Like it or not -- and I definitely do not -- the rest of the 2026 Major League Baseball season will be defined by the Los Angeles Dodgers. All roads lead to the Dodgers easily making the playoffs again, which means the two-time defending champions will either join the '70s Athletics and multiple generations of Yankees teams as a threepeat champion or they'll be knocked off.
If the Dodgers win it all, their threepeat, heading into what are likely to be contentious CBA negotiations this offseason, will be the biggest story.
If they get eliminated, the dethroning of the champs will be the biggest story.
As happens in every single sport every single time there's a repeat champion, everyone except Dodgers fans is strenuously rooting against them. Of course, this time around, there's that CBA nonsense and I have no doubt a bunch of owners who really want a salary cap are rooting for them this time around, as if a huge payroll team winning the World Series proves the need for a cap (the counter: If the Rays or Brewers win it all, as they are both very capable of doing, does that prove we don't need a cap?).
Interestingly, the Dodgers are struggling right now. Their win on Saturday night broke a seven-game losing streak. Before that night, they had gone 10-16 in their last 26 games. They lost again on Sunday, meaning they've lost eight of nine and are 11-17 since the Fourth of July. That hardly looks like an unstoppable juggernaut, right?
Of course, we're all well aware that it's a marathon of a season and even the best teams struggle from time to time. Last year, they lost seven straight games in July and in that same stretch lost 10 of 12. They also lost seven of eight from Aug. 29 to Sept. 6. They were the No. 3 seed in the National League and didn't even have a bye.
It happens. They'll probably figure it out. I've demoted them several spots this week, but I assume they'll be back at the top in the coming weeks.
Could I push back a little on a narrative that is becoming far too prevalent, though?
"They'll figure it out in the playoffs. They always do."
I keep seeing varying versions of this, and it's insanity. I'm exhausted by the selective ignorance. Why has all the salary cap talk blinded so many people to the recent past?
Yes, the Dodgers have won the last two World Series, but can we go back any further than that or is only a two-year sample allowed? Did they "figure it out" when they got swept by the 84-win Diamondbacks in 2023? How about when they lost three games to one to the 89-win Padres in 2022? Or when the 88-win Braves bounced them in 2021 or the wild-card Nationals took them out in 2019?
Remember, the Padres had them on the ropes in 2024, the Phillies series last season really could've gone either way and the Blue Jays probably should have beaten them in the World Series. This isn't to say the Dodgers didn't deserve anything. They are worthy two-time champs and close calls happen. I just can't believe how many fans I see talking like the results of the playoffs this season are a foregone conclusion.
There are plenty of teams right now that look up to the task of taking the Dodgers. The Red Sox just swept them in Dodger Stadium. The Cubs swept them in Wrigley. Only a fool would believe the Brewers or Braves can't beat them in a playoff series. The Phillies don't have a ton of depth, but you don't need depth in a playoff series (see: 2019 Nationals, again). They could absolutely topple the Dodgers. The Rays? Of course they could. Even a much lesser team like the Diamondbacks or Padres could take them out. Again, we've been here before. The 2022 Dodgers won 111 games in the regular season and lost 3-1 to a team that didn't even win 90.
The most likely World Series champion this season is the Dodgers. That remains the case. Just like I said last week, however, I'll gladly take the field. There are plenty of vulnerabilities on this team and plenty of other very strong teams.
Biggest Movers 10 Tigers 6 Pirates RkTeams ChgRcrd 1
Brewers Jacob Misiorowski has already topped 200 strikeouts. He's not just some wild thing fireballer, either. He leads the majors in ERA and WHIP. He's ridiculous. 1 74-44 2 
Rays The Liam Hicks addition has gone swimmingly so far: he's slugging .588 in his five games since the trade deadline. 2 71-46 3 
Braves The leader in extra-base hits this season? That would be Matt Olson, who has 34 home runs and is tied for the league lead in doubles. -- 71-47 4 
Cubs Alex Bregman struggled for much of the first half at the plate. He's heating up, though. In his last 14 games, he's 21 for 60 (.350) with eight doubles, two homers (including a huge, clutch one Thursday) and nine RBI. 1 69-50 5 
Dodgers I'm guessing I have them lower than all the other power rankers and that's fine since mine are the official rankings. The Dodgers deserve a demotion right now. They'll bounce back soon enough. Maybe. 4 70-48 6 
Yankees The overall line is still awful, but Austin Wells has actually been hitting pretty well for weeks. In his last 21 games, he's 14 for 52 (.269) with three doubles and four home runs. 1 66-52 7 
Red Sox They finished up once of the greatest extended runs in the history of baseball and then lost a home series to one of the worst teams in baseball. Ah, this crazy sport. 1 64-53 8 
Padres I ragged on the Padres the entire first half because their offense was dreadful. They deserved it. Since the All-Star break, though, they are hitting .280/.354/.445 as a team, putting them first in batting average and fourth in OPS. They are dangerous again. 3 62-57 9 
Diamondbacks I made mention recently about how bad the Diamondbacks had been against teams over .500, so they went out and split with the Padres and took two of three from the Dodgers. I see you, Snakes. 1 63-56 10 
Phillies How many Phillies have ever hit at least 35 home runs in five straight seasons? One. Kyle Schwarber right now. He's in his fifth Phillies season. 1 63-56 11 
White Sox That was a tough sweep in Boston, but the White Sox showed character in bouncing back to win an important home series against Cleveland. 3 61-56 12 
Astros They've now lost four of six, yet still sit in first place. There just aren't that many good teams. -- 60-59 13 
Rangers The Rangers have won four of five and now have a relatively easy stretch in the schedule (four games at Angels, three at A's, three vs. Nats, three vs. Angels). It's a nice opportunity. 5 59-59 14 
Tigers It was great to see the return of Jackson Jobe, and the Tigers are right on the cusp of the playoffs. Too bad they decided to offload two frontline starters or they might well have the best American League rotation between those three and Troy Melton. As it stands, this could be a playoff team regardless. 10 58-60 15 
Marlins Otto Lopez leads the majors in hits. The list of Marlins players to ever lead the majors in hits in a full season: Dee Strange-Gordon (2015). Oh, that's it. 2 60-59 16 
Cardinals Ivan Herrera hasn't been hit with a pitch since July 24. This is notable because he leads the majors with 25 of those. The Cardinals franchise record is 31 (Steve Evans, 1910). 3 59-59 17 
Nationals Congrats to Andrew Pinckney for his first career home run this past week. I remain such a sucker for the shots in the crowd of the family and close friends celebrating. 3 59-61 18 
Twins The Twins are now 2-6 in August with three walk-off losses. 1 58-61 19 
Guardians All of a sudden, the Guardians are only ahead of one team in the AL Central. 5 58-61 20 
Orioles Their batting average leader, among qualifiers, is Pete Alonso. He's hitting .252. 1 57-61 21 
Pirates One of the main reasons many believed the Pirates could contend this season was the starting rotation. I think it's fair to say, at this point, that the entire rotation has been disappointing. 6 58-62 22 
Mariners At some point, they're just bad. I mean, we're 119 games into the season. Last year was, yet again, a tease job for their poor fans. 6 56-63 23 
Blue Jays Pat Hentgen, Roger Clemens, Roy Halladay, Robbie Ray ... Dylan Cease? -- 56-63 24 
Reds I'm not sure how many people outside the greater Cincy area noticed this (and maybe they didn't either), but the Reds crawled to within four games of the final wild-card spot after a win Thursday. Alas, they lost three straight after that. 2 56-61 25 
Mets Sean Manaea in his last four starts: 2.16 ERA, 25 K, 24 IP. -- 52-67 26 
Royals Much of this season has been a lost cause, but the Jac Caglianone power is very real. He'll hit 40 homers in a season someday. 2 49-70 27 
Giants They're losing again. It's seven of their last nine now after they won five of seven. 1 49-69 28 
Athletics Lawrence Butler, who is locked up through 2031, has gone from 3.0 WAR in 125 games to 1.5 in 152 last year to -0.6 in 110 this season. Uh oh. 1 47-71 29 
Rockies Jake McCarthy's numbers are benefitting from Coors Field, yes, but he's also hitting .293 with a .471 slugging percentage on the road. 2 46-72 30 
Angels Remember when they were 11-10? Man, it's a long season. -- 45-73 Add CBS Sports on Google Join the Conversation comments 
