{"id":750555,"date":"2026-06-21T09:32:31","date_gmt":"2026-06-21T09:32:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/750555\/"},"modified":"2026-06-21T09:32:31","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T09:32:31","slug":"2026-mlb-power-rankings-week-12-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/750555\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 MLB Power Rankings: Week 12 Update"},"content":{"rendered":"

The AL and NL MVP awards have run through two names the past couple seasons: Aaron Judge<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Shohei Ohtani<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But with Judge hurt in the AL, a new name has emerged as a favorite for the 2026 adaptation.<\/p>\n

Ben Rice<\/a>\u00a0has dominated the majors this season. And sure, we\u2019ve highlighted the first baseman numerous times through the power rankings on Metsmerized.com. But it\u2019s June. This is officially \u201cfor real\u201d territory.<\/p>\n

Rice enters Saturday with 21 homers and a 1.005 OPS. He\u2019s slugging .613. The production has been necessary for a club that is missing their best bat and trying to stave off the Rays, who are three games behind them in the standings. And Friday\u2019s homer off Rice\u2019s bat in the second blew the game open for the Yankees in their 5-0 win against the Reds.<\/p>\n

Right now Rice is only second to\u00a0Yordan Alvarez<\/a>\u00a0in OPS, homers, RBIs, and walks. Yet, despite being marginally worse than his AL counterpart, it feels as if what Rice is doing has that MVP factor. Maybe it\u2019s just because the Yankees are in a race for the AL East.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Carchietta-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

1. Dodgers<\/p>\n

It seems like the Dodgers just spawn major league talent.<\/p>\n

Ryan Ward<\/a>\u00a0is the most recent version of \u201cwho is that? And what is he doing?\u201d prospect for Los Angeles. The 28-year-old has appeared in 16 games this season for the Dodgers, and is already slugging .513 with three homers.<\/p>\n

Ward has impressed in a small sample size. And had a massive at-bat in the Dodgers\u2019 comeback win Friday over the Orioles, where he drew a four-pitch walk against Ryan Helsley<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Production from Ward and the staples of this back-to-back championship roster resulted in a four-game winning streak entering Saturday. The Dodgers swept the Rays then defeated the O\u2019s Friday night. The club is rolling and on the precipice of hitting the 50-win plateau before July.<\/p>\n

2. Yankees<\/p>\n

Who needs Judge?<\/p>\n

Seriously, the Yankees are rolling. Like Sisyphus\u2019s boulder down the hill.<\/p>\n

The club is 8-2 in their last 10 games. They have an AL-best +123 run differential. An AL best 46-win mark.<\/p>\n

Everything is clicking for the Bronx Bombers. As highlighted earlier, Rice is having an MVP season and carrying the offense with help from\u00a0Cody Bellinger<\/a>. But\u00a0Cam Schlittler<\/a>\u00a0developing into an AL Cy Young candidate has evolved an already stacked rotation.<\/p>\n

Schlittler enters Saturday with an AL-best 1.71 ERA, 2.12 FIP, 247 ERA+, 6.3 H\/9, and 95 IP. He\u2019s coming off six scoreless innings Friday against the Reds where he punched out 13. Yeesh.<\/p>\n

3. Braves<\/p>\n

Atlanta hit their first speed bump of the season last week.<\/p>\n

They lost a series to the last-place Mets, then dropped two to the Giants. Overall, the club is just 2-6 in their last eight games.<\/p>\n

A lot of the struggles have been players regressing to their mean.\u00a0Bryce Elder<\/a>\u00a0had a sparkling low two ERA before allowing six earned runs to the Mets. The\u00a0Ronald Acu\u00f1a Jr.<\/a>-less offense has averaged 3.12 runs over the eight-game stretch.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s still no concern for a team that looks poised to make a run at a 2026 NL Pennant. Atlanta still holds a healthy 7.5 game lead over the Phillies and the lineup has been rejuvenated with Drake Baldwin<\/a>\u00a0returning from the IL. Chalk it up to a bad week.<\/p>\n

4. Brewers<\/p>\n

Jacob Misiorowski<\/a>\u00a0could be in the midst of the greatest pitching season of all time. Seriously.<\/p>\n

The Miz set another record in Friday\u2019s start against the Braves, throwing 47 pitches of at least 101 miles per hour in a loss. The righty allowed two earned runs, struck out seven, and his ERA actually rose to 1.45. Still a major league best.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s been a buzz saw. And if you\u2019re picking names out of a hat for who you want to start a postseason game, you\u2019re praying his name is on the piece of paper.<\/p>\n

Jackson Chourio<\/a>\u00a0has also been spectacular. Maybe because he plays in Milwaukee Chourio doesn\u2019t get proper admiration, but the future top-prospect has a .918 OPS and 10 homers in just 39 games played.<\/p>\n

5. Rays<\/p>\n

Last week wasn\u2019t pretty for Tampa Bay.<\/p>\n

They dropped a series to the Angels in Anaheim, then were swept by the Dodgers in Los Angeles. I think the Rays are sick of LA.<\/p>\n

Still, the club was such a force in May that they\u2019re holding on to a 42-30 record. If they played .500 ball the rest of the season they\u2019d finish with 87 wins and most likely a playoff berth.<\/p>\n

But can this team tread water? They have the talent to. But their outfield offense continues to hinder them.\u00a0Jake Fraley<\/a> leads their outfield with a .690 OPS and he\u2019s on the 10-day IL right now. The next highest is Chandler Simpson<\/a> with his .600 OPS. Trading for a couple of league-average bats would transform this team.<\/p>\n

6. Mariners<\/p>\n

The last couple rankings we\u2019ve been making the patience case with the M\u2019s. Well, it\u2019s time to act for Seattle.<\/p>\n

Julio Rodriguez<\/a>\u00a0returned to the lineup after missing the past couple games with hamstring spasms. Cal Raleigh<\/a>\u00a0returned a couple days ago after missing a full month with an oblique injury. Getting both those catalysts back in the lineup should result in the team exploding offensively.<\/p>\n

Which, by the way, is exactly what Seattle needs. The club enters Saturday 20th in the league in OPS. 17th in runs scored. It\u2019s a stark contrast from the team that finished 9th in runs and 10th in OPS in 2025<\/p>\n

Barring future injury, June 20 could be the inflection point of the Mariners season. They\u2019re 39-38, hold a half-game lead for first over the .500 Athletics, and are getting their guns back. Buckle up.<\/p>\n

7. Cubs<\/p>\n

Chicago is starting to stabilize.<\/p>\n

A 6-2 stretch last week helped the Cubs to a 40-36 record. Two series against the Rockies will help with that.<\/p>\n

Pete Crow-Armstrong<\/a>\u00a0slashing .538\/.567\/1.154 over his last seven games will also help win games. His homer Thursday was a driving force in the Cubs 8-6 win over the Rockies, and helped raise his NL-leading bWAR to 4.6.<\/p>\n

Ben Brown<\/a>\u00a0has also been instrumental for this team. He\u2019s got a sparkling 1.85 ERA and has made eight starts since being inserted into the rotation. We\u2019ll see if he and the ragtag team of names making starts for this club can sustain a winning pace.<\/p>\n

8. Cardinals<\/p>\n

Have you heard of the 15-year-old phenom prospect Blaze Jordan<\/a>? Well, he\u2019s actually 23 now. And he\u2019s producing for the Cardinals.<\/p>\n

In eight games, Jordan has an .856 OPS. He drove in two runs for the Cardinals Friday in their 6-5 loss to the Royals. Just another young bat producing for the Cardinals.<\/p>\n

Still, St. Louis stumbled last week. They dropped three games. Their record sits at 40-34, respectable, but now have the Cubs in their rear view mirror. The pitching continues to be a problem, which gave up 26 runs in the last three games.<\/p>\n

At least the rotation is starting to produce. Dustin May<\/a>,\u00a0Andre Pallante<\/a>, and\u00a0Michael McGreevy<\/a>\u00a0have ERAs that start with three. Baby steps.<\/p>\n

9. Phillies<\/p>\n

Philadelphia\u2019s turnaround is quite impressive. They\u2019re 40-35 despite suffering a 10-game losing streak earlier in the season.<\/p>\n

Don Mattingly is now 31-16 as interim manager. And despite the recent two-game skid they enter Saturday with, the Phillies hold the second wild card.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s too bad Ohtani is in the NL now. At least for\u00a0Kyle Schwarber<\/a>\u2018s sake. The DH could have won the MVP award last season, and is already on pace to finish in second place again.<\/p>\n

Schwarber is slashing .245\/.361\/.558 with a major league-leading 25 homers. This team would have been lost if he left in free agency.<\/p>\n

Also, this has nothing to do with the Phillies\u2019 season, but Schwarber is such an interesting case for the Hall of Fame. The 33-year-old is sitting on 365 career homers. If his season ended today, Schwarber would only need to average 33 homers over the last four years of his contract to hit the 500 mark. He\u2019s averaged 46.75 in a season in a Phillies uniform.<\/p>\n

10. White Sox<\/p>\n

The White Sox ran into a bit of a reality check last week against the Yankees.<\/p>\n

They salvaged the series, but got bullied the first two games. Their ace\u00a0Davis Martin<\/a>\u00a0got whalloped for nine earned runs across 3 1\/3 innings.<\/p>\n

Outside the\u00a0Andrew Benintendi<\/a>\u00a0grand slam in the final game of the series, there weren\u2019t a lot of positives for the team facing off against the AL\u2019s best. But, the White Sox are still a top-10 team in baseball and are currently tied for first in the Central with the Guardians.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also an incredibly exciting time to be a White Sox fan. Outside the complete 180 this season has been from 2025, all the young bats are producing. They\u2019re 10th in the majors in OPS, 12th in runs, and will be getting\u00a0Munetaka Murakami<\/a>\u00a0back in the near future.<\/p>\n

Plus, the subpar rotation could get a jolt as soon as this season. Top prospects\u00a0Noah Schultz<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Hagen Smith<\/a>\u00a0are both in Triple-A, and could contribute for a club trying to make the postseason for the first time since 2021.<\/p>\n

Rest of the Field<\/p>\n

11. Pirates
12. Guardians
13. Nationals
14. Diamondbacks
15. Marlins
16. Padres
17. Athletics
18. Blue Jays
19. Mets
20. Rangers
21. Orioles
22. Twins
23. Astros
24. Tigers
25. Red Sox
26. Reds
27. Giants
28. Royals
29. Angels
30. Rockies<\/p>\n

Previous Rankings: W11<\/a> | W10<\/a> | \u00a0W8<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0W7<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0W6<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0W5<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0W4<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0W3<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0W2<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0W1\u00a0<\/a>|\u00a0OD<\/a><\/p>\n

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