With June approaching, we're roughly two full months into the 2026 MLB regular season. That's about one-third of the season behind us, and it's time to check in on all of MLB's 30 teams.
These grades are informed by the standings, each team's underlying performance, and how those measures compare with reasonable expectations entering 2026. A team that's expected to be good won't earn a high grade if they're just meeting those expectations. The highest marks go to the pleasant surprises.
First up, the American League. The National League follows on Thursday.
Oakland Athletics: C
The Athletics are merely .500-ish with a negative run differential, but first place is first place. The margins are slim, and the AL West has been one of the weakest divisions to date.
The rotation has been surprisingly solid so far, at least on a park-adjusted basis. Catcher Shea Langeliers is looking like a stealth AL MVP candidate.
Baltimore Orioles: F
It's closer to an F- than a D. Baltimore's rotation has again collapsed, and there hasn't been enough offense to compensate.
Trevor Rogers has a 6.96 ERA through nine starts after his 2025 breakthrough. Pete Alonso and Taylor Ward were supposed to provide right-handed power, but both have just been fine.
If they continue to hang around the bottom of the AL East standings, the Orioles have useful veterans they could move at the trade deadline: Rogers, Ward, Chris Bassitt, Ryan Helsley, Andrew Kittredge, and others. There will be some level of interest in all of them.
This isn't where POBO Mike Elias thought the Orioles would be in 2026 after kicking off that rebuild in 2019.
Boston Red Sox: F-
Turns out Alex Cora wasn't the problem after all. Boston is dead last in the American League in home runs, and that lack of power was completely predictable entering the season.
There are just too many zeroes in the lineup on any given day. Ceddanne Rafaelia is a really good player, but he should be more like his team's sixth- or seventh-best hitter, not their third-best.
The Red Sox would have two very nice rentals to peddle at the trade deadline, Aroldis Chapman and Sonny Gray, should they not move up the standings and decide to sell.
Chicago White Sox: Improving
The White Sox were 41-121 two years ago. Last year, they went 60-102. When they started this year 6-13, it looked like they would be one of baseball's worst teams again.
Since then, they've been pretty formidable. They recently had a stretch in which they won seven of eight and were multiple games above .500 for the first time in years.
The two-year, $34 million signing of Masataka Murakami has been amazing. With Colson Montgomery and Miguel Vargas, the White Sox now have one of the most powerful trios in baseball. On the mound, Davis Martin has also been excellent.
Cleveland Guardians: B+
They rank in the bottom third of the majors in both batting average and OPS. They pitch well, though, notably in missing bats. They are leading the majors in strikeouts by pitchers.
The Guardians wouldn't have earned this relatively high mark a few weeks ago. They were just a .500 team as late as May 10, when they were 21-21.
Since then, they've racked up the wins and taken control of the AL Central. They're doing what they do, just piling up victories in seemingly quiet fashion.
Detroit Tigers: C-
Remember last July when the Tigers had the best record in baseball and seemingly brought half their team to the All-Star Game? That feels like ages ago when watching this team now.
I have no doubt Mets fans think their team should be the pick, but the Tigers are merely holding serve in the AL Central and remain in the mix.