Two months into the season, the picture at the top of baseball is becoming clearer. Three teams are separating themselves. Several more are in freefall. And Memorial Day gave us one of the most jaw-dropping pitching performances of the year.
The Race at the Top
Three teams have distanced themselves from the rest of baseball, and they each have a different story to tell.
The Atlanta Braves lead the way with a league-high 18 comeback wins. That number alone tells you what kind of team this is: they do not go away, and they do not panic. Ronald Acuna Jr. had four home runs over a three-game stretch this week, reminding everyone that when he is locked in there is no one more dangerous in the sport. The Braves are not just winning, they are winning ugly when they have to, which is the mark of a championship-caliber club.
The Tampa Bay Rays are one of the league's most consistent teams week to week. They have stacked together multiple strong winning stretches already this season and are 19-5 at home, the best home record in baseball. Their latest run ended with an Aaron Judge walk-off homer, which is the kind of defeat you can live with. The Rays are built for the long haul, and right now they look every bit the contender their record suggests.
The Los Angeles Dodgers are doing what the Dodgers do. Their bullpen ran off a 38-inning scoreless streak this week, a number that speaks to the depth and quality of a pitching staff that can beat you in a dozen different ways. When your relief corps is that locked in, it makes every close game feel winnable.
The Cubs Are Struggling
Chicago came into this stretch having already shown it can play at an elite level. Two separate 10-game winning streaks earlier in the season had everyone paying attention. But something has gone sideways. The Cubs are on an eight-game losing streak, capped by a sweep at the hands of the Houston Astros. They have dropped 12 of their last 14 and are watching their National League Central lead evaporate.
Pete Crow-Armstrong has been one of the few bright spots, but you cannot carry a lineup on the back of one player when your pitching goes cold. The Cubs have the talent to right the ship. The question is whether they can do it before the division slips away.
Memorial Day: Misiorowski's Triple-Digit Show
Jacob Misiorowski gave baseball fans something to talk about on Memorial Day. The young right-hander threw 57 pitches of at least 100 miles per hour in a single game, the most in any game since pitch velocity tracking began in 2008. He has now thrown 311 triple-digit fastballs on the season, more than twice as many as anyone else in the league.
The pure power of what Misiorowski is doing on the mound right now is something we have never quite seen before, and it is worth paying attention to if you have not been watching.
A Moment Worth Smiling About
Wade Meckler grew up in Anaheim. He spent years grinding through the minor leagues chasing a dream, and this week he finally got his moment, playing his first game for the Angels and hitting his first major league home run in front of the home crowd. When he rounded third and crossed the plate, he was greeted by Mike Trout. His childhood hero. In his hometown. On his first big league hit.
Baseball does not always give you a story like that. When it does, it is worth stopping and appreciating it.
Around the League
The Detroit Tigers continue to sink, dropping game after game and looking more broken by the week. The offense has gone quiet and the pitching has not been able to compensate. A long summer is ahead in Detroit.
The New York Yankees got a boost this week with Gerrit Cole's season debut — six shutout innings against the Rays on two hits in his first appearance since Tommy John surgery wiped out all of 2025. The bullpen couldn't hold it and the Yankees lost 4-2, but Cole looked like himself, which is exactly what New York needed to see.
The Baltimore Orioles pulled off the most dramatic moment of the week on May 30. Trailing 5-1 going into the ninth inning, they scored five runs to walk off the Blue Jays 6-5 on a Pete Alonso single — their third walk-off win of the week. Three walk-offs in a week is the kind of thing that turns a season around.
The Red Sox were dominant in that same day's action, rolling past the Guardians 9-1. Jarren Duran continued his torrid May with eight home runs in the month and the bat coming alive at exactly the right time.
The season is approaching the one-third mark. The contenders are separating, the pretenders are being exposed, and we are just getting started.