Every week, the Pitcher List team will publish an update to our power rankings, highlighting three teams among the different tiers of contention. As always, the full rankings can be found at the bottom of this article, but where’s the fun in that?
In a balanced world that even Thanos would envy, MLB now has 15 teams above .500 and 15 teams below that mark, creating a seemingly clear divide between contenders and pretenders. However, that supposed line may still be blurry, especially after some presumed contenders are still trying to find an elusive hot streak to reach their potential. Just this past week, the likes of San Francisco, Arizona, Atlanta, Boston, and Cleveland floundered against seemingly inferior squads, while the Marlins (!!!) morphed into the 1927 Yankees.
However, the biggest development of the past week may be how the Mets imploded in Pittsburgh, being humbled by a bad Pirates team that did not even throw out Paul Skenes during the weekend. Even as they retain top-10 status, it’s time to worry about the Mets, who usually waited until later in the season to collapse…
Contender
No. 8 – New York Mets (48-37, +39)
For most of 2025, the Mets looked the part of a juggernaut, taking advantage of their massive payroll to become one of the best teams in baseball. Even as mega free agent Juan Soto was slow to come around, stellar pitching and an opportunistic offense were enough to propel New York in the standings, at one point holding a 5-game lead in the top-heavy NL East. In a cruel twist of fate, Soto has slowly gone back to his superstar ways, only for the rest of the roster to regress massively. After being 45-24 on June 12, the Mets have gone an atrocious 3-13, including a seven-game losing streak and now an embarrassing three-game sweep against the lowly Pirates in which they were outscored 30-4. It’s no wonder that fans are starting to panic in Queens.
This is a safe space Mets fans. Share your thoughts on the current state of the team. pic.twitter.com/o83RdNobnG
— MetsMuse (@MetsMuse) June 29, 2025
It is hard to see how the Mets have fallen so hard, so fast, especially as many offensive stats point to a club that is doing just fine. A 12-15 June is not ideal, but also not terrible. Over the past 30 days, the offense leads the league in home runs, with the aforementioned Soto getting back to career norms and now sporting a .902 OPS with 20 dingers. Pete Alonso may no longer be the RBI machine he was in the early going, but he still leads the NL in doubles and carries a 166 OPS+. Francisco Lindor remains one of the best all-around players in the game, while other veterans like Brandon Nimmo and Starling Marte have vastly improved.
On the other hand, the pitching side of things has suddenly become a liability, with the staff posting a 4.70 June ERA that was two full runs over what the team had amassed from March to May. In that span, the Mets only allowed 7 or more runs in a game four times, but that mark has been reached in ten of their past sixteen games to coincide with this swoon. The Pirates series was certainly the nadir for this team, but it has at least made it all the more evident that reinforcements are urgently needed on the rotation and bullpen.
Even as Kodai Senga and Edwin Diaz are excellent starting points, it is clear that the Mets’ front office will need to use their deep pockets around the trade deadline. If that means taking on large contracts or giving up whatever’s left on the farm system, so be it, especially after the Phillies look dominant with their staff and Atlanta might still make a run in the second half. The Mets still have high playoff odds, but a tricky road to the All-Star break may increase the level of urgency, especially as this upcoming week includes a home date with the Yankees. As the old adage goes, money can’t buy happiness, but the Mets should have the resources to turn things around before they get even uglier.
The Middle
No. 17 – Los Angeles Angels (41-42, -49)
During this week, the Los Angeles Angels had to face the tough news of knowing manager Ron Washington will miss the rest of the season with an unspecified illness. Washington was hired in late 2023 with a clear mission to add professionalism and competitiveness to the franchise, especially after they lost Shohei Ohtani. While Wash is now likely to retire as one of the most respected managers in MLB, he should be glad to know that at least in 2025, he was on his way to achieving that feat.
Los Angeles Angels manager Ron Washington, 73, is out for the season due to a medical issue after experiencing shortness of breath and fatigue. https://t.co/NlK3e1JS5T
— FOX 11 Los Angeles (@FOXLA) June 29, 2025
As a franchise, the Angels are clearly not out of the woods yet, but being around .500 as the All-Star break approaches should be considered an unexpected development. Even with a run differential that says the Angels are a mediocre team waiting to regress, they have certainly become competitive despite a flawed roster, which should be a testament to their manager’s strengths and philosophy. Just in June, LA has had winning series against the Red Sox (twice), the Yankees, and the Mariners, becoming at least a pesky opponent on any given game.
The Angels have reached this point despite an uneven season from Mike Trout (0.5 bWAR in 57 games) and still handing several below-average hitters serious playing time (Jorge Soler and Luis Rengifo come to mind). At the same time, some of the franchise’s young players have finally started to show true improvement, with Logan O’Hoppe and Nolan Schanuel looking the part of cornerstones and Jo Adell finally tapping into his potential. Adell had never posted an above-average season and started 2025 with a career -0.6 bWAR, but his 18 homers are only two off his career high, and his current .311 OBP is the first time he has been above .280, which should be the most encouraging takeaway from this season.
The team’s pitching will continue to make any playoff aspirations a long shot, though, even as the Angels have only needed five starters in their rotation. With a 4.58 staff ERA, it is clear that the Angels are still in need of a major overhaul when it comes to arms. Relying on Yusei Kikuchi and his smoke-and-mirrors ERA as the rotation’s ace and Kenley Jansen as the closer is definitely not ideal, while the team’s young arms have failed to make an impact, outside of late bloomer José Soriano.
Years of incompetency make it easy to doubt the Angels, just as they showed this weekend by losing a home series to the Nationals, which looked like the perfect chance to climb over .500. In the series finale, they walked James Wood intentionally four times, giving him a treatment that had not been seen since prime Barry Bonds. While Wood did not score, the Angels still managed to blow the game after Jansen allowed a game-tying run in the ninth and then failed to score in extras, turning a likely win into a very Angels-like 7-4 defeat. With a July gauntlet that is full of games against squads still in playoff contention, the Angels are almost certain to fall off the race, though it would be a nice tribute to their skipper if they can keep the hope throughout the summer.
Wait ’til 2026
No. 22 – Miami Marlins (37-45, -74)
Seemingly every year, a bad team comes out of nowhere to spoil someone else’s season, and seemingly just for the sake of it. While this is usually more evident in September, the Marlins have decided to turn ahead the clock, suddenly becoming true agents of chaos despite the overwhelming evidence that suggests they are a bad team. Somehow, the team with the fifth-worst run differential in the sport is currently enjoying the longest active winning streak, literally achieving things that had never happened for this downtrodden franchise.
The Miami @Marlins:- 7 straight wins- 9 straight wins on the road- have won every game of a 6+ game road trip for the first time in franchise history!
With playoff odds hovering at zero percent and a roster full of question marks, the Marlins just ran roughshod over the Giants and Diamondbacks, both of whom are still battling for a wild card spot. In what was truly a shocking development, Miami played a bold brand of baseball, full of contact, stolen bases, comebacks, and a clutch bullpen to outscore its opposition 47-31, all on the road. Suddenly, the likes of Otto Lopez, Xavier Edwards, Connor Norby, and Eric Wagaman became unstoppable, first breaking through against the vaunted San Francisco staff and then taking advantage of a leaky Arizona bullpen to complete the shocking sweep.
This hot streak begs the question of how sustainable this can be for the Marlins, especially as they are still in a precarious position and should be selling around the trade deadline. Setting this week aside, it is hard to see how Miami can play nothing more than the occasional spoiler through the rest of 2025. While the bullpen has several interesting arms, there is no way to frame Miami’s pitching as good, with the league’s fifth-worst ERA and a bottom-10 K rate. To wit, the trade of Sandy Alcantara has seemed like a foregone conclusion before the season even started, and the former Cy Young has been erratic. In his past two starts, he earned a win in Atlanta and then allowed seven runs to the Dbacks, which seems in line with his season numbers: 4-8 with a 6.98 ERA and -1.3 bWAR. He could be seen as the ultimate project for a contender, though the prospect haul would definitely be lower than expected for the Marlins.
Unfortunately for the Marlins, they are unlikely to keep this pace, as opposing teams will certainly be more prepared to counter their newly chaotic brand of baseball. However, it is nice to see some life from a franchise that is used to playing in anonymity. The Marlins need development from their young players, and they seem to be embracing that fact, giving them the opportunity to play to their strengths. With a pre-break schedule that includes series against the Twins, Reds, and Brewers, Miami will get a chance to continue playing spoiler, which sounds plausible for this pressure-free squad.
