5. Astros (previously: 6).
Season high: 5 | Season low: 26
The Astros have everything rolling right now, and they’re winning games in the opposite way they were doing so a couple of weeks ago: With their bats. Heading into Sunday night, they had won seven of 10, averaging more than seven runs in those seven victories.

6. Brewers (previously: 4).
Season high: 4 | Season low: 19
Brewers fans looking for some happy nostalgia vibes can check out a great documentary having its premiere this week: Just a Bit Outside: The Story of the 1982 Milwaukee Brewers, about the only Brewers team to appear in the World Series, will screen in Wisconsin theaters this week. I’ve seen it, and it’s a blast — and may just make Brewers fans think this might be the year to get back there.

7. Guardians (previously: 8).
Season high: 2 | Season low: 21
Tarik Skubal is likely going to win the AL Cy Young Award this year, but perhaps no pitcher has been more important to his team than Emmanuel Clase has been for the Guardians. He has nailed down 29 straight saves and has given up only five earned runs all season. And they get the White Sox this week!

8. Padres (previously: 9).
Season high: 7 | Season low: 21
Don’t start counting those postseason chickens just yet, Padres fans. Their recent wobbles, along with the Mets’ win streak, have tightened the Wild Card chase to the point that the Padres might need to sweat a little bit. The Dodgers are probably too far away at this point in the division: The teams to scoreboard watch now are the Mets, the Braves and the D-backs.

9. Diamondbacks (previously: 7).
Season high: 7 | Season low: 19
Why have the Diamondbacks cooled off lately? They’re still scoring a lot of runs, but they are giving up a ton more. Heading into Sunday night’s game, they had a 6.51 ERA, including an 8.03 bullpen ERA, since Aug. 27, the worst in baseball.

10. Royals (previously: 10).
Season high: 6 | Season low: 24
The Royals’ battle with the Twins is fascinating because it’s not entirely clear whether they want to finish above them. Legit question: Would you rather face the Astros in the Wild Card round, or whoever loses the AL East between the Orioles and Yankees? Isn’t it great that you even get to ask this question, Royals fans?

11. Mets (previously: 13).
Season high: 10 | Season low: 25
I asked this question in my weekly Five Fascinations column this week, and I’ll repeat it here because it’s even more relevant now: “Has this been so much fun that, if the Mets do happen to fall short of the postseason, will it feel like a crushing disappointment? On the surface, that doesn’t seem even slightly fair. This Mets team wasn’t expected to be a serious contender, particularly after the nightmare of 2023, and the success they’ve had is not only surprising, but even a year or two early. This is a team, with all the young talent it has on hand (and coming), that may be ahead of schedule. The future seems bright. If the Braves hold them off, does that dampen the vibes? Or wet the whistle for 2025?” What do you think?

12. Braves (previously: 12).
Season high: 1 | Season low: 13
Forget Chris Sale finally winning his first Cy Young. Is he going to win the pitching Triple Crown this year? After another great start on Sunday, he still leads the NL in all three categories: Wins, strikeouts, and ERA.

13. Twins (previously: 11).
Season high: 7 | Season low: 23
The Twins have had better weekends. The Royals knocked them around and are actually now 2 1/2 games ahead of the Twins, who have lost 14 of their last 21 games. The bullpen is increasingly becoming a major problem: They have an ERA above 6 over their last 12 games.

14. Red Sox (previously: 14).
Season high: 11 | Season low: 22
The Red Sox still owe Trevor Story a total of $72.5 million over the next three years — plus a $5 million buyout for the 2028 season — so it was nice to see him finally take the field for them this weekend. It’s still not entirely clear where he fits in on this team moving forward.

15. Cubs (previously: 15)
Season high: 8 | Season low: 22
There’s nothing quite like players being inducted into a certain franchise’s individual Hall of Fame to make you feel old. Thus: Kerry Wood and Aramis Ramírez were inducted into the Cubs Hall of Fame on Sunday. You’re welcome.

16. Mariners (previously: 16)
Season high: 6 | Season low: 21
It’s not difficult to figure out if the Mariners are going to win. If they score five runs or more, like they did Sunday, they’re 48-4. If they score less than four runs? 24-67.

17. Cardinals (previously: 18)
Season high: 12 | Season low: 27
The Cardinals have many questions about their rotation and, really, their team — for the 2025 season. It has been presumed that Miles Mikolas will be a part of it, considering they owe him $17.67 million next year. But he has been a disaster of late for the Cardinals, going 0-3 in his last seven starts, giving up 27 earned runs in 31 1/3 innings.

18. Tigers (previously: 17)
Season high: 7 | Season low: 24
Here’s your reminder that the Tigers haven’t had a winning record since 2016, which was so long ago that Victor Martinez was on that team. They’ve got a terrific shot: They have the easiest schedule in baseball the rest of the way.

19. Rays (previously: 20)
Season high: 9 | Season low: 24
The Rays haven’t had a losing season since 2017, but it’s on the table for them this year: They need to go 10-9 the rest of the way to keep that streak alive.

20. Giants (previously: 19)
Season high: 12 | Season low: 23
The Giants have a lot of questions to figure out this offseason, but for the rest of this year, figuring out what they have in young players is No. 1 on their agenda. So the blistering start for center fielder Grant McCray, who is slugging .529 in his first 20 games, is an excellent piece of data moving forward.

21. Reds (previously: 20)
Season high: 11 | Season low: 25
The Reds are deep into 2025 mode now, so I hope you will forgive me if I use their entry not to talk about the team, but instead to point you once more to Joey Votto’s Mad Dog Russo impression on his show this week. Votto is gonna be an EGOT winner someday.

22. Rangers (previously: 23)
Season high: 4 | Season low: 23
Over the last few weeks, the Rangers have more closely resembled the team their fans (and their front office) had been expected. It is, of course, far too late to defend their title; their playoff odds are now under 1 percent.

23. Blue Jays (previously: 22)
Season high: 8 | Season low: 25
There has been much confusion, because of his (relative) inconsistency, about what kind of contract Vladimir Guerrero Jr. will be able to expect after the 2025 season. He has cleared a lot of that up, and made himself a lot of money, over the last few months: He’s six RBIs away from his second 100-RBI season already, and he’s currently seventh in baseball in OPS.

24. Pirates (previously: 25)
Season high: 9 | Season low: 25
The Pirates are a young team that has made some real strides this season. Let’s try to remember that when we look at their record since Aug. 6, the last time they were over .500: It’s the second-worst in baseball, only better than (of course) the White Sox.

25. A’s (previously: 26)
Season high: 20 | Season low: 30
Since June 30, four players in baseball have hit 19 homers or more. One is Aaron Judge. One is Shohei Ohtani. The other two are Oakland A’s: Brent Rooker and Lawrence Butler. New Bash Brothers!

26. Nationals (previously: 24)
Season high: 20 | Season low: 27
These young guys love to run. With three more stolen bases, the Nationals will reach 200 stolen bases. They’ll be the first team to reach that number since the 2007 Mets.

27. Angels (previously: 27)
Season high: 24 | Season low: 28
The Angels are a team perhaps more desperately in need of young talent than any team in the sport, and their 2022 Draft class is already paying off big time: Zach Neto has been fantastic this year, Ben Joyce looks like a future All-Star closer and now 20-year-old Caden Dana has entered the rotation and doesn’t look like he’ll be leaving for quite a while.

28. Rockies (previously: 28)
Season high: 27 | Season low: 29
Brenton Doyle made a fantastic catch on Saturday night, landing hard on his left hand and leaving the game early. He should be fine and back in the lineup soon, which gives us a good opportunity to point out that Doyle has been an excellent bright spot for the Rockies this year: He leads the team in WAR this year, at the age of 26, and looks like he might win another Gold Glove.

29. Marlins (previously: 29)
Season high: 23 | Season low: 30
Getting Connor Norby from the Orioles felt like a little bit of a coup when it happened, and he sure has paid off so far: He’s hitting .329 with six homers in 18 games for them and seems pretty clearly their best player right now.

30. White Sox (previously: 29)
Season high: 28 | Season low: 30
It was perhaps inevitable that Garrett Crochet’s intensity was going to flag a little bit after the Trade Deadline passed especially considering how many innings he has thrown — but a 7.09 ERA in the second half seems particularly egregious. One wonders how much longer we’ll be seeing him this season.