Well, it’s time for the third installment of our weekly countdown series known simply as “3 Up & 3 Down.” So if you’re new to the Baseball Banter Broadcast, 3 Up & 3 Down is our weekly examination of three teams playing well, three teams that aren’t. And we add in a team to “Be On the Look Out” for (or BOLO) just for good measure. So let’s examine “week two” of 3 Up & 3 Down.

FIRST UP: CHICAGO CUBS (46-38)

The 2026 season for the Chicago Cubs has been an interesting one so far through the midway point of the season. And while the All-Star Game is still a couple of weeks away, the Cubs are getting hot at the right time. Over their last ten games, the Cubbies have gone 8-2 and have increased their run differential to +40. The National League Central has cooled off a bit from its red-hot start, where every team was over .500 for a good stretch of time. But that being said, it’s still a tough division to win. And Chicago’s recent hot streak is now putting pressure on the rest of the division.

FIRST DOWN: NEW YORK METS (35-49)

As the old saying goes, “when it rains, it pours.” And that saying has been the epitome of the 2026 season for the New York Mets. Nothing has gone right in Queens for the Metropolitans to the point where they have fired their manager, Carlos Mendoza, this past week. Over their last ten games, the Mers have gone 2-8 and are sitting at -45 in run differential. At this last point in the season, it will be difficult to climb out of the 15.5-game hole that they’ve dug themselves in the divisional battle in the National League East. And while the National League Wildcard battle isn’t quite as bad, a 9.5 game deficit isn’t a much better place to be record-wise. The Mets’ only real hope now will be to try to capitalize on any potential trade assets before the trade market heats up.

SECOND UP: TAMPA BAY RAYS (48-33)

Arguably, there is no hotter team right now in Major League Baseball than the Tampa Bay Rays. Winners of five straight contests, the Rays are firing on all cylinders. It’s always impressive to see, no matter the constantly changing cast of characters down at the “Trop,” they are always playing the sort of baseball that many pundits would categorize as “winning baseball”. Over their last ten contest, the Rays are 7-3 with that aforementioned five-game winning streak, and have a positive run differential of +24. Tampa has definitely proven that they aren’t the pushover that everyone was expecting them to be in the American League East heading into the season. And with the remarkable deficiency around the AL, Tampa seems poised and primed for a postseason spot in 2026.

SECOND DOWN: TORONTO BLUE JAYS (39-45)

Things have not gone as expected for the defending American League Champions from a season ago. To say that the Toronto Blue Jays have not played the brand of baseball they would’ve wanted so far this season would be a massive understatement. Over their last ten games, the Blue Jays have gone 3-7 and run their run differential to -33. However, the more alarming number related to the Blue Jays is the fact that they are in the midst of a six-game losing streak. You never want to be on this end of a streak of six games. Yet, that is exactly where Toronto finds itself at the present moment.

THIRD UP: TEXAS RANGERS (42-42)

The American League West has been an absolute mind-melting experience to witness thus far in 2026. Coming into the season, everyone expected the Seattle Mariners to continue the run from a season ago. However, that has not been the case. The long-standing division dominator of the past decade, the Houston Astros, looks like a shell of their former selves. Then there’s the “homeless” A’s that have a young core that’s looking to establish themselves, but they play in a child’s ballpark in Sacramento. And of course, there’s the consistent question mark that is the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, who have no idea who they even are beyond being the place where Mike Trout is wasting away his Hall of Fame career. And then there’s the team that swept the Toronto Blue Jays in four straight games, the Texas Rangers. Texas has claimed the top spot in the AL West with the pure definition of a mediocre record of .500 with 42-42. The Rangers aren’t very far removed from their World Series-winning season of 2023, yet they are struggling to get back to resembling a team capable of winning it all. With how down the AL is this season, there is unquestionably a chance for the team to get hot and make another run. But they are going to have to start playing much better baseball because a run differential of -8 isn’t the mark of a championship caliber team.

THIRD DOWN: ATLANTA BRAVES (49-33)

It wasn’t long ago that the Atlanta Braves looked like world beaters and the best team in baseball. Atlanta seemed to have no weakness and looked as if they were going to run away with the National League East crown like it was the late 1990’s. However, as the old saying goes, “all good things must come to an end”, and that’s how the Braves have been playing recently. The once dominant division lead for the Braves is down to only three games over the red-hot Philadelphia Phillies. (More on the Phillies in a moment.) Atlanta has found itself over their last ten games with a record of 3-7. And when you think back, it wasn’t long ago that the Braves had the best run differential in the sport, and now they’ve dropped out of the top three spots in that statistic. Then, when you examine the team, they are having some more health issues. Remaining healthy has been the biggest issue facing the Braves over the past few seasons. And if the health bug has once again bitten Atlanta, it may lead to one of the biggest collapses in for a team that played with such great expectations early in the season.

BE ON LOOKOUT FOR (BOLO): PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES (47-37)

Now, as we look at the team to be on the lookout for, the Philadelphia Phillies have been red-hot. Philadelphia has seen this story before, and it played out “almost” perfectly for them back in 2022. The Phillies would fire their manager and promote the bench coach, a baseball lifer, and then the team would get hot. And back in 2022, when Joe Girardi was fired and replaced with bench coach Rob Thompson, the Phillies rode that train straight to the World Series. Could a similar fate be in store this season, when the Phillies replaced Thompson with Don Mattingly? That will remain to be seen. However, Philadelphia has gotten hot to the tune of a 7-3 record over their last ten games, all while clearing out the negative run differential they placed themselves in when they got off to the terrible start that lost “Topper” his job.

As previously mentioned, this positive run by the Phillies, coinciding with the struggles of the Braves, means that the Phillies are only three games out of first place in the NL East. A place that, if you looked at the standings a month ago, would have seemed like a dream out of a fairy tale. And yet, here we are now heading into the All-Star Game in a couple of weeks, taking place in Philadelphia. Wouldn’t it be highly impressive for the host team to be the top team of their own division by that game? It now seems possible for that very thing to take place in the battle for the NL East crown.