Featured in this week’s MLB Power Rankings, the Brewers reclaim the No. 1 spot, the Red Sox surge into contender status, Pirates rookie Esmerlyn Valdez continues to mash, and Freddy Peralta continues to demolish his trade value.
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 Tuesday, July 21.
1) Milwaukee Brewers ⬆️ 🥇
Last week: 2
It’s Tuesday morning and I’m still not sure if William Contreras’ bat has landed.
HE LAUNCHED THAT BAT INTO ORBIT pic.twitter.com/N0GQuWey2E
— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) July 19, 2026
We have a new No. 1 in this week’s rankings, as the Brewers passed the Dodgers for the best record in baseball on Monday. Making his first start in 13 days, Jacob Misiorowski threw just four innings against the Mets as the Brewers try to be “creative” with him during the second half.
2) Los Angeles Dodgers ⬇️
Last week: 1
With the benefit of a huge lead in the NL West, the Dodgers can accord to be extra careful with Shohei Ohtani and his knee. And so, the dream of a Cy Young Award is dead, but the quest for three straight World Series titles lives on. Still, is a starting pitcher on the Dodgers’ shopping list before the trade deadline?
3) Atlanta Braves ⬆️
Last week: 4
The Braves’ offense hit the skids in June, but they’ve bounced back nicely this month. Coming into Tuesday’s action, they lead the majors with 99 runs scored in July and rank second with 29 homers. We’ve even started to see some signs of life from Austin Riley.
🚨 THIS IS NOT A REPLAY 🚨 Austin Riley does it again!#HyundaiHighlight pic.twitter.com/1XTYyCReQc
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) July 19, 2026
4) Tampa Bay Rays ⬇️
Last week: 3
The Rays snapped their season-high five-game losing streak on Monday while Victor Mesa Jr. homered in his third straight game. Who is Victor Mesa Jr.? That is a perfectly acceptable question.
Victor Mesa Jr. goes yard for a 3rd straight game 💥 pic.twitter.com/1qJi9i4ZbG
— MLB (@MLB) July 20, 2026
5) New York Yankees
Last week: 5
With Aaron Judge’s ETA up in the air, do the Yankees have enough offense? Ben Rice and Jazz Chisholm Jr. are doing their best to hold down the fort right now.
6) Chicago Cubs
Last week: 6
The Cubs could still use an impact starting pitcher (and bullpen help) before the deadline but Shota Imanaga has come on strong recently with a 2.31 ERA and 35/9 K/BB ratio over his last seven starts.
7) Philadelphia Phillies
Last week: 7
On one hand, it’s nice to see Trea Turner swinging the bat better. He’s hitting .319 with seven homers and 18 RBI over his last 22 games, including his two-homer game on Monday night. On the other hand, he might have forgotten how to play shortstop.
"Trea cares about his defense, he wants to make plays. He's working every day."
— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) July 21, 2026
Don Mattingly and the Phillies are riding with Trea Turner. pic.twitter.com/piGvxMZT7C
8) Chicago White Sox ⬆️
Last week: 9
The White Sox have won six out of seven and they continue to hold off the Guardians for first place in the AL Central. Sean Burke dominated the Blue Jays on Sunday and now boasts a 1.40 ERA and 47/6 K/BB ratio over his last six starts.
9) Cleveland Guardians ⬆️
Last week: 11
You could have given me 15 chances and I still would have not guessed that Cleveland has the most walk-off homers in baseball since 1994, which is when Progressive Field opened.
TRAVIS BAZZANA WALK-OFF HOME RUN! pic.twitter.com/wxPgF5Baqj
— MLB (@MLB) July 19, 2026
10) Boston Red Sox ⬆️
Last week: 18
I’m shocked. And if we’re being honest, the Red Sox front office is probably shocked too. Thanks to some heroics from the resurgent Caleb Durbin, the Red Sox have won 14 straight to catapult themselves into our top 10, and more importantly, the third spot in the AL Wild Card race. They’ll have a chance to tie the franchise record of 15 straight from 1946 on Tuesday, but either way, they are very much alive in a wide open American League.
CALEB DURBIN!@REDSOX LEAD IN THE 8TH! pic.twitter.com/9yTg0HJ2rU
— MLB (@MLB) July 21, 2026
11) St. Louis Cardinals ⬇️
Last week: 10
There’s a lot of brutal ways to lose baseball games, but a walk-off hit-by-pitch has to be near the top of the list.
The @Angels win on a walk-off HBP! pic.twitter.com/VbdRt9x5AX
— MLB (@MLB) July 21, 2026
The Cardinals have lost three straight and nine out of their last 13.
12) Pittsburgh Pirates
Last week: 12
Okay, I have seen enough. Esmerlyn Valdez is the second coming of Barry Bonds. The 22-year-old is on an all-time heater at the plate, amassing at least one extra-base hit and one RBI in eight straight games. He went deep at Yankee Stadium on Monday night, which gives him 13 homers through 32 games. Only Aristedes Aquino (14) and Rhys Hoskins (16) have hit more through 32 games. Perhaps that tidbit tells you to pump the breaks on the “next coming” conversation, but Valdez is helping keep the Pirates alive in the playoff race.
13) Arizona Diamondbacks ⬆️
Last week: 14
Congrats to Nolan Arenado, who reached the 2,000 hit plateau on Monday against the Athletics.
Nolan Arenado is the 297th member of the 2,000-hit club. pic.twitter.com/OeJNNucCKi
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) July 21, 2026
Yes, he’s the 297th member of the 2,000-hit club, but he’s just the sixth to reach 2,000 hits, 350 homers and 10 Gold Gloves. Ken Griffey Jr., Willie Mays, Mike Schmidt, Johnny Bench, and Al Kaline are the others. Now that’s a special group.
14) Miami Marlins ⬇️
Last week: 8
Seven straight losses for the Marlins, who were forced to put All-Star Max Meyer on the IL due to a neck strain. It’s not looking good.
15) Texas Rangers ⬇️
Last week: 13
You aren’t going to believe this, but with three losses in four games since the All-Star break, the Rangers have fallen back to the .500 mark. A huge four-game series against the Mariners awaits beginning this Friday.
16) Seattle Mariners
Last week: 16
Finally, some signs of life from Cal Raleigh. “The Big Dumper” launched a grand slam and knocked in five runs in Monday’s shutout victory over the Reds. After a historic 2025 campaign, Raleigh is slashing just .163/.266/.307 through 69 games. If he can rediscover some semblance of even league-average production, the Mariners will be strongly-positioned to win the AL West.
17) Baltimore Orioles ⬆️
Last week: 21
The Orioles saw their seven-game winning streak come to an end on Monday and they also lost Adley Rutschman once again, this time due to left wrist inflammation.
18) Washington Nationals ⬆️
Last week: 19
Your leader in RBI since the All-Star break? Andres Chapparo, of course. He clubbed two homers and drove in eight on Friday against the A’s in Sacramento before launching a two-run shot in Coors Field on Monday. Talk about a great roadtrip. For the hitters, anyway.
19) San Diego Padres ⬇️
Last week: 15
The Padres have lost 14 out of 20 and it’s increasingly likely they find themselves more in the category of sellers by August 3. Who knows if Mason Miller really is a candidate to be moved, but Ty France is another name to watch on this roster. Including his two-homer game in the Padres’ 19-2 walloping of the Royals on Sunday, he’s put up an .887 OPS through 74 games this season.
20) Minnesota Twins ⬇️
Last week: 17
Connected in trade rumors, Joe Ryan tied a major league record by giving up six home runs on Monday against the Guardians. He came into the start with a 1.93 ERA over his last five starts.
21) Detroit Tigers ⬆️
Last week: 23
The Tigers have won 10 out of their last 14 games, but still find themselves six games under .500. However, in the American League in 2026, that means you’re still alive. They are 4.5 games out of a Wild Card spot, though they’ll have to leap five teams in order to get there. Odds are any decision on Tarik Skubal (and others) will likely come down to the last minute.
22) Toronto Blue Jays
Last week: 22
There are plenty of reasons why things have gone wrong for the Blue Jays this year, but this one stat really puts things in perspective: It’s almost August and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has yet to hit a home run at Rogers Centre this season.
23) Houston Astros ⬇️
Last week: 20
The Astros have collapsed this month, but you can’t blame Yordan Alvarez. He blasted two more homers on Monday and continues to position himself for the first Triple Crown since Miguel Cabrera in 2012.
24) Cincinnati Reds
Last week: 24
The Reds probably aren’t a realistic contender at this point, but they did well to lock up their young ace Chase Burns with a seven-year, $105 million extension. However, we nearly had a “Curb Your Enthusiasm” situation with the contract signing.
Chase Burns’ contract signing was held up a little bit this morning when Reds GM Brad Meador spilled coffee on it and they had to print a new one
— C. Trent Rosecrans (@ctrent) July 18, 2026
**new contract is printed**
“Ehhhh…you know what, I’m good. No contract.”
25) San Francisco Giants
Last week: 25
In a season like this one, you have to accentuate the positives whenever possible. With the homer below, Bryce Eldridge became the first Giants player aged 21 or younger to reach 10-plus homers in a season since Jack Clark in 1977.
Bryce Eldridge hits his 10th homer of the season! pic.twitter.com/bi2EACNXen
— MLB (@MLB) July 19, 2026
26) Athletics
Last week: 26
Tough time for the A’s, who have lost 11 out of their last 12 games. Even when something good happens, like Joshua Kuroda-Grauer’s first MLB homer on Monday, it’s followed by something like this.
As Joshua Kuroda-Grauer writhes on the ground, Bob Brenly drops this nugget:
— Jake García (@Jake_M_Garcia) July 21, 2026
"I don't mean to give much too much information here, but there's a lot of players in the Major Leagues now that do not wear protective cups. I can't understand it.
I wear a cup to watch games on TV." pic.twitter.com/uiV7CkXrZ6
Yikes. Get well soon, Joshua.
27) New York Mets
Last week: 27
What can the Mets realistically get for Freddy Peralta at this stage? The pending free agent was rocked in his return to Milwaukee on Monday and now holds a rough 5.01 ERA on the year. The most Mets thing to happen would be if he gets traded and returns to ace form down the stretch. You know it’s gonna happen.
28) Kansas City Royals ⬆️
Last week: 29
Most have mentioned Michael Wacha and Seth Lugo as the Royals’ most attractive trade candidates, but Lane Thomas is getting hot at the right time for KC. He’s hitting .333 with four homers and a 1.081 OPS this month.
29) Colorado Rockies ⬇️
Last week: 28
A little history for Hunter Goodman on Sunday against the Reds, as he became the first player in Rockies history to have a pair of three-homer games in the same season.
THREE HOMERS TODAY
— MLB (@MLB) July 19, 2026
30 ON THE SEASON FOR HUNTER GOODMAN! pic.twitter.com/KzUC83RMPp
30) Los Angeles Angels
Last week: 30
My Baseball Spy t-shirt has a lot of people wondering if I’m “The Baseball Spy.”
