MLB Trending: Who’s Trending Up And Who’s Trending Down In MLB

While the MLB season is a marathon and not a sprint, long stretches of good or bad play can have a significant impact on a team’s overall record and standing in their divisions. Let’s take a look at some of the teams around baseball that have been trending up and some of the teams that have been trending down recently.

Trending Up: Brewers, Cubs, and Reds

The N.L. Central features three of the hottest teams in baseball as of late. Collectively, the Milwaukee Brewers, Chicago Cubs, and Cincinnati Reds are 21-9 in their last 30 games.

This solid play has propelled the Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs to the top of the division standings.

Milwaukee’s success has been in large part due to their pitching staff. Brandon Woodruff (5-2, 1.52 ERA), Freddy Peralta (6-1, 2.25 ERA), and Corbin Burnes (3-4, 2.13 ERA) have all been fantastic. In the bullpen, Josh Hader (3-0, 16 saves, 0.70 ERA) has been one of the best closers in the game.

The Cubs’ success has coincided with Kris Bryant’s resurgence this season. He is hitting .296/.379/.560 with 13 home runs and 39 runs batted in.

While Cincinnati may be in a tie for third, their solid play has kept them in the conversation for the N.L. Central and just five games back. Their success has been in large part due to Jesse Winker, who has been one of the hottest hitters in the game, hitting .339/.412/.628 with 17 home runs.

Trending Down: St. Louis Cardinals

While others in the N.L. Central are trending up; the Cardinals are definitely on the way down. June, in particular, has not been very kind to the St. Louis Cardinals.

In 10 games this month, they have gone just 2-8 and have plummeted to third in the N.L. Central. Actually, they are tied for third with the Cincinnati Reds, who swept them recently.

As a result of their poor performance, they are now five games back of the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers in the division.

Unfortunately, it has been a combination of shaky pitching and inconsistent offense for St. Louis. The pitching staff has an ERA of 4.34 (19th in the majors), and the offense is hitting just .232 (20th in the majors).

Trending Up: Chicago White Sox

At 40-24, the Chicago White Sox have the second-best record in the American League and lead the A.L. Central by 4.5 games over the Cleveland Indians.

In their last ten games, the White Sox are 7-3, but they have really been propelled by an amazing 25-11 home record (versus 15-13 on the road).

Despite having two of their best offensive players on the injured list in Eloy Jimenez and Luis Robert, the White Sox still rank sixth in runs per game at 4.90. 

Even more impressively, their pitching staff ranks fifth in earned run average at 3.25. Lance Lynn (7-1, 1.23 ERA), Carlos Rodon (5-2, 1.96 ERA), Dylan Cease (5-2, 3.38 ERA), Lucas Giolito (5-5, 3.81 ERA), and Dallas Keuchel (5-1, 4.14 ERA) have all been really solid this year.

Trending Down: New York Yankees

At 33-31, the Yankees are over .500, but they have fallen to fourth in the A.L. East, 7.5 games behind the first-place Tampa Bay Rays.

This is in large part due to a rough 4-6 record over their last ten games.

While Gerrit Cole has been solid (7-3, 2.31 ERA), the rest of their rotation has been shaky. Corey Kluber is on the injured list, Jameson Taillon is just 1-4 with a 5.74 ERA, and their second-best pitcher was suspended all of last year in Domingo German (4-3, 3.12 ERA).

While the pitching has been questionable, it isn’t exactly like their offense is picking up the slack. In fact, they rank 24th in scoring averaging just 3.89 runs per game.

Aaron Judge is hitting .289/.388/.532 with 15 home runs and 35 runs batted in, but many others are struggling. Gary Sanchez is hitting just .224, D.J. LeMahieu is hitting just .257, and Gleyber Torres has just three home runs.

On paper, the Yankees look like they should be a formidable team, but while they are still trying to figure things out, the Rays and Red Sox are creating separation in the division.