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?
While the White Sox and Guardians fight neck and neck for the AL Central lead, our early focus is on the New York Yankees and their ability to overcome any and all obstacles thrown their way. Moving over to the National League, would you believe that the Marlins, of all teams, have more home wins than the Braves this season? It’s been a productive month of June for Miami, one of the best home teams in the big leagues.
Contender
No. 3 New York Yankees (43-27, +107 run differential)
No Aaron Judge? No problem for the New York Yankees. While things are nowhere near this simple, what we can say is that the Yankees have handled the absence of baseball’s premier hitter about as well as anyone could’ve hoped for — even managing to overtake the Rays for the AL East lead, something that with Judge, this team had failed to do not so long ago. As impactful as Judge’s loss is and will prove to be over the following weeks, the Yankees were never a one-trick pony — you simply don’t get this far in baseball if that is the case. The resilience of this team will be further tested since one of the primary pieces that had been helping this team minimize the damage of Judge’s injury also found himself heading to the IL over the weekend in Trent Grisham. The center fielder had a .425 on-base percentage in June prior to injuring his hamstring, forcing the Yankees to now rely on their young bats in Spencer Jones and Jasson Domínguez, the latter of whom homered upon his return to the big league club on Saturday, filling in for Grisham.
Moving away from the offense for a bit, part of the reason our faith in the Yankees is so unwavering is their ability on the mound, featuring one of the most talented pitching staffs in the sport. It should not come as a surprise that twice last week, New York found itself on the winning end of games in which it scored no more than three runs — games not coming against bottom-feeders in the AL, but the reigning AL champs and the contending Guardians. The latest of these wins came with Cam Schlittler tossing seven masterful innings, and as the season carries on, the conversation shifts from breakout star to potential Cy Young favorite in the American League for the youngster — especially with Tarik Skubal having missed significant time. The other of those wins, scoring three runs, came with Gerrit Cole starting, and although in that particular game Cole covered just four innings, the quality he has displayed upon his return gives the Yankees adequate cover to handle Max Fried’s absence.
Most teams placed in the situation of having as much talent on the IL as the Yankees currently have could easily falter. While there might be some bumps and bruises in the short term as they weather the storm, this team’s status as a World Series contender should remain unquestioned.
The Middle
No. 20 Miami Marlins (36-37, -7 run differential)
The Miami Marlins have played four series in June, and they’ve been on the winning end of every single one of them, all against teams currently with a record at or above .500, beating the Nationals, Rays, Diamondbacks, and most recently a Pirates team that had just given the Dodgers all it could handle in a very entertaining series at PNC Park. Surprisingly, Miami has managed to accumulate this performance with the would-be pillars of this team not contributing heavily or even at all. One of Miami’s breakout hitters of last season, outfielder Kyle Stowers, has taken a step back in 2026, and Eury Perez is currently sidelined on the IL. Speaking of Perez, his outlook turned out to be far more favorable than originally expected; he is already scheduled for a rehab outing this week.
With or without Perez, however, any discussion regarding the Marlins’ starting rotation in 2026 begins and ends with Max Meyer, who, with 15 starts, still sustains an undefeated record, having won all seven of his decisions. The starter for the other Marlins win over the Pirates during the weekend was the leader of this team, Sandy Alcantara. The right-hander who has faced more batters than any other pitcher this season completed eight innings of three-run ball to secure his sixth victory of the year.
The Marlins keep changing things around on offense to try and maximize what they have, with Kyle Stowers getting more time at first, a position that hasn’t delivered a lot of production this year. Esteury Ruiz is getting more run in the outfield, and recent results were encouraging, with him getting on base in 10 of 19 plate appearances since the start of the month along with four stolen bases. As far as praising the likes of Otto Lopez and Xavier Edwards, that has been widely covered with the pair making up one of the more exciting double play combos not only in the National League, but all of baseball.
Wait ‘Til 2027
No. 21 Cincinnati Reds (34-37, -46 run differential)
While the Marlins do not know what it is to lose a series this month, the opposite could be spoken of the Cincinnati Reds. And playing in a division in which they now are the only team below .500, the impact and timing of this downward turn in performance could prove costly; if nothing else, it at least may change this team’s willingness and ability to add at the deadline. Most recently, the Reds lost two of three against the Diamondbacks, averaging 2.33 runs in the series. And as concerning as their current record might be, the word bleak comes to mind when looking at a 29-41 run differential.
Breakout hitters such as Sal Stewart and JJ Bleday have cooled off this month, forcing others to step up, and up until Monday night, Eugenio Suárez looked hellbent on proving the rest of the league right for handing him a lukewarm market this past offseason, not in line with his numbers in the season prior. However, in typical Suárez fashion, his production showed up in bulk with a two-homer, six-RBI performance in a rout of the last-place Mets. It’s hard to take too much out of one game, but if the Reds are to have any shot to turn their season around and leave this bottom tier, it is through their offense raising its level. Simply put, a team slugging percentage under .400 for a club that hosts its games at Great American Ballpark simply won’t cut it.
While we can talk a lot about the currently active players, when it comes to the Reds, the conversation will inadvertently end on the injured list at the moment. On a bit of good news, both Elly De La Cruz and Hunter Greene are likely to be back in the not too distant future. However, considering Greene is coming off a lengthy absence, caution is warranted, even though this rotation desperately needs him with not a lot going on beyond Chase Burns, including Andrew Abbott falling back to earth after a superb 2025 campaign. Offensively, Matt McLain has thrived in the absence of De La Cruz at short, so as important as his return is, Cincinnati could also stand to see McLain rediscover his rookie form. Greene is about to make his first scheduled rehab outing this week, while De La Cruz is close to a return from a hamstring injury.
