldschmidt and so far, he has delivered. Goldschmidt has looked like the near MVP that he was in Arizona and along with Brad Miller, they are leading the offense to a potential playoff berth. While the offense has maybe been average, the pitching has been exactly what was advertised. Jack Flaherty and Dakota Hudson have both looked great and Adam Wainwright has turned the clock back and has a 2.91 ERA in 46.1 innings. Pitching will be the reason they make the playoffs.
17. Milwaukee Brewers
2020 Record: 20-24
Prev. Week (21 ↑4)
It’s actually kind of amazing that the Brewers are not worse than this. Now, they were not projected to but with Christian Yelich preforming like he is they should be worse. The sad thing is he has still been one of their best offensive players with a .762 OPS, not a good recipe for winning. Jedd Gyorko has looked great but now it is time for the big bats to wake up. Pitching has been what has kept them somewhat in games and while Brandon Woodruff has been good, the breakout starter is Corbin Burns who has a 1.99 ERA in 45.1 innings. The eighth playoff spot is open for the taking in the NL, if the Brewers bats wake up then they could find themselves in that spot.
18. Cincinnati Reds
2020 Record: 21-26
Prev. Week (19 ↑1)
Luckily the Reds just took two out of three from the second place Cardinals because the NL Central looks like it may only sport two teams in the playoffs and the Reds currently sit in 4th. But while the offense was supposed to be the great part of the team, so far it has been the rotation. Trevor Bauer has looked excellent and other than the past two starts, Sonny Gray has looked great as well. The starting staff has looked good, but the bullpen ranks 24th in the MLB at 5.06, that is a problem, especially when run support is lacking. Eugenio Suarez has finally started swinging the bat better Nicholas Castellanos had done what he was brought in to do but the best has been Jesse Winker who has been a menace at the plate. Now, the rest of the offense needs to step up if they want to make the playoffs.
19. New York Mets
2020 Record: 21-26
Prev. Week (16 ↓3)
Whenever the Mets look like they are in good position to earn a wild card spot they then follow it up with a poor weak, this is no different. Entering last Monday’s game, they were 19-22, after a rough 2-4 week they now sit at 21-26 and the playoff hopes are slipping further and further away. The big disappointment so far has been Pete Alonso but the offense has still somewhat been able to work around that with Robinson Cano, Jeff McNeil, Dominic Smith and Michael Conforto all sporting an .850 + OPS. The offense has been good but outside of Jacob deGrom what has the starter staff been able to do? Not a whole lot and that needs to change soon if they want their playoff hopes to stay alive.
20. Seattle Mariners
2020 Record: 21-25
Prev. Week (27 ↑7)
The Mariners were never expected to be a playoff team, but Kyle Lewis has come out of nowhere to be one of the best young players in the game. While Lewis may have cooled down in a major way, he is easily the MVP of the Mariners. Even without Lewis being on his game recently the Mariners are 14-7 over their last 21 games but time is running out on the playoffs. In 14 games they still have to make up a 4.5 game deficit and they do not have the easiest road ahead. The Mariners are a team that is trending upwards and while it may not be this season the team has a lot to look forward too.
21. Colorado Rockies
2020 Record: 21-25
Prev. Week (20 ↓1)
The Rockies are still in the playoff hunt, but they are running out of time. Honestly, it speaks volumes about this team that they are still in it even with the absence of Nolan Arenado. Arenado has been playing but his bat has been missing all season, imagine what they could have done if he was the normal Arenado. In fact, all of their hitters excluding Charlie Blackmon and Trevor Story have underwhelmed which is odd. The pitching was what kept them in games early in the season, but now they are what we expected with the Coors Field effect, a 5.5 ERA good for 28th in the league. Pitching is always tough at Coors and their next six games are against the Athletics and Dodgers at home, the playoffs may be slipping away with every single game.
22. Baltimore Orioles
2020 Record: 20-26
Prev. Week (13 ↓9)
The Orioles were easily one of the most shocking teams early in the season and even though they have fallen back down they are still one of the surprise teams. Many people found it hard to believe that the Orioles would get to 20 wins, well they did, and part of that reason is because the pitching is so much better than expected. Surprisingly the Orioles sit in the top half of the league in ERA at 4.53 in 14th, much better than 5.59 ERA last season. Other than the pitching one person they have to love what they are seeing is Ryan Mountcastle. Since his call up he has a .347 average and a .984 OPS, the future is looking bright.
23. Los Angeles Angels
2020 Record: 20-28
Prev. Week (28 ↑5)
The Angels have two MVP Candidates and are still fighting for the number one overall pick, talk about weird. It seems like they never really had a chance, Ohtani got hurt in his first start and that seemed like a bad omen. It really was too, however, this past month they went from 12-24 to 20-28. They are finally clicking as a team, but it may already be too late in the shortened season. One bright spot for the team besides Rendon and Trout is Dylan Bundy who could easily be a Cy Young Candidate, if next season looks anything like these past 12 games then things look bright for the Angels future.
24. Detroit Tigers
2020 Record: 20-26
Prev. Week (24 ⏤)
The Tigers are sitting where we thought they would be this season, there is still a chance to make the playoffs, but things are not looking good right now. Losing JaCoby Jones for the season really hurt but they have seen someone make up for that production in Jeimer Candelario, however, one great player will not be enough to make the playoffs. Outside of the lineup, the pitching has not been good either, they currently sit in 29th with a 6.01 ERA and the pitching combined with the hitting does bode well for the remainder of the season.
25. Kansas City Royals
2020 Record: 20-28
Prev. Week (25 ⏤)
The Royals are about what we expected to see out of them, they are not a good team, but they are also not bad enough to be the worst team in the league. It definitely helps that they are also on a six-game win streak, but they have an easy schedule remaining with nine of their 12 games being against teams with a sub .500 record, could a wild card push be in this team’s future? We will have to wait and see, but if Brady Singer and Brad Keller can keep pitching like they have then pitching along with Salvador Perez and Whit Merrifield could just lead them there.
26. Washington Nationals
2020 Record: 17-28
Prev. Week (17 ↓9)
The Nationals got off to a slow start last season, luckily, they had all 162 to make up for that, this season not so much. Juan Soto has been excellent this season ever since he joined the team after missing the first number of games, but he has been one of the few bright spots, Trea Turner has been great too, but the rest of the offense did not show up. If the Nationals do not turn around soon then they have may have a chance to be the first reigning World Series champ to never be over .500 the next season, it’s safe to say that a title defense will not be happening.
27. Arizona Diamondbacks
2020 Record: 17-31
Prev. Week (23 ↓4)
Weren’t the Diamondbacks projected to be a playoff team? After a 13-11 start this team has lost 20 out of 24 and they ended up as sellers at the deadline. At least it’s not all bad, Zach Gallen while not with a great record has showed flashes of why he is their ace and pitcher of the future. Outside of that, not good. David Peralta, Eduardo Escobar, and Katel Marte have all regressed compared to last season and at this point, looking forward to next season is the only real option.
28. Texas Rangers
2020 Record: 17-30
Prev. Week (26 ↓2)
Remember when the trade deadline hit, and it seemed obvious that the Rangers should have dealt Lynn? Yeah, we remember, and Lynn should no longer be on the team. At least they are looking forward to Lynn being their ace moving forward, but Lynn was one of the most coveted trade pieces this deadline period and they could have gotten a huge return for him. Outside of Lynn there has not been much good. At one point the Rangers were 10-9 and looked like they could potentially be a wild card team, since then they have gone 7-21 in a huge twist of fate.
29. Boston Red Sox
2020 Record: 17-31
Prev. Week (29 ⏤)
What in the world happened with the Red Sox, two years off their World Series and now they are scraping the bottom of the barrel. Certain players like Rafael Devers got off to a slow start but have gotten on track so the future is still looking good, at least offensively. Bobby Dalbec has also been extremely fun to watch but that has been it. Pitching was easily going to be the weak part this season, but it was hard to imagine it would be this bad. At 6.12 they sit in last place in the league in total ERA, even Chris Sale wouldn’t be enough to fix this.
30: Pittsburgh Pirates
2020 Record: 14-30
Prev. Week (30 ⏤)
The Pirates are not going to be moving from this place for the rest of the season barring some sort of major collapse from another team. Either way this is not what was imagined before the season started. The Pirates big three in Josh Bell, Bryan Reynolds, and Kevin Newman have all had a down year, some sort of pick before the season ends will give some sort of hope for the future. Bell has the worst OPS of his career by over .100 points, Reynolds, in only his second year has an OPS of .250 points less than last season and Newman is over .300 points less than last season. The Pirates need some good news and it could all start with a good last two weeks.