We’re now a week away from the All-Star break and that is obviously one of the big benchmarks in the season. Sometimes at this point, there will be an obvious No. 1 team. Most others, there isn’t one. We’re fortune right now to have three teams with a legitimate claim as the «best team in baseball» in the Los Angeles Dodgers, Detroit Tigers and Houston Astros.
Which one should be at the top? Let’s make the argument for all three.
Dodgers
Record: 56-35 | Run differential: +77
We don’t need to rehash their immense level of talent or the immense payroll that comes with it. These facets have been beaten to death.
The results say the Dodgers started 8-0 this season, but went 30-27 to follow that up through June 7. Then they got insanely hot and catapulted back to the No. 1 spot for the rankings last week. Through this past Thursday, they had won 18 of 23.
They’ve dealt with a bunch of injuries, notably to their rotation. They are starting to get healthier there and more help is on the way. It certainly looks like they’ll be a force moving forward. How much of a balance should their potential weigh right now when we have 91 games of a sample so far? But for a lot of those games, they weren’t full strength and they are getting stronger moving forward.
It’s tough.
Tigers
Record: 57-34 | Run differential: +106
The Tigers opened the season by being swept in three games at Dodger Stadium, but then they got hot and haven’t really cooled down. They’ve been alone in first place in the AL Central every day except one since April 5 and the lead has swelled to 13 ½ games, easily the largest divisional lead in the majors.
The run differential is the second best in the majors behind the Cubs, but tops here in this «Big Three» discussion. On the other hand, the Tigers appear to be in a weak division. Sure enough, they have played the second-easiest schedule in baseball to this point (the Astros sit 16th and Dodgers are 25th — and keep in mind when using opponent winning percentage that teams winning a ton of games are hurting that opponent winning percentage, too).
The Tigers have the best pitcher in the world in Tarik Skubal along with a good No. 2 in Casey Mize. If there’s a nitpick, it might be concern for the rotation depth late in the season.
Should head-to-head matter? The Tigers were swept by the Dodgers, as I said, and also lost two of three to the Astros.
Astros
Record: 55-35 | Run differential: +71
The Astros traded Kyle Tucker in the offseason and have been without Yordan Alvarez for much of this season. They were 17-18 at one point. A few weeks later, they were only one game over .500 at 26-25. Since then, though, the Astros have gone a ridiculous 29-10 with a +50 run differential.
And they just swept the Dodgers in Dodger Stadium. Those same Dodgers, again, had won 18 of 23 heading into the series. And the Astros beat them 18-1, 6-4 and 5-1 to break out the brooms.
If we’re going to mention the Dodgers getting healthier in the rotation after dealing with starting pitching injuries, what about the Astros? They have six starting pitchers on the injured list right now. Alvarez and All-Star shortstop Jeremy Peña are among eight position players on the IL.
And they just won’t slow down.
Meanwhile, starters Spencer Arrighetti, Cristian Javier, J.P. France and Luis Garcia are all throwing bullpen sessions in their rehab.
Yeah, I think I’m sold.
I’m not saying this will last any longer than one week, but I do think the Astros have staying power toward the top. And they are the hottest team of these three, up through a stretch where they swept the Dodgers in three games in L.A.
The Houston Astros are, right now, the best team in baseball.
Biggest Movers
|
Rk |
Teams |
Chg |
Rcrd |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
|
The Astros only have 24 games remaining against teams currently with a record of .500 or better and six of those are against the Red Sox (who are only one game over). | 2 | 55-37 |
2 |
|
I mentioned getting some guys back. Tyler Glasnow returns next week while Blake Snell is headed out on a rehab assignment. | 1 | 56-37 |
3 |
|
You could definitely justify the Tigers at the top. I’m comfortable very slightly demoting them after losing a series to the Nationals. | 1 | 59-34 |
4 |
|
This escalated extremely quickly with his recent hot streak, but Michael Busch is now in the top 10 of OPS in the majors. For real. And he isn’t even their biggest All-Star snub, as that honor goes to MLB RBI leader Seiya Suzuki. | 1 | 54-37 |
5 |
|
Only one player in the NL this season has at least 100 hits so far. It is Trea Turner with 109. And he was snubbed! | 1 | 53-39 |
6 |
|
Last week, I noted that the Jays had a nice opportunity in front of them. I definitely didn’t think they’d run the table. That’s eight wins in a row and they’re already up three games in the division. They close the first half with road games against the White Sox and A’s. Will they take a 14-game winning streak into the break? It might sound outlandish, but the 2022 Mariners did exactly that. | 5 | 54-38 |
7 |
|
Good teams win series. The Mets won series against the Brewers and Yankees last week. They’re fine. | 2 | 53-39 |
8 |
|
On Sunday, Brandon Woodruff finally returned to the majors after shoulder surgery and a few setbacks during his rehab. He struck out eight in six innings while only allowing one run on two hits. That’s pretty fun. | — | 52-40 |
9 |
|
Sunday was a badly needed victory, but otherwise that was an unbelievably awful week for the Yankees. They entered the week leading the Blue Jays by three games and left it trailing them by three. | 3 | 50-41 |
10 |
|
Big win in extras on Sunday, but the Rays had lost five of six before that, failing to take advantage of the Yankees’ losing and letting the Jays’ surge past them. | 3 | 49-43 |
11 |
|
They shut the Pirates out for the series. It was the first time in franchise history that the Mariners threw three straight shutouts. | 3 | 48-43 |
12 |
|
They were swept in Pittsburgh, in three games, without scoring a run and then got crushed in two of their three games in Wrigley. Rough week, though it did include that dramatic comeback win on Saturday. | 2 | 49-43 |
13 |
|
I’d like to again sing the praises of Logan Webb as an underrated workhorse. He is tied for the MLB lead in innings pitched after leading the NL in 2024 and leading the majors in 2023. He’s doing it this season with a career-best ERA, too. | 2 | 51-42 |
14 |
|
The Padres have a losing record since starting the season 14-3. Does that matter? On one hand, those games count the same as any others. Then again, the sample of them being a losing team is much larger than those first 17 games. | 1 | 49-42 |
15 |
|
Maybe things are looking up? That’s a 5-1 week and Alex Bregman will be back in the lineup shortly. | 4 | 48-45 |
16 |
|
The Reds still haven’t been more than four games above or below .500 all season. The good news is in this day and age with all these wild cards, that’s contention. | 4 | 46-46 |
17 |
|
So when is the Jacob deGrom phantom injury? He’s surpassed 100 innings for the first time since 2019. They are in a rough spot here because they are so close to a playoff spot and he’s been so good. | 1 | 45-47 |
18 |
|
They’ve now lost nine of 11 and though they are only four games out of the last wild-card spot, it certainly seems like things are headed toward a small sell-off at the deadline. | 1 | 45-47 |
19 |
|
It’s probably a little more under-the-radar than a few other snubs, but I really think Joe Ryan deserves to be an All-Star. Perhaps he’ll be added. | 3 | 44-47 |
20 |
|
You know how sometimes there will be teams with lopsided one-run records and people say it’ll all even out and it’s unsustainable and all that? The Angels were 16-8 in one-run games before their series against the Blue Jays. I guess the evening out is upon us, because they lost three games by one run. | 2 | 44-47 |
21 |
|
What a bummer the way things have gone this season after a historic turnaround to make the playoffs last year. That said, they have won four of six and the last wild-card spot is within reach, so there’s still time to salvage this thing. | 4 | 45-48 |
22 |
|
The Orioles just swept the Braves and can look forward to the returns of Grayson Rodriguez and Kyle Bradish in August. I definitely don’t think they can make the playoffs, but I also firmly believe 7 ½ games is workable. Hmmm … | 1 | 40-50 |
23 |
|
The Marlins have won 10 of 13 and, boy, they are really hanging around here on the periphery of wild-card contention. | 1 | 42-48 |
24 |
|
That’s 10 straight losses and they’ve only scored 15 runs in those 10 games. They’ve been shut out five times in there. | 4 | 42-48 |
25 |
|
What has happened to Ozzie Albies? Injuries impacted last year, but this is getting pretty concerning. He’s hitting .222/.293/.313 at age 28. He hit .280/.336/.513 at age 26. | 4 | 39-51 |
26 |
|
One of the oddities of the year has to be the Pirates allowing zero runs in three straight games (June 30-July 2) only to turn around and be shut out three straight games themselves (over the weekend in Seattle). Pretty incredible work. | — | 38-55 |
27 |
|
It’s definitely weird to see a team fire the general manager less than a week before having the No. 1 overall draft pick, but the Nats started their rebuild in 2021 and are still awful. | — | 37-54 |
28 |
|
Only two teams are more than 10 games under .500 at home. The first is the worst team in baseball. The other is this team, which doesn’t even have an actual home. | — | 38-55 |
29 |
|
If nothing else, this much is clear: The White Sox are NOT the worst team in baseball in 2025. | — | 30-62 |
30 |
|
I wonder if they could find a taker for Germán Marquez before the trade deadline? He had a 1.33 ERA in his previous four starts before getting shelled by the White Sox on Saturday. Then again, shelled by the White Sox? I don’t know, man. | — | 21-71 |
