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2024 MLB Power Rankings: Week 21

We update the ranks for all 30 teams. Flags fly forever in Arlington.

Pablo Figueroa
Baseball 8/23/2024

Every week, the Pitcher List team will publish an update to our power rankings, reviewing the biggest risers and fallers of the past seven days.

As always, the full rankings can be found at the bottom of this article … but where’s the fun in that?

 

First and Worst

 

A mere five weeks separate us from the playoffs, which seems really odd considering there are still a lot of undecided things around baseball. Division races that looked clear-cut a month ago are now too close for comfort, and similar things have happened in the individual award categories and milestones. Having said that, the top of these rankings only featured a handful of movements.

The Dodgers have reclaimed the top spot on the strength of a solid week, keeping their 4-game advantage despite another hot week by the Padres. LA’s lack of urgency around August and September seemed to cost them come playoff time on several occasions, most notably last season, when they appeared ill-prepared to handle Arizona. Having to actually battle for a playoff spot instead of coasting may end up being a blessing in disguise, even if San Diego or the Dbacks somehow find a way to win the West and the Dodgers need to settle for a wild card.

At the bottom of the barrel, it seems that only the feisty A’s are putting any kind of fight in an attempt to play spoiler and maybe even avoid a last-place finish. Elsewhere, the likes of the Angels, Rockies, Marlins, and White Sox have long since waved the white flag and appear content to roll over. We can at least take solace in continuing to watch a possible historic finish by Chicago. As they enter this weekend with a 31-97 record, they are still on pace to finish below 40 wins and almost certain to have a run differential beyond -300. It’s almost as if we can’t look away from this train wreck.

Let’s dive into our biggest risers and sliders in this week’s Pitcher List Power Rankings.

 

Movin’ On Up

 

Tampa Bay Rays

 

Record: 64-63

Rank change: +5 (22 to 17)

With the top, and even the middle, not showing extreme performances in the past week, today we are focusing on a couple of squads that are unlikely to play in October but deserve some recognition for the building blocks they are gathering towards a brighter future. The first of them is Tampa, who appears to always be the ultimate franchise in terms of creativity and roster crunch. Even in a down year for the franchise, there are many positive takeaways to highlight.

Being 6.5 games out of the final wild card spot is out of character for a team that has played in five straight Octobers, but it is still commendable that the Rays continue to deliver a fine baseball product despite the hardships faced in 2024. Having almost a full rotation in lengthy IL stints was untenable in a division where the Yankees and Orioles are at full strength, and yet Tampa has hovered around .500 all season long and was smart enough to retool at the trade deadline with hopes that things can be better as soon as next year.

Tampa Bay’s 16-15 record after the break is nothing to write home about, but the past week was still impressive and should serve as a caution that the Rays can at least play spoiler in the upcoming weeks. It all started with a home series against the red-hot Dbacks, which the Rays actually swept in what became one of the most exciting sets of the season. The opening and closing games were decided via walk-off, including an epic 12-inning affair on Sunday that needed almost four hours to be decided. With most of their opening-day starters shipped elsewhere, Tampa is relying on their usual array of youngsters and cast-offs, such as Dylan Carlson and his 139 OPS+ and the resurgence of Brandon Lowe (16 homers in 77 games).

So while the Rays will probably skip the dance this time around, they will still play an important role in terms of deciding who gets there. Their next 23 games come against teams in the middle of playoff races, starting with the Dodgers and ending with the Guardians, giving this final stretch at least a sense of purpose for a franchise that prides itself on its methods. With the likes of Shane McLanahan and Shane Baz expected for a full season in 2025, we may end up thinking of this season as only a bump in the road.

 

Detroit Tigers

 

Record: 62-66

Rank change: +5 (23 to 18)

As built today, the Detroit Tigers are not a good baseball team. Their pitching tends to be mediocre outside of their Cy Young candidate, while the offense can best be described as feeble, which is how this franchise is poised to miss the playoffs for the 10th straight year. And yet, the past week at least gave us a glimpse of Detroit’s project for the near future, one in which good and creative pitching may be enough to overcome their Javy Baez-led attack.

Just in the past week, the Tigers completed a sweep of the Mariners, then won a series against the Yankees and a hard-fought loss in Chicago versus the Cubs. Outside of the 10-2 shellacking in the rubber game of the latter series, Tigers pitching had allowed a total of 14 runs over their previous eight games, with Tarik Skubal earning two wins and lowering his ERA to 2.49 in the process. Even as the Tigers may still be a ways away from a talent standpoint, having a solid manager like AJ Hinch is making them more competitive than expected in this final stretch, creating some hope for next season.

While the current mix-and-match approach toward pitching may not be sustainable, it is clear that any progress made by Detroit should start by fixing the offense. Having only one qualified above-average hitter is a travesty (even in the AL Central), and Skubal can only do so much.

With seven games to be played against the dreadful White Sox and plenty more against other bad teams, there is an outside chance for the Tigers to post their first winning season since 2016, which could be massive for this franchise. Now that the Lions are finally good, it would be nice for the city to have a second team to be proud of, and that may be closer than expected in Motown.

 

Hittin’ the Skids

 

Texas Rangers

 

Record: 59-69

Rank change: -3 (19 to 22)

In what may become the ultimate Flags Fly Forever season in recent MLB history, the defending champs are almost certain to watch the playoffs from afar, as the Rangers stand at 10 games behind the closest spot. Texas’ fall from grace has not been a precipitous fall, but rather a gradual failure to launch, as the team never looked right from the very beginning of the season and has slowly dropped from contention.

Texas at least held some hope by late July after a five-game winning streak, but that has been followed by a rough 8-17 stretch that exposed the many flaws of this squad. Outside of the steady presence of Corey Seager and the emergence of Josh Smith as a solid #2, the offense that was so good in 2023 has taken a massive step back, as one has to wonder if the extra month of wear and tear or the sudden ascent to the spotlight created a burden for the likes of Adolis García (.692 OPS) and Jonah Heim (.278 OBP), while it is also true that the front office decided not to tinker with the roster—something that tends to be a mistake for defending champions.

With Nathan Eovaldi being more good than playoff god and Max Scherzer showing his age—not to speak of Jacob deGrom’s never-ending injury woes—there was never any real chance for the Rangers to defend their title honorably. There are still a few rays of hope for a quick turnaround, as the team should be healthier in 2025 and the front office should be more aggressive with fixing holes via trades or free agency, while Texas has the benefit of playing in a division with two ghost franchises at the same time.

This means that Bruce Bochy will be 0-for-4 in terms of making the playoffs following a championship, which is almost as baffling as the titles themselves. I’m sure that Texas fans would take this outcome all the time, especially following a torturous existence, but it should still be painful to see how it all went downhill oh so fast.

 

St. Louis Cardinals

 

Record: 63-64

Rank change: -5 (16 to 21)

The Cardinals were so competent, even good, for so long that seeing them struggle for two straight seasons is almost unfathomable. Last year was supposed to be an aberration as St. Louis finished in last place, and while 2024 has not been an abject disaster, the Cards merely rose to the boring tier of baseball teams, barely in the fringes of playoff contention and with not much to cling to for the future.

While the past week was hardly a disaster—splitting series with the Dodgers and Brewers after being swept by the Reds—it encapsulated how limited this franchise is in terms of talent. St. Louis’ best hitter, by far, continues to be Willson Contreras, a 32-year-old catcher that can hardly be considered a building block. The trade-deadline addition of Tommy Pham provided a short-lived jolt, but we’re also talking about a player in his late 30s that offers limited upside. With former superstars like Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado facing similar downward spirals, it is clear that the franchise is in desperate need of a reset.

The biggest question is if ownership is ready to commit to that. While Milwaukee is giving a masterclass on team building and the likes of Cincinnati and Pittsburgh are oozing young talent, the Cardinals have failed time and again to identify and develop their own players. Just in 2024, the team has given at least 200 plate appearances to six players under 30 years old, with only Masyn Winn and Alec Burleson showing some kind of promise, albeit with a limited ceiling. The rotation is in even worse shape, with wily veterans barely holding on toward league-average results.

With such a grim and middling outlook, it will be interesting to see if the Cardinals are finally ready to face reality this offseason and make drastic changes. The odds are against it, but even the self-proclaimed best fans in baseball have a breaking point.

Week 21 Power Rankings

Pablo Figueroa

Pablo Figueroa is a Baseball Writer here at Pitcher List, with experience as a writer since 2013. He lives in Aguascalientes, Mexico - proud home of Los Rieleros. When he´s not thinking about baseball , he's a husband, owns two dogs, watches random episodes of The Sopranos , plays padel, and works on his day job to pay the bills.

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