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?
Hope defines the spring, but as we hit the summer solstice, the MLB season has approached its midpoint. In a normal year, that means harsh realities for some, playoff certainties for others, and a small pack of teams stuck in the middle.
Not this year.
The American League will send six playoff teams to a dance. One of them has a run differential greater than +5. The Senior Circuit, meanwhile, is still trying to figure out the mess of the NL Central. There’s an abnormally large mess in the middle of the standings, and as deadline season looms on the horizon, almost two-thirds of the league is a hot streak away from changing their late-summer plans.
Contender
No. 2 Milwaukee Brewers (50-31, +120 run differential)
It’s Jacob Misiorowski’s world, and we’re just living in it.
Misiorowski’s ascension can be boiled down to throwing strikes, which was never a guarantee given his spindly 6’7″ frame and historic velocity. Whatever adjustment he’s made, it’s resulted in a 7.2% walk rate and the highest CSW% among starters. The result might be the best pitcher in baseball.
He’s not alone atop the Brewers’ rotation, either. Fleecing the Boston Red Sox for Kyle Harrison has netted incredible returns and helped insulate a rotation that missed Brandon Woodruff in May and most of June. It just seems like Milwaukee can do no wrong, and as developments like Shane Drohan break their way, another deep October run feels inevitable. Some level of offensive skepticism is warranted, albeit mitigated by how real Brice Turang’s improvement looks. A deadline addition or two could help change that narrative.
THAT SAYS 105 MPH 🔥🔥
WOW, Jacob Misiorowski! pic.twitter.com/wXuz0W2YbU
— MLB (@MLB) June 12, 2026
There might not be anything the Brewers can do to top the Los Angeles Dodgers after last year’s drubbing and the latter’s easy path through the regular season. But as their NL Central lead holds steady, they feel like a safe bet to stick in the top five all season long. Milwaukee is getting expected production from its stars, the typical platoon-based victories that define the regime, and a 130 wRC+ from Gary Sánchez’s age-33 season.
This is now a three-horse race for the best team in the National League. With this version of Misiorowski, the Brewers might finally have enough firepower.
The Middle
No. 15 Washington Nationals (43-42, +5 run differential)
Is this the most fun team in baseball? The most stressful? Is there a difference? To the neutral observer, perhaps not.
The absurdity of Washington’s pitching staff sits at the intersection of ineffectiveness and raw volume. The Nationals have blown seven more saves than any other team in baseball. They are tied for the most bullpen losses and are currently running an ERA and xERA on the wrong side of 5.00. Oh, and they also lead the league in bullpen innings pitched.
In other words, Washington has the league’s worth pitching staff by fWAR at 0.6—3.1 of which comes from the 25th-ranked starting rotation.
And yet, the Nationals are a totally viable Wild Card contender, thanks to an offense leading the league in runs scored.
Washington ranks third in Process+ and fifth in wRC+. James Wood has staved off the kind of cold streak that dampened last season, and CJ Abrams looks like a star. Keibert Ruiz has picked a good time to turn it on, Jacob Young’s competence is an upgrade in itself, and Curtis Mead is one of the most under-the-radar front office victories of the offseason.
Look at where this pitch was that James Wood just clobbered 😮 pic.twitter.com/KSKnIvCW0f
— MLB (@MLB) June 6, 2026
The Nationals are feisty, if not good, and their proximity to a playoff spot means Paul Toboni has some difficult decisions to make. What does this team look like with two deadline relievers and a mid-rotation starter?
It’s awfully difficult to outlast this kind of pitching depravity, but looking like a league-average team this late in the year may prove to be more of a long-term signal than a threat for October baseball. Washington reshaped its front office and immediately got the best of its young stars while salvaging struggling starters and finding wins on the margins. It’s not pretty just yet, but the Nationals are shaping up to be dangerous if those philosophies start leaving a mark on the mound.
Wait ‘Til 2027
No. 28 Kansas City Royals (35-50, -70 run differential)
It’s been a season of mourning for the Kansas City Royals.
Despite playing in the meager AL Central, the Royals have long been unofficially eliminated from playoff contention. The blame largely falls on a pitching staff that ranks 26th in fWAR, but underperformance from its biggest bats is impossible to ignore. Before hitting the injured list, Vinnie Pasquantino posted an 81 wRC+. Last year’s breakout star, Maikel Garcia, has regressed to the tune of a 91 wRC+. Salvador Perez is over a win worse than the second-worst qualified batter by fWAR.
The Kansas City faithful mourned their playoff odds and Perez’s career. They may have to mourn the well-founded hopes of Cole Ragans‘ stardom, too.
Ragans entered the year as an obvious candidate for positive regression and left it with a FIP over twice as high as last year’s mark. Something is wrong, and exploratory surgery will determine the next chapter of his misfortune.
The rest of the Royals’ staff has been similarly futile, leaving Michael Wacha as the only steady hand left standing.
On a competitive basis, Kansas City is a run away from being a run away from the playoff conversation. But if fans are looking for reasons to tune in, they don’t have to look far. Even in a lost season, Bobby Witt Jr. is one of the best players in baseball. The growth of Jac Caglianone and Carter Jensen could supply him with his next generation of co-stars.
Let Ragans’ absence be a lesson. All of this is finite—even Witt’s 11-year deal. There’s going to be a time when you’ll miss Witt running rampant as the best shortstop in baseball, and watching him dominate in a loss is still a pretty good way to spend an afternoon.
