Every day, Pinstripe Alley offers updates on what the Yankees’ top American League opponents are up to through the Rivalry Roundup. The AL East is well-trodden ground there, but with the month of July coming to a close, we’re going to take a peek around MLB as a whole and check in with each of the other five divisions. Who’s surprising? Who’s underwhelming? Who’s simply mediocre at the moment? Read on and find out.
(Note: Records and standings are up to date through games played on Saturday, August 31st.)
First Place: Los Angeles Dodgers (82-54)
Top Position Player: Shohei Ohtani (6.6 fWAR)
Top Pitcher: Tyler Glasnow (3.8 fWAR)
With another very solid month in the books, the Dodgers have claimed the best record in baseball as the calendar turns from August to September. They stand a clean five games up in the West after going 19-9 in August, and two games ahead of the Phillies for best record in the Major Leagues.
Despite already being in first place, the Dodgers received some of the best reinforcements a team could ask for, when Mookie Betts returned after nearly two months on the IL. The star has played fairly well all things considered, with a 127 wRC+ since returning. Looking even further into the future, Shohei Ohtani threw off a mound for the first time since his elbow surgery, only a few days after joining the elusive 40/40 Club with a walk-off grand slam.
Second Place: Arizona Diamondbacks (76-60)
Top Position Player: Ketel Marte (5.3 fWAR)
Top Pitcher: Brandon Pfaadt (2.9 fWAR)
The surging D-backs were just as good as the Dodgers in the month of August, propelled to another 19-9 month by what has been baseball’s most prolific offense, scoring 40 more runs than any other big league team this season. August was no detour either, as things were clicking on all cylinders for the Snakes, boasting a 132 wRC+ as a team, ten points higher than the next closest squad.
An important part of this equation has been the long-awaited reemergence of 2023 NL Rookie of the Year Corbin Carroll. After experiencing a serious sophom*ore slump for much of 2024, Carroll’s bat has woken up of late, to the tune of a 173 wRC+ on the month, and more than doubling his home run total, up to 19. And that wasn’t even as dominant a month as his teammate Joc Pederson had (.294/.467/.588).
Third Place: San Diego Padres (77-61)
Top Position Player: Jackson Merrill (4.0 fWAR)
Top Pitcher: Dylan Cease (3.9 fWAR)
Success was the trend in the NL West as the Padres enjoyed a nice month of August themselves (19-10), but fell a hair behind the surging D-Backs for second place in the division. David Peralta has been a force of late for the Friars, and Jackson Merrill has separated himself in the NL’s Rookie of the Year race, topping 20 homers and leading San Diego’s offense for much of the year. Paul Skenes could still certainly win the honor, but Merrill is going to make it a tight competition. On the pitching side, there has been a bit of no-hitter hangover for Dylan Cease, who has fallen a bit in the NL Cy Young race over the last month. All things considered, San Diego still has solid hold of one of the Senior Circuit’s coveted Wild Card spots.
Fourth Place: San Francisco Giants (68-69)
Top Position Player: Matt Chapman (4.3 fWAR)
Top Pitcher: Logan Webb (3.9 fWAR)
The Giants played .500 ball in the month of August, and given how successful three of their division’s teams have been, that just isn’t enough to cut it. They still have some semblance of a prayer, sitting seven games out of a Wild Card spot, but time is running thin and there are several teams that would need to be leapfrogged.
They were, however, not without their high points. Matt Chapman has quietly reestablished himself as one of the game’s best third baseman after a shaky start to the season. While Blake Snell tossed a no-hitter on the second day of the month. It was, somewhat unbelievably, the first time the two-time Cy Young Award winner had pitched into the ninth inning in his entire career.
Last Place: Colorado Rockies (51-86)
Top Position Player: Brenton Doyle (3.9 fWAR)
Top Pitcher: Ryan Feltner (1.7 fWAR)
2024 has sadly been the same old story for the Colorado Rockies of recent years. There is a world where they are at the bottom of baseball’s totem pole, but alas, they are a whole 20 games ahead of the White Sox over in the AL. The pitching has remained in the same troubled situation it’s been in for much of the franchise’s history, with Ryan Feltner remaining their most valuable arm for the season, despite not accruing any value in the month of August.
But hey, Brenton Doyle has gone 20/20 now, and looks like a stud!
