1 Sentence to Describe Every MLB Team Entering June
Heading into June, the Detroit Tigers sit at the head of what is otherwise an expected class of World Series contenders. The Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs and both New York squads sit within 2.5 games of the Tigers for the best record—while the Colorado Rockies, well, don't.
With roughly 60 games in the books and a little over 100 still to come, though, every team has a one-sentence story to tell.
From the pleasant surprises in St. Louis and San Francisco to the much less positive developments in Atlanta and Baltimore, we'll summarize every team's season to date, in alphabetical order by division.
Unless otherwise noted, all statistics and records current through the start of play on Saturday.
American League East
1 of 6
Baltimore Orioles (20-36): The biggest disappointment in baseball.
The Colorado Rockies are on pace to win 26 games, but there's really no debating that the O's have been the most disappointing team so far in 2025. The Rockies were supposed to be awful. Maybe not this awful, but they could have hit the over on their preseason win total while still suffering 103 losses, you know? But no one could have imagined the Orioles would be battling the White Sox and Pirates for best odds in the 2026 draft lottery.
Boston Red Sox (28-31): Even with the wildly successful addition of Garrett Crochet, pitching has been their undoing.
Tanner Houck can't buy an out. The long-awaited arrivals of Lucas Giolito and Liam Hendriks have both been duds. And with not one but two blown saves in Wednesday's game alone, the Red Sox now have A) more blown saves than any other team (14) and B) a save conversion rate of just 46 percent. Boston is comfortably top 10 in scoring, but is already facing quite the uphill climb to get into the playoff picture.
New York Yankees (35-21): Who needs Juan Soto anyway?
Aaron Judge putting up Babe Ruth-ian numbers at the dish is the primary thing propelling the Yankees to their 101-win pace. However, the pieces they brought in after losing Soto in free agency have been quite the supporting cast. Max Fried might win AL Cy Young. Paul Goldschmidt has the fourth-highest batting average in the majors. Cody Bellinger has an OPS of nearly 1.000 since April 29. Even the Devin Williams trade is looking less disastrous than it did a few weeks ago.
Tampa Bay Rays (29-28): Quietly hanging around with quality pitching, as has been the Tampa Bay Way over the past two decades.
Dating back to 2008, only the Los Angeles Dodgers have a lower ERA (3.49) than the Tampa Bay Rays (3.75). And while not quite leading the majors in run prevention this season, Tampa Bay is doing its thing once again in that department, holding opponents to 3.7 runs per game. Drew Rasmussen is leading that charge, and they're hoping to get Shane McClanahan back on the mound sometime around the All-Star Break.
Toronto Blue Jays (29-28): May or may not be headed for another "impending free agents" fire sale.
Over the final five days before last summer's trade deadline, the Blue Jays turned eight expiring assets into 14 new players, mostly prospects. And while they wouldn't be sellers if the deadline were tomorrow, one needn't squint too hard at their negative-10 run differential to envision them trading away the likes of Chris Bassitt, Bo Bichette, Chad Green and Max Scherzer to save what would be more than $20M. This upcoming 15-game stretch of PHI, at MIN, at STL, at PHI, ARI may push them over the edge. Though, mercifully, at least we don't have to brainstorm Vladimir Guerrero Jr. trade packages anymore.
American League Central
2 of 6
Chicago White Sox (18-39): At least some building blocks are emerging.
On the heels of setting a modern-day MLB record for losses in a single season, October 2025 was never going to be a joyous time for this franchise. Rather, this year (and likely at least the next two, too) are all about establishing pieces that can be built around. To that end, rookie Chase Meidroth and Shane Smith have been mighty impressive. Mike Vasil and Jonathan Cannon haven't been too shabby, either. And whether he's part of the future or a versatile bat who can be flipped for prospects, Miguel Vargas might be Chicago's best bet for the All-Star Game.
Cleveland Guardians (30-26): Winning in spite of themselves.
At each of shortstop, center field and right field, Cleveland has been one of the worst teams in the majors in 2025. The rotation has been a disappointment, and that was before losing Opening Day starter Ben Lively to Tommy John surgery a few weeks ago. Emmanuel Clase seems to have recovered from his rough start, but his year-to-date numbers pale in comparison to last year's phenomenal campaign. And yet, the Guardians and their negative-20 run differential would be in the postseason field as of today.
Detroit Tigers (38-20): Rodney Dangerfield levels of respect for what has been the best record in baseball.
Detroit has been in first place in the American League on a daily basis since April 23, frequently also in sole possession of the best record in the majors. But between this success coming as a bit of a surprise and the fact that the Tigers haven't won a World Series since 1984, there has been a serious reluctance to believe/accept that this might be the best team in baseball. Next weekend's showdown with the Cubs just might be a World Series preview, though.
Kansas City Royals (30-28): The entire baseball world is waiting on Jac Caglianone's MLB debut.
With the exception of Bobby Witt Jr. and Maikel Garcia, Kansas City's offense has been downright offensive. (The derogatory pronunciation.) Meanwhile, their top prospect and No. 6 overall pick in last year's draft, Caglianone is still learning the ropes as a corner outfielder after pitching and playing first base throughout college. At this point, though, he could drop darn near every ball hit his way in right field and still be an overall improvement with the 15 home runs and 1.000 OPS he has posted in the minors. Call him up before it's too late.
Minnesota Twins (31-25): Quietly pitching their way toward October.
Anchored by Joe Ryan, Pablo López and Bailey Ober in the starting rotation with Jhoan Duran slinging absolute filth at closer, the Twins have turned one heck of a corner since starting out 7-15. After allowing 95 total runs in those 22 games, they allowed 95 runs over the course of their next 33, posting the best record in baseball (23-10) from April 21 through May 28. Time will tell if they have enough offense to contend for another four months, though. Getting Royce Lewis' bat to wake up would be huge.
American League West
3 of 6
Athletics (23-35): Settling back into the basement after a promising start.
On May 6, the A's were 20-16 and one inning away from tying the M's for first place in the division. But with Mason Miller unavailable after throwing 27 pitches the previous night, they blew a 3-2 lead in the ninth inning against Seattle and still haven't recovered, losing 19 out of 22. It was a fun six weeks, but the A's just do not yet have the pitching to contend for a full season.
Houston Astros (31-26): Storming back from a slow start, per usual.
By the time it won its eighth game in 2020, Houston had already suffered 10 losses. This was also true in 2021. In each of 2022 and 2023, the Astros started out 7-9. Last year, they were 7-19. And this year, back to 7-9. But they made the playoffs in each of those previous five seasons, and at 26-17 since this year's slow start, it's looking like yet another case of a slow April doing nothing to stop an appearance in October. Their postseason march will grow even more inevitable if Yordan Alvarez starts hitting like his old self once he returns from the IL.
Los Angeles Angels (26-30): It's hard to overcome these walk and strikeout rates.
On offense, the Angels rank 29th in walk rate (6.9) and 30th in strikeout rate (27.0). But on the mound, they are 30th in walk rate (10.7) and 29th in strikeout rate (19.0). That's an average of 1.77 K/BB for their pitchers, but a 3.94 ratio for the hitters. Not giving the somewhat inherent randomness of BABIP much of a chance to bail them out here, even with the third-most home runs (80) in the majors to their credit.
Seattle Mariners (30-26): Treading water with improved offense, waiting on the arms to do their thing.
In a world where Aaron Judge doesn't exist, Cal Raleigh is probably the frontrunner for AL MVP right now. His 21 home runs—and the much more unexpected 10 from Jorge Polanco—are the biggest reason Seattle is on pace to score about 65 more runs than last year. Unfortunately, the M's are also on pace to allow around 115 more runs, with Bryce Miller struggling, Logan Gilbert on the IL and George Kirby shelled in both of his appearances to date. They're holding steady atop the division, but we'll see if the offense slows down or the pitching heats up first.
Texas Rangers (28-30): Squandering some exceptional pitching.
There has been a lot of talk lately about just how dominant Paul Skenes has been 35 starts into his career, boasting a 2.03 ERA, 0.94 WHIP and 10.7 K/9 in 208.1 IP. Well, through 35 starts of their own this season, Texas' trifecta of Nathan Eovaldi, Tyler Mahle and Jacob deGrom has been Skenes-ian, to the tune of a 1.85 ERA and 0.94 WHIP through 198.2 IP—albeit with nowhere near the same strikeout rate (8.3 K/9). Despite maybe the best rotation in baseball at the moment, they're sub-.500 because of a lineup that is woefully underperforming.
National League East
4 of 6
Atlanta Braves (26-30): Mostly healthy, but still underperforming.
"Just tread water until Spencer Strider and Ronald Acuña Jr. get back" was the unofficial motto of Atlanta's first month or so of the season. But those guys are back now, and nothing has really changed. Acuña immediately delivered some theatrics with a first-pitch home run in his season debut, and everyone knows Strider is back after he drilled Bryce Harper in the elbow. But Atlanta is 0-3 in his starts and three games below .500 since Acuña's return, so...
Miami Marlins (22-33): Some intriguing young bats hidden behind atrocious pitching.
The Marlins acquired Kyle Stowers, Connor Norby and Agustín Ramírez at last year's trade deadline, and they are already three of the best hitters on the team. Granted, the bar for entry into that club isn't high, and there's only so much that trio can do to help the Marlins offense overcome a pitching staff that is allowing 5.6 runs per game.
New York Mets (35-22): So-so Soto hasn't held them back much.
Much has been made of Juan Soto's slow start on his $765M contract, but he should turn it around soon. His walk and whiff rates are roughly the same as they always were, and he's still comfortably top 10 percent in the majors in exit velocity and expected slugging. Just some tough luck thus far, and the Mets are pretty well keeping pace with the Phillies in spite of it. If he heats up just as soon as Sean Manaea and Frankie Montas get back on the mound, look out.
Philadelphia Phillies (36-21): Elite rotation and a bunch of Schwarbombs pacing a potential World Series run.
Aaron Nola hasn't had the goods this season and is presently on the IL for the first time in nearly a decade, but the rest of the rotation has more than picked up his slack, with a cumulative non-Nola ERA of about 2.60. The bullpen remains an area of concern, but at least Kyle Schwarber is already halfway to what is going to be his fourth consecutive season with at least 38 home runs.
Washington Nationals (27-30): Four bright spots in year No. 6 of their rebuild.
James Wood. CJ Abrams. MacKenzie Gore. Jake Irvin. Those look like four pillars the Nationals can build around, with hopes that Dylan Crews joins that quartet soon. But as The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal detailed last week, it doesn't much feel like they are all that close to a playoff push in the near future. Better outlook than the Rockies, White Sox or Pirates, sure, but it's still unclear if this is going to be the "on deck" type of year that drives them to really go for it this offseason.
National League Central
5 of 6
Chicago Cubs (35-22): Highest-scoring offense in baseball, but trading for some arms is all but inevitable.
Between Pete Crow-Armstrong and Kyle Tucker, the Cubs have two of the top five candidates for NL MVP. And that duo is merely the tip of the iceberg for what is a dynamite offense 1 through 9 now that rookie third baseman Matt Shaw is back for a second stint in the majors and providing real value this time. However, the prospect of banking on at least two of Jameson Taillon, Matt Boyd and Colin Rea for postseason starts—not to mention needing to trust anyone from this bullpen in a save situation—is more than a bit concerning.
Cincinnati Reds (29-29): Really should be winning with more regularity.
At the end of play on Friday, the Reds had year-to-date run totals (270 scored, 234 allowed) very similar to those of the Phillies (272 and 237). But while the Phillies were 15 games above .500, the Reds were floundering at .500. Sure, there was a 24-2 win over Baltimore in there boosting the run differential, and they've suffered not one, not two, but four 1-0 losses this season. Still, they should have a better record than this.
Milwaukee Brewers (30-28): Middling, but healing.
For a while there, Milwaukee's pitching staff was second only to the Dodgers in terms of terrible injury luck. But Tobias Myers, Aaron Civale, Aaron Ashby and DL Hall are back, with the returns of Jose Quintana and Brandon Woodruff just around the corner. The Brewers have allowed the most runs of any team in the NL Central, but run prevention could become a major strength moving forward. Let's see if their bats can capitalize on the opportunity, though.
Pittsburgh Pirates (21-37): At least Paul Skenes gives fans in Pittsburgh something to cheer for.
Back in 2010, Félix Hernández became the only pitcher in MLB history to win a Cy Young award while pitching for a team that suffered at least 100 losses. (Seattle went 61-101.) But Paul Skenes seems destined to become the second member of that club, dominating every fifth day for what might be the worst offense in baseball, on pace for 103 losses.
St. Louis Cardinals (32-25): The pleasant surprise of the 2025 campaign.
Detroit having the best record in baseball after two months is unexpected, but it's not exactly shocking that the Tigers are good. St. Louis, on the other hand, entered the season at +360 to make the playoffs and +12000 to win the World Series, identical to the Pirates and only ahead of the six other teams everyone expected to flirt with 100 losses. But the Cardinals have been a revelation in the playoff hunt, even with Sonny Gray just kind of OK, Willson Contreras sputtering through the worst hitting season of his career and Jordan Walker continually failing to live up to his prospect-days hype. They might mess around and win this division if any of those three players turn things around.
National League West
6 of 6
Arizona Diamondbacks (27-30): Good pitching is evidently hard to buy.
Over the past two offseasons, the Diamondbacks made hefty investments in Jordan Montgomery, Eduardo Rodriguez and Corbin Burnes. In fact, Arizona is the only team with at least three pitchers at or above $20M (if you don't count Shohei Ohtani for the Dodgers). But Montgomery won't pitch this season, Rodriguez pitched terribly before landing on the IL and Burnes can't do it alone—which it feels like he needs to do sometimes with Zac Gallen having an uncharacteristically awful season of his own. Despite spending aggressively to avoid this fate, Arizona has allowed the fifth-most runs, saddled with a losing record.
Colorado Rockies (9-48): Tennessee has Rocky Top; Colorado has hit Rockie Bottom.
A little over one year after Baltimore's remarkable sweepless streak of 106 series came to end, Colorado is still searching for its first series win of 2025. The 2023 Athletics flirted with historical levels of futility. Last year's White Sox more than flirted with it, suffering 121 losses. But these Rockies are currently on pace to lose 136 games.
Los Angeles Dodgers (35-22): Underachieving, but still overpowering.
After adding Blake Snell, Tanner Scott, Kirby Yates, Roki Sasaki and Hyeseong Kim to what already was a World Series-winning roster, the expectation was that the Dodgers could flirt with the all-time record of 116 wins in a single season. Instead, they aren't even on pace for 100. Yet, there's little question they remain the team to beat, with their World Series odds hovering in the "slightly better than +300" range since January.
San Diego Padres (32-23): Quietly struggling to keep their head about water.
The Padres stormed out of the gates with a 14-3 record, but they have been a sub-.500 team since then. In fact, if you want to focus on just the games against competent foes, taking out the 4-0 record against Pittsburgh and the series wins over the Rockies, Angels and Marlins, the Padres are 8-17 dating back to April 15. Somehow, though, they're still hanging around within shouting distance of the Dodgers, and we all know they could turn things back around in a hurry.
San Francisco Giants (32-25): Pitching their way to the postseason.
Among National League teams, only the Mets have allowed fewer runs than the Giants. Logan Webb and Robbie Ray have been quality co-aces, but it's the bullpen that has primarily powered this solid start. Tyler Rogers, Camilo Doval, Erik Miller and Randy Rodríguez have logged a combined 93.2 IP with a 1.25 ERA, resulting in 10 wins, 30 holds and six saves.
