August is typically when you get a sense of the true storylines that will define the season as a whole. The underdog teams, the unstoppable titans, the players with a plan. This August was no different. It's weird that the outcome of many of the division leaders from 2024 becoming division leaders this year were still satisfying upsets, but there you go.
As we tally up the moments of this month, let's look at the 5 predictions I made for August last month:
1. The bloodbath ends in the Bronx and a spark is finally lit. This 100% happened. They've been on a tear for the last week or so. Yes, they've mostly been playing bad teams like the Nationals, White Sox and Rays, but the offense is coming alive and the rotation has solidified.
2. A consequential favorite emerges in the AL West scrum. And it isn't the Astros. Technically the Mariners do have the leverage in this division. The Astros are just refusing to vacate first.
3. The NL Cy Young battle becomes even closer to call. Oh no, this one didn't happen. Wheeler got hurt, so you can give it to Skenes now.
4. A team that didn't really do much at the deadline becomes a surprise competitor. And I'm somehow thinking it might be the Marlins. Not quite. The Marlins did swell, but they're not a competitor. Neither are the Guardians.
5. It becomes increasingly clear that someone's chasing 60 this year. Alright, folks. Cal Raleigh has 50. Kyle Schwarber has 49. It is honestly doable for either one. Everybody strap in.
From there, it's best we go to 5 things from August 2025 that no one could have predicted:
1. The Brewers continue to lead the league in wild endings. I go back to that Brewers-Reds series, where every game was close and two of them came down to walk-offs. The Brewers, more than anyone else in the league, are one of the most volatile extra-innings teams because anyone in that lineup can be the difference maker. It can be William Contreras, hot as hell this month, or it can be third-string infielder Andruw Monasterio. The Brewers can keep games close but they often figure out ways of breaking them open. Which is why it's funny that I'm posting this the night the Brewers got played in extras by the Phillies.
2. Kyle Schwarber might be a late addition to the MVP race. Yes, it would be easy to give it Ohtani because Ohtani's the greatest thing since sliced bread, but Kyle Schwarber is on an unrivaled tear, capping off a month that included a 4-homer night with his 49th home run and 119th RBI. Schwarber has played in every game for the Phils and been the difference maker offensively on a number of occasions. He's also just never been this on target in Philly before, as typically he struggles with average or consistency. I think Schwarber tells more of the story of 2025 than just 'well Ohtani did his thing again'. Ohtani has like 3 MVPs, I think we can give someone else a chance.
3. The Dodgers are going to need to really fight for the division this year. It's not even really the rotation's fault this year. Glasnow-Ohtani-Kershaw-Snell-Yamamoto is a working rotation mechanic and they're all healthy and working. The issue is that the lineup, somehow, is running out of steam. You're seeing it in even the highlights like Ohtani and Hernandez and Pages, they're just having rough months. It's not as if they were truly terrible this month either, they were 15-13, but the Padres are on the same pace, and catching up. It proves that it's not gonna be a cakewalk for this team, as it has been in the past.
4. After nearly blowing their division lead to the Guardians, the Tigers just shoot ahead like nothing happened. Sort of the anti-Dodgers. Instead of just bobbing along like nothing's happened and attracting attention, the Tigers shot back up and are now 9.5 games ahead of the Royals. The wild part is that the strategy of getting older pitching help has pretty much worked. Kyle Finnegan has been unstoppable with Detroit, as have Montero and Morton for the most part. The power of Skubal, Greene, Carpenter, Torres and Torkelson is keeping this team above other AL Central teams with diminished power cores. Hopefully this can keep them ahead til the end.
5. Aroldis Chapman is the most important pitcher in the game. Here is Chapman's line this year. 1.02 ERA, 3.3 WAR, 76 Ks, 27 saves, a 0.660 WHIP. Nobody is hitting this guy. It's like peak Chapman, Reds-era Chapman. No wonder the Sox re-upped him.
And countered to that are 5 things from August 2025 that lots of people could have predicted:
1. The Yankees come back. The bats have come alive recently, and Jazz Chisholm, Giancarlo Stanton, Trent Grisham, Cody Bellinger and, yes, Aaron Judge have been killing it as of late. The multi-homer games are making it feel like April again, and even though a lot of this is against non-competitive teams, it's noteworthy. Plus, after a lot of back-half struggles, Cam Schlittler and Luis Gil have been the sort of reassurance this team has needed all year.
2. The Mets don't. Despite sweeping the Phillies, which would have been enough to go up on them, the Mets have squandered multiple opportunities and are now 6 games behind Philly for the division. Yes, Juan Soto and Brandon Nimmo have been hot lately, but the bullpen is falling off and a lot of the heroes have been quiet. They're still third of three Wild Card spots, which means if the Reds catch fire they may be toast. However...
3. The Cubs and Reds are just not great August teams this decade. The Cubs actually accomplished a great deal in the last half of the month, but they still struggled to keep up with the Brewers for first. The Reds have, once again, dropped a ton of important games, including some big ones against the Dodgers. The Reds want to prove that they finally can compete, and again I'm seeing strain and discomfort. The bullpen dropped some close Milwaukee games, and the defense didn't do much better.
4. Everyone is desperate for their own Skenes. This month alone we've seen Payton Tolle, Jonah Tong, Parker Messick and Nolan McLean come up and immediately take command of their teams from the mound. Tong and McLean especially, both Mets, have revitalized the conversation. It's hard to produce something as surefire as Skenes, but everybody wants someone who throws smoke and is that controllable, and so this month may see even more.
5. A key qualification for a Cy Young will be 'managed to make all 32 starts'. Zack Wheeler, Nate Eovaldi, to the both of you, you had great runs and great seasons. But man, if you'd have figured out a way to stay healthy the whole year, then that would have been better for all involved parties.
For the sake of records, here are the 5 Most Important Players of August 2025:
1. Cal Raleigh, Seattle Mariners
2. Paul Skenes, Pittsburgh Pirates
3. Kyle Schwarber, Philadephia Phillies
4. Tarik Skubal, Detroit Tigers
5. Brice Turang, Milwaukee Brewers
And finally, 5 bold predictions for September 2025:
1. At least one laughably humiliating breakdown from a team at this point expected to make the playoffs.
2. Schwarber and Raleigh have some Sosa/McGwire style intrigue as they clobber further.
3. At least one really good divisional series with serious stakes.
4. At least one rookie really gets people excited for 2026.
5. One of the onlookers in the AL Wild Card race [Royals, Rangers, Guardians even] makes a Tigers-esque run.
So yeah, that's what August gave us. Let's finish strong now.
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