What Still Matters for the Teams That Are Dead the Rest of the Season?

August of the Major League Baseball regular season feels like a bit of a dog days slog due to the tragic reality that not only is it getting closer and closer to closing time, but at this point the fine line in the sand has pretty much been drawn between those ramping up for the September postseason races, or you’re a team that’s essentially out of reach of the dance with still a month of games left to play.

If you’re someone looking to watch meaningful baseball right now, options can be fairly limited with which teams actually matter.

However, there may still be reasons for you to watch if you’re a fan of teams that lost hope in 2025 and have pivoted to 2026. It’s all a matter of where you look.

Some of these developments may largely change the future going forward, and it’s worth checking in on those rather than the standings.

For some of the teams that don’t have a chance at October glory, here are some emerging stories that could still largely be meaningful in what’s considered our dog days. 

Michael Harris II Turning Everything Around in Atlanta

The Braves had everything go wrong for them early and then had injuries pile up to the point where it’s been irrecoverable and they’ve since fallen behind even the Marlins in the standings in the NL East; this was a team lauded for locking up its core very early and believing in the talent that’s made them be considered an NL team that can throw haymakers at the Dodgers ever since their 2021 World Series.

The same pieces we believed in WILL be back next season, though, and right now, maybe the youngest and most-crucial piece to that puzzle has been Michael Harris II, going from a first half where he was a top-5 WORST hitter in baseball to suddenly going scorched earth. Since the All-Star Break, Harris has gone from 155th in OPS to top-5 as well as in average and in slugging with plenty of homers to show for it. He adjusted the plate and suddenly looked like the offensive talent they hoped he could turn into with his elite outfield defense, given that he’s just 24 and is on an 8-year deal.

The win column might not matter in Atlanta anymore. However, with veterans looking to return next year and Harris still being the future, they now have a cornerstone rather than the potential of a historically bad contract.

Samuel Basallo and His Future in the Orioles Core

The golden age of Orioles prospects upon entering the era where they were tanking finally came to a close. They had two years in a row of being the fun baby birds with names like Gunnar, Adley, and Jackson Holliday. More, with an owner who was spraying fans in the bird bath and giving himself a bobblehead night, didn’t exactly pan out this year from the beginning, when all went wrong. Brandon Hyde was fired, and unfortunately, they dug a hole too big to get out of ever since playing well after his firing. They’ll more than likely run it back with this same young group of former top draft picks in the prime of their careers and mark this year as a wash after being a projected World Series contender preseason.

With the Orioles as a perpetual loser for decades, it’s fascinating that they haven’t extended any of the guys one would expect they would want to lock up as franchise players after having already been there before, which would make a Baltimore fan worry they’re back to their old ways. However, not one week into the majors, it wasn’t Gunnar, it wasn’t Adley, it wasn’t Jackson Holliday that got extended: it was 21-year-old catching outfielder Samuel Basallo! It’s truly something that, for a long time, the narrative was that “the Orioles went X number of games without being swept for years since Adley’s debut at catcher” was a thing seemingly forever, and now Basallo is paid through the next eight seasons.

Bob Nightengale is reporting that Adley may be the name on the trade market. With him done for the year and Basallo already getting reps, it’ll be worth monitoring not only how he performs but also when and whom Baltimore decides to pay next, and who could be in a new uniform.

Zac Gallen Is Making the Arizona Pitching Look Salvageable

Let’s face it: the reason the Arizona Diamondbacks went from potential NL contender to having Eugenio Suarez, Josh Naylor, and Merrill Kelly all traded is due to their disastrous run of investments, or lack thereof, in their pitching. They’ve had a top-10 offense for two years in a row now only to have the big purchase of Corbin Burnes go down with injury, Jordan Montgomery be a net negative way back when, Eduardo Rodriguez only made 10 starts last year and started the year with a 1-7 record and a ballooned ERA over 5, and a bullpen with the most blown leads in the majors.

With the prolific offense likely to run it back next year, the focus now is on figuring out what pitching is salvageable. Zac Gallen entered this season in his free agency walk year and put up career-low numbers before the All-Star break. The former ace didn’t even look tradeable at the deadline and had a 6.23 ERA in July as someone who was largely expected to be a major reason why Arizona was in contention.

He’s since turned it all around, though at the end of the year, right before what will be one of the most fascinating paydays in free agency- in the month of August, his ERA skyrocketed down to just 3.10, and the man who is consistently going 6 innings for you every night has Moreno with him behind the plate. For Gallen, it’ll be extra money in the bank if he can end the year strong with more starts looking like his old self, and a short-term deal at high AAV might be the way he approaches the market to go out and do it again for a full year. Arizona may look to retain Gallen if he continues this trend, given the decimated contracts they have handed out in the past. However, the decision regarding their relationship is a fascinating case study.

Willy Adames Is Having Fun Again in San Francisco

After being the NL “always the bridesmaid, never the bride” in the Carlos Correa and “Arson Judge” sweepstakes where San Francisco was always in the running but never the landing spot for a major free agent aside from Jung Hoo Lee, Buster Posey stepped in as the big president on campus and got the marquee shortstop Willy Adames in free agency on a 7-year $182 million deal. Adames’s arrival was meant to be the “big things are coming” dawn of a new era in San Francisco, and we saw that it only led up to Posey later trading for Rafael Devers before the deadline. But after a hot start that didn’t even include Adames playing well, batting abysmally with an OBP below .300, the Giants had the worst record in baseball since the Devers trade that was supposed to take them over the top.

PHOTO: Michael McLoone/Imagn Images

However, Willy turned it completely around in July and looked much more like the one he was in Milwaukee, with 7 homers and a slugging percentage that doubled all other months. It can take a while for adjustments to be made for free agents going from one park to the next, especially a historically pitcher-friendly park at Oracle, and the season for Adames may have just been a living and breathing entity where he’s finally getting his approach right. We already know he’s one of the most beloved personalities in the league and a leader – take his loud and long-standing ovation last Friday in Milwaukee as proof. He was there for just under 4 seasons and was treated like a Brewers legend before promptly hitting a revenge homer.

The way Willy ends the year, leading into having a season as a Giant already under his belt in 2026, will be fun, because a joyous Adames makes the league better.