MLB Power Rankings - August 31: Blue Jays grab top AL spot; Orioles tumble to No. 15

1. St. Louis Cardinals

Regardless of his pedigree, any player pulling on a St. Louis Cardinals uniform these days is probably going to hit well or spin a gem. Tommy Pham? He boasts an .830 OPS since rejoining the team Aug. 17. Jonathan Broxton? He's got 15 strikeouts with a 1.50 ERA in 12 innings with the Cardinals, who have one loss in their last eight games.

2. Pittsburgh Pirates

Maybe hanging around Gerrit Cole and Francisco Liriano all summer compelled Pittsburgh's less heralded starters to step it up a bit. J.A. Happ, for instance, has allowed one earned run over his last three starts, while Charlie Morton's 4.25 strikeout-to-walk ratio over the last two weeks ranks 14th among qualified NL starters.

3. Toronto Blue Jays

With 21 wins in their last 26 games and a 70.2 percent chance of capturing a division title, the unmistakable aroma of playoff baseball is starting to permeate Toronto for the first time in more than two decades. Lately, Edwin Encarnacion has been the one stoking the postseason fire up north, hitting .402 with 11 home runs this month while setting a new franchise record with 35 RBIs in August.

4. Kansas City Royals

Alex Gordon's impending return should help bolster an offense that has scuffled of late, as the Royals own the fifth-worst wRC+ (99) and the third-lowest isolated power (.130) in the American League over the past two weeks. Not that something as trivial as "not scoring runs" has stopped them from winning, of course.

5. Chicago Cubs

Jake Arrieta's 116-pitch no-hitter against the Dodgers on Sunday punctuated another strong month for the Cubs' rotation, which owns the fifth-best ERA (3.89) in the National League since the beginning of August despite posting the fourth-worst HR/FB ratio (16.5 percent) over that span.

6. New York Yankees

The Yankees' offense looked just fine without Mark Teixeira and (mostly) without Alex Rodriguez this past weekend in Atlanta, tallying 38 runs in a decisive three-game sweep at Turner Field. Even Didi Gregorius and Stephen Drew have been productive of late, contributing league-average offense over the past 30 days.

7. Houston Astros

Marwin Gonzalez has done a fine job mitigating the absence of Carlos Correa, who's missed four games with a sore hamstring, as the 26-year-old is 7-for-18 (.389) since taking over as interim shortstop Wednesday. Correa, though, is optimistic he'll play Monday, while injured outfielder George Springer is already two games into his rehab stint with Double-A Corpus Christi.

8. Los Angeles Dodgers

Not to be alarmist, but the Dodgers have scored eight fewer runs over the past two weeks than the Atlanta Braves, whose top three hitters over that span are Jonny Gomes, Nick Swisher, and A.J. Pierzynski. That's alarming.

9. New York Mets

Remember that six-year stretch when the Mets' offense generated little more than exasperated sighs? Those days are over. Not only did their revamped lineup set a new club record by smashing 43 homers in August, but the Mets also lead the National League in park-adjusted offense (115 wRC+) since the All-Star break.

10. San Francisco Giants

Lauded for their pitching depth when the season began, the Giants' rotation remains a bit of a mess amid ineffectiveness from everyone but Madison Bumgarner and injuries to Matt Cain (new) and Tim Lincecum (old). This past week, in fact, the club's starters fashioned a dismal 6.19 ERA while surrendering a .299 opponents' batting average.

11. Texas Rangers

Derek Holland, who missed the first 4 1/2 months of the season after hurting his shoulder in his season debut, has been a revelation since returning from the disabled list, fashioning a 2.53 ERA with a 20:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio in three outings. His most impressive start came Sunday when he became the first Rangers left-hander since 1986 to toss a shutout while recording double-digit strikeouts.

12. Washington Nationals

After returning to the lineup Tuesday following a seven-week stint on the disabled list, Denard Span lasted two games before being shut down for the remainder of the season with a hip problem. At least some of Washington's other players are starting to deliver, as the Nationals lead the NL in OBP (.380) and rank second in runs scored (71) over the past two weeks.

13. Minnesota Twins

The Twins are fortunate Miguel Sano's minor hamstring issue didn't escalate, as the 22-year-old rookie ranks eighth in the majors in win probability added since the beginning of August, crushing eight home runs with a 1.177 OPS over his last 18 games.

14. Los Angeles Angels

Mike Trout's 4-for-4 performance in Sunday's 9-2 loss was encouraging, but the Angels are going to need other players* to start producing soon, as only one team - the Rockies - posted a lower wRC+ than Los Angeles (76) in August.

*Extensive research revealed the Angels do, in fact, employ other players

15. Baltimore Orioles

Adam Jones was entirely correct when he told reporters after the Orioles dropped a fourth straight game Sunday that his team's recent slide is "not from a lack of effort." Rather, it's from a lack of hitting, as Baltimore's .267 OBP and .615 OPS over the last two weeks both rank second-last in the majors.

16. Arizona Diamondbacks

Every once in a while, Dave Stewart makes a move that doesn't leave everyone scratching their heads. For instance, Saturday he shipped non-tender candidate and former closer Addison Reed to Queens for a pair of minor-league right-handers while saving a bunch of cash in the process.

17. Tampa Bay Rays

The universe's desire to see Tampa Bay fall short of a wild-card berth became readily apparent when Curt Casali hurt his hamstring while breaking into his home-run trot Tuesday. Still not convinced? Consider that J.P. Arencibia - Casali's replacement for the time being - owns a .200 OBP with five strikeouts in nine at-bats since joining the team.

18. Cleveland Indians

Longtime executive Mark Shapiro's "mixed emotions" about leaving the Indians after more than two decades with the organization could have something to do with the club's five-game winning streak, fueled by a staff that owns a 2.52 ERA with an MLB-best 29.3 strikeout rate over the past week.

19. San Diego Padres

If James Shields' contract doesn't scare off potential suitors - he passed through waivers unclaimed - his home run numbers will probably stop a deal from being finalized. The 33-year-old right-hander has allowed 26 long balls in 28 starts this season, managing the fourth-worst HR/FB rate among qualified starters despite throwing 81 innings at Petco Park.

20. Chicago White Sox

Chris Sale established a new career-high in strikeouts last week and will take the mound Tuesday trailing Clayton Kershaw by seven for the MLB lead (236). Imagine how many strikeouts he'd have if he got to pitch against the White Sox on a regular basis.

21. Boston Red Sox

Forget about the $108 million left on the contracts of Pablo Sandoval and Hanley Ramirez, the youth movement is well underway in Boston. Since the beginning of the month, Jackie Bradley Jr. (1.120 OPS), Travis Shaw (1.012 OPS), and Xander Bogaerts (.324 AVG) all rank among the AL's top 30 in wins above replacement.

22. Detroit Tigers

After placing both Anibal Sanchez and Daniel Norris on the disabled list earlier this month, the Tigers' patchwork pitching staff was further decimated by injury this past weekend, when every one of their hurlers suffered a severe case of whiplash during a three-game set with the Blue Jays.

23. Seattle Mariners

A "very disappointed" Kevin Mather axed general manager Jack Zduriencik on Friday, tabbing Jeff Kingston - the deposed executive's former assistant - as his replacement. In his first act as GM, Kingston distributed his new business card to everyone in the front office, complete with the caption "I Am Not Responsible For What Robinson Cano Does In His Age-37 Season".

24. Oakland Athletics

With the club's focus squarely on 2016, it's encouraging that three (presumed) major pieces of next year's roster are finishing the season with such aplomb. Since the beginning of August, Stephen Vogt, Mark Canha, and Marcus Semien all rank within the AL's top-34 in weighted runs created plus.

25. Milwaukee Brewers

Not a lot went right for Milwaukee this season, but at least Ryan Braun restored some of the trade value that had dwindled over the previous two years. The 31-year-old with five seasons and $100 million left on his contract is hitting .278/.347/.504 (129 OPS+) with 24 homers, 23 doubles, and 18 stolen bases in 123 games in 2015.

26. Atlanta Braves

How bad is Atlanta's offense, you ask? Shelby Miller is on the verge of becoming the first qualified starter since 1991 - and just the fifth in the live-ball era - to post an ERA below 2.75 while tallying five wins or fewer.

27. Cincinnati Reds

Billy Hamilton's .272 on-base percentage is downright atrocious, but maybe his numbers just need to be placed in a more favorable context. After all, Hamilton and Joey Votto boast an average OBP of nearly .363. So, that's something.

28. Colorado Rockies

Considering the state of the Rockies' rotation, it's difficult not to consider that Nolan Arenado's tenure in Colorado could easily resemble that of Troy Tulowitzki. They're both exceptionally gifted infielders who happened to be drafted by an organization that can't develop any pitching. The only difference is Tulowitzki appeared in the World Series before Colorado traded him away.

29. Miami Marlins

If Giancarlo Stanton can return to the lineup Friday, as some have speculated, the 25-year-old will have 28 games left to reclaim the MLB lead in home runs from Nelson. Stanton, who last took the field June 26, trails Cruz by 12 despite playing 54 fewer games. Crazier things have happened.

30. Philadelphia Phillies

All things considered, the final stretch of the 2015 campaign has gone pretty well for the Phillies, who have watched Aaron Nola (22) and Jerad Eickhoff (25) average a 3.06 ERA through 10 combined starts to begin their respective MLB careers.