MLB Power Rankings: Playoffs arrive with Padres surging, Brewers at No. 1
The 2026 MLB playoffs have arrived, so get your postseason narratives ready!
• 1 min read
The narratives are armed and ready. They are just sitting around waiting for someone to apply them to a specific result.
Can a team flip the proverbial switch in the playoffs? If any team can, it's the uber-talented two-time defending champion Dodgers. You might think, hey, they've been good down the stretch and, sure, the win-loss record in the month of September looks fine. I will again point out, however, that they haven't won a series against a playoff-caliber team since July 20-22. Since then, the Dodgers have lost series to the Red Sox (sweep), Cubs (sweep), Diamondbacks, Brewers, Braves (sweep) and Padres.
Can they just flip said switch in time for the playoffs?
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The Brewers, meanwhile, have been beating up on everyone all year. Again. They won the season series over the Dodgers, Yankees, and Rays, and they completely owned the Cubs. But they had the best record in baseball last year and were swept in the NLCS. Should something similar happen again, they are tagged with the "regular-season merchants" nonsense or -- even worse -- we have to hear about small-market stuff.
These White Sox are coming off three straight 100-loss seasons and it's a relatively inexperienced playoff ballclub. If they start advancing, brace yourselves for the "too young and dumb to understand" narrative.
On the flip side, the Guardians and Astros have a bunch of experience. Should either knock the White Sox out, well, it's the playoff experience stepping forward. Right?
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The hottest team coming into the playoffs? That would be the San Diego Padres, who have won 17 of 20. Remember, either way works. Either the Padres were scorching hot and rode the momentum to a deep run or they get knocked out early and it's because they ran out of gas after having to push so hard just to make the playoffs.
Again, all the narratives are armed and ready.
What will happen? Which ones will actually come to fruition?
Choose your own adventure for now. We'll start finding out the reality on Tuesday. I can't wait.
Biggest Movers
2 Padres
3 Cubs
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | The franchise record in wins was 95 from 1982 until they won 96 in 2011. That record stood until they won 97 last year. This year, they shattered it. 103! | -- | 103-59 |
| 2 |  | Their real season begins now. | -- | 100-62 |
| 3 |  | Victor Mesa Jr. was one of the best hitters in the majors in the month of September. Will it carry over into October? | -- | 98-64 |
| 4 |  | They had the worst offense in baseball before the All-Star break and the best offense in baseball after the break. Which team shows up in the playoffs? Surely the one we've seen the last few months, right? | 2 | 91-71 |
| 5 |  | Tyler Mahle got knocked around in his last start and there are now, again, concerns that this is a one-man rotation for the playoffs. | 1 | 94-68 |
| 6 |  | Perhaps the biggest question heading into the playoffs is how much will the Yankees get from Aaron Judge? | 1 | 93-68 |
| 7 |  | Adley Rutschman has really started to get locked in at the plate these last few weeks. | 2 | 87-75 |
| 8 |  | How huge for morale to see Alex Bregman hit two homers on Sunday in a four-hit masterpiece, one week after breaking his face. He looks good to go for the playoffs now (well, maybe not looks). | 3 | 89-73 |
| 9 |  | There was no reason to have to sweat things out the way they did, but all's well that ends well. They made it. Now it's a clean slate. | 1 | 88-74 |
| 10 |  | With them so narrowly missing the playoffs, I can't help but think back to when Ketel Marte just left the team. | 1 | 86-76 |
| 11 |  | Getting that No. 2 seed is huge. The road to the ALCS is a bye and then facing either the 84-win White Sox or a .500 team that doesn't belong in the playoffs. | 1 | 85-77 |
| 12 |  | The feel-good story of the season, at least on a team level. Can they add another chapter or two (or three?!?)? | -- | 84-78 |
| 13 |  | All too often, we'll whine that athletes don't tell us the truth enough. Then someone like Paul Skenes says the WBC messed him up for a season and the knee-jerk reaction is "excuses!" Maybe it did mess him up. I mean, look at his 2024-25 seasons compared to this year. Let's see how he does next year with no WBC. I'm willing to hear him out. | -- | 82-80 |
| 14 |  | Their least impressive division title is still a division title all the same. I guess. | 2 | 81-81 |
| 15 |  | Will they really use their starters in relief between starts all year next year? It's one thing to do it in games in September after being eliminated from the playoffs, it's quite another to do it all season. I'm intrigued. | 2 | 80-82 |
| 16 |  | Father Time comes for everyone. He's inevitable. It just takes him longer with some than others. Jacob deGrom is now 38 years old and posted a 5.37 ERA in the second half. Uh oh. | 2 | 80-82 |
| 17 |  | Jeremiah Jackson hit an inside-the-park home run in Yankee Stadium on Friday, the first since 2014. | 1 | 79-82 |
| 18 |  | There is correctly a ton of attention on Max Scherzer and whether or not he'll retire, but let's not forget about George Springer. The 37-year-old heads to free agency coming off a down year. He's not a Hall of Famer, but he's had a very good career with a prolific playoff dossier. | 3 | 79-83 |
| 19 |  | Is their rotation for next season already set? Framber Valdez, Troy Melton, Jackson Jobe, River Ryan and Keider Montero? With hopes to get Reese Olson back strong? It sure looks that way. If that's the case, they can spend the winter focusing on shoring up other areas. | 1 | 76-86 |
| 20 |  | Young Luke Keaschall really seemed to find a comfort zone in the box in the second half. These don't always mean a big following season, but it's worth watching. | 1 | 77-85 |
| 21 |  | My vote would be to keep him and build around him (along with others, starting with James Wood), but I fear we're in for a winter of CJ Abrams trade rumors. | 2 | 77-85 |
| 22 |  | Alec Burleson becomes the first Cardinals RBI champion (MLB, not just NL) since Joe Torre in 1971. | 3 | 77-85 |
| 23 |  | Look, Mariners, you don't have to leave this season empty-handed. I'll give you the award for the most colossally disappointing team in baseball. It wasn't a tough choice, either. | 1 | 76-86 |
| 24 |  | Who had Carson Benge as the Mets' leader in WAR this season? No, you didn't. Don't lie. | -- | 74-88 |
| 25 |  | He did it. Elly De La Cruz joined Eric Davis, Barry Larkin and Brandon Phillips as the only Reds to have a 30-30 season. | -- | 75-87 |
| 26 |  | Jac Caglianone made some strides this season in several areas and it might look like a breakout. His strikeout rate rose and walk rate when down, though. What if he improves in those areas? This could be a sleeping giant here. | -- | 69-93 |
| 27 |  | There is so much work to do in the offseason. So much. Is Buster Posey up to the task? | -- | 65-97 |
| 28 |  | Only one more year before they get their permanent home. Hopefully. And I guess with this franchise (from Philadelphia to Kansas City to Oakland to Las Vegas), we probably can't say "permanent." | 1 | 64-98 |
| 29 |  | The Angels were the only franchise in Major League Baseball with zero 100-loss seasons. Were. They lost their 100th game of the season on Sunday, finishing a tidy 62-100. | 1 | 62-100 |
| 30 |  | Yep, they made it. After 30 years of Rockies baseball without a 100-loss season, they've now made it four straight 100-loss seasons. What's the opposite of the Golden Era? The Dregs Era? | -- | 58-104 |
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