MLB Power Rankings: Lots of Movement, Just Not at the Top
SteemSports Presenter:@thesportsguy
SteemSports Editor:@scottybuckets
It was another busy week around professional baseball as we had one notable suspension, a mid-week series between the Yankees and Nationals wiped out, and while not much movement at the top of the power rankings, there was plenty toward the middle and back of the pack. The Yankees and Red Sox continue their stellar play, but the defending Champion Astros continue to put up mind-boggling pitching numbers and are nipping at the heals of both. There is one new club in the top 5, and the Cubbies and Mariners both managed to climb into the top 10. The once-dominant D-Backs are now just 1-10 in their last 11 games overall and have dropped 4 straight. The National League is wide-open at the moment, with 11 teams posting records somewhere between 24-24 and 28-17. So let's get to it, same disclaimer as always, these are the top 20 teams regardless of league and division standings, the top 10 teams are not necessarily the picks to the make the postseason, etc., and the rankings fluctuate based on how teams are trending as of late with their play. So without further ado, the latest editions of the MLB Power Rankings:
1 NEW YORK YANKEES (30-13) -
It seems like it's coming down to basically spots 1A and 1B atop the Power Rankings as both the Yankees and Red Sox continue to be locked atop the AL East and for the best record in baseball. The Yanks had a bit of an odd week as a suspended game and postponements caused a mid-week series to get wiped out and only put a weekend series against the Royals in the books. The Yankees took 2 of 3, including a 10-1 thumping in Sunday's finale. New York continues to be led by their vaunted lineup which ranks in the top 5 in the AL in runs scored, home runs, on-base %, and slugging %.
2 BOSTON RED SOX (32-15) -
The Red Sox now own the most victories in the majors with 32 after a 4-2 week. The Red Sox are now 1st in the American League in runs scored, are 2nd in home runs with 65 and are tops in the league in hitting at .268. Mookie Betts leads the majors in batting average and the pitching staff ranks third in the league in ERA and first in saves with 16. The bats continue to get it done for Boston and it appears that it is going to be a showdown to the end in the AL Central between the Sox and their longtime nemesis.
3 HOUSTON ASTROS (30-18) -
The Astros continue to rely on incredible pitching as they own the best team-ERA in not only the AL, but all of baseball, and it's not even close. Houston's team-ERA of just 2.46 in exactly 1.20 better than the 2nd place Yankees in the American League. They went 4-2 this past week and allowed only 12 runs total in the 6 games. Justin Verlander is 5-2 with just a 1.05 ERA, off-season acquisition Gerrit Cole is off to a big start with Astros as well, going 4-1 with a 1.75 ERA thus far. Charlie Morton is a perfect 6-0 with just a 1.94 ERA in 9 starts as well, as 3/5 of the Astros' starting rotation owns an ERA under 2.00. The defending Champs are nipping at the heals of both the Yankees and Red Sox.
4 ATLANTA BRAVES (28-17) -
The Atlanta Braves stay firm at the #4 spot as they now own the best record in the National League. They continue to get it done with superb offensive numbers as they continue to lead the league in runs scored, and batting average, as well as slugging %. They are also tied for 2nd in the NL in home runs are 2nd in on-base %. They're averaging over 5.2 runs per game, and are also 3rd in the NL in team-ERA at just 3.38. It appears as though the upstart Braves don't intend on going anywhere and have to now be considered the front-runners to win the very competitive NL East.
5 MILWAUKEE BREWERS (28-19) ↑
Congratulations to the Brewers who cracked the top 5 for the first time this season. Without any movement in the top 4, the Brew Crew represents the only change to the top 5 this week as the struggling D-Backs dropped back to 11th. Milwaukee used a big road trip to jump to 9 games above .500 after taking 2 of 3 from the D-Backs in Arizona and then 2 of 3 from the Twins in Minnesota. The power surge has finally arrived for the Brewers as they moved all the way up to 2nd in the NL in home runs, just 1 behind the Rockies. The Crew starts a home series with those very same D-Backs once again later today.
6 PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES (26-18) ↑
The Phillies were able to jump back into the top 10 a week ago in the 9th spot, and find themselves shooting up 3 more spots this week all the way to 6th. Philadelphia continues to keep pace in the competitive NL East where the Braves, Mets, and Nationals are all above .500 and battling for the division. The Phillies went 3-2 and are now 8 games above .500 and trail the Braves by just 1.5 games. The Phils are 4th in runs scored in the NL, and although the pitching has dropped to 7th in the league in team-ERA, they continue to push along and win more than they lose. A huge series with Atlanta gets started tomorrow from Philadelphia. A sweep of the Braves would push the Phils into 1st in the East.
7 LOS ANGELES ANGELS (26-21) ↓
The Angels drop a spot after a rough week that saw them go just 2-5 against the first-place Astros and surging Rays. The AL West may very well be the toughest division in baseball with 4 of the 5 teams at least 3 games above .500. The Angels dropped to 3rd in the division after the tough week, but continue to both pitch and hit well as they rank 4th in the AL in ERA and are 6th in runs scored and 4th in home runs. Mike Trout continues to lead the way, as the Angels hit the road for a series with the struggling Blue Jays in Toronto starting tomorrow.
8 CHICAGO CUBS (25-19) ↑
It seemed like just a matter of time before the Cubbies would make the jump into the top 10, and here they are, after a week in which they beat up on the lowly Reds, and dropped 2 of 3 to the Braves. It was enough to push them to a season-best 6 games over .500 and they are tied with the Cardinals and Pirates for 2nd in the jumbled NL Central, 1.5 games back of the Brewers. Chicago is getting it done behind their offense, as they rank 2nd in the NL in runs scored and 4th in batting average. The pitching, which had started the season slow, has really come on as of late as they've now passed the D-Backs for 1st in the NL in team-ERA at just 3.28.
9 SEATTLE MARINERS (27-19) ↑
Congratulations to the Mariners, who have moved back into the top 10 of the Power Rankings. While Seattle got news last week of Robinson Cano's 80-game suspension for testing positive for a banned substance, and he no doubt will be a big loss going forward for Seattle, the Mariners didn't let it hurt them last week as they took advantage of the Rangers and Tigers, taking 2 games from Texas and 3 of 4 from Detroit over the weekend. The 5-1 week has propelled them to a season-best 8 games over .500 and they've passed the Angels for 2nd in the very difficult AL West, just 2.0 games back of the Astros.
10 ST. LOUIS CARDINALS (25-19) ↓
The Cardinals drop a couple of spots after a mediocre week that saw them go 3-3, splitting a 2-game inter-league series with the Twins and splitting a 4-game series with the Phillies over the weekend. The Cardinals continue to depend on their pitching as they currently sit tied for 3rd with the Brewers in the NL in team-ERA at 3.47. They're just 8th in the NL in runs scored, but the bats have provided some extra pop as of late as the Cards are now 5th in the league in home runs with 55. St. Louis remains right in the middle of the bunched-up, highly-competitive NL Central.
11 ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS (25-21) ↓
First the D-Backs relinquished their grip on the #3 spot in the rankings a week ago by dropped to #5, and now they've dropped not just out of the top 5, but top 10 all-together. Arizona is all of a sudden in a slump and find themselves and MLB-worst 1-9 in their last 10 games. They are now 2nd in the NL in ERA at just 3.33, and are 2nd in saves with 14, but they rank just 13th in runs scored, 10th in home runs, and are dead-last in batting average, hitting a paltry .219 as a team. Arizona continues to lead the NL West, but unless the bats wake up, it may not be for much longer.
12 PITTSBURGH PIRATES (26-20) -
The Pirates stay put as they continue to battle in the very very good NL Central. The Pirates continue to get it done from the plate as they rank right behind the Braves and Cubs in the NL in runs scored, are 2nd in batting average at .259, and are tied for 6th in home runs. Led by Starling Marte (.308/.366/.503) and Corey Dickerson (.307/.343/.494), the bats continue to over-produce and keep Pittsburgh right in the thick of things in the jumbled NL Central.
13 WASHINGTON NATIONALS (24-21) ↓
After jumping into the top 10 for the first time this season a week ago, the Nats had an odd week where they only logged 3 games of record after the suspended and cancelled series with the Yankees. The problem for Washington is they lost all 3 games they played and are still stuck on 24 victories. For now, they drop 3 spots, but continue to find themselves in the hunt in the surprisingly competitive NL East.
14 COLORADO ROCKIES (25-22) -
The Rockies stay put at 14 for this week. Colorado went 3-3 over the past week, but with the continued struggles of the Diamondbacks, find themselves just a 0.5 game out of first in the NL West. The Rockies continue to depend on the long ball as they continue to lead the NL in home runs with 58. The starting pitching has been mediocre at-best as the staff ranks just 13th in the league in ERA, but the bullpen continues to be reliable as they lead the league in saves with 17.
T-15 NEW YORK METS (23-19) -
The Mets swept the D-Backs and managed to go 4-1 last week to get them to 4 games above .500. New York seems to finally be turning it around after a long stretch of down play after starting the season hot. The 11-2 start to the season seems like long ago, but the pitching was outstanding in the 4 victories last week as they held their opponents to a total of just 8 runs in those 4 wins. The pitching will continue to be the strength for the Mets going forward, as they welcome the last-place Marlins to Queens starting later today and attempt to keep the momentum going after a stellar week.
T-15 OAKLAND ATHLETICS (25-22) ↑
Congrats to the Oakland A's who sneak back into the top 15, in a tie with the Mets for the 15th spot. Oakland played great baseball over the week, going 5-1 and jumping right back into things in the highly competitive AL West. The A's are now a season-best 3 games over .500 and continue to over-achieve. The pitching continues to be a bright spot as they own the 6th-best ERA in the AL. Surprisingly enough they've moved into 4th in the league in runs scored as well, so this team appears to be rounding into form as the weather heats up.
17 CLEVELAND INDIANS (22-23) -
18 SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS (24-24) ↑
19 TAMPA BAY RAYS (22-23) ↑
20 LOS ANGELES DODGERS (20-26) ↑
Congratulations to the Dodgers who crack the Top 20 for the first time this season. They've won 4 straight and although are 6 games under .500 find themselves just 5 games back of the D-Backs thanks to their recent struggles. The Rays move back into the Top 20 for the second time after a 7-3 stretch in their past 10 games. They've passed the fading Blue Jays who struggled this past week going just 1-5, and dropped into 4th in the AL East. The Twins also dropped out as they went 2-4 and were unable to take advantage of the continued struggles of the Indians in the very weak AL Central. Speaking of the Indians they hold firm at 17 and can't seem to break free the .500 barrier. They continue to lead the AL in home runs and are 5th in team-ERA, but it hasn't been enough to spark consistent victories as Cleveland can't seem to pull away in the weakest division in baseball.
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Glad to see my Mariners in the top 10. Hopefully it lasts with Cano out.
I really like what Seattle has been able to do thus far. That division is extremely difficult, but they continue to cruise along. Yea the loss of Cano will be tough to deal with, but I think they can still play good enough ball even with him out to stay in the mix as the season goes on. To sit just 2.0 games back of the Astros after 46 games is a pretty darn good start to the season.
Astros should be #1. Yankees/Sox have better records, but Astros have a historic run differential per game and rate out as a ~110 win team. Record after 45-50 games is subject to more variance than run differential.
My top 5:
Kinda don't think any other team is close to those. Maybe the Indians, think they've mostly been unlucky so far, and maybe the Phillies/Nationals, but there is generally a large gap after those teams.
Fair enough - I can't really argue with that, I have been extremely impressed with what the Astros continue to do and I thought pretty long about bumping them up to the top spot this week but ultimately kept the top 3 the same. The Yankees are still 21-4 in their last 25 games and they did take 3 of 4 from the Astros in Houston as part of that hot streak a few weeks back, so that's why they stay in the top spot for now. But honestly I can't really argue for any order you want to put the Astros, Yankees, and Red Sox in, as long as those are the top 3, because those are far and away the top 3 in baseball IMO. After those 3 though there is a pretty substantial drop-off. NL is just wide open at this point. I really like what the Phillies have been able to do thus far, and the Nationals certainly have the talent but they've been way too inconsistent. The Braves offense has been real impressive and the Indians have the potential to have a big second half again like last year, but the rest of the AL is so good I don't see them doing anything in the postseason. The Brewers have some potential if they can stay healthy, and that whole NL Central is interesting. I think Milwaukee and Chicago will be the two to distance themselves as the season goes on but we shall see. Thanks for checking out the post.
Just hopping back in to post the RPI of each team:
Given their run differential, RPI estimates the Astros should be 41-11. That's a ~128 win team! Have never seen anything like this. I think there's decent evidence their pitching staff is doctoring baseballs using pine tar (check out Trevor Bauer's tweetstorm on it with Buster Olney basically saying "who cares, it's not an enforced rule"), but regardless this is a historically good team, maybe the best of all time even.
Thanks for the great info - it is truly remarkable what the Astros have been able to do thus far. I appreciate the article as well - check out the updated power rankings, the latest edition will be out a little later today. I'm with you though, I've never seen anything like this either, it should be interesting to see how the pitching continues to perform going forward.