MLB Power Rankings: Cardinals and Royals rivalry expands to top of the rankings

Atlanta Braves. 21. team. 17. Kevin Seitzer has seen mixed results with his hitting approach during his previous stops in Toronto and Kansas City, but the Braves are apparently buying in. That is hugely evident in Kelly Johnson. Johnson came into this season with a 22.3% strike-out rate, but Seitzer has changed his approach and he’s fanned just 14 times in 87 plate appearances this season. Andrelton Simmons has shown improvements as well and the Braves offense is clicking. Pitching….not so much.. . Previous: -5th

22. team. 62. For a team struggling to get consistency out of its rotation, the Mariners badly needed some good news. Unfortunately, they received quite the opposite. Hisashi Iwakuma has been shut down from all baseball activity for the next 10 days to two weeks with upper back pain. That means the Mariners will be without their number two starter into June at the least. They badly need Taijuan Walker to step up.. . Previous: +3rd. Seattle Mariners

14. Justin Masterson heading to the DL with arm fatigue may be just what the doctor ordered for a Red Sox rotation that badly needed some sort of shake up. With just 13 quality starts in 33 games, the Red Sox rotation has been a hot mess and has turned into the biggest failure of the offseason.. . Previous: -8th. Boston Red Sox. 23. team

team. 126. The Texas Rangers have some life afterall. An impressive sweep of the Astros have helped reinvigorate the team, but two excellent starts from Colby Lewis were exactly what it needed to get going. Additionally, Shin-Soo Choo had his best week in a Rangers uniform, going .367/.424/.667 with two home runs and five RBI. This is still a capable team if the pitching can hold up.. . Previous: +4th. Texas Rangers. 24

. Previous: +2nd. Chicago White Sox. 25. team. 128. A traditionally slow starter, Adam LaRoche owns a career April batting line of .222/.316/.397. However, April is over and LaRoche is trending back up, hitting a much more respectable .333/.514/.370 thus far in May. That makes the job a little easier for Jose Abreu and the rest of the White Sox offense, which has responded by scoring nearly five runs per game this month.