With July and then the All-Star break just around the bend, we're now roughly halfway through the 2026 Major League Baseball regular season and every team has played at least 81 games. That means roughly three months of play are behind us, and that means it's time to check in on all of MLB's 30 teams. Specifically, we're here to hand out grades to each team based on how the first half of the season has gone to date.
It's not a simple matter of eyeballing the standings. Rather, the grades to come are informed by the standings, the team's underlying performance, and how those two measures compare with reasonable expectations entering the 2026 season. There's no such thing as a good team with a bad grade, but teams that were expected to be good won't be graded as highly as those teams that qualify as "pleasant surprises." The same principle applies to the other, uglier end of the continuum.
First up, it's the National League, with the American League to follow on Tuesday.
Arizona Diamondbacks: C
The D-backs were angling to bounce back from a disappointing 80-82 campaign last season, and thus far they're not really doing that with their .500-ish record and run differential that's solidly in negative territory. They're still in the wild-card race, and Corbin Carroll is looking like an MVP candidate thus far. On the downside, the rotation has been a major weak spot, with the exception of Eduardo Rodríguez. Corbin Burnes can't get back soon enough. -- Dayn Perry
Atlanta Braves: A
I considered giving the Braves a B, given how hard they've stumbled the last few weeks. They're leaning on the cushion they built earlier this year more than I think they would like right now, but, ultimately, that cushion counts, and the Braves have one of the best records in the game. Between injuries and performance downturn -- plus the lack of depth that hampered them in recent years -- the Braves are definitely taking on water. The arrow will continue to point down until they get healthy and get help at the trade deadline. -- Mike Axisa
Chicago Cubs: B
This is one of the most extreme up-and-down teams in a half in baseball history. The Cubs have already won 10 straight games twice and also had a 10-game losing streak. After that second 10-game winning streak, they lost 22 of their next 29 games, but now they've won 12 of 16. It's just back and forth between being great and terrible. It's been more good than bad, though, and they are on pace for 89 wins with the fifth-best run differential in baseball. -- Matt Snyder
Cincinnati Reds: C
The Hunter Greene injury (he's been out all season) and Elly De La Cruz IL stint have definitely hurt the Reds, but they've still been very disappointing the last two months. They were 20-11 through April, but have gone 19-32 since. The Eugenio Suárez signing has been a bust, while Brady Singer and especially Nick Lodolo need to be better in the rotation. The season hasn't been a disaster or anything, and the Reds are right within striking range of another wild-card berth, but they need to be better in the second half. -- Snyder
Colorado Rockies: B-
Little was expected from the Rox in 2026, and little has been provided. Expectations met? In a sense, sure. This writing finds Colorado with the worst record and worst run differential in all of MLB. On the other hand, they're on pace to avoid 100 losses, and that's notable considering they lost 119 games a season ago. This season, the Rockies are "merely" very bad as opposed to historically awful, and that's progress of a kind. They might have a few interesting "sell" pieces leading up to the deadline, including outfielder Mickey Moniak and starter-turned-relief ace Antonio Senzatela. -- Perry
Los Angeles Dodgers: A
Angling for the elusive three-peat this season, the Dodgers are, true to recent form, managing their roster with an eye toward October and November. Injuries have again hit the rotation, but there's depth in place. Right now, the Dodgers are on target to once again be the consensus favorites by the time the playoffs arrive. They're on pace to top 100 wins after falling shy of that mark in 2024 and 2025, and their MLB-best run differential suggests they've been a bit unlucky so far. Will Shohei Ohtani add a Cy Young plaque to his overstuffed trophy case? That's very much in play. -- Perry
Miami Marlins: B
The Marlins closed May with a five-game losing streak and now have baseball's best record in June. That has pushed them into the wild-card race. It's basically a four-man offense (Xavier Edwards, Liam Hicks, Otto Lopez, Kyle Stowers) and Max Meyer has been their only comfortably above-average starter. The bullpen is deep and excellent, and Miami is really pushing the limit of how much a standout bullpen can carry a team. Bottom line, the Marlins are in the wild-card hunt now. I'm fascinated to see how they handle the trade deadline. Will president of baseball operations Peter Bendix buy, or stick with the long-term plan and ship out veterans? -- Axisa
Milwaukee Brewers: A
The Brewers' club record for wins in a season is 97, set last season. They are on pace for 100 wins at present. Jacob Misiorowski has graduated from talented youngster to bona fide ace, Kyle Harrison is pitching like a frontline starter and Brandon Woodruff, when healthy, is too. Jackson Chourio continues his ascension toward stardom while William Contreras and Brice Turang remain star-level producers. There's depth and talent all over the place here. The Brewers continue to own the Central. -- Snyder
New York Mets: F
The easiest F we'll give out at the season's midpoint and probably the entire season period. Other than Juan Soto and a handful of others, the Mets have underperformed every which way, and it cost manager Carlos Mendoza his job last week. They're near the bottom of the league offensively. The rotation started out shaky and has completely fallen apart over the last few weeks. Even some touted prospects in the minors have taken a step back. When Steve Cohen bought the team in 2020, he said he would consider it a disappointment if the Mets didn't win the World Series within 3-5 years. Well, this is now Year 6 of the Cohen era, and they're going to have to sell at the deadline. An unmitigated disaster from the top on down. -- Axisa
Philadelphia Phillies: B
The Phillies started 9-19, fired manager Rob Thomson, and are now 38-18 under interim Don Mattingly. That is exactly what teams hope will happen when they change managers in-season. Of course, that turnaround has more to do with Zack Wheeler returning and Brandon Marsh going on a major heater than it does Mattingly, but the record is the record. The Phillies have climbed to within striking distance of a wild-card spot and also to within a handful of games of the Braves for the NL East lead. The two teams are trending in opposite directions and they still have seven games remaining (Sept. 4-7 in Philadelphia and Sept. 11-13 in Atlanta). The NL East could be baseball's most compelling division race come the season's final month. -- Axisa
Pittsburgh Pirates: B
The Pirates are exactly .500 -- they haven't finished .500 or better since 2018 -- and are only 2 ½ games out of playoff position. That's a win right there. In light of where this franchise has been, contending has to get them a positive grade. There have been relative disappointments since that 16-11 start, though. And who would've ever thought this: The Pirates have lost eight straight Paul Skenes starts. That trend can't continue if they hope to keep contending. -- Snyder
St. Louis Cardinals: B+
Rebuilds just aren't done by this organization, and yet, this past offseason, the Cardinals clearly signaled that they are looking to prioritize the future over the present. And here they sit, above .500 and in contention; in fact, they hold a playoff spot right now. That's far beyond the expectations the Cardinals had heading into the season, where most people had them finishing in last place. They have lost seven of the last 10, though, and seemingly have forgotten how to score runs at home, which causes the grade reduction to B+ instead of an A. Still, this is a very successful season to this point, given the plan they had heading in. -- Snyder
San Diego Padres: B+
The Pads are just barely out of wild-card position despite a negative run differential. That's a concern moving forward, as the Padres could undergo a course correction based on that underlying quality of play. That said, having a closer like Mason Miller can theoretically help a team outplay its run differential. On another level, San Diego is winning without, to date, getting much from Manny Machado, Xander Bogaerts, and Jackson Merrill. However, Fernando Tatis Jr. is starting to round into form, and that's essential moving forward. Will lead decision-maker AJ Preller once again make a deadline splash despite a thinned-out farm system? -- Perry
San Francisco Giants: F
The 2026 season has not unfurled as hoped in San Francisco, and that's an understatement. New manager Tony Vitello, after making the unprecedented leap straight from the college ranks to the major-league dugout, has had his share of amateur moments and gaffes. They should be aggressive sellers at the deadline, but many of their hypothetical trades leading up to Aug. 3 figure to be of the salary-dump variety. They're right now on pace for 97 losses, which would give the Giants their worst record since 2017. June has been their best month to date, but it hasn't been a good month. -- Perry
Washington Nationals: B
Baseball's highest scoring offense has cooled the last two weeks or so and season-long shoddy bullpen work is beginning to catch up to them. Still, the Nationals were 41-40 at the season's 81-game midpoint after losing at least 91 games every year from 2021-25. Positive signs abound. CJ Abrams and James Wood are performing at MVP paces, Foster Griffin has been a free-agent steal after spending the last three years in Japan, and the farm system is on the upswing. I think you could make a case that the Nationals deserve an A relative to expectations coming into the season, though I think an A would require no-doubt postseason contention. This B will have to suffice. -- Axisa
