It’s been quite stunning to witness: Both New York teams, with two of the largest payrolls in the game, are seemingly imploding.
For the Yankees, it’s been a slow drip-drip-drip of their early swagger. The Pinstripers are just 17-24 in their last 41 games and just 7-12 in their last 19. Aaron Boone’s nightly explanations as to why he puts Devin Williams in are sad and really a bit pathetic.
The Mets are in the middle of a 1-11 stretch and have lost their last seven games — this after they went 6-0 three weeks ago. They now trail the Phillies by 5.5 games and are just 1.5 games in front of the rampaging Reds for the last NL wild-card spot.
Now, here are my interesting and ever-changing power rankings:
1. Milwaukee Brewers (73-44, No. 1 last week): How is it going for the Brew Crew? They traded disgruntled fifth starter Aaron Civale to a White Sox organization that sold low on No. 3 overall pick Andrew Vaughn. After a putrid start to the season, Vaughn was optioned to Triple-A Charlotte and later dealt for Civale. In 10 starts, Civale has a 4.91 ERA and 1.33 WHIP. Vaughn hit .189/.218/.314 with five homers and 19 RBIs with the White Sox this year. Since his call up by the Brewers, Vaughn is hitting .348/.412/.629 with seven homers and 28 RBIs.
2. Los Angeles Dodgers (68-50, No. 4): The starting pitching is shaping up nicely, but the offense and bullpen are not what was expected. Getting Max Muncy back is a huge help, but the Dodgers have to fix the bullpen internally now. Health is a huge mitigating factor.
3. Philadelphia Phillies (68-49, No. 5): José Alvarado and David Robertson are about to team with Jhoan Duran, which will make their ‘pen a strength down the stretch rather than a fingers-crossed proposition. Aaron Nola is due back shortly. He’ll give them the deepest starting staff in the big leagues. The Phillies are primed for a big run.
4. Detroit Tigers (68-51, No. 2): A month or two ago the Tigers were probably a runaway World Series winner by all the pundits. They should have enough to hold on to beat out the Guardians for the AL Central, but a closer look at their rotation reveals one great pitcher in Tarik Skubal and a bit of a mess with the rest.
5. Seattle Mariners (66-53, No. 11): Former skipper Scott Servais must be home muttering, “How come Jerry Dipoto didn’t get me Josh Naylor and Eugenio Suárez? I’d still have a job.”
6. San Diego Padres (66-52, No. 6): Padres players are playing with an appreciation for what president of baseball operations A.J. Preller did at the deadline. It really does matter when you get some help — real help, not wishful thinking help.
7. Toronto Blue Jays (69-50, No. 8): The Jays had the easy sweep in Colorado, then had to face an elite team again with real MLB talent. They did show some resolve to comeback and salvage the third game of the series at Dodger Stadium. Max Scherzer is not the monster he once was, but he is giving his team a real chance to win when he is on the slab. The Jays also have a wild card in Shane Bieber, who could really make them dangerous.
8. Chicago Cubs (67-50, No. 3): President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer had no way of knowing the Brewers would win nine games in a row, but he did so little at the deadline to help his wounded rotation. He didn’t live up to all his good work that earned him that extension.
9. Boston Red Sox (65-54, No. 7): Sometimes momentum can be very fickle. The Red Sox were riding high and won that first game in San Diego … then lost the last two. They start this week in Houston for three. It marks the return of Alex Bregman to Daikin Park. For the Sox, they really need to maintain that Big Mo.
10. Houston Astros (66-52, No. 8): The problem with pitchers who have been out a long time is that they rarely seem to pitch well when they return. The Astros have been patiently waiting for Spencer Arrighetti back from a fractured thumb on his pitching hand and all they got was five earned runs and 11 hits in 3.2 innings. The five strikeouts were a bit more promising. They are due to get Cristian Javier back for an Aug. 11 start against Garrett Crochet and the Red Sox.
11. Cleveland Guardians (61-56, No. 15)
12. New York Yankees (62-56, No. 12)
13. New York Mets (63-55, No. 9)
14. Cincinnati Reds (62-57, No. 14)
15. Texas Rangers (60-59, No. 13)
16. Kansas City Royals (58-60, No. 17)
17. San Francisco Giants (59-59, No. 18)
18. St. Louis Cardinals (60-59, No. 19)
19. Miami Marlins (57-61, No. 16)
20. Arizona Diamondbacks (57-61, No. 24)
21. Los Angeles Angels (56-62, No. 20)
22. Minnesota Twins (56-61, No. 25)
23. Tampa Bay Rays (57-62, No. 21)
24. Baltimore Orioles (53-65, No. 22)
25. Athletics (53-67, No. 23)
26. Pittsburgh Pirates (51-68, No. 26)
27. Atlanta Braves (51-67, No. 27)
28. Washington Nationals (47-70, No. 28)
29. Chicago White Sox (43-75, No. 29)
30. Colorado Rockies (30-87, No. 30)