An interesting thing has happened as we’ve been watching our A’s improve this season. We’ve blinked, and the American League stinks! With all due respect to some longstanding talented teams who have consistently played good baseball, something terrible has hit the A.L. When you wake up Thursday morning and check out the standings, you’ll see something that I don’t think I’ve ever seen before. There are only four teams in the American League with a winning record. Each of the division leaders; The Tampa
Bay Rays, the Cleveland Guardians, and the Athletics are playing .500 ball or better as well as the second place New York Yankees in the East. That’s all. This compares with double that, eight teams in the National League. If the season ended today, two A.L. teams would make the playoffs with sub-.500 records. All the playoff teams in the N.L. would have winning records.
The National League Central Division with all five teams over .500 has more teams with winning records than the entire American League.
How is this happening? Only two National League teams have losing records against the American League so far in 2026, the Marlins (5-9) and the Giants (1-8). Two teams are playing .500 ball, the Cubs and Phillies. The Cincinnati Reds have the best interleague record to date at 15-6. Compare this to only three A.L. teams having winning records in interleague play, the A’s, the Yankees, and the Mariners. Three teams are playing .500 ball, the Red Sox, Guardians and Rangers.
Last season the American League outplayed the National League with an overall record of 367-353 (.510). The two prior years the N.L. was victorious with .525 and .535 winning percentages. It’s impossible to predict how this season will ultimately play out, and as we know, anything can happen in the post season. But this is a pattern that I’ll be watching throughout the season. Let’s hope our A’s continue keep a hold on the lead in the American League West and continue to beat up on the National League, especially this weekend when the Giants come to town.
A’s Coverage:
- Kurtz shakes off pain, crushes massive grand slam to lift A’s
- Langeliers crushes 100th career HR (448 ft!) as breakout season continues
- The A’s drop series opener to the Cards 6-4
- A’s roster moves: Bolte, Stefanic recalled; Wilson to IL; Harris optioned, Nuñez DFA’d
- There’s Forcing Your Way Up And There’s Bolte — Is There A Spot For Him?
- A’s Fall To Orioles 2-1
- May Roster Shuffle Could Help The A’s — But They’d Have To Want It
- A’s roster moves: Langeliers reinstated, Wynns DFA’d
- The Blue Jays Just DFA’d a Pitcher the A’s Can’t Afford to Ignore
- Cubs Acquire Tyler Ferguson
- Phillies Claim Grant Holman
- A’s trade for Jonah Heim to fortify catching depth
- Langeliers HRs twice on wife’s b-day, then welcomes 1st child; taking time off
- Athletics’ Wei-En Lin Continues Rising The Ranks
- Now that we’ve seen a two-way player, what about a three-way player?
- He once struck out Giancarlo Stanton. Now he engineers cars for Ford
- A Walk In The Park Is Nice…To A Point
- Three Things To Watch For The Athletics In May
- A Moment To Appreciate The Awesomeness That Is Carlos Cortes
- Kurtz ‘starting to get back to himself’ — and that’s a scary prospect
- What the Athletics’ Hot Start Means for Their 2026 Trade Deadline Strategy
- A’s gave Gelof an opportunity, and he’s running with it
MLB News and Interest:
- Ohtani (0.82 ERA) plays stopper, continues historic stretch with 7 scoreless vs. SF
- Dodgers get OF Alek Thomas for prospect in trade with D-backs
- Schwarber goes deep for FIFTH straight game, matching Phillies record
- MLB trade grade: Guardians land Patrick Bailey from Giants
- Mets promote top outfield prospect Ewing
- Ober-powered: Righty needs just 89 pitches to toss Twins’ first Maddux since ‘17
- Why so many good MLB teams have closer issues in 2026
- 1 thing each team can improve upon the rest of the way
- Dodgers activate Mookie Betts
- 1st Rookie of the Year poll of ‘26 shows clear favorites, but plenty of competition
- Rangers’ Nathan Eovaldi scratched due to left side tightness
- Blue Jays’ Addison Barger returns to IL with elbow inflammation
- Astros Notes: Imai, Pearson, Peña, Meyers
- Braves place Sean Murphy on IL with fractured finger
- Braves activate Ha-Seong Kim, put Eli White on concussion list
- The Giants’ Long-Term Contracts Are Becoming A Big Problem
- Today in Baseball History
