With June in the immediate offing, we're now roughly two full months into the 2026 Major League Baseball regular season. That means about one-third of the regular season is freshly behind us, and it's time to check in on all of MLB's 30 teams.
The grades to come are informed by the standings, the team's underlying performance, and how those two measures compare with reasonable expectations entering the 2026 season. There's no such thing as a good team with a bad grade, but teams that were expected to be good won't be graded as highly as those teams that qualify as "pleasant surprises."
Arizona Diamondbacks: B+
The D-backs were angling to bounce back from a disappointing 80-82 campaign last season, and thus far they're doing just that. Right now, Arizona is solidly in wild card position and still within range of the first-place Dodgers in the NL West. Corbin Carroll is looking like an MVP candidate thus far, and Eduardo Rodríguez has pitched like an ace through the first two months of the season. Corbin Burnes' eventual return will be a major boon to the rotation and cement their status as real threats in the NL.
Atlanta Braves: A
Rather than wilt after suffering all those pitching injuries in spring training (Spencer Schwellenbach, Spencer Strider, Hurston Waldrep, Joey Wentz), the Braves have one of baseball's top rotations thanks to Bryce Elder's new pitch and Martín Pérez's unexpected excellence.
The offense has bounced back from a few disappointing seasons and the Robert Suarez/Raisel Iglesias one-two bullpen punch at the end of games is suffocating. Last year's injury-riddled 76-86 season looks like a blip. The Braves are back thanks to a surprisingly great rotation and a powerhouse offense that blends above-average contact skills with power.
Chicago Cubs: C
If we took out the two 10-game winning streaks, the Cubs would easily get an F, but we can't really do that, can we? That's 20 wins they stacked. This is one of the weirdest things we've ever seen this early in a season -- to have two 10-game winning streaks and then closely follow them with a 10-game losing streak.
The rotation has been ravaged by injuries, but the offense's disappearance just happened. Most of the team was hot during the winning streaks, then just forgot how to hit after the second one ended. There's nothing to do here but just throw them the middle grade, which is obviously a C.
Cincinnati Reds: B-
Sure, the Reds were a playoff team last season, but that was with only 83 wins and then they were a sacrificial lamb for the Dodgers in the Wild Card Series. Then they lost ace Hunter Greene to injury before the season started and have also dealt with a Nick Lodolo injury in the rotation.
Despite that, they were 20-11 through April. They started May with eight straight losses and barely stayed above .500 for a stretch, even hitting exactly .500 at 24-24. They've gotten hot again since, though. Breakouts from youngsters Chase Burns and Sal Stewart, in addition to a step forward from Elly De La Cruz, have been highlights.
Colorado Rockies: D
Little was expected from the Rox in 2026, and little has been provided. Expectations met? Well, sort of. This writing finds Colorado with the worst record and worst run differential in all of MLB. They're on pace for 104 losses, which is plainly bad, but that would also constitute a 15-game improvement over their 2025 loss tally.
This season, the Rockies are "merely" very bad as opposed to historically awful, and that's progress of a kind.
Los Angeles Dodgers: A
Angling for the elusive three-peat this season, the Dodgers are, true to recent form, managing their business amid a wave of injuries. Even with Clayton Kershaw, Tyler Glasnow and others on the injured list, Los Angeles sits atop the NL West with the best record in the league.
Shohei Ohtani is hitting like a man possessed, and the rotation has been outstanding despite all the absences. The bullpen has been rock solid, and there's still more talent waiting to return. If they stay healthy, they're the clear favorite to win it all.