September baseball is here, and the picture at the top of both leagues is starting to sharpen — even if the wild card races are anything but settled. Here’s what our team is watching as the stretch run begins.
The Standings: Rays and Brewers Lead, But the Wild Cards Are Crowded
Tampa Bay sits atop the American League at 82-55, a half-game or so ahead of the pack, with the Yankees (78-60) holding the top AL wild card spot 4.5 games back and the Red Sox (75-63) and Guardians (69-68) still very much alive behind them. Over in the National League, Milwaukee has been the league’s best team all year at 85-53, with the Dodgers (82-55), Braves (82-56), and Cubs (78-60) all chasing playoff spots of their own.
One storyline worth flagging heading into the final month: the American League West has been weak enough this season that it’s plausible two teams from that division could reach October with losing records — something that hasn’t happened in a full 162-game season before. It’s a reminder that “made the playoffs” and “playing good baseball” aren’t always the same thing, and it’s worth factoring into how much weight to put on a team’s record versus how it’s actually playing right now.
Misiorowski Is Doing Something Historic
If you haven’t been paying attention to Brewers right-hander Jacob Misiorowski, now’s the time to start. He’s sitting on a 1.73 ERA with 222 strikeouts across 151 innings, and opponents are hitting just .150 against him — a mark that would break Pedro Martinez’s long-standing record of .166, set back in 2000. His velocity has been touching 105.5 mph this season, putting him near the top of any list of the hardest throwers in the sport’s history. When a starter combines that kind of stuff with that kind of command, it’s not just a good year — it’s the type of season people talk about for a long time.
Alvarez’s Triple Crown Bid Cools Off in August
Astros outfielder Yordan Alvarez spent most of the summer chasing something baseball hasn’t seen since Miguel Cabrera in 2012: a Triple Crown. He’s still leading the American League in batting average (.317), home runs (37), and RBIs (94), but a quiet August — just a .287 average and two homers over the month — let the field close in. Kyle Schwarber has climbed to 40 home runs, and Sal Stewart has pushed his RBI total to 105, both now ahead of Alvarez in their respective categories. Alvarez still has the best combined case of anyone in baseball, but this one’s going to come down to the final month, and a cold week or two from here could change the outcome entirely.
MVP Race: Crow-Armstrong Building a Case Over Ohtani
The National League MVP conversation has an unfamiliar name near the top. Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong leads all of baseball with 9.3 WAR, ahead of Shohei Ohtani’s 6.8, and his glove has been as much a part of the case as his bat. Ohtani, chasing a fifth MVP, hasn’t taken the mound since July 3 because of knee and biceps issues, which takes away the two-way argument that’s carried him in past seasons. It’s still early enough in September for the gap to move, but for now, this looks like Crow-Armstrong’s award to lose.
The Defending Champs Are Still Searching for Their Offense
The Dodgers remain in a strong position in the standings at 82-55, but the bats have gone quiet at an inconvenient time. Los Angeles averaged just 3.85 runs per game in August, and two of the lineup’s biggest names were part of the problem — Mookie Betts hit .257/.318/.396 for the month, and Freddie Freeman went the entire stretch, 46 games, without a home run. A team built around star power at the plate can survive a cold month, but if that continues into October, it becomes the kind of thing that decides a short series.
Injury Report and Roster Moves
It was a busy stretch on the transaction wire. Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn landed on the 10-day IL with a broken left thumb after sliding into second base; St. Louis called up Nolan Gorman from Triple-A to cover. Reds right-hander Hunter Greene underwent Tommy John surgery and is done for the year, with 2027 also in question. Red Sox reliever Garrett Whitlock (elbow inflammation) and Rangers starter Nathan Eovaldi (elbow inflammation) both went on the IL, while Blue Jays starter Jameson Taillon left a start early with forearm discomfort worth monitoring.
On the return side, the Braves got catcher Sean Murphy and shortstop Ha-Seong Kim back from extended absences, the Royals activated All-Star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. after a two-week back issue, and the Red Sox got All-Star catcher Adley Rutschman back from his wrist rehab. Elsewhere, the Angels moved on from pitching coach Mike Maddux and his staff after a rough year for the rotation, the Pirates released veteran DH Marcell Ozuna, and the Mariners sent struggling rookie shortstop Colt Emerson back down to Triple-A.
That’s the landscape as the sport heads into its final month — a historic pitching season taking shape in Milwaukee, an MVP race that’s shifted, and a handful of contenders trying to find their form before the games start counting even more. Our team will keep tracking all of it as September plays out.