Big Bear Nolan's Blog

Now that the 2026 MLB season has entered the All-Star week, I want to take a look at what teams I think are currently sitting pretty and who’s not. Because this season especially, there’s a lot of parody even with the teams that are at the top of the standings.

Who is sitting pretty

1. Los Angeles Dodgers (61-36, first in NL West, NL and MLB)

Obviously everything mentioned from their name and the position they’re in is why I put LA first. Yes they got swept against Arizona at home to end the first half, but that doesn’t change the fact that the back to back world series champs still hold a sizable lead in the division along with the best record in MLB.

2. Tampa Bay Rays (56-38, first in AL East and AL)

After hitting a little lull, Tampa has looked to get back on track recently. With the help of the Yankees having an abysmal end to June along with the beginning of July, the Rays reclaimed the top spot in the wide open AL and right now hold a 3 game lead over the Yankees for that spot. Tampa also currently holds the tiebreaker with one more series to go. Could the Rays at the end of this thing be hosting playoff games at the Trop in its first year back since 2024?

3. Chicago White Sox (50-45, first in AL Central)

The Sox for most of this recent month and 1/2 stretch have been in a dead heat with the Guardians for the top of the AL Central. They are now feeling a bit of heat with the overperforming Twins and the favorites in the Tigers now too. But right now they hold the tiebreakers over the Guardians and Twins. Unless they fall in the upcoming series against both, that could be huge when this drag race ends.

4. Minnesota Twins (48-49, 3rd AL Central)

As a Twins fan I will give my unbiased take. At the start of this year, they weren’t even predicted to be 48-49 this time of the year. Now they are well in contention due to the AL being so weak but that doesn’t make what they are doing any less impressive. Since the June series vs St. Louis Cardinals, the Twins are 8-1 in series records with the only blemish coming in a sweep vs the Dodgers. This has allowed the Twins to be tied for the last Wildcard spot while only being 3 back in a highly winnable AL Central. Now they were in a similar spot last year and a rough start out of the break caused the firesafe, but unlike last years team that was underperforming, this one is overperforming. So we will just have to see how they do. And I will say, the 2023 Twins were also below .500 at the All-Star Break.

5. Chicago Cubs (54-42, 2nd NL Central)

Outside of a blemish vs the St. Louis Cardinals, the Cubbies have looked like who everyone has thought they would be. And now they not only sit just 5 back of the Brewers. In the June 26-28 series at Milwaukee, the Cubs played much better than when they got swept at Wrigley to take the series. Also with some things happening in the Milwaukee camp, depending on how long the Brewers internal fractures take to heal this could be the perfect time for Craig Counsell’s crew to catch the Brewers.

The five teams i’m not hot about

1. Milwaukee Brewers (59-37, first NL Central)

While i’m sure this is just another rough stretch that the Brewers will get out of, there is some concerning things that I think they need to address. Milwaukee lost Brandon Woodruff to the 60-day IL and Kyle Harrison to the 15-day IL, All-Star Ace in Jacob Misiorowski missed his start vs Pittsburgh with fatigue and that was after his two previous starts vs Cincinnati and St. Louis ,despite a despite high strike out number, he looked like he was human. This Brewers bullpen outside of Megill and Uribe isn’t totally lock down like a usual Brewers pen is either plus Milwaukee has had trouble with leaving runners in scoring position. While Miz and Harrison should be back soon, I don’t know what exactly they’d look like. Milwaukee does have a fairly easy schedule coming out of the break but Miami is really hot right now, and some of the easier opponents like San Francisco and Colorado gave the Brewers hard times in their first series. The good thing about this break is they get to rest and reload and hopefully get back to normal but we will see, cause they are still very much in World Series contention.

2. New York Yankees (54-42, 2nd AL East)

The Yankees are on a four game winning streak now after losing 11 of its previous 13 games. But that little four game shouldn’t undermine the 2-11 skid. While the streak does help them not lose too much ground, now the Yankees get a homestand vs the Dodgers and Pirates. With a road trip at Philly and both Chicago teams. New York needs to make sure that stretch is who they truly are cause it could real ugly again coming out of this break.

3. Cleveland Guardians (51-46, tied for first in AL Central)

Despite still being well in a very winnable AL Central and the AL race. I’m not too hot on what I have seen from Cleveland recently. Compiled with one of the worst offenses in the league, Cleveland’s D which is supposed to be a strength has looked anything but compitent especially in the series loss to the Twins. The Guards can’t get past the Sox, while they continue to feel the pressure from the Twins behind them. Now they did just sweep the Marlins at Miami but that doesn’t excuse how rough their offense is.

4. Atlanta Braves (55-40, first NL East)

At the beginning of 2026, I and I think a lot of others were thinking that we were watching a repeat of 2023 where the Braves are the best team in the regular season. Since the calendar turned to June, the Braves have not only fell to third in the NL Standings. But they now got pressure from the Phillies who are just 2 back. The Marlins aren’t that far back either with just 4 behind. All of a sudden, it is anything but smooth sailing for the Braves

5. the rest of the NL West.

The D-Backs did sweep the Dodgers to go into the break. But that doesn’t change that they’re still in 2nd and 11.5 back in the division. Arizona and San Diego are still in the Wildcard hunt, but they are 2.5 and 3.5 back of the cutline. While the Giants have been a disappointing 41-55 and the Rockies are 39-59 and last in the NL. They’re not the roughest division in the league, but San Diego quite frankly has felt like a disappointment and the Giants I thought would be closer to where the D-Backs and Padres are. Despite being in last, Colorado has looked better offensively but pitching and defense are still very much an issue. Arizona is about where I expected them to be.

(You can find the complete standings for yourself here at MLB.com)