MLB power rankings: Best team in baseball past two months? It’s fishy

We’re not going to mince words here: The Miami Marlins are for real.

We can talk about it now, because the Marlins, arguably Major League Baseball’s most forgotten franchise, have reached the .500 mark after a rousing weekend sweep of the New York Yankees, who have their own issues to worry about.

But there’s one team – the Milwaukee Brewers – that’s played as well as the Marlins since June 13, when they began a roll that’s now at 30 wins in 44 games and resulted in them being very much alive rather than a carcass to be picked over at the July 31 trade deadline.

Heck, they even held onto franchise bulwark Sandy Alcantara, which may or may not portend positive things for a winter to build upon this surprise season. Miami’s pitching staff leads the majors in WHIP (1.06) and the NL in ERA (3.16) since June 27, a 31-game stretch.

For now, though, the Marlins have zoomed up four more spots in USA TODAY Sports’ power rankings – and are even loitering on the fringes of the NL wild-card race, six games out but with three teams to pass.

But if they keep up this pace, there’s no ceiling that can stop them.

A look at our updated rankings:

1. Milwaukee Brewers (+2)

• Banged out a franchise-record 56 hits in three-game sweep of Nationals.

2. Chicago Cubs (-1)

• All-Star Game headed to Wrigley in 2027. Which uniform will Kyle Tucker be wearing?

3. Toronto Blue Jays (-1)

• Don’t look now, but Max Scherzer has struck out 16, walked none and won each of his past two starts.

4. Detroit Tigers (-)

• Can they unlock a closer-like performance from newly acquired Kyle Finnegan?

5. Philadelphia Phillies (+1)

• Jhoan Duran’s dominant stuff accompanied his personal intro on trip from Minnesota to Philly.

6. Los Angeles Dodgers (+1)

• Max Muncy is ready to return, with Tommy Edman likely replacing him on the IL.

7. New York Mets (-2)

• Cedric Mullins will fit very snugly on their playoff roster.

8. San Diego Padres (+2)

• Has anyone ever rebutted A.J. Preller when he simply asked, ‘Why not?’

9. Houston Astros (-1)

• Carlos Correa still eight days away from playing his first home game at Minut-, errr, Daikin Park since Game 6 of the 2021 World Series.

10. Boston Red Sox (+1)

• Once again, a pretty lame deadline, but Steven Matz is low-key a useful bullpen piece.

11. Seattle Mariners (+2)

• Big series win against a Rangers team suddenly right in their way.

12. New York Yankees (-3)

• Hard for Brian Cashman to blame Aaron Boone when the players he acquired blew up in the skipper’s face.

13. Cincinnati Reds (+1)

• Survived the Speedway semi-debacle. Will rest of season be a red flag?

14. Texas Rangers (-2)

• Jacob deGrom the fastest to 1,800 strikeouts in both innings (1,493 ⅓) and games (240).

15. San Francisco Giants (-)

• A ‘soft sell’ at the deadline, if you will, but now they’re back at .500. One more run in ’em?

16. Miami Marlins (+4)

• Kyle Stowers with a shot at 40 homers.

17. Cleveland Guardians (+1)

• You’d think Emmanuel Clase would be the cautionary tale that gets ballplayers’ attention.

18. St. Louis Cardinals (-2)

• .500 looking like their destiny.

19. Kansas City Royals (-)

• Mike Yastrzemski kind of a nice ‘Why the hell not?’ pickup.

20. Tampa Bay Rays (-7)

• Have now lost 11 of 16 since break.

21. Los Angeles Angels (+1)

• Taylor Ward now with a career-high 26 home runs, his latest a walk-off.

22. Arizona Diamondbacks (-1)

• The Jordan Montgomery Era really was something.

23. Minnesota Twins (-)

• Like many Americans, they’re struggling to be debt-free.

24. Baltimore Orioles (-)

• The deadline decimated entire roster, but lineup has responded; bullpen has not.

25. Atlanta Braves (+1)

• Don’t think anyone will complain if someone calls the Speedway trophy ‘a piece of metal.’

26. Athletics (-1)

• Just 23 wins in Yolo County; only Rockies, Nationals have fewer at home.

27. Pittsburgh Pirates (-)

• The trade of moderate success story Bailey Falter was moderately depressing.

28. Washington Nationals (-)

• Run differential now minus-134; only Rockies (-277) are worse.

29. Chicago White Sox (-)

• Luis Robert is still here.

30. Colorado Rockies (-)

• At least a few of their bros on the Yankees give them something to root for.