Whether they’re headed to October or headed home, all teams have had something go right … and wrong. For Fernando Tatis Jr. and the Padres’ offense, it’s been a tale of two halves. Thearon W. Henderson/Getty ImagesBradford DoolittleSep 15, 2026, 07:00 AM ETCloseMLB writer and analyst for ESPN.com Former NBA writer and analyst for ESPN.com Been with ESPN since 2013Multiple AuthorsOpen Extended ReactionsJust like that, here we are with the playoff season bearing down on us. As we look forward to October, that most eventful of baseball months, we can start to put a bow on the regular season.While it isn’t quite over yet, we can identify things about each team that have gone well this season, and others that have not.
We do this exercise every year, and it is a good chance to look for the successes and disappointments left behind in the wake of each team’s campaign, as viewed through the prism of the expectations, hopes and forecasts we had back in late March.Let’s get to it.Win average: 99.9 (Last Stock Watch: 98.7, 1st) In the playoffs: 100.0% (Last: 100.0%) Champions: 21.6% (Last: 18.6%)Biggest success: Forget, if you can, about Jacob Misiorowski’s blazing velocity readings that have garnered so many headlines. The Miz blossomed into a full-service ace in his second big league season, emerging as an NL Cy Young front-runner. His average game score (66.7, per Baseball Reference) is nearly three points better than any other starter’s, and his K-BB% (31.7%, per FanGraphs) is the best of any qualifying pitcher in five years. All this happened in the aftermath of Milwaukee’s previous staff ace, Freddy Peralta, departing via trade.Biggest disappointment: There is not much to choose from, but since we don’t want to leave any section blank, I’ll go with second-half Kyle Harrison.
Harrison once looked like a Cy Young contender himself, going 8-2 with a 3.01 ERA during the first half. His post-break ERA has ballooned to 7.00 over six starts plus a disastrous relief outing over the weekend in which he failed to retire any of the four Reds batters he faced. All went on to score. The relief stint was meant to build back Harrison’s confidence, so it’s safe to say that remains a work in progress.
Harrison’s struggles leave the Brewers without an obvious Game 3 playoff starter behind Misiorowski and Logan Henderson.2. Los Angeles DodgersWin average: 98.3 (Last: 97.1, 2nd) In the playoffs: 100.0% (Last: 99.9%) Champions: 19.6% (Last: 13.8%)Biggest success: Shohei Ohtani’s second-half narrative has been dominated by injuries. Freddie Freeman has his worst OPS+ in 14 years. Mookie Betts is putting up more or less exactly the same numbers as in his down 2025 season at the plate.
Kyle Tucker has flopped. All of this has made Andy Pages’ best-yet season particularly well-timed. After last fall’s brutal postseason slump, Pages responded by improving his approach without sacrificing any power or average while putting up Gold Glove-level defensive metrics in center field. A fractured hand in late August was an unwelcome detour for Pages’ season, but if his recovery goes as planned, he should be positioned for a much better October this time around.Biggest disappointment: The Dodgers’ splash signings of Tucker and Edwin Diaz in last season’s free agency were the cause of much handwringing about L.A.’s economic dominance.
While those high-level, targeted acquisitions looked like no-brainers at the time, the first year of both deals could hardly have gone worse. Together, Tucker and Diaz are at minus-1.0 bWAR for their Dodgers debuts while earning a combined $47 million. Ouch.3. Tampa Bay RaysWin average: 97.1 (Last: 94.9, 4th) In the playoffs: 100.0% (Last: 99.9%) Champions: 16.4% (Last: 13.0%)Biggest success: As ever with the Rays, it’s hard to pinpoint one thing that has driven their return to baseball’s elite tier.
They’ve just kind of gone back to being the Rays we got used to seeing from 2018 to 2023. That means dominating in subtle ways. On offense, the Rays’ speed-and-power combination that is the foundation of their attack was bolstered by an improvement from 22nd to first in team strikeout rate. On the run prevention side, an MLB-best walk rate was supported by the game’s best rate of outs on balls in play.
The end result? A return to the playoffs.Biggest disappointment: The Rays have been so well balanced in every area of the roster and have gotten positive contributions from so many players that you have to get nitpicky here. I’ll go with the hitting of Cedric Mullins, whose 70 OPS+ over enough plate appearances that he’s likely to qualify for the batting title has been a real lineup hole. As good as Mullins has been in the past, he hasn’t hit this season at home or on the road, against lefties or righties, in the first half or the second half.
To his credit, Mullins has played solid defense, but beyond that, his first Tampa Bay season has been rough.4. Atlanta BravesWin average: 94.7 (Last: 96.6, 3rd) In the playoffs: 100.0% (Last: 99.9%) Champions: 6.6% (Last: 15.6%)Biggest success: Ten years after a rough four-year stretch as manager of the Rockies, Walt Weiss has provided a steady hand after taking over the reins of one of baseball’s most stable franchises, replacing stalwart Brian Snitker. The Braves’ run back to the postseason hasn’t been without obstacles. Ronald Acuna Jr., Ozzie Albies and Austin Riley have all fallen short of their peak forms.
The starting rotation beyond Chris Sale has been riddled with injuries. Through it all, the Braves have remained entrenched in first place in the NL East since the first week of April.Biggest disappointment: Injuries have once again beset Acuna, whose prime seasons are starting to run short. Acuna still flashes the brilliance that made him a superstar, but this season he has lacked both durability and consistency. Now, you look at his career record and you see two full seasons out of nine.
Those healthy seasons were MVP-worthy and he actually won the award in 2023. But beyond those campaigns, Acuna’s career is starting to become one of what might have been. Let’s hope that trend doesn’t continue.5. New York YankeesWin average: 93.4 (Last: 90.8, 6th) In the playoffs: 100.0% (Last: 98.5%) Champions: 11.4% (Last: 7.6%)Biggest success: We’ve seen a number of previously unknown young pitchers emerge as postseason sensations, as Cam Schlittler did last season for the Yankees, then fail to capitalize on the stir they created with career-long dominance.
That dynamic does not remotely describe Schlittler, at least so far, as he has followed up his late-2025 breakout with one of the most dominant pitching seasons in Yankees history. He has a chance to become the first qualifying Yankees starter with a sub-2.00 ERA since Ron Guidry in 1978. Like Guidry in that magical season, Schlittler’s stunning success should land him the AL Cy Young Award.Biggest disappointment: Coming off a five-season run in which Aaron Judge averaged 50 homers, 144 games played and 8.4 bWAR, the old injury bug returned to kneecap Judge’s 2026 season. The Yankees are still returning to the playoffs, and Judge will be there to help their quest for the World Series, but his run of historic campaigns is over.
Judge can clearly bounce back with an epic 2027, but this is his age-34 season and we can’t take that for granted. Baseball needs all the full-blown Aaron Judge seasons it can get.6. Chicago CubsWin average: 89.4 (Last: 92.2, 5th) In the playoffs: 98.3% (Last: 97.7%) Champions: 4.2% (Last: 7.1%)Biggest success: When a player becomes a set of initials, you know he has reached rarefied air. That’s exactly what Pete Crow-Armstrong has done with one of the best seasons in Cubs history, one that will land him his first NL MVP award.
Simply put, PCA has been one of baseball’s best offensive players in 2026, if not the best, and he has been even better on defense. And he does it all with flair and a knack for exploding in key moments.Biggest disappointm
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