We’ve reached the halfway point of the 2023 MLB season and it has been exciting! We’ve seen many surprises with teams like the Reds & Orioles coming out of nowhere while traditional heavyweights have fallen. As we’re hitting the All Star break, we’ll be breaking down our power rankings compared to where each team was at the beginning of the season.
#1: Atlanta Braves
After winning the World Series in 2021, the Braves missed out from an appearance last year and are back out for revenge to make it again this year. The Braves are determined and have a MVP candidate in Ronald Acuna Jr that could help get them there. As long as Acuna Jr is healthy this year, the Braves are the best team in baseball.
Preseason Rankings: #5
#2: Tampa Bay Rays
Despite all the injuries that the Tampa Bay Rays have endured throughout the season, they are still playing at a top level. Glasnow, Springs, Rasmussen, Baz, and McClanahan have missed some time this season. That is an entire starting pitching rotation but their offense has helped pick up some slack and everyone’s out there playing like an all star.
Preseason Rankings: #9
#3: Texas Rangers
The Texas Rangers pulled a huge offseason move in acquiring Jacob DeGrom. Less than a couple months into the season, DeGrom got hurt and will miss the majority of his first season. Despite that, the Rangers have been playing their best offense in years and managed to have 5 players earn all star nods in what’s been a remarkable season for them.
Preseason Rankings: #20
#4: Arizona Diamondbacks
The Diamondbacks have the current frontrunner for NL Rookie of the Year & NL CY Young in Corbin Carroll & Zac Gallen. Both players are playing at a superb level and turning these Diamondbacks into a real contender, especially with being in the NL West that features both the Dodgers & the Padres who have been dominating the division for the last several years.
Preseason Rankings: #21
#5: Baltimore Orioles
The Orioles have Adley Rutschman, Ryan Mountcastle, and Gunnar Henderson all in the big leagues with Jackson Holliday & Heston Kjerstad still to come. This Orioles team is stacked for years to come and exciting things are finally happening in Baltimore.
Preseason Rankings: #16
#6: Houston Astros
Surprisingly the Astros are not first in their division for the first time in what feels like forever. The Astros still are very much a playoff team led by Yordan Alvarez and should make for a good stretch to end the season competing for the division title.
Preseason Rankings: #1
#7: Los Angeles Dodgers
At 35 years old, Clayton Kershaw is still playing excellent baseball. He’s been one of the best pitchers of the 21st century and for good reason. Kershaw’s dealing with some shoulder issues which if they ease up soon, Kershaw should keep the Dodgers in the thick of the playoff hunt.
Preseason Rankings: #8
#8: Miami Marlins
Last season it was all about the pitching in Miami as Sandy Alcantara won the CY Young award. This year he’s struggled badly, but the offense has picked up the slack and Luis Arraez is batting an incredible .383 on the season. Arraez has an impressive batting average, Soler has 23 homers on the season, and Jazz is healthy again making headlines, all making this a Marlins team that can make a deep run this postseason.
Preseason Rankings: #18
#9: Cincinnati Reds
One of the hottest teams in baseball over the last month and a half has been one of the oldest teams in baseball in the Cincinnati Reds. The Reds were on a hot streak and then they called up the much anticipated prospect Elly De La Cruz and they’ve been at the top of their game since then. Elly has had Great American Ballpark packed with his electric playmaking that has the Reds on fire now.
Preseason Rankings: #28
#10: San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants have slowly but surely been climbing their ways up the ranks. Starting the season in the bottom 10, they have just eclipsed the top 10 in our power rankings right before the trade deadline. A key component of that rise has been the play from Patrick Bailey since he made his debut 2 months ago.
Preseason Rankings: #23
#11: New York Yankees
The All Star break couldn’t have come at a better time for the Yankees as they have patiently been waiting for the return of their MVP Aaron Judge to return from injury. Judge is skipping the game to recover and the rest should do him good. With Judge back in the lineup, the Yankees will have one of the higher-powered offenses in the league and they could use that as they currently sit one game out of the playoffs.
Preseason Rankings: #2
#12: Philadelphia Phillies
Once Bryce Harper joined the team for the season after recovering from surgery, he sparked new life into the team as they are slowly inching their way up the ladder. The Phillies are a solid team all around that can quietly make a move up just like they did when they made the World Series just a couple of years ago.
Preseason Rankings: #6
#13: Milwaukee Brewers
The Milwaukee Brewers were one of two teams that we got their preseason ranking spot on with where we ranked them at this point in the year. The other team was the Oakland Athletics who were in dead last so getting the Brewers right where they are at was a more impressive accomplishment.
Preseason Rankings: #13
#14: Toronto Blue Jays
The Blue Jays are in the thick of the Wild Card race in the AL but they need to get past their demons to get there. In this case, their demons are their fellow AL East teams. The Blue Jays have won roughly 25% of their games this year against other teams in the AL East which does not give them a strong outlook with many games left against those teams over the final portion of the season.
Preseason Rankings: #7
#15: Boston Red Sox
The Red Sox are 5 games over .500, yet they are last in the AL East as the AL East has become the toughest division in the MLB. All 5 teams have winning records and by 5 games or more. The Red Sox would be good enough to win the AL Central with their current record, but have a tough draw being in the AL East. Thankfully for them, they are winners of 8 of their last 10 games and within 2 games of being 3rd in the division which would be good enough for a Wild Card spot.
Preseason Rankings: #22
#16: Los Angeles Angels
Angeles management needs to give Shohei Ohtani more help. With Mike Trout on the IL, Ohtani has been doing everything himself and is the clear frontrunner for AL MVP as he’s dominating both from the mound pitching and at home plate hitting. Ohtani has been the sole reason this team is still alive in the playoff hunt and if they don’t do more to help him, he might walk away this upcoming offseason.
Preseason Rankings: #19
#17: Cleveland Guardians
The Guardians have finally gotten back up to .500 for the first time since they were 13-13 early on in the season. The Guardians are on the up & up but need to stay consistent or else they’re going to slide back down. On this streak they’ve been on, they’ve had some better play, specifically from Josh Naylor.
Preseason Rankings: #12
#18: Seattle Mariners
It’s been the Julio Rodriguez show in Seattle as the 2022 AL Rookie of the Year is continuing to shine. When J-Rod is hot, so are the Mariners, but during his cold stretches, the team is slumping. Consistency is something the team needs more of in the second half.
Preseason Rankings: #11
#19: Chicago Cubs
The Cubs are faced with a tough predicament as the trade deadline approaches if they want to be sellers or stick with their current roster. The biggest rumors have been circling around newly brought in outfielder Cody Bellinger who’s been having a bounce back year in the Windy City.
Preseason Rankings: #17
#20: Minnesota Twins
The Minnesota Twins pitchers have been playing fantastic this season, the offense not so much. Carlos Correa has been playing will he, won’t he turn back into a superstar all season and the rest of the offense hasn’t done anything. Meanwhile the pitching has been spot on and keeping this team hovering around the .500 mark all year.
Preseason Rankings: #15
#21: New York Mets
We knew the Mets were going to take a hit with DeGrom’s departure but the Mets pitching went from a top 10 unit to a bottom 10 unit. The Mets offense has been average with the exception of Pete Alonso who is tied for 3rd in the MLB in home runs. There’s a lot of talent on the Mets so we know they have it in them to turn things around, but they have to start doing so soon before the trade deadline approaches.
Preseason Rankings: #4
#22: Pittsburgh Pirates
After starting off the season as one of the top teams in the league through the month of April, the Pirates have fallen astronomically. The beginning looked so promising but we haven’t seen a team fall from a greater cliff than they have. The Pirates are trending towards Oakland Athletics territory at the rate they’re going.
Preseason Ranking: #26
#23: San Diego Padres
For a team with a roster as stacked as theirs, we don’t have much of an explanation on how they’ve managed to fall from one of the league’s best to a bottom 10 team in such a quick time span. Tatis Jr has been playing well since he’s returned from suspension but it hasn’t been enough to get the job done for them.
Preseason Ranking: #3
#24: Chicago White Sox
Outside of Luis Robert, there hasn’t been a whole lot else good going on for the White Sox. Robert had an awesome month of June to bring his home run total on the season up to 26 dingers which is good enough to be tied for 3rd in the entire MLB. Hopefully the rest of the offense can get things going.
Preseason Ranking: #14
#25: St. Louis Cardinals
The winner of the NL Central just a year ago has taken a turn for the worse. The team that’s primarily full of veterans without a strong farm system is going to need to be sellers at the trade deadline. With Adam Wainwright on his way out, the team should look at moving one of their other key veterans like Goldschmidt or Arenado to get a hefty return in exchange for them while they still hold a premium price.
Preseason Ranking: #10
#26: Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers don’t have much to be happy with in the first half of the season except for the impressive combined no hitter right before the all star break. Hopefully this no hitter is a sign of things to come and that the Tigers bullpen isn’t as bad as the scoreboard has said they are.
Preseason Ranking: #24
#27: Washington Nationals
The offense hasn’t been great but it’s the pitching that’s been even worse for the NL East team stuck in the cellar. The Nationals are a far cry from their World Series team just a few years ago and it’s been all downhill since then.
Preseason Ranking: #29
#28: Colorado Rockies
The Rockies pitchers are currently on pace to have one of the worst team ERAs over the last 35 years. If the pitching doesn’t get better after the all star break, it’s very possible that the team can hit 100 losses on the year.
Preseason Ranking: #27
#29:Kansas City Royals
Somehow the Oakland Athletics are not in a league of their own as the Kansas City Royals are barely ahead of them. The Royals should be doing much better than they are but continue to amaze us as it’s a race for last place between the two bottom dwellers.
Preseason Ranking: #25
#30:Oakland Athletics
Athletics fans deserve better and there’s not much else to say on the matter. Instead of moving to Vegas, ownership should have sold the team to allow for fans to actually have something to be happy about. The league’s worst record and worst attendance in the league should remain that way for the duration of the season.
HeatCheck Sports 
0 comments on “2023 MLB Midseason Power Rankings”