MLB power rankings: Staying the course ahead of trade deadline

Ten games into the second half, the Padres are right where they were coming out of the All-Star break.

Of course, the Padres had to rally in St. Louis to salvage a .500 road trip ahead of the fast-approaching trade deadline.

The Padres will play just three more games—against the NL East-leading Mets, no less—before A.J. Preller decides exactly what strings to pull before Thursday.

Because of course he’s going to pull strings.

These Padres, after all, are in a much better spot — eight games over .500 — than the team was in 2023 (three games under) when Preller decided to keep Blake Snell and Josh Hader and hope that the most expensive team in franchise history had something left in the tank.

It did not.

But a strong finish to the road trip left these Padres feeling like they’ve got another gear or two (especially if Preller can add).

“(Sunday) was a big-time character win,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said after a 9-2 win in St. Louis. “A long road trip to hot cities, last day of the trip. Conditions are what they are, but our guys absolutely showed the mental toughness that’s required to be a championship-caliber club.”

1   |   Chicago Cubs (62-43, Last week: 1)

OK, now the Cubs might really need pitching. They were already shopping for rotation help before Shota Imanaga’s velocity dipped by nearly 2 mph in his last start. He’s not concerned, but …

2   |   Milwaukee Brewers (62-43, LW: 9)

Jacob Misiorowski is living up to the hype. He’s up to 40 strikeouts through 29⅓ innings (2.45 ERA) while leading the Brewers to wins in four of his six starts.

3   |   Toronto Blue Jays (64-43, LW: 6)

The Blue Jays continue to lead the AL East, but they can’t afford to be without catcher Alejandro Kirk (7 HRs, .304/.361/.413) for long.

4   |   New York Mets (62-44, LW: 10)

Juan Soto returns to San Diego showcasing something the Padres desperately need in left field: He leads the NL East-leading Mets with 25 homers and an .883 OPS.

5   |   Philadelphia Phillies (60-45, LW: 5)

A little on the money: Kyle Schwarber’s 1000th career hit was … of course … a home run.

6   |   Los Angeles Dodgers (61-45, LW: 4)              

Shohei Ohtani and Blake Snell will soon be fronting a six-man rotation that also will include Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Dustin May and Clayton Kershaw. Yeah. They will be just fine.

7   |   New York Yankees (57-48, LW: 7)

Aaron Judge’s flexor strain will limit him to DH duty upon returning after a 10-day stay on the injured list.

8   |   Detroit Tigers (61-46, LW: 2)                  

A six-game skid brought the Tigers back to earth, but they’ve still got an eight-game lead over theGuardians in the soft AL Central.

9   |   Houston Astros (60-46, LW: 3)       

It will be hard to hold off the hard-charging Rangers if the Astros can’t get Jeremy Pena (rib), Yordan Alvarez (hand) and Isaac Paredes (hamstring) back in the lineup. Pena could return before the end of the week, but Alvarez and Paredes remain without a timetable.

10   |   Texas Rangers (56-50, LW: 17)

The Rangers lead the majors with a 3.13 ERA and now they’re starting to hit, as a six-game winning streak has carried the team a season-high six games over .500.

11   |   Boston Red Sox (57-50, LW: 16)

The Red Sox have made a move in the AL wild-card race. They’re hoping Aroldis Chapman’s back issues don’t force them to push relief help up their shopping list this week.

12   |   Seattle Mariners (56-50, LW: 11)

Go see Cal: Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh is up to 41 homers, three more than Shohei Ohtani and four more than Aaron Judge.

13   |   San Diego Padres (57-49, LW: 12)

Some like it hot: A sticky weekend in St. Louis reminded Manny Machado of Miami and he made himself at home, collecting a career-high 11 hits in a four-game series in which he hit .647.

The rest

• 14   |   Cincinnati Reds (56-50, LW: 14)
• 15   |   Tampa Bay Rays (53-53, LW: 8)
• 16   |   San Francisco Giants (54-52, LW: 15)
• 17   |   St. Louis Cardinals (54-53, LW: 13)
• 18   |   Arizona Diamondbacks (51-55, LW: 18)
• 19   |   Kansas City Royals (52-54, LW: 21)
• 20   |   Minnesota Twins (50-55, LW: 19)
• 21   |   Cleveland Guardians (52-53, LW: 24)
• 22   |   Miami Marlins (50-54, LW: 25)
• 23   |   Atlanta Braves (44-60, LW: 20)
• 24   |   Los Angeles Angels (51-55, LW: 22)
• 25   |   Pittsburgh Pirates (44-62, LW: 23)
• 26   |   Baltimore Orioles (47-58, LW: 26)
• 27   |   Chicago White Sox (38-68, LW: 29)
• 28   |   Washington Nationals (43-62, LW: 27)
• 29   |   Sacramento Athletics (46-62, LW: 28)
• 30   |   Colorado Rockies (27-78, LW: 30)