Add The California Post on Google Each week, The California Post will power rank MLB’s 30 teams and check in on one intriguing awards race. Here is this week’s edition, where we take a midseason vibe check on each club going into the All-Star break (records through Saturday morning):
Vibes are: High, but restless. October can’t get here quickly enough for the two-time defending champions, who have already built an insurmountable lead in the NL West. Their top priority now is getting through the rest of the season healthy, a task that got a little more daunting with the news of Shohei Ohtani’s continued knee problem on Friday. (Last week: 1st)
Vibes are: Optimistic, but still cautiously so. Brewers fans have seen dominant regular seasons before. What they really want now is October success, having advanced to just two NL Championship Series in seven playoff appearances since 2018. Jacob Misiorowski’s dominance is giving those hopes renewed fuel. A big addition at the deadline could only help too. (Last week: 2nd)
Vibes are: Back to normal, thankfully. The Rays have returned to the Trop, and are once again in the thick of a pennant race, overachieving with their familiar formula of low-cost contributors and overachieving stars. (Last week: 4th)
Vibes are: Still on the rise. The Phillies have cooled off somewhat lately, their pursuit of the first-place Braves having stalled for now at three games back. But as the All-Star Game comes to town, the season at least remains on track to be salvaged; a far cry from where things were headed in April. (Last week: 3rd)
Vibes are: Nervous. The Yankees have slowed their recent nose dive, winning consecutive games this week for the first time since June 23-24. Still, their 2-11 rut before then exposed some underlying concerns –– ones they can only hope the returns of Aaron Judge, Max Fried and others can paper over. (Last week: 5th)
Vibes are: Unpredictable. Maybe we shouldn’t be surprised that a team revolving around Pete Crow-Armstrong would be subject to such extreme highs (two 10-game win streaks) and lows (a 7-22 stretch followed the second one). Then again, his position-player-best 5.9 WAR (according to Fangraphs) still has the Cubs well in the playoff picture. (Last week: 6th)
Vibes are: Still up, but on shaky ground. No team had a better record than the Braves through June 7 (45-21). No team has fewer wins in the five weeks since (9-18). The main problem lately has been the offense, ranking last in wRC+ over this current stretch (which has coincided with an injury to Ronald Acuña Jr.). Whether they can right the ship feels like no sure thing. (Last week: 7th)
Vibes are: Unbelievably immaculate. The Marlins, it turns out, might be good good. After all, teams don’t go on 26-9 runs, as Miami has since the start of June, by accident. In that time, they’ve had the majors’ best offense (by wRC+) and third-lowest pitching staff ERA. (Last week: 10th)
Vibes are: Optimistic, for the future and present. JJ Wetherholt’s eight-year extension was a boon for the franchise. It could be just the jolt the Cardinals need to re-ignite their unexpected playoff push this year, as well, after dropping five of six last week. (Last week: 8th)
Vibes are: Ecstatic, at long last. With how bad the White Sox were the last several seasons, the fact they are fun and competitive is a success in itself. Now, they enter the second half with house money, getting Munetaka Murakami back just in time for the stretch run. Oh, they also had the first overall pick in the draft. (Last week: 9th)
Vibes are: Uncertain again. The Guardians are good again, but they don’t scream World Series threat, either. It’s an in-between state with which Cleveland fans are plenty well acquainted. For now, they continue to await the return of José Ramírez. (Last week: 11th)
Vibes are: Unapologetic. Can the Rangers be a consistently good club? Who knows. But did they need to be in the first half to still wind up in first place? Not really. They won’t be apologizing for that, but still need to play better … and hope Jacob deGrom isn’t too hurt. (Last week: 13th)
Vibes are: Fatigued. The Mariners haven’t lost all the goodwill from their run to Game 7 of the ALCS last year. But this year has had a frustratingly familiar theme. Solid pitching, but too inconsistent of offense. Big names, but not enough dominant stretches. (Last week: 12th)
Vibes are: Not as good as they should be. The last couple months have been a bit of a grind for the Pirates (who had stunningly lost nine-straight Paul Skenes starts before this week). Still, the team is competitive, getting productive seasons out of Bryan Reynolds, Brandon Lowe and Ryan O’Hearn, and still within reach of the playoffs. Better than most recent seasons. (Last week: 14th)
Vibes are: Conflicted. There’s so much for Nats fans to be happy about from the first half (from James Woods’ All-Star breakout to Foster Griffin’s unexpected 10-win season. Still, after another bullpen meltdown to the Yankees, it feels like they should be farther along too. (Last week: 17th)
Vibes are: Hopefully nostalgic. The Astros would love nothing more than perhaps one last playoff push with Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa and company. The MVP-caliber season Yordan Alvarez is putting together is helping to keep such hopes alive. (Last week: 19th)
Vibes are: Not dead yet. One of the strangest Red Sox seasons in recent memory is taking another unforeseen turn, thanks to a seven-game winning streak punctuated by Friday’s triumph over the Mets (despite getting to New York just hours before first pitch). Suddenly, can’t write them off yet. (Last week: 20th)
Vibes are: Flat. The Dbacks continue to hang around .500, but feel unlikely to mount the kind of run that will be needed to make a push for the playoffs. (Last week: 15th)
Vibes are: Deflating. Whatever hope was left in the Padres’ season felt like it did during their week from hell against the Cubs and Dodgers at the start of the month. Since then, San Diego has continued to stumble. The playoffs feel like an increasingly long shot. (Last week: 16th)
Vibes are: Defiant, for now. Hold that Tarik Skubal trade talk. The Tigers –– might? –– be back. Winners of six-straight and nine of 10, Detroit entered Saturday 2 ½ games back of a wild card spot and with nearly 40% playoff probability, per Fangraphs. A couple more weeks of this might be enough to disappoint the rest of the industry and hold Skubal for the stretch run. (Last week: 24th)
Vibes are: Undeterred. That was about as mediocre of a first half as you could’ve imagined from the defending AL pennant-winners. Yet, they are –– like so many other mediocre AL teams –– still within a couple games of the playoffs. (Last week: 18th)
Vibes are: Surprised, and intrigued. Twins ownership claimed they wanted to be competitive this year. Now, actions are finally backing up such words. With the club in an unexpected wild-card battle, they did a little bit of pre-deadline buying this week, bolstering their bullpen by adding Tommy Nance from the Blue Jays. The first half made sure this wasn’t going to be a lost season in Minnesota. Now, there’s intrigue entering the second half too. (Last week: 21st)
Vibes are: Down. Or, at least, as much as they can be for a team somehow still within three games of the wild card. After all, while they might technically remain within reaching distance of the playoffs, at no point this year have they consistently played at a postseason-standard? (Last week: 22nd)
Vibes are: Impatient. Not only for the A’s to have a real home, but for their young core to take tangible strides toward contention. It won’t happen this year, especially now that Nick Kurtz is on the IL. The wait might drag on until they actually get to Las Vegas in a couple years. (Last week: 23rd)
Vibes are: Back to a disappointing normal. Turns out, last year’s surprise playoff run was not a launching point for the Reds, who still boast plenty of young talent (including the rise this year of Sal Stewart) but are already having to look toward next year. (Last week: 25th)
Vibes are: What’s lower than low? Honestly, it’s becoming impressive how long the Mets have kept themselves near the bottom of these rankings. And yet, they continue to find new depths, most recently with the 16-spot they yielded to the Royals and the loss they took to the just-arrived Red Sox. (Last week: 27th)
Vibes are: Resigned, at least until next year. For as impactful as Bobby Witt Jr. remains, it’s getting the Royals nowhere, as they continue to regress from their upstart 2024 playoff season. Last week: 26th)
Vibes are: Despondent. How else to describe a nightmare season that has seen the franchise mismanage things on and off the field? (Last week: 28th)
Vibes are: Patient. They still might have the worst record in the NL. But they are at least proving more difficult to beat, as epitomized by a close series at Dodger Stadium all last week. (Last week: 30th)
Vibes are: Desperate. The change of GM was a start. But the Angels still face a very long, daunting and complicated road to rebuilding –– one that might continue to feel hopeless until Arte Moreno is gone. (Last week: 29th)
1) Jacob Misiorowski, Brewers (10-4, 1.62 ERA, 111 innings, 167 strikeouts, 0.76 WHIP)
The last time a pitcher had as many strikeouts before the All-Star break was in 2019 when Gerrit Cole had 170 and Max Scherzer had 181 – and Misiorowski still has another start, on Sunday. Can the 24-year-old Misiorowski maintain this pace in the second half of the season?
2) Cristopher Sanchez, Phillies (10-4, 2.62 ERA, 120 ⅓ innings, 137 strikeouts, 1.16 WHIP)
Sanchez’s earned-run average blew up from 2.00 to 2.62 in a horrific July 6 start in which he was pounded by the Kansas City Royals for nine runs and 12 hits in 3 ⅓ innings. Is his workload starting to catch up with him?
3) Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Dodgers (9-5, 2.49 ERA, 104 ⅔ innings, 100 strikeouts, 0.88 WHIP)
In spring training, Yamamoto’s longtime trainer predicted Yamamoto would be hitting his stride in the summer. Yamamoto had one of his best starts of the season on Independence Day, blanking the San Diego Padres over seven innings. Yamamoto has won six of his last seven decisions.
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