MLB Power Rankings: Cubs on a hot streak, and welcome to the MLB Nick Senzel
By Sean Sears
18. Pittsburgh Pirates, 17-16, 4th in the NL Central (ranked 18th last week)
The Pirates pitching went through its first rough patch of the year, but their real issues lay with their offense. Josh Bell has been on fire recently — over his last seven games Bell is slashing .303/.378/.636, has two home runs and seven of his 10 hits during that time have been extra-base hits. But the Pirates are still desperate for run support even with Bell finding his power stroke, with the offense averaging 3.56 runs per game at the moment. The pitching is still one of the most complete groups in terms of elite starters and relievers, but the offense has to share the run-scoring load and not force Bell to do all the heavy lifting solo.
17. Texas Rangers, 17-17, 3rd in the AL West (ranked 15th last week)
The Rangers are currently tied with the Cubs for the best runs-per-game total, currently at 5.85, and boast a ton of power and speed. It’s allowed the Rangers to push singles into doubles and doubles into triples. However, their pitching is a massive liability at the moment, allowing 5.36 runs per game with a 5.15 team ERA, the third-worst in the league. The lone bright spot for the Rangers in the rotation is Mike Minor, who has posted a 2.40 ERA with 48 strikeouts compared to just 14 walks on the season. However, outside of Minor, the rest of the group doesn’t have an ERA under five at the moment. Joey Gallo continues to smack the baseball with a .654 slugging percentage and 11 home runs to support the claim that the 25-year-old has been crushing the ball, leading to the team’s overall increase in production. But the offense is just barely out-pacing their pitching in terms of runs, and Texas won’t be able to sustain that kind of offensive production to remain successful long-term.