The 2025 MLB All-Star break is here. I will be breaking down each division, based on their standings. Some teams are good, some teams aren't. Let's get into it.
NL East
1. Philadelphia Phillies- 55-41
2. New York Mets- 55-42
3. Miami Marlins- 44-51
4. Atlanta Braves- 42-53
5. Washington Nationals- 38-58
The Phillies and Mets have been neck and neck for the lead in this division, swapping places many times throughout the first half. I don't see that changing for a while. Both teams have room for improvement however. The Marlins have been better than expected thus far. They're not good, but they're not horrible. The Braves, on the other hand, have probably been the league's most disappointing team so far. They're sitting in 4th place after having World Series aspirations. The Nationals haven't been great either, but they're young and have hope for the future.
NL Central
1. Chicago Cubs- 57-39
2. Milwaukee Brewers- 56-40
3. St Louis Cardinals- 51-46
4. Cincinnati Reds- 50-47
5. Pittsburgh Pirates- 39-58
The Cubs have been kind of surprising this year. They've been on fire, led by Pete Crow-Armstrong. He's had a great season, with 25 home runs and 71 RBIs. The Brewers are hot on Chicago's tail, with Christian Yelich leading the way with 19 home runs and 65 RBIs. St Louis and Cincinnati have been decent throughout the year, led by Willson Contreras and Elly De La Cruz, respectively. And the Pirates may not be good, but at least they have possibly the league's best pitcher in Paul Skenes.
NL West
1. Los Angeles Dodgers- 58-39
2. San Diego Padres- 52-44
3. San Francisco Giants- 52-45
4. Arizona Diamondbacks- 47-50
5. Colorado Rockies- 22-74
The reigning champions are enjoying being at the top of the NL, but they've been struggling a bit lately, going 3-7 in their last 10 games. Shohei Ohtani is back to pitching games, and despite only pitching for a few innings, he hasn't looked bad. The Padres and Giants have been decent all year, with the Padres being led by Manny Machado, and the Giants having many talent on the offensive side. The Diamondbacks have been disappointing this year, but Eugenio Suarez has looked spectacular. The Rockies are just terrible. They're last in the league by a large margin, and might be on their way to overtaking last year's White Sox as the worst team in MLB history.
AL East
1. Toronto Blue Jays- 55-41
2. New York Yankees- 53-43
3. Boston Red Sox- 53-45
4. Tampa Bay Rays- 50-47
5. Baltimore Orioles- 43-52
The Blue Jays have been on a bit of a hot streak lately, winning 9 in a row before losing in Chicago and losing 2 of 3 in Sacramento. They're led by George Springer, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette. The Yankees were in the lead before the Jays went on a hot streak, and that's mostly because of Aaron Judge and some other solid bats and pitching. Speaking of hot streaks, the Red Sox are on fire heading into the break. They've won 10 in a row and sound like they could be buyers at the trade deadline. Keep in mind they traded Rafael Devers away to San Francisco, and he's been iffy since. The Rays have been solid so far, thanks to Junior Caminero and Brandon Lowe. The Orioles have been pretty disappointing, but they've been playing better, and maybe they turn it around in the second half.
AL Central
1. Detroit Tigers- 59-38
2. Minnesota Twins- 47-49
3. Kansas City Royals- 47-50
4. Cleveland Guardians- 46-49
5. Chicago White Sox- 32-65
The Tigers are currently the best team in the league, and that has a lot to do with Tarik Skubal's excellent pitching and Riley Greene and Spencer Torkelson's hitting. The Twins have been up and down all year, but they're doing alright now. Byron Buxton is leading the way for them. The Royals and Guardians have been quite disappointing thus far, but look to be turning a corner. The White Sox, coming off the worst season in history, have been terrible, but not as terrible.
AL West
1. Houston Astros- 56-40
2. Seattle Mariners- 51-45
3. Texas Rangers- 48-49
4. Los Angeles Angels- 47-49
5. Athletics- 41-57
The Astros are leading the way, with Jose Altuve turning in another great season. The Mariners are having a solid season, but Cal Raleigh is having an exceptional one. He's leading all of baseball with 38 home runs before the break, just 1 homer shy of Barry Bonds' record of 39 before the break in 2001. He only needs 10 more for the most in a season by a catcher. The Rangers have been mediocre, but Adolis Garcia is having himself a nice year, and so is Jacob Degrom. The Angels finally have Mike Trout back and he turned in a solid 1st half. The Athletics are playing their first year outside of Oakland, and have looked bad, but not horrible. Brent Rooker is a bright spot for them, with 20 homers thus far.
That'll do it for my writeup of the 1st half of the 2025 MLB season! I'm excited to see what the 2nd half and playoffs bring. Thanks for reading!
