Every day, Pinstripe Alley offers updates on what the Yankees’ top American League opponents are up to through the Rivalry Roundup. The AL East is well-trodden ground there, but with the season’s first full month coming to a close, we’re going to take a peek around MLB as a whole and check in with each of the other five divisions. Who’s surprising? Who’s underwhelming? Who’s simply mediocre at the moment? Read on and find out.

(Note: Records and standings are up to date through games played on Saturday, May 31st.)

First Place: Seattle Mariners (31-26)

Top Position Player: Cal Raleigh (3.7 fWAR)
Top Pitcher: Bryan Woo (1.7 fWAR)

A Mariners team carried by its offense was not on my bingo card, but that’s where we are at the moment. How did we get here, though? It starts with the injury bug hitting one of the more talented rotations in the sport, and it primarily goes through Cal Raleigh hitting like the greatest catcher to ever pick up a bat.

There is no hyperbole in that statement about Raleigh, who hit his 22nd home run of the season on the 31st, the most any backstopper has ever hit before June. If not for Judge, Raleigh right now would be the premier candidate for the AL MVP. Raleigh has a .739 SLG in May.

While still not necessarily producing at the highest level, Julio Rodríguez has also picked up the slack in the last 30 days, helping offset the regressions of guys like Dylan Moore, and Jorge Polanco.

Luis Castillo is not the same pitcher he was a couple of years ago. The fastball velo is down, the swing and miss on the secondary is not the same, but still, the veteran is finding a way to produce at a time of need, currently with a 3.32 ERA. The burden has fallen on Bryan Woo and Castillo to carry a rotation missing Logan Gilbert and Bryce Miller, the latter of whom returned this past Saturday.

Between Miller’s recent return and the fact that Gilbert is already pitching rehab outings in the minors, the outlook is promising for the Mariners’ rotation moving forward, and that’s key for a pitching staff with a 94 ERA+ this season. That ERA+ could be even worse if not for the best closer in baseball — Andrés Muñoz went until May 30th before allowing his first earned run this season.

Second Place: Houston Astros (31-27)

Top Position Player: Jeremy Peña (2.7 fWAR)
Top Pitcher: Hunter Brown (2.1 fWAR)

The most consistent team in the American League over the last decade, through injuries and turnover, the Houston Astros remain a competitive team not to be taken lightly by anyone.

Cam Smith has struggled after being rushed to the bigs, and Hayden Wesneski underwent Tommy John surgery following a promising start to the year, but one man is really working hard to lessen the sting of trading away Kyle Tucker. After a disappointing start to his Astros career, Isaac Paredes got hot in May and currently has an .852 OPS this month.

Speaking of hitters doing well this month, Yainer Díaz is another name in this group. After establishing himself as one of the better young catchers in the AL over the last two years, Díaz struggled heavily to start 2025, but the production has returned to career norms. Houston has needed the likes of Díaz and Paredes to step up, given Christian Walker’s struggles and the absence of Yordan Álvarez, out with a hand fracture and no definitive timetable for a return. All that worrying about his knees, and so far in 2025, it’s a hand problem that has limited Houston’s most powerful hitter.

Pitching-wise, Houston shows itself to be a top-heavy team, extracting the most out of its stars. Hunter Brown and Framber Váldez form as good of a one-two punch as you’ll find in the American League, but beyond that, Houston faces a few rotation question marks, particularly now with Ronel Blanco out for the year. Lance McCullers returned recently after one of the longest absences in the sport, and he’s struggled like a guy who hasn’t pitched in years. A three-headed monster in the bullpen with Josh Hader, Bryan Abreu, and Steven Okert usually shuts things down in the late innings.

Seven wins in 10 matchups against divisional rivals in May have been crucial in taking Houston to this spot, tied for the AL West lead.

Third place: Texas Rangers (28-31)

Top Position Player: Josh Jung (1.4 fWAR)
Top Pitcher: Nathan Eovaldi (2.2 fWAR)

A very bad offense in 2025, the Rangers have had to contend with shockingly poor numbers from established veterans such as Marcus Semien, Adolis García, Joc Pederson, and Jake Burger. They fired their hitting coach, Pederson is out with a broken hand, and Burger is the only one of the bunch who has shown small signs of improvement, with a respectable .735 OPS in May.

Because Corey Seager has been absent on multiple occasions, dealing with hamstring problems this season, the youngsters Wyatt Langford and Josh Jung have had to carry the load rather frequently. Now Seager is healthy again, and if this team is going anywhere this season, they’ll need that to be the case for the remainder of the year.

If the Rangers are still somewhat close to the Wild Card race, it’s because of a phenomenal job by its pitching staff led by Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi, and Tyler Mahle. Eovaldi had to leave his last outing early with a right triceps issue, but word is that it was a precautionary move, and he’s set for his next scheduled start. Health is the big question mark regarding those four for the rest of the year, considering the lengthy injury records of all of them.

Fourth Place: Los Angeles Angels (26-31)

Top Position Player: Zach Neto (1.2 fWAR)
Top Pitcher: José Soriano (1.2 fWAR)

Between the 16th and 28th of May, this team managed to accumulate an eight-game winning streak and a five-game losing streak. The Angels perhaps earned the most attention when they came to Dodger Stadium and swept the reigning champs — without Mike Trout, one might add.

Continuously dealing with knee issues, Trout has already missed significant time this year, and only just got back, but that hasn’t stopped the Angels from being a particularly homer-happy team. Only the Yankees and Dodgers have more homers than the Angels, led by Taylor Ward’s 15 and Logan O’Hoppe’s 14.

The best example of an improvement in Draft selections and development from this team, Zach Neto has blossomed not only into one of the core pieces for the Angels, but one of the better shortstops in the game. Despite not yet playing even 40 games, Neto already leads the team in fWAR with an .813 OPS and eight stolen bases.

Homer-happy, but unspectacular in general (team 91 OPS+), the offense has its moments, but it’s not consistent enough to overcome the worst bullpen in baseball. Kenley Jansen hasn’t enjoyed his time with the Angels, and the same could be said for basically the entire ‘pen and its 6.11 ERA, the highest in baseball.

Last Place: Athletics (23-36)

Top Position Player: Jacob Wilson (2.5 fWAR)
Top Pitcher: Luis Severino (1.6 fWAR)

Opposing pitchers probably don’t enjoy the trip to hitter-friendly Sacramento, but that hasn’t been nearly as impactful as the performance of A’s pitchers at home, with Luis Severino the sole positive note in that rotation. The rest of the starting staff has a combined ERA north of 5.00.

A team that entered May with a winning record, the A’s are 7-20 this month, and pretty firmly out of contention. All of this despite having a very fun young offense, but that hasn’t produced enough to overcome one of the worst pitching staffs in the sport.

Highly touted prospect Nick Kurtz was one of the highlights of this pitiful month for the A’s with a 134 wRC+, but he recently went on the IL with a right hip flexor. Despite homering in back-to-back games, Tyler Soderstrom has come down after a hot start to the year with a .702 OPS in well over 100 PA this past month. Jacob Wilson has been the big surprise of the A’s campaign, leading the team with a .344 average and 2.5 fWAR. He might be the frontrunner for AL Rookie of the Year.

In a particularly disappointing month, even the surest of things haven’t been there: closer Mason Miller has allowed a run in five of eight appearances in May.