MLB: Astros Surprise with A, Tigers Shine, Cubs Stand Out. Midseason Analysis.

Mid-Season Analysis: MLB 2025 Team Grades

As we surpass the 90-game mark in the 2025 MLB season, it’s time to assess the teams’ performance. In this first half, the team that stands out the most isn’t the well-balanced Detroit Tigers, who get the highest rating for having the best MLB record, nor the explosive Chicago Cubs, nor even the Los Angeles Dodgers of Shohei Ohtani. The team leading this evaluation is one that many baseball fans love to hate: the Houston Astros. The Astros lost their two best players from last season, and their best hitter has been injured, but they are playing their best baseball since they won the 2022 World Series. Below, we will analyze each team’s ratings, taking into account pre-season expectations, win-loss record, quality of performance, as well as other positive aspects and injuries suffered.

American League East Division

• Baltimore Orioles: Rating pending
• Boston Red Sox: Rating pending
• New York Yankees: Rating pending
• Tampa Bay Rays: Rating pending
• Toronto Blue Jays: Rating pending

American League Central Division

• Chicago White Sox: Rating pending
• Cleveland Guardians: Rating pending
• Detroit Tigers: A+

Tarik Skubal is the undisputed star, but the Tigers are winning thanks to the impressive depth throughout the entire roster. Javier Báez is having a remarkable comeback season after a couple of down years and will become the first player to start in an All-Star Game at both shortstop and in the outfield. Former No. 1 overall picks Casey Mize and Spencer Torkelson have had their own comeback stories, while Riley Greene has become one of the best power hitters in the game. Due to their large number of prospects and contributors at the MLB level, no team is better positioned than the Tigers to add significant help at the trade deadline.

• Kansas City Royals: Rating pending
• Minnesota Twins: Rating pending

American League West Division

• Oakland Athletics: Rating pending
• Houston Astros: A

The Astros have proven to be a resilient team. Despite the departure of Alex Bregman and the injury of Yordan Álvarez, the team continues to fight for the best record in the league and comfortably leading the American League West Division. Hunter Brown, Framber Valdez, and Jeremy Peña are shining, while the risky decision to give Cam Smith the starting position, with little experience in the minor leagues, has paid off, becoming the team’s designated hitter. If we ignore the COVID-19 season, the Astros seem headed for an eighth consecutive divisional title.

• Los Angeles Angels: Rating pending
• Seattle Mariners: Rating pending
• Texas Rangers: Rating pending

National League East Division

• Atlanta Braves: Rating pending
• Miami Marlins: Rating pending
• New York Mets: Rating pending
• Philadelphia Phillies: Rating pending
• Washington Nationals: Rating pending

National League Central Division

• Chicago Cubs: A-

The Cubs’ performance could be even better, considering the positives: Pete Crow-Armstrong’s outstanding performance, Tucker’s good performance after the big trade, Seiya Suzuki’s impressive power numbers, and Matthew Boyd’s outstanding performance in the rotation. The Cubs are on track for their highest number of wins since their 2016 World Series championship season. However, there have been some setbacks, especially in the rotation, with Justin Steele’s season-ending injury and Ben Brown’s inconsistency, as well as the struggles of rookie third baseman Matt Shaw, and the weakness of the bench, aside from their backup catchers. Even so, this is a powerful lineup, and the Cubs will look to improve their rotation at the deadline.

• Cincinnati Reds: Rating pending
• Milwaukee Brewers: Rating pending
• Pittsburgh Pirates: Rating pending
• St. Louis Cardinals: Rating pending

National League West Division

• Arizona Diamondbacks: Rating pending
• Colorado Rockies: Rating pending
• Los Angeles Dodgers: Rating pending
• San Diego Padres: Rating pending
• San Francisco Giants: Rating pending

More Details About Featured Teams

Toronto Blue Jays: A- Recently, the Blue Jays have strung together wins, going from a 25-27 record and seven games behind the Yankees on May 25th to taking first place from the weakened Yankees, a remarkable comeback in just 36 games. They achieved a 27-9 record in a 36-game stretch that ended with their eighth consecutive win on Sunday. The recent resurgence of George Springer has been entertaining to watch, a reminder of how good he was in his prime, and Addison Barger has been hitting with power in the last two months. Some of the statistics don’t add up for the Blue Jays to be so good, they have barely outscored their opponents, but there could be more offense in the tank from players like Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and a healthy Anthony Santander, and the bullpen, a weak point, is the easiest area to improve.Milwaukee Brewers: B+ Their success is best summarized by the fact that Freddy Peralta is their only All-Star, but they have a group of players who have contributed between 1 and 2 WAR. Brandon Woodruff looked good on Sunday in his first start in almost two years, so that could be a big boost for the second half. I’m curious to see how Jackson Chourio performs as well. While his counting stats (extra-base hits, RBIs) are okay, his triple-slash line is still below last season, especially his OBP. He had a great second half in 2024 (.310/.363/.552) and if he does it again, the Brewers could return to the postseason for the seventh time in eight seasons.

Tampa Bay Rays: B+

The Rays started slow, with a losing record until the end of April, but then they went 33-22 in May and June to get back in the American League race, as the Rays usually do, with last year being the recent exception. Two key players have been third baseman Junior Caminero, who has the opportunity to become the third 21-year-old to hit 40 home runs, and All-Star first baseman Jonathan Aranda. Because the league wants the Rays to play more home games at the beginning of the season, the July and August schedule will be very loaded with away games, so we’ll see how the Rays adapt to a difficult two-month period, especially since their pitching isn’t as deep as it has been in other seasons.Los Angeles Dodgers: B No, they are not going to be the best team of all time. But they could win 100 games, even though Blake Snell and Roki Sasaki, their big offseason acquisitions, have combined for only two wins in 10 starts. The alignment, of course, has been fantastic, with Ohtani leading the National League in several categories and Will Smith leading the batting race. By wRC+, it has been the best offense in Dodgers history. If they can get some combination of healthy Snell, Sasaki, and Tyler Glasnow, plus Ohtani eventually increasing his workload on the mound, the Dodgers are still shaping up as favorites for the World Series.Philadelphia Phillies: B They are on track for 95 wins, mainly thanks to the strength of Zack Wheeler, Ranger Suarez, and Cristopher Sanchez, who combine for a 23-7 record with 11.8 WAR. Jesus Luzardo’s ERA is inflated due to that two-start period in which he allowed 20 runs, but otherwise, he has also been solid. But, in general, it hasn’t always been the smoothest road. The bullpen has collapsed several times and the offense has lacked power, aside from Kyle Schwarber. Bryce Harper has returned after missing three weeks, and they need his bat to start working. Look for some additions to the bullpen at the trade deadline, and perhaps a outfielder as well.St. Louis Cardinals: B The Cardinals have been a small surprise, perhaps even to the Cardinals themselves. St. Louis was looking at this as a rebuilding year, so to speak, not that the Cardinals ever hit rock bottom and started completely over. They had a hot May, winning 12 of 13 at one point, but the offense has been fading lately, with those three consecutive shutout losses to Pittsburgh and six shutout losses since June 25th. The rotation of starters doesn’t generate many strikeouts and both Erick Fedde and Miles Mikolas see their ERAs starting to rise. Brendan Donovan is the team’s only All-Star representative, and that sums up this team a bit: solid but without any star power. That could predict a fade in the second half.San Francisco Giants: B All-Star starting pitchers Logan Webb and Robbie Ray, in addition to a dominant bullpen, have led the way, although after starting 12-4, the Giants have basically been a .500 team for almost three months. Rafael Devers has yet to ignite the offense since arriving from Boston, and the Giants have lost four games by 1-0. These last three home games against the Dodgers before the All-Star break will be a crucial series, as Los Angeles has slowly pulled away in the National League West.New York Mets: B

This was an “A+” until June 12, when the Mets were 45-24 and had the best baseball record, even though Juan Soto hadn’t gotten in shape. Soto finally started playing in June, but the pitching collapsed and the Mets went through a disastrous 1-10 stretch.

Rotation injuries have piled up, exacerbating the lack of bullpen depth. Recent games have been started by Justin Hagenman (who had a 6.21 ERA in Triple-A), the traveling reliever Chris Devenski, Paul Blackburn (7.71 ERA), and Frankie Montas, who has had to start even though he’s clearly not pitching well. The Mets need the rotation to be healthy, but they could also use more offense from Mark Vientos and their catchers (Francisco Alvarez was demoted to Triple-A).

Seattle Mariners: B

At times, it has seemed that Cal Raleigh has been a one-man team with his record-breaking first stretch of the season. But he will be joined on the All-Star team by starting pitcher Bryan Woo, closer Andres Muñoz, and center fielder Julio Rodríguez, who made it thanks to his defense, as his offense has been a disappointment. The offense has been one of the best of the majors on the road, but the rotation hasn’t been as effective as in the last two seasons, with George Kirby, Logan Gilbert, and Bryce Miller missing time due to injuries. They just blanked the Pirates three games in a row, so maybe that will get the rotation on a roll.Los Angeles Angels: B- They are just outside the wildcard picture while hovering around .500, so we give them a decent grade, as that exceeds preseason expectations. It feels like a mirage, given their run differential (their record in one-run games (good) versus their record in blowout games (not good)) and several holes throughout the lineup and pitching staff. But they have done two things to keep them in the race. First, they hit a lot of home runs. Second, they are the only team in the majors that uses only five starters. The rotation has not been stellar, but it has been stable.San Diego Padres: B- The Padres are likely fortunate to be where they are, given some of their issues. As expected, offensive depth has been a problem. Not as expected, Dylan Cease has struggled, while Michael King’s injury after a good start has left them without last year’s dynamic 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation (although Nick Pivetta has been one of the best offseason signings). Yu Darvish just made his season debut on Monday, so hopefully he will provide a boost. The Padres haven’t played well against the best teams, including a 2-5 record against the Dodgers, but they did sweep against the Athletics, Rockies, and Pirates, with a 16-2 record against those three teams.Cincinnati Reds: C+ For now, the Reds are stuck. Aside from 2022, when they lost 100 games, it’s been a series of .500 seasons: 31-29 in 2020, 83-79 in 2021, 82-80 in 2023, 77-85 in 2024 and now a similar record so far in 2025. The hope was that Terry Francona would be a game changer. Maybe that will develop down the stretch, but the best hope is to get the rotation firing on all cylinders at the same time. That means Andrew Abbott continuing his breakout performance, plus Hunter Greene getting healthy again and rookie Chase Burns living up to expectations after a couple of shaky outings following an impressive MLB debut. Add Nick Lodolo and the solid Nick Martinez and Brady Singer, and this group can be good enough to pitch the Reds to their first full-season playoff appearance since 2013.New York Yankees: C The Yankees have suffered their annual mid-season slump, which has been the subject of intense scrutiny by disgruntled Yankees fans, and that opening weekend sweep of the Brewers, when the Yankees’ torpedo bats were the big story in baseball, now seems a long time ago. Going from seven up to three down in such a short time is a disaster, but not disastrous. However, the Yankees will have to do a thorough self-assessment ahead of the trade deadline. The offense wasn’t going to be as good as it was in April, when Paul Goldschmidt, Trent Grisham, and Ben Rice were over their heads. So, do they need a hitter? Or with Clarke Schmidt now likely joining Gerrit Cole as a Tommy John victim, do they need a starting pitcher? Or both?Miami Marlins: C From the book of “things we didn’t expect”, page 547: The Marlins are averaging more runs per game than the Orioles, Padres, Braves, and Rangers, to name a few teams. They are averaging almost as many runs per game as the Mets, and the last time we checked, the Marlins weren’t the team that gave Soto $765 million. A winning streak of eight games at the end of June has the Marlins competing head-to-head with the Braves for third place in the National League East, even though the starting rotation has been a disaster, with Sandy Alcantara on track to become the fourth qualified pitcher with an ERA above 7.00.Arizona Diamondbacks: C As the season began, I thought that if any team was going to challenge the Dodgers in the National League West, it would be the Diamondbacks. The offense has once again been one of the best in the majors, but pitching issues have been painful. After the aggressive move to sign Corbin Burnes, he underwent Tommy John surgery after 11 starts. Meanwhile, Zac Gallen, Eduardo Rodriguez, and Brandon Pfaadt each have an ERA on the wrong side of 5.00. Rodriguez was better in June before a beatdown on July 4th, while Gallen remains prone to home runs, so it’s difficult to know if there’s an improvement on the horizon. Their playoff odds hover just under 20%, so there’s a chance, but they need to get hot like they did last July and August.Boston Red Sox: C- It seems like it’s been more of a soap opera than a baseball season in Boston, with the Devers drama finally ending with the shocking trade to the Giants. If you give more weight to the fact that this is the Red Sox, a team that should be