Sentence to Describe Every MLB Team Heading Into Stretch Run of 2024 Season

With around 35 games remaining on each Major League Baseball team's 2024 schedule, it's pretty much a 50/50 split between those preparing for October and those who have already shifted their focus to 2025 and beyond.

For both the haves and have-nots, though, we've put together a one-sentence synopsis for each of the 30 teams as they begin the final 20 percent of this campaign.

Each of these is, admittedly, quite the run-on sentence, clocking in at around 55 words per team. Still, we're trying to keep it short and sweet while touching on the current state of affairs for all 30 franchises.

Teams are broken up by division and listed in order of standings (as of Thursday morning) within each division, starting in the AL East and finishing in the NL West.

New York Yankees (74-53)

The Big Three of Aaron Judge, Juan Soto and Gerrit Cole has done some seriously heavy lifting since the All-Star break, but the Yankees barely have a .500 record to show for it, as the starting rotation that dominated in May has been AWOL for three months.

Baltimore Orioles (74-54)

The number of O's starting pitchers on the IL is getting out of control, with Zach Eflin (shoulder) joining that group this week, but having one of the most potent offenses in the bigs has kept Baltimore in the running for the AL's No. 1 seed

Boston Red Sox (67-59)

The trade-deadline acquisitions of James Paxton (a likely season-ending calf injury), Lucas Sims (6.23 ERA) and Luis García (11.17 ERA) haven't gone according to plan, but getting Triston Casas and Tyler O'Neill back last weekend could be the spark they need to chase down a wild-card spot

Tampa Bay Rays (64-62)

All but six of Tampa Bay's remaining games will come against teams still vying for a playoff spot, so the new-look Rays—after trading away just about everything they could last month—are going to have a major say in who makes it into a postseason they're likely to miss for the first time since 2018

Toronto Blue Jays (59-68)

The name of the game for the Blue Jays right now is identifying players who could help them get back to contention in 2025, and to that end, they've got Bowden Francis thriving in the rotation while Will Wagner and Leo Jiménez are hitting well as true-blue rookies

Cleveland Guardians (73-53)

This offense has been struggling for more than a month, but the historically great bullpen anchored by Emmanuel Clase, Hunter Gaddis and Cade Smith continues to buoy Cleveland's quest for a No. 1 seed, stringing together 23 consecutive scoreless innings of relief in a recent stretch against the Cubs, Brewers and Yankees

Minnesota Twins (71-56)

Injuries are mounting and Carlos Correa's return from plantar fasciitis—already absent for six weeks at this point—is nowhere in sight, but the Twins keep hanging around in the projected playoff picture thanks to Bailey Ober, Pablo López and rookie David Festa all posting sub-2.70 ERAs thus far in the second half.

Kansas City Royals (71-56)

Seth Lugo has come back to earth with a 5.24 ERA over his last seven starts, but Bobby Witt Jr. remains a blazing inferno, batting .445 with a 1.319 OPS since the All-Star break in what will go down as one of the most Herculean performances of all time if he can carry the Royals into the postseason.

Detroit Tigers (62-65)

Despite trading away Jack Flaherty, the Tigers have held 15 consecutive opponents to four runs or fewer, fueled by a modest breakout by rookie Keider Montero (16.0 IP, 5 ER, 15 K) who might be pitching his way into the 2025 Opening Day rotation. [Bonus sentence: Spencer Torkelson had a four-hit game Tuesday in just his third game back from more than two months in the minors.]

Chicago White Sox (31-97)

Since July 11, this dumpster fire aboard a trainwreck has gone 4-29, averaging 2.7 runs per game as it hurtles toward shattering the 1962 New York Mets' modern-day record of 120 losses in a season

Houston Astros (68-58)

Already boasting the best record in baseball since that disastrous 7-19 start to the year, getting Justin Verlander back this week after more than two months on the IL felt like a "Happy learned how to putt, uh oh" moment in a season where the title of favorite to win it all is still entirely up for grabs

Seattle Mariners (64-64)

Ten days removed from being tied for first place in this division—and barely two months removed from holding a 10-game lead in the AL West—Seattle's postseason hopes are now hanging by a thread thanks to an offense has taken a downward turn from woebegone to downright abysmal, despite getting Julio Rodríguez back after three weeks on the shelf

Texas Rangers (59-69)

Hard to imagine anyone will ever outcollapse the Marlins going straight from winning the World Series in 1997 to losing 108 games in 1998, but the Rangers are putting together one of the worst title defenses of the past quarter century after dropping 17 of their last 25 games to fall out of the postseason conversation in a hurry.

Los Angeles Angels (54-73)

Not a whole lot of positive to point to after 80 percent of season No. 1 of life post-Shohei Ohtani, but second-year shortstop Zach Neto has emerged as one heck of a foundational piece for the Angels' future, batting .312/.415/.584 with eight home runs and eight stolen bases over his last 36 games.

Oakland Athletics (54-73)

The rebuild is nowhere near complete, but the A's have already won more games than they did last season, will soon surpass their 60-win mark from two years ago and should be carrying a decent product into what will be a weird/depressing/infuriating temporary stay in Sacramento next spring