The 2026 MLB regular season is a wrap, and Milwaukee finishes as my No. 1 team. The Dodgers made a run at the top spot, but the Brewers answered with another 5-1 week to finish with 103 wins. Pete Crow-Armstrong holds off Yordan Alvarez in a much closer batting race, while Jacob Misiorowski leaves little doubt at the top of the pitching rankings.

These are the final regular-season numbers through September 27, with weekly comparisons to last week’s update.

Final Team Rankings

Milwaukee finishes 103-59 with a 127.17 rating and a league-best +214 run differential. The Brewers outscored opponents 30-18 in the final week, extending their ratings lead over Los Angeles from 1.63 points to 2.34. Milwaukee also finishes first in pitching TOP and fourth in batting TOP. That balance is a big reason the Brewers end up on top.

The Dodgers close 4-2 to reach 100 wins, with a +201 run differential and a 124.83 rating. They finish third in both batting and pitching TOP. Milwaukee and Los Angeles are the only teams to reach 100 wins, and the only teams with run differentials above +200.

The race behind them changed in the final week. The Yankees go 4-2 and move from fourth to third. Tampa Bay finishes 3-4 but rises from fifth to fourth as Atlanta drops two places after a 2-4 week. The Cubs remain sixth, followed by Boston and San Diego. The White Sox pass Philadelphia for ninth after outscoring opponents 43-29 in a 4-2 finish.

Rank Team Wins Losses Runs Runs Allowed Run Differential Rating
1 Milwaukee Brewers 103 59 832 618 214 127.17
2 Los Angeles Dodgers 100 62 801 600 201 124.83
3 New York Yankees 93 68 739 601 138 117.14
4 Tampa Bay Rays 98 64 736 650 86 116.22
5 Atlanta Braves 94 68 742 626 116 115.80
6 Chicago Cubs 89 73 850 703 147 113.92
7 Boston Red Sox 87 75 689 611 78 109.14
8 San Diego Padres 91 71 722 681 41 108.89
9 Chicago White Sox 84 78 776 720 56 105.39
10 Philadelphia Phillies 88 74 713 698 15 105.31
11 Arizona Diamondbacks 86 76 739 730 9 103.66
12 Cleveland Guardians 85 77 678 667 11 103.22
13 Pittsburgh Pirates 82 80 767 739 28 102.38
14 Detroit Tigers 76 86 723 652 71 101.67
15 Miami Marlins 80 82 715 712 3 99.58
16 Houston Astros 81 81 734 766 -32 97.98
17 Washington Nationals 77 85 821 815 6 97.89
18 Baltimore Orioles 79 82 718 739 -21 97.71
19 Texas Rangers 80 82 673 719 -46 96.32
20 St. Louis Cardinals 77 85 720 749 -29 95.67
21 Toronto Blue Jays 79 83 648 694 -46 95.62
22 Minnesota Twins 77 85 739 797 -58 93.93
23 New York Mets 74 88 699 731 -32 93.59
24 Seattle Mariners 76 86 664 722 -58 93.04
25 Cincinnati Reds 75 87 666 826 -160 86.25
26 Kansas City Royals 69 93 690 810 -120 85.06
27 San Francisco Giants 65 97 669 760 -91 84.20
28 Los Angeles Angels 62 100 655 752 -97 81.89
29 Athletics 64 98 699 937 -238 75.65
30 Colorado Rockies 58 104 752 944 -192 74.83

The Yankees and Orioles each finish with 161 games in the final reports; their records and totals are shown as reported.

Houston climbs from 21st to 16th after a 5-1 week, scoring 49 runs and allowing 22 to finish at .500. The Astros cut their run differential from -59 to -32. Texas goes the other way, falling from 16th to 19th and finishing 80-82 with a -46 differential.

Detroit remains one of the clearest examples of why my ratings differ from the standings. The Tigers finish 76-86 but rank 14th, with a +71 run differential and the fifth-ranked pitching staff by TOP. Washington also finishes below .500 despite a positive run differential and the second-ranked offense. At the bottom, Colorado finishes 58-104, while the Athletics allow 937 runs and post the league’s worst run differential at -238.

Batting

The Cubs finish as the top offense by TOP at .508, ahead of Washington at .501 and the Dodgers at .494. Chicago also leads MLB with 850 runs, although a 15-run final week brings its TOP down from .512. Milwaukee and the Yankees round out the top five.

Houston moves into the top 10 at No. 10, while San Diego slips from ninth to 11th. Miami passes Colorado for seventh, and the White Sox move up one spot to ninth.

Top Ten teams by TOP

Rank Team Games PA Runs TBA Expected Runs TOP
1 Chicago Cubs 162 6382 850 3237 809.2 0.508
2 Washington Nationals 162 6195 821 3091 772.8 0.501
3 Los Angeles Dodgers 162 6214 801 3060 765.0 0.494
4 Milwaukee Brewers 162 6299 832 3031 757.8 0.485
5 New York Yankees 161 5997 739 2895 723.8 0.484
6 Pittsburgh Pirates 162 6253 767 2998 749.5 0.481
7 Miami Marlins 162 6127 715 2927 731.8 0.480
8 Colorado Rockies 162 6173 752 2949 737.2 0.480
9 Chicago White Sox 162 6187 776 2951 737.8 0.479
10 Houston Astros 162 6122 734 2910 727.5 0.477

Pete Crow-Armstrong wins the qualified batting TOP title at .670, just ahead of Yordan Alvarez at .668. Alvarez closes the gap from .009 to .002 in the final week, but Crow-Armstrong hangs on after playing all 162 games and accumulating 486 total bases. James Wood finishes third at .612.

Elly De La Cruz moves from fifth to fourth, completing a late climb from 13th in the September 7 update. Ben Rice finishes fifth, while Shohei Ohtani slips from fourth to sixth. CJ Abrams jumps from 12th to seventh, and Pete Alonso climbs from 17th to ninth. Jake Bauers, seventh last week, finishes 14th.

Top Twenty hitters by TOP

Rank Player Team Bats G PA Runs TBA Expected Runs TOP
1 Pete Crow-Armstrong CHC L 162 726 119 486 121.5 0.670
2 Yordan Alvarez HOU L 158 692 105 462 115.5 0.668
3 James Wood WSN L 135 623 106 381 95.2 0.612
4 Elly De La Cruz CIN B 143 636 99 384 96.0 0.604
5 Ben Rice NYY L 154 667 105 399 99.8 0.598
6 Shohei Ohtani LAD L 135 618 89 364 91.0 0.591
7 CJ Abrams WSN L 152 654 93 385 96.2 0.589
8 Willson Contreras BOS R 130 535 68 314 78.5 0.588
9 Pete Alonso BAL R 161 700 100 411 102.8 0.587
10 Kyle Schwarber PHI L 156 701 95 407 101.8 0.581
11 Randy Arozarena SEA R 154 670 113 389 97.2 0.581
12 Miguel Vargas CHW R 159 704 106 407 101.8 0.579
13 Junior Caminero TBR R 162 702 100 406 101.5 0.578
14 Jake Bauers MIL L 144 578 93 334 83.5 0.578
15 Rafael Devers SFG L 148 633 88 364 91.0 0.575
16 Hunter Goodman COL R 138 574 84 325 81.2 0.566
17 Munetaka Murakami CHW L 127 553 82 313 78.2 0.566
18 Bryce Harper PHI L 162 693 93 389 97.2 0.561
19 Jackson Chourio MIL R 127 573 96 321 80.2 0.560
20 Max Muncy LAD L 149 561 81 314 78.5 0.560

Pitching

Milwaukee overtakes the Yankees in the final week to finish with the top pitching staff by TOP allowed. Both clubs round to .431, but the final report places the Brewers first. The Dodgers finish third at .436 after improving from .440, followed by Boston and Detroit.

Toronto moves ahead of Tampa Bay into sixth, while Pittsburgh climbs from tenth to eighth. Atlanta and Cleveland round out the top 10. Milwaukee’s combination of the top staff and the top individual pitcher gives the Brewers another reason to like their final numbers.

Top Ten teams by TOP

Rank Team Games Batters Faced TBA TOP
1 Milwaukee Brewers 162 5991 2572.0 0.431
2 New York Yankees 161 5973 2566.0 0.431
3 Los Angeles Dodgers 162 5921 2570.0 0.436
4 Boston Red Sox 162 6028 2660.0 0.443
5 Detroit Tigers 162 6006 2672.0 0.447
6 Toronto Blue Jays 162 6097 2735.0 0.451
7 Tampa Bay Rays 162 5939 2669.0 0.451
8 Pittsburgh Pirates 162 6188 2817.0 0.457
9 Atlanta Braves 162 6037 2750.0 0.457
10 Cleveland Guardians 162 6084 2783.0 0.459

Jacob Misiorowski finishes first among pitchers in the 502-plus batters-faced report, improving his TOP allowed from .310 to .307 in the final week. He allows 204 total bases accumulated over 665 batters faced and 174.2 innings. Cam Schlittler finishes second at .355, leaving a sizable .048 gap between the top two.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Chris Sale, and Drew Rasmussen complete the top five in the same order as last week. Tarik Skubal makes the biggest move within the top 10, climbing from tenth to sixth as his TOP allowed improves from .397 to .388. Jesús Luzardo rises to seventh, while Walbert Ureña falls from sixth to tenth.

Top Twenty pitchers by TOP — 502+ batters faced

Rank Name Team G Batters Faced IP TBA TOP
1 Jacob Misiorowski MIL 30 665 174.2 204 0.307
2 Cam Schlittler NYY 33 761 193.2 268 0.355
3 Yoshinobu Yamamoto LAD 28 708 185.0 253 0.357
4 Chris Sale ATL 27 648 162.2 234 0.362
5 Drew Rasmussen TBR 30 669 172.0 243 0.363
6 Tarik Skubal TOT 26 620 158.2 238 0.388
7 Jesús Luzardo PHI 30 730 179.2 286 0.394
8 Dylan Cease TOR 29 685 169.0 270 0.395
9 Parker Messick CLE 32 747 186.1 297 0.399
10 Walbert Ureña LAA 29 625 148.1 251 0.402
11 Keider Montero DET 32 625 155.0 250 0.403
12 Ranger Suarez BOS 28 612 148.1 247 0.404
13 Reid Detmers LAA 32 740 185.0 299 0.406
14 Cristopher Sánchez PHI 33 857 207.0 349 0.410
15 Nolan McLean NYM 31 747 179.2 305 0.411
16 Jacob deGrom TEX 31 668 162.2 275 0.414
17 Payton Tolle BOS 26 603 148.2 249 0.414
18 Bryan Woo SEA 30 710 173.0 294 0.414
19 Michael King SDP 32 757 185.0 314 0.416
20 Cade Cavalli WSN 32 706 169.2 295 0.418

Top Ten pitchers by TOP — 300–501 batters faced

As in last year’s final update, the smaller-workload groups deserve a look of their own. Louis Varland leads this group at .314, ahead of Max Fried and Shohei Ohtani. Ohtani finishes third here while also placing sixth among qualified hitters.

Rank Name Team G Batters Faced IP TBA TOP
1 Louis Varland TOR 71 307 78.0 96 0.314
2 Max Fried NYY 20 434 112.2 146 0.338
3 Shohei Ohtani LAD 14 340 85.2 115 0.339
4 Spencer Miles TOR 49 388 95.2 140 0.362
5 Adrián Morejón SDP 76 352 86.0 129 0.366
6 Paul Blackburn NYY 62 336 85.0 125 0.372
7 Grant Taylor CHW 60 336 84.0 126 0.375
8 Logan Henderson MIL 18 371 98.1 141 0.381
9 Clay Holmes TOT 18 419 101.1 159 0.381
10 Carlos Rodón NYY 16 340 84.1 131 0.388

Top Ten pitchers by TOP — 100–299 batters faced

Josh Hader leads this group at .251 over 167 batters faced. Brandyn Garcia and Mason Miller follow at .304 and .305. These smaller samples are worth keeping separate from the larger-workload rankings above.

Rank Name Team G Batters Faced IP TBA TOP
1 Josh Hader HOU 45 167 44.2 42 0.251
2 Brandyn Garcia ARI 57 192 51.1 58 0.304
3 Mason Miller SDP 66 272 70.0 83 0.305
4 Hagen Smith CHW 18 110 28.0 34 0.309
5 Daniel Duarte NYM 24 112 29.2 35 0.312
6 Trevor Megill MIL 63 242 61.2 76 0.317
7 Robert Suarez ATL 33 130 34.0 41 0.318
8 Abner Uribe MIL 61 234 59.1 76 0.328
9 Ben Brown CHC 20 265 68.0 87 0.328
10 Cam Booser TBR 42 152 41.0 50 0.329

Closing the Regular Season

Milwaukee finishes where it stood a year ago: first in my final regular-season team rankings. This time the Brewers reach 103 wins, lead the league in run differential, and take the pitching TOP title as well. The Dodgers are their closest challenger, with the Yankees finishing as the highest-rated American League team.

The Cubs and Crow-Armstrong take the batting honors, while Misiorowski gives Milwaukee the individual pitching lead by a comfortable margin. Those are the final regular-season benchmarks. October gets to write its own story.

Shoutout to Baseball Reference for providing the stats!

See the complete final team rankings, qualified batting rankings, and 502-plus batters-faced pitching rankings on the 2026 MLB season page.