There are obvious reasons for optimism in San Francisco after the acquisition of Rafael Devers and in Los Angeles as Shohei Ohtani returns to the mound. 

But around the league, every team — well, certainly most of them — can find something to be positive about, especially after a weekend that included nine different series sweeps. 

How did those series shake up our weekly MLB power rankings? 

Find out below. 

The bad news is they’re still on pace to be the worst team ever. On the positive side, there are fewer than 100 games remaining in the 2025 season. And 25-year-old Hunter Goodman brings some pop behind the plate. 

They’re not competitive this year, but that’s not what the 2025 season is about on the South Side. In a year that’s all about figuring out which players might be part of the next great White Sox team, Shane Smith, Chase Meidroth and Miguel Vargas are providing reasons for optimism. 

Eury Pérez is back, and Sandy Alcantara has allowed just two runs in 12 innings over two June starts. If Alcantara gets hot for the next month, that could reap major rewards at the deadline. 

Things have gone great for their youngest and oldest players. Paul Skenes, 23, looks well on his way to starting a second straight All-Star Game, while Andrew McCutchen, 38, remains an above-average hitter (and just passed Roberto Clemente for third on the club’s all-time homer list). It’s the talent of the players between the ages of 24 and 37 that presents more of an issue. 

Jacob Wilson is the early AL Rookie of the Year favorite and has a strong argument to start the All-Star Game, leading all qualified shortstops in hits, batting average, slugging and OPS. Luis Severino has a 0.93 ERA in six starts away from the unfriendly confines of Sutter Health Park. 

The young talent is unquestionable. James Wood ranks sixth in WAR among MLB outfielders, CJ Abrams is one of the top-hitting shortstops in the league and MacKenzie Gore leads the majors in strikeouts. That all, however, makes their eight-game skid and current situation even more frustrating. 

Last week, the Angels swept the A’s only to then get swept by the Orioles. In a season of significant peaks and valleys, young building blocks Zach Neto and Nolan Schanuel have taken leaps forward, and a healthy Mike Trout could change things for the better. 

Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman are starting to perform the way they’re capable of in June. If they can get going, maybe the Orioles can, too. 

Sure, it was against the Rockies. But 13 strikeouts in six scoreless innings from Spencer Strider was a welcome sight. Ronald Acuña Jr. has torn the cover off the ball since his return, and Matt Olson is starting to look more like himself.

The offense is not good enough, and that’s the primary reason they were swept last week by the Yankees and A’s. That’s not the fault of Maikel Garcia, though, who has the highest OPS on the team. The rotation — led by Kris Bubic! — also remains one of the best in MLB, though the Cole Ragans injury obviously stings. 

The Guardians have now lost four straight series after getting swept by the Mariners over the weekend. They still have Jose Ramírez, though, who just had a 39-game on-base streak come to an end. Tanner Bibee and Gavin Williams also give the Cleveland rotation a higher floor than it had last year, and perhaps that group will get Shane Bieber back in the second half. 

The Twins have fallen back down to earth, dropping four straight and eight of their last 10 after getting swept in Houston this weekend. On a positive note, Willi Castro and Brooks Lee are heating up. Those are important developments with Royce Lewis on the injured list again. 

The Diamondbacks haven’t folded after losing Corbin Burnes to Tommy John surgery. After getting swept in Cincinnati, they responded by sweeping the Mariners and taking a series from the Padres last week. They’ve now won nine of their last 13 games. A healthy Ketel Marte makes this a dangerous team despite the pitching deficiencies. 

Their starters have the lowest ERA in MLB, and now Evan Carter and Marcus Semien are getting hot for an offense that couldn’t possibly be as bad as it was to start the year, right? … RIGHT?  

They just couldn’t ride the good vibes, could they? The Red Sox were rolling, having just swept the Yankees, and now their best hitter is in San Francisco. Perhaps the trio of top prospects who have arrived can bring some positivity back to Fenway after the club’s shocking trade of Rafael Devers. It also sounds like Alex Bregman might not be sidelined as long as initially anticipated. 

Cal Raleigh could end up having the best hitting season from a catcher ever. Now, J.P. Crawford is getting going, too, while George Kirby and Luis Castillo have started to look better on the mound. Emerson Hancock (1.96 ERA last four starts) might be taking the leap, too. 

The Cardinals are in a bit of a tailspin now after getting swept by the Blue Jays and dropping a series to the Brewers. They need Lars Nootbaar to get going again, but this is still a team with the fourth-highest batting average in MLB. Nolan Gorman, Willson Contreras, Alec Burleson and Nolan Arenado are all swinging a hot bat, and Brendan Donovan has returned from a brief absence. He has been one of the most valuable second basemen in MLB this year. 

With a plus-41 run differential this year, the Reds are finally starting to inch closer toward their Pythagorean record. Last week, they followed a sweep of the Diamondbacks with series wins against the Guardians and Tigers. When Elly De La Cruz is going like this — he homered in four straight games to end the week — anything feels possible. 

After sweeping the Cardinals and winning 12 of 14, getting swept by the Phillies was a tough way to finish the week. One big reason for the surge was Alejandro Kirk, who’s having his best offensive season since he was an All-Star in 2022. 

The pitching factory in Milwaukee is churning. Quinn Priester bounced around from the Pirates to the Red Sox to the Brewers over the last year. Now, the 24-year-old former first-round pick appears to be figuring things out with a 2.23 ERA over his last eight starts. Meanwhile, Chad Patrick looks like a Rookie of the Year contender while top Brewers pitching prospect Jacob Misiorowski just threw five hitless, scoreless innings in his big-league debut. 

The Padres just dropped division series to the Dodgers and Diamondbacks and saw young star Jackson Merrill get concussed on a tag. Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr. are both swinging hot bats, but they need help. Hopefully Merrill’s not down for long. The Padres need to stay in the chase until Yu Darvish and Michael King return from injury. 

The Rays have the third-best run differential in the American League, and a sweep of the Mets in Queens this weekend demonstrated just how dangerous this team is. The Rays have now won 18 of their last 24 games, and their team speed on the bases plus the pop of Junior Caminero, Jonathan Aranda, Brandon Lowe and Yandy Díaz has this offense clicking. 

The Giants have the best bullpen in MLB and Logan Webb and Robbie Ray starring atop the rotation. Their biggest issue is the offense. They haven’t had a 30-home-run-hitter since Barry Bonds. Maybe Rafael Devers changes that. 

The Astros are starting to separate. With a sweep of the Twins, they’ve now won 15 of their last 20 games and lead by 4.5 games in the AL West. And they’ve done it without Yordan Alvarez. Career years from Jeremy Peña and Hunter Brown, who looks like a Cy Young contender, have paved the path to first place. 

The freefall is over. After losing nine of 10, the Phillies responded by taking a series from the Cubs and outscoring the Blue Jays by 16 runs in a weekend sweep. It was an emphatic reminder about what this team can do when its starters are pitching to their potential. Alec Bohm, Brandon Marsh and J.T. Realmuto are heating up, too. 

Offensively, two-time MVP Aaron Judge is in the midst of his best season yet, the Yankees have the highest OPS in the American League, and they will be getting a boost from the return of Giancarlo Stanton. On the mound, Max Fried looks like arguably the best pitching addition of the offseason, while Devin Williams is bouncing back from his inauspicious start. They just can’t seem to figure out the Red Sox. 

Even with the offense in a bit of a rut, the Cubs have by far the best run differential in the National League. Led by Kyle Tucker and Pete Crow-Armstrong, this remains one of the best lineups in MLB. And if the Cubs can continue to pitch anywhere close to this level — their 2.38 ERA in June leads the National League — they should be in good shape. Top pitching prospect Cade Horton has provided a major boost. 

The end of a grueling stretch of baseball against top competition is nearing its end, and the Dodgers still reign in the NL West after series wins against the Padres and Giants. They have the highest OPS in MLB, and now one of the top contributors to that mark, Shohei Ohtani, is making his Dodgers pitching debut earlier than expected. Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow are back throwing off a mound, too, as they progress toward a return. 

Getting swept by the Rays wasn’t enough to bump the Mets out of the No. 2 spot, considering how consistent they had been up until that point. They’ll have to bounce back quickly, though, as their next three series are division matchups against the Braves, Phillies and Braves again. Pete Alonso has knocked in more runs than any MLB player. Their pitching staff still has the best ERA in MLB, despite missing Sean Manaea and Frankie Montas all year. 

A nine-game division lead on June 16 is rather preposterous. It helps when Tarik Skubal has 101 strikeouts and five walks over his last 12 starts, three players in the lineup (Riley Greene, Spencer Torkelson and Kerry Carpenter) have poked at least 13 homers apiece and newcomer Gleyber Torres is enjoying his best offensive season in years. 

Rowan Kavner is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the L.A. Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved back to the West Coast in 2014. Follow him on X at @RowanKavner.

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