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Keytron Jordan, CBS Sports
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Recency bias is obviously going to be a factor when trying to comb through our memories on such things, but I cannot remember a season in Major League Baseball with so many extreme highs and lows from contending teams. It's laughable, cockamamie, stupendous and tremendous. I like to say it's been a roller coaster ride and roller coasters are fun, but I usually only say it about an individual team. The 2025 season has made its case with nearly every contending team. 

Some of the most extreme:

  • The Tigers had the best record in baseball at times and built a 14-game lead at one point. They lost 12 of 13 through the middle of July and 11 of 12 through the middle of last week. 
  • From May 28 - July 26, the Blue Jays went 37-14. Then they lost six of eight. In September, they won six in a row and then lost six of seven before winning their last four to take the division title.
  • The Dodgers were one of the best teams for a while. Then, from July 4 - Sept. 6, they went 22-32. They closed the season by winning 15 of 20.
  • The Guardians had a 10-game losing streak through July 6. Then they won 21 of their next 28. They lost nine of 10 through Aug. 25. Then they won four in a row, then lost four of five. Then, Cleveland ripped off wins in 17 of their next 19 games.
  • The Mariners lost 11 of 14 through June 11. They had an eight-game winning streak in early August but lost seven of eight immediately thereafter. They lost six of seven through Sept. 5 and then won 17 of 18 games to clinch their first division title since 2001.

We could do this with every playoff team. They've all gone through stretches of going gangbusters along with stretches where it looks like they'll never win another game.

Now, all of this variance doesn't necessarily mean the playoffs will be amazing theater. It's possible we get a bunch of sweeps due to teams being so hot-and-cold all year. In fact, it's a big concern. I'm choosing to believe the chaotic regular season spins perfectly into a chaotic and competitive postseason, too, though. 

Remember, we haven't had a World Series Game 7 since 2019. How about we get a bunch of do-or-die games in the early rounds and then see both League Championship Series go to seven before the Fall Classic takes us all the way to Game 7 on Nov. 1. 

Pretty please, Baseball Gods? 

Biggest Movers
3 Giants
2 Brewers
Rk
Teams
  
Chg
Rcrd
1 Phillies Trea Turner won the NL batting title. He is the first Phillies player to do so since Richie Ashburn in 1958. 1 96-66
2 Dodgers Number of Dodgers players not named Ohtani in history to reach 50 home runs? Zero. Shohei Ohtani 50-homer seasons in two years with the Dodgers? Two. 1 93-69
3 Brewers The Brewers are one of five teams to have never won a World Series title. They enter the playoffs as the No. 1 overall seed. 2 97-65
4 Yankees Aaron Judge led the majors this season in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. Any guess on how many Yankees players have ever done that? Babe Ruth didn't. Nor did Mickey Mantle or Lou Gehrig. The number was previously zero. Judge is the first. 1 94-68
5 Blue Jays The last time the Blue Jays won 94 games? It was 1993. Something cool happened that postseason, as all of Toronto recalls. 1 94-68
6 Mariners I mentioned that five teams to have never won a World Series in the Brewers' comment. Rounding out that list are the Rockies, Rays, Padres and Mariners. We get three of the five in the playoffs this season. You might notice in looking at the five there that most of them have been in the World Series. There is one MLB team to have never played in the Fall Classic: the Seattle Mariners. -- 90-72
7 Cubs Too bad the Cubs don't get to play the Cardinals anymore. Michael Busch had nine homers and 17 RBI against the redbirds this season. That's in 12 games. -- 92-70
8 Padres From June 24 to Sept. 2, Fernando Tatis Jr. only hit three home runs. Then he hit four in the next two weeks. And then homered in three straight games through this past weekend. If he's back to being a monster power threat, the Padres' chances of winning the World Series shoot upward. 2 90-72
9 Red Sox Garrett Crochet only worked 146 innings last season and before that he'd never even thrown more than 65 in a season going back to college. This year, he's at 205 ⅓ and is showing no signs of slowing down. -- 89-73
10 Guardians The Guardians only have two players with at least 20 games played and higher than a 100 OPS+. They only have three players with at least 100 hits and only two players with at least 15 home runs. And they're still playoff-bound. 2 88-74
11 Tigers It's a clean slate. Time to make your fans forget about all that heartache you caused them in the last few weeks, right, Tigers? -- 87-75
12 Astros The last time the Astros weren't in the playoffs was 2016. -- 87-75
13 Reds With 83 wins, the Reds are one of the worst playoff teams in history. It doesn't matter, though. They have a chance to do something special. -- 83-79
14 Mets I don't know what the answers are for the Mets this offseason. It's not my job to know. I do know this: What transpired was absolutely, unequivocally unacceptable. They couldn't even get to 84 wins with this bunch? -- 83-79
15 Royals Bobby Witt Jr. has now led the majors in hits (twice), doubles, triples and batting average. He's still only 25. -- 82-80
16 Giants Rafael Devers played 163 games this season. That's the first time a player reached that many since 2008. 3 81-81
17 Diamondbacks It's a big offseason for Mike Hazen and his staff. They have a good foundation in Ketel Marte, Corbin Carroll and Geraldo Perdomo, but also an awful lot of holes to fill. 1 80-82
18 Marlins Prediction: A lot of people during 2026 spring training are going to talk themselves into the Marlins being a playoff team. 1 79-83
19 Rangers Was this it for Bruce Bochy? His contract is up. He's 70 years old and doesn't really have anything left to accomplish. 1 81-81
20 Cardinals Miles Mikolas allowed more home runs in Wrigley Field than Busch Stadium this season. He made 15 starts at home and two in Wrigley. -- 78-84
21 Braves Seven teams had winning streaks of at least 10 games this season. Five of them are playoff teams. The other two are the Twins and the Braves. 1 76-86
22 Rays Chandler Simpson's 44 stolen bases are tied for the eighth most in a season by a Rays player, but only one man has ever stolen more. Simpson trails seven Carl Crawford seasons. 1 77-85
23 Athletics I would actually be excited for the 2026 A's -- especially the offense -- but then I remembered their ballpark situation which led me to think about their ownership. Sigh. 1 76-86
24 Orioles Attendance was awful in the final home series. The Orioles better be good next year or else that radical rebuild could safely be called a failure. 1 75-87
25 Pirates We can now look forward to how pathetic the Pirates' offseason will be. That clock before Paul Skenes hits free agency is ticking and getting awfully loud. 1 71-91
26 Angels Only 24 position players in the majors this season posted more than 5.0 WAR and 24-year-old shortstop Zach Neto was on that list. 1 72-90
27 Twins Amid so much bad, there was Byron Buxton. At age 31, he set a new career high in plate appearances. This was only the second time in his career he qualified for the batting title (502 minimum plate appearances). 1 70-92
28 Nationals James Wood has avoided dubious history. He finishes with 221 strikeouts. The record is 223 (Mark Reynolds, 2009). 1 66-96
29 White Sox This is going to sound a lot more impressive than it actually is: Only the Blue Jays increased their win total more than the White Sox from 2024 to this season. -- 60-102
30 Rockies The Rockies failed to get the job done and lose 120+ games, but the -424 run differential is the worst in modern MLB history (1901-present) by a MILE. The next worst is -345 from the 1932 Red Sox. For those curious, the White Sox last season, in setting the record for the most losses, posted a -305 run differential. -- 43-119