MLB Power Rankings: Braves stay hot, Pete Crow-Armstrong pulls ahead in NL MVP race

Featured in this week’s MLB Power Rankings, the Braves are rolling, PCA pushes ahead in the NL MVP race, the Guardians are still in the fight, Walker Jenkins is here, Wade Meckler flashes the leather, and much more.

As a reminder, this article is a combination of current performance and long-term outlook.

Let’s get into it!

Note: Rankings are from the morning of Monday, August 31

1) Milwaukee Brewers

Last week: 1

The Brewers own an eight-game lead in the NL Central and they have a chance to put the Cubs away for good with seven games between the two clubs over the next 10 days.

2) Tampa Bay Rays ⬆️

Last week: 3

The Rays swept the Padres over the weekend and moments like his homer from Jonny DeLuca make you wonder if this is a truly charmed season for them.

In other news, after what has been a decade-plus of drama and uncertainty, the Rays are finally getting a new ballpark in Tampa Bay.

3) Atlanta Braves ⬆️

Last week: 4

Seven straight wins for the Braves, including a throwback performance from Chris Sale against the Dodgers on Thursday where he struck out 11 in a complete game shutout. His son’s reaction to him coming out for the ninth inning was some great TV.

Sale is now sporting a 2.06 ERA with 177 strikeouts across 24 starts. In any other year, he’d be the favorite for the NL Cy Young Award. Unfortunately for him, Jacob Misiorowski exists.

4) Los Angeles Dodgers ⬇️

Last week: 2

Tarik Skubal fired six innings of one-run ball in his return to Detroit on Friday, but perhaps the biggest revelation was that after the trade, he took back the espresso machine he previously brought for the Tigers’ clubhouse. Can we do a blind poll and find out if his ex-teammates miss the espresso machine or Skubal more?

5) New York Yankees ⬆️

Last week: 6

Heliot Ramos is finally on the board. It took 21 games, but Ramos connected for his first homer as a member of the Yankees during Sunday’s blowout win over the Red Sox. Ramos entered Sunday’s action hitting just .119 (7-for-59) with the Bombers, but he’s capable of much better.

6) Philadelphia Phillies ⬆️

Last week: 7

The Phillies extended their win streak to four games on Sunday as Zack Wheeler fired six innings of one-run ball against the Angels. It was a positive step for the veteran right-hander, as he had an unsightly 8.51 ERA with 16 walks and eight homers allowed over his previous six starts.

7) Chicago Cubs ⬇️

Last week: 5

The Cubs have lost seven out of 10, but Pete Crow-Armstrong is doing his part. After slugging three homers on Saturday, he went deep twice on Sunday Night Baseball. He’s now put up 17 homers over his last 35 games as he begins to pull away in the NL MVP race.

There’s a lot to highlight with PCA over the weekend, but we’ll just focus on the fact that Sammy Sosa is an oracle.

8) Boston Red Sox

Last week: 8

While the Red Sox got crushed in Sunday’s finale against the Yankees, it was nice to see Roman Anthony hit the ground running in his return from the IL.

Unfortunately, the Red Sox will have to get by for a little while without Willson Contreras as he rests his nagging hamstring injury.

9) Chicago White Sox ⬆️

Last week: 11

We’re starting to get used to seeing the White Sox at the top of the AL Central, but don’t forget about the context of their rapid turnaround.

The White Sox get the Astros to begin the week, an important series as we look ahead to what the playoff schedule could entail.

10) Arizona Diamondbacks

Last week: 10

Ryan Waldschmidt is sure making his home runs count in his rookie season. He’s now slugged three homers through 249 plate appearances in the majors. Two of them have been walk-offs. The latest came against the Giants last Wednesday.

The D-Backs are set to bring Ketel Marte back into the fold on Monday as they begin a big series against the Phillies in the desert. Recent drama aside, he’s one of the best second basemen in the game when he’s right.

11) San Diego Padres ⬇️

Last week: 9

We already covered the bad luck (or good luck, depending on your perspective) home run against Mason Miller on Sunday, but either way it resulted in the Padres’ fifth loss in their last six games. Michael King has been their ace and they need him at his best as they begin a series against the Reds on Monday.

12) Houston Astros ⬆️

Last week: 13

The Astros enjoyed their time in New York, taking two out of three from both the Yankees and the Mets as they cling to first place in the AL West. It’s still a bit of a gauntlet from here, as they have the White Sox, Diamondbacks, Phillies, and Rays on the schedule through mid-September.

13) Cleveland Guardians ⬆️

Last week: 15

The Guardians won seven in a row before losing two out of three to the red-hot Royals over the weekend. Still, there was a lot to like in Sunday’s blowout victory, most notably José Ramírez’s first home run since June 6. Cleveland will be a lot more dangerous down the stretch if he performs like he’s capable of doing.

14) Baltimore Orioles ⬆️

Last week: 19

After sweeping the Athletics, the Orioles are now one game away from .500 for the first time since late April. Gunnar Henderson clubbed two homers and finished a double shy of the cycle in Sunday’s win, a welcome sign for a player who has been searching for answers at the plate for much of the year. The Orioles claimed Luis Robert Jr. off waivers from the Mets on Monday, which is a nice message to send to the fanbase.

15) Toronto Blue Jays ⬆️

Last week: 17

It’s 2026 and I’m highlighting starts from Chris Sale and Max Scherzer. What a world. Scherzer ripped off 10 strikeouts while allowing just one hit over seven scoreless frames on Sunday as the Blue Jays finished off a sweep of the Mariners.

In the vintage showing, Scherzer actually passed Gaylord Perry for ninth place on the all-time strikeouts list. He’s just 19 behind Justin Verlander for eighth all-time. With Verlander iffy to return in September as he wraps up his legendary career, Scherzer has a real chance at passing him.

16) Miami Marlins ⬇️

Last week: 12

Kudos to the Marlins, who find themselves one game above .500 as the calendar prepares to flip to September. That’s real progress for this team. Still, it will be a challenge to close the gap (3.5 games) in the Wild Card race if Xavier Edwards’ thumb sprain turns out to be serious.

17) Texas Rangers ⬇️

Last week: 14

Another rough roadtrip for the Rangers, who lost four out of six against the White Sox and Brewers over the past week. They’ll get a soft landing as they return home to begin the week with a three-game set against the Athletics.

18) St. Louis Cardinals ⬇️

Last week: 16

Baseball is a humbling game indeed. Joshua Báez made headlines and history by homering three times in his MLB debut on August 15, but he has just six hits in 50 at-bats (.120 batting average) with 22 strikeouts in 15 games since.

19) Pittsburgh Pirates ⬆️

Last week: 20

We already highlighted the asterisk homer that Johnny DeLuca hit against Mason Miller on Sunday, but this blast from Oneil Cruz was legit. It was the first homer allowed by Miller all season.

While the Pirates are effectively out of it in the Wild Card race, it was nice to see Paul Skenes look more like himself in his most recent start last Tuesday. It was his first scoreless outing since May 12.

20) Minnesota Twins ⬇️

Last week: 18

With Byron Buxton on the IL and the Twins losing seven out of nine, the playoffs are probably a pipe dream at this point. There’s still reason to watch with rookies Walker Jenkins and Kaelen Culpepper set for regular roles down the stretch.

21) Cincinnati Reds ⬆️

Last week: 22

Sal Stewart is looking to squash any debate about the NL Rookie of the Year race. He homered in three straight games over the weekend while becoming the first player in the majors to reach the 100-RBI mark. With JJ Wetherholt on the IL, he’s now looking like the strong favorite for the hardware.

22) Washington Nationals ⬆️

Last week: 24

After giving up six runs in the ninth inning on Sunday, the Nationals have now blown 35 saves this season, by far the most in the majors. The Tigers rank second with 28 of them. Safe to say the Nationals know where they need to improve this offseason.

23) Seattle Mariners ⬇️

Last week: 21

Cal Raleigh is finally swinging the bat well, but is it too late for this Mariners team? Losers of four straight, Seattle is reportedly calling up toolsy prospect outfielder Lazaro Montes in hopes of providing a spark.

24) Detroit Tigers ⬇️

Last week: 23

Riley Greene began a minor league rehab assignment on Saturday and could rejoin the Tigers as soon as Tuesday. Detroit has gone 4-13 with him on the sidelines.

25) Kansas City Royals ⬆️

Last week: 26

This season hasn’t gone as hoped for KC, but they went 16-12 in August while Jac Caglianone enjoyed the best month of his brief MLB career.

26) New York Mets ⬇️

Last week: 25

This has been a rough year for Francisco Lindor defensively, but this catch against the Brewers from last week is as good as it gets.

27) San Francisco Giants

Last week: 27

In a week where the Giants suffered their worst ninth-inning comeback in franchise history, president of baseball operations Buster Posey said that Tony Vitello’s job is safe as manager. Everything is fine.

28) Athletics ⬆️

Last week: 29

As we’ve noted in this space, the A’s have been ravaged by injuries, but at least Henry Bolte has emerged as a contributor moving forward. He hit .321 in August and boasts some really impressive tools. In addition to having the top sprint speed in the game, he ranks in the 89th percentile in arm strength and the 95th percentile in bat speed.

29) Los Angeles Angels ⬇️

Last week: 28

Imagine having a ridiculous catch like this one from Wade Meckler only to give up a go-ahead grand slam and lose. It’s all very Angels.

30) Colorado Rockies

Last week: 30

Acquired in the deal that sent Victor Vodnik to the Marlins at the deadline, Connor Norby is hitting .298/.394/.491 through his first 18 games with the Rockies. Things didn’t work out for him in Miami, but Norby was a Top 100 prospect with the Orioles. Perhaps he’s finally finding a home in Colorado?