MLB power rankings after the first week of September

(Note: Statistics prior to Friday’s games; previous ranking in parentheses)

1. Brewers (1):  Freddy Peralta stretched his scoreless streak to 29 innings Thursday, the longest in the majors since Ranger Suarez strung together 32 last season. Peralta also is just one of 10 pitchers in the past 125 years with a stretch of five consecutive scoreless starts of at least five innings, with Zac Gallen the last do it in 2022.

2. Phillies (2): They scooped up Walker Buehler on a minor-league deal after he was dumped by the Red Sox, who signed him to a $21.05 million contract over the winter with an additional $3 million buyout on his $25 million option for 2026. Buehler, who had a 5.45 ERA with Boston, will make his first Phillies start this week.

3. Dodgers (3): There were a few nervous moments Wednesday when Shohei Ohtani was scratched from that night’s start against the Pirates. But it turned out to be just a chest cold, and he even returned to the mound on short notice Friday to replace the injured Tyler Glasnow (3 2/3 IP, 0 R, 5 Ks).

4. Tigers (4): Detroit avoided a sweep by the Mets this week, but got some alarming news in their only victory Wednesday when reliever Kyle Finnegan, a huge deadline pickup, suffered a groin injury while warming up. Finnegan had not allowed a run in 12 appearances, with 19 strikeouts over 14 1/3 innings.

5. Cubs (5): Rookie Cade Horton, under strict pitch limitations, was pulled after five no-hit innings (75 pitches) Wednesday in a game the Cubs would eventually lose to Atlanta, 5-1. Horton has a 1.23 ERA over his last 11 starts since July 1 and is polishing his Rookie of the Year candidacy.

6. Blue Jays (8): George Springer -- now in season five of his six-year, $150 million deal -- has put his name in the MVP conversation, hitting .307 with 27 homers and a .956 OPS to help keep the Jays atop the AL East uninterrupted since they leapfrogged the Yankees on July 3.

7. Yankees (12): The Yankees’ 239 homers through 139 games were the fourth-most by a team at that point of the season, trailing only the 2019 Twins (272 HRs), 2023 Atlanta (270) and 2019 Yankees (256). Six of this year’s Yankees have 20 or more homers, led by Aaron Judge’s 43.

8. Padres (7): Jason Adam, one of three relievers the Padres sent to this year’s All-Star Game, was lost for the season Monday week due to a ruptured tendon in his left quadriceps. Adam had a 1.93 ERA in 65 appearances.

9. Mets (9): Juan Soto is back to being a generational talent, hitting .295 with 12 homers and a 1.086 OPS since Aug. 1, but it’s the next generation of Mets pitchers -- Nolan McLean (4-0, 1.37 ERA), Jonah Tong and newly-recalled Brandon Sproat -- that could make all the difference down the stretch.

10. Astros (8): Houston had a problem this week when Framber Valdez drilled his catcher Cesar Salazar in the chest with a 93-mph pitch, apparently on a crossed-up signal call that drew speculation it may have been done on purpose by the ticked-off Astros’ ace. The dispute seemed resolved, but was still a sizable distraction.

11. Red Sox (10): Roman Anthony (.292 BA, .859 OPS) was a huge catalyst for the Red Sox turning around their season, but now his absence threatens to sabotage their October dreams as the star rookie is expected to miss 4-6 weeks with an oblique strain. Devastating blow.

12. Mariners (11): Cal Raleigh continues to make the AL MVP race the most interesting of the major awards, leading Aaron Judge in homers (51-43) and RBIs (109-97) while the Seattle catcher is gaining on the Yankees’ DH in fWAR, but still trailing 7.8 to 7.4.

13. Rangers (13): Jack Leiter, the No. 2 pick in the 2021 draft, apparently has shrugged off his early growing pains to become a key piece for the Rangers’ wild-card rebound, going 5-3 with a 2.89 ERA in his last 12 starts, helping to alleviate the loss of Nathan Eovaldi for the remainder of the season.

14. Reds (15): Could Elly De La Cruz be wearing down at the most critical time for the Reds? After MVP-caliber production in the first half, De La Cruz -- who has not missed a game this season -- was hitting .239 with one homer and a .649 OPS in 43 games after the All-Star break (including .217 BA and .570 OPS since Aug. 1).

15. Royals (17): In a brutal blow to KC’s playoff push, Seth Lugo was scratched from Thursday night’s start and placed on the IL with lower back tightness, a possible cause for his second-half slip this season. Lugo is 0-2 with a 9.11 ERA in six starts since signing a two-year, $46 million extension 72 hours before the July 31 trade deadline.

16. Giants (18): Matt Chapman homered twice Wednesday to complete the Giants’ three-game sweep of the woeful Rockies, the same day he learned of his one-game suspension for his role in the benches-clearing incident at Coors Field a night earlier. Chapman, who shoved Kyle Freeland in the scuffle, is appealing the ban.

17. Guardians (14): Relievers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz were originally put on non-disciplinary paid leave through the end of August due to MLB’s gambling investigation, but it now has been extended until further notice. Clase, one of the sport’s top closers, is due $6.4 million next year with Cleveland holding a pair of $10M team options after that.

18. Rays (16): Not only were the frugal Rays thrilled when Atlanta took Ha-Seong Kim off their hands ($18M in savings), but it now clears shortstop for their top prospect Carson Williams, the 28th overall pick in the 2021 draft. Williams, 22, batted just .213 at Triple-A Durham, but hit 23 homers with 22 stolen b ases in 111 games.

 19. Diamondbacks (21): Zac Gallen, kept at the deadline in his walk year, is polishing some numbers for free agency with a 2.20 ERA over his last seven starts, including 33 strikeouts over 41 innings. Before July 31, Gallen had a 5.60 ERA in 22 starts.

20. Cardinals (20): Their wild-card hopes all but extinguished, the Cardinals have chosen to vent their frustration at the disappointing Jordan Walker, publicly criticizing his “preparation” after the former No. 1 draft pick (2020) has not performed up to his high-ceiling potential this year (.218 BA, .581 OPS).

21. Marlins (19): Jakob Marsee earned Rookie of the Month honors for August, the first Marlin to win the award since Trevor Rogers (traded to the Orioles last year). Marsee was the third Marlin under the age of 25 with 35 hits and 25 RBIs in a single month, joining Giancarlo Stanton and Miguel Cabrera (both also traded).

22. Angels (22): Outfielder Taylor Ward left the field with his face bloodied after a scary collision with the metal fencing that surrounds the out-of-town scoreboard at Houston’s Daikin Park. Ward’s gash above his right eye required 20 stitches but he was cleared of any potential concussion.

23. Athletics (27): Luis Severino, who stayed injury-free in making 31 starts for the Mets last season, just returned from a month-long stint on the IL due to an oblique strain and threw five scoreless innings. He’s 4-0 over his last five starts with a 2.57 ERA and 26 strikeouts over 28 innings.

24. Atlanta (26): With an atypically quiet September ahead, Atlanta did make some noise with the interesting waiver pick-up of Kim from the Rays, who dumped $2M for the remainder of this season with Kim also holding a player option for $16M in 2026.

25. Orioles (24): Baltimore’s deadline trade of a year ago is really paying off now, unfortunately during a worthless September, as Trevor Rogers went 4-1 with a 1.29ERA in six starts to be named August’s Pitcher of the Month. Overall, he’s 8-2 with a 1.39 ERA and 0.819 WHIP.

26. Twins (23): It was the dog days of September this week when a Bark at the Park promotion Tuesday at Target Field drew only 11,721 fans, the smallest crowd in the 15-year history of the downtown ballpark. Makes sense, since half of the Twins’ roster vanished at the trade deadline.

27. Pirates (25): Pittsburgh entered this week’s series at PNC Park with a payroll that was roughly a quarter ($109M) of the Dodgers’ MLB-highest mark ($395M) yet the Pirates pulled off a three-game sweep, giving them a better record (26-19) than the defending champs (20-24) since the All-Star break.

28. Nationals (28): The Nats had two rookies, lefthander Andrew Alvarez and catcher C.J. Stubbs, combine for the W in a 2-0 victory over the Marlins. Alvarez, a 12th-round pick in 2021 draft, allowed one hit over five scoreless innings, and Stubbs became the first rookie to catch a shutout since Sean Murphy for the A’s in 2019.

29. White Sox (29): Colson Montgomery’s 17 homers over his last 40 games was tied for second in the majors since the All-Star break, joining Shea Langeliers (17) and Junior Caminero (17) and behind only Kyle Schwarber (19). Thanks to Montgomery’s spike, the White Sox as a team were fourth with 70 homers over that same stretch.

30. Rockies (30): Colorado’s 8-42 start, the worst in the Modern Era (since 1901), had everyone believing the Rockies would roll right past last year’s White Sox for the most losses (121) in MLB history. But they began September on a 116-loss pace, so for now, it looks like that ignominious record will remain on Chicago’s South Side.