MLB Power Rankings Week 8

And just like that, the Atlanta Braves have snuck their way into the top. I realized looking at these past weeks, these top teams like the Braves, Reds, Pirates, have been silently sitting there all along. They are consistent, which is huge when it comes closer to the playoff hunt. These teams might not be getting a lot of attention now, but come the postseason they will be speaking volumes.

1. Detroit Tigers

Although they don’t have the best record currently in baseball, the Tigers’ performance this past week earned them the top spot on my list. They’re sitting at 29-20, and went 6-1 this past week, which consisted of going 2-0 against the Indians and 3-1 against the Twins. Cabrera is still red hot, leading the team in every hitting category. Their win over the Indians pushed them to 2.5 games ahead in the AL Central.

2. St. Louis Cardinals

You can describe the Cardinals in two words: red-hot. They are the ream with the best record in baseball at 33-17, and went 5-1 this past week. Yadier Molina is leading the lineup in batting average at .346, and his two-run homer in yesterday’s game allowed the Cardinals to get on the board in the top of the first.  They beat the Royals 6-3, which is primarily thanks to Molina’s four RBIs.

3. Atlanta Braves

It has been a while since the Braves were this high on the list. The Braves have silently been consistent, like I’ve said in past weeks’. While they’ve been quiet, they have not dropped out of the top ten yet. Pretty impressive if you ask me. They’re still on top of the NL East, five games ahead of the Nationals. They went 6-2 this past week, and are sitting at a 31-20 record. They also have an important series against divisional rival Nationals later this week.

4. Cincinnati Reds

The Reds have snuck their way back into the top five this week. They are a team, like the Braves, where they are silently yet consistently staying in the top ten. The Reds have the second best record at 32-19 and like the Cardinals also went 5-1 this past week. They swept the Mets, won their series against the Cubs, and won their Memorial Day matchup against the Indians. It was Joey Votto’s two run homerun that became the game winner in the bottom of the eigth. Aroldis Chapman came on to pitch in the ninth and was able to record the save.

5. Oakland Athletics

The Athletics had an impressive week, but against not so impressive teams. They did get the series wins over the Rangers, and then swept the struggling Astros and are now facing the cooling down Giants. They are still three games back in the AL West, behind the Rangers. Yesterday’s win over the Giants was a huge confidence boost for P Dan Straily. Straily went six innings, allowed four hits, one walk and one run all after 78 pitches.

6. Pittsburgh Pirates

A common theme these past two weeks has been sleeper teams. And that is definitely the case for the Pirates. Pittsburgh is considered to most a football town, never a baseball town. The Pirates are starting to change all that. They have a 31-20 and are third in the NL Central, but they are only 2.5 games back. Personally, I see a lot of playoff potential in this team. Their momentum has only been building, they swept the Cubs, won their series against the Brewers and are now facing the dominant Tigers. This is their opportunity to put their team’s name on the map.

7. Boston Red Sox

It’s not just because I’m from the East Coast, but I think the AL East race is the most fun to watch. And the Red Sox are proving that as they now take over first place ahead of the Yankees. They have a 32-20 record, and their week consisted of dropping their series to the White Sox, then turning around to go 3-1 against the Indians. They are currently facing Philadelphia, and then facing off with divisional rival New York Yankees later this week. This is going to be a back and forth AL East battle.

8. Arizona Diamondbacks

The Diamondbacks are still showing their dominance by leading the NL West, one and a half games ahead of the Giants. They are sitting at 30-22 and while they dropped their series to the Rockies, they turned around the take their series from the Padres and are now facing the Rangers. Gregorius nailed a pitch by Yu Darvish to right field to tie the game in the bottom of the eighth. This was crucial in winning their doubleheader against the Rangers.

9. Texas Rangers

The Texas Rangers are still holding strong in the NL West with a three game lead over the Oakland A’s. They went 3-4 this past week, including dropping both games in a double header to the Diamondbacks yesterday and dropping their series to division rival Athletics. They now head back to Arlington to finish their series against the Diamondbacks and then welcome the Royals into town.  Although he recorded the loss, Yu Darvish was strong going seven and two thirds innings, and ties a career high fourteen strikeouts against the Diamondbacks.

10. New York Yankees

Like the Rangers, the Yankees have fallen to the bottom of the top ten this week. They are 30-20 and just lost their first place spot in the AL East. They also had a rough week, going 2-4 including dropping their series to the Orioles who were struggling with a losing streak. They then won their series against rival Rays and are now facing the Mets in the Subway Series. Brett Gardner went airborne in the outfield to rob Daniel Murphy of a home run and protecting the Yankees’ one run lead.

11. Baltimore Orioles

There’s good news and bad news when it comes to the Orioles. The good news: the losing streak is over. The bad news: closer Jim Johnson is still spotty. Johnson redeemed himself and ended the streak of three consecutive blown saves, until Sunday where he lost the game to the Blue Jays. The Orioles turned it around this week to go 5-2, including winning their series against rival Yankees and splitting their series against the Blue Jays. The Orioles now start the Battle of the Beltways against the Nationals, where they looked strong winning the first game of the four game series.

12. Colorado Rockies

The Rockies are staying in the conversation in the NL West, they are currently third but they are only two games back. This week was helpful for them, they won their series against rival Arizona, who currently leads the NL West. Until they lost their series to the Giants, who are second in the NL West.  They now face the Astros, which should help add to the win column. They have the same number of wins as the Giants, so they need to capitalize on any “easy” series they can.

13. San Francisco Giants

This wasn’t the best week for the Giants, but it wasn’t terrible. They went 3-3, including series wins over Colorado and the Nationals. They now face the Athletics, which should be an equal and interesting matchup. Matt Cain was again solid in Sunday’s game against the Rockies, giving him his fourth win of the season.

14. Los Angeles Angels

The Angels may not have a winning record, but this past week was a major turn around. They went 6-1 this week, with the one loss coming yesterday as the Angels dropped their first game in the Battle of LA against the Dodgers. This is thanks to one man: Mike Trout. Trout has gotten back to his normal self, with his .304 average, 41 runs, ten homeruns, 37 RBIs and twelve stolen bases.

15. Washington Nationals

The Nationals are stuck being just average. They have a 26-25 record and went 3-3 this past week. While they are second in the NL East, they are five games back. After a series loss to the Giants, a series win against the Phillies the Nationals play two games in DC and then two games in Baltimore for the Battle of the Beltways. Bryce Harper, who is a key to the Nat’s lineup, has been struggling with knee injuries recently and hasn’t been playing. It’s important to get him back soon and healthy, because he leads the Nationals’ lineup in every hitting category except for RBI, where he is one behind Zimmerman.

16. Cleveland Indians

I was so excited to watch what the Indians were doing last week, and just like that it’s gone. They went 1-6 this past week, going 0-2 against the Tigers, 1-3 against the Red Sox and are now facing the Reds. This Ohio showdown won’t be easy for the Indians, as the Reds are on fire.

17. Chicago White Sox

The White Sox are under .500 on the season but we over .500 this week. They went 2-1 against AL East leading Red Sox and 3-0 against Miami. They now face the Cubs, which I would think be easy for them like Miami was. However, they dropped the first game of the Chicago series in a 7-0 loss. They were shut out by Samardzija, who pitched the whole game with 108 pitches and eight strikeouts. The White Sox were dominated by the pitcher and his 98 mph fastball.

18. Tampa Bay Rays

Tampa Bay is still technically in the AL East race, while they are fourth they are only 4.5 games back (which is less than the Nationals who are in second in the NL West but five games back). They had two key series’ this past week with divisional rivals Blue Jays and Yankees, but lost them both. They are struck, not being able to move up or down. They face the Marlins now, which should help bring the confidence back.

19. Philadelphia Phillies

Another not so great week for the Phillies. After going 3-3, they are now sitting at 24-27 on the season. They started last week with an easy 2-1 series win over the Marlins, but then went 1-2 against the Nationals. They now face off against the Boston Red Sox, and after two games that series is currently split 1-1. Cliff Lee got the win yesterday, bring him to 6-2.

20. Toronto Blue Jays

The Blue Jays are still sitting in last in the AL East, and with the competition in that division and being 9.5 games back I don’t see that changing any time soon. Toronto is 22-30, and won their series against rival Rays and split with rival Orioles this past week. One of those wins against the Orioles came thanks to another blown save by O’s closer Jim Johnson, in which the Blue Jays were able to capitalize on and win the game.

21. Los Angeles Dodgers

The Dodgers are just continuing to be disappointing. They went 3-3 this week, including a series win over the Brewers and a series loss to the Cardinals. They now begin their  Battle of LA, in which they won the first game of the series against the Angels. Adrian Gonzalez went 4-4 with four hits and four runs, a key to the Dodgers’ win. But the game winner came from Jerry Hairston, his first game back after being on the DL, who hit a RBI single to win the game.

22. Seattle Mariners

The Mariners could only manage two wins this past week, coming against the Rangers and Padres. They were swept in a two game series by the Angels, and lost their series to the Rangers. They now begin their series with the Padres, in which they won the first game of the series 9-0. Their bats started strong in the bottom of the first, bringing in four runs. It was all Mariners after that, shutting out the Padres and out-hitting them 11-4.

23. Minnesota Twins

The Twins had a tough week last week, playing the Tigers and Braves, both hot teams. The result was as expected, a sweep by the Braves and 1-3 series loss to Detroit. They now face off against the Brewers, in which they won their first game 6-3. The Twins were able to capitalize on the Brewers’ mistakes, which is crucial in close games. They made everything count-from walks to homeruns.

24. Chicago Cubs

Before they could face off with state rival White Sox, the Cubs had to go through the Pirates and Reds. The result wasn’t great. The Cubs were swept by the Pirates and went 1-2 against the Reds, bringing them to their series against the Sox. Samardzija was absolutely dominant for the Cubs, recording not only the win but also his first career shutout.

25. Milwaukee Brewers

The Brewers dropped their first game of the Minnesota series, and their past week had a similar feeling. They Brewers went 1-2 against the equally matched Dodgers, and the dominant Pirates. Their pitching struggled against the Twins, and while Carlos Gomez homered twice the pitching issues were too much, resulting in the loss.

26. New York Mets

The Mets enter this week with the Subway Series against neighbor New York Yankees, after an unimpressive 2-5 last week. The Mets were swept by the Reds and went 1-3 Braves, yet won the first game in their series with the Yankees. Daniel Murphy is to thank for this, his homerun in the bottom of the eighth turned out to be the winning run, pushing the Mets ahead of the Yankees 2-1.

27. San Diego Padres

The Padres had a rough week facing two top ten teams. They lost both series to the Cardinals and Diamondbacks, and now face the Mariners, in which they dropped the first game of the series. This week brings them to fourth in the NL West, seven games back.

28. Kansas City Royals

What has been an impressive Royals team took a drastic turn this past week. The Royals went 1-6, going 1-2 against Houston, were swept in a four game series against the Angels and now face the Cardinals, where they dropped the first game of the series. They are now 21-27 on the season.

29. Houston Astros

This was a better week for the Astros. They won their series against the Royals, which was a major confidence booster, until they got swept by the Athletics. They now face Colorado, which they’ve currently split 1-1 with two games left to play. But at 17 games back in the AL West it would take a lot for the Astros to come into playoff contention.

30. Miami Marlins

There just isn’t anything positive you can say about this Marlins team this past week. They went 1-6, with the one winning coming against the Phillies to avoid the sweep. They were then swept by the White Sox and have dropped the first game of they current series against the Rays. They now sit at a 13-38 record.