MLB Power Rankings: Soaring Cardinals, fallen Angels
By Tim Boyle
25) MLB Power Rankings: Baltimore Orioles
As poorly as the Baltimore Orioles have performed, they have put together some progress this year. A lot of the credit should go to the bullpen. Manager Brandon Hyde deserves some credit. This isn’t a relief corps built particularly well and yet he has gotten a lot from them.
Consider the Orioles as one of those bad teams teetering on some successful seasons in the not-too-distant future. They have good bats and a superb bullpen. Only because there isn’t much from the starting pitchers have they found their familiar position at the bottom of the American League East where they should glue themselves for the rest of 2022.
24) MLB Power Rankings: Pittsburgh Pirates
Injuries are taking their toll on the Pittsburgh Pirates and an already below-average club is likely to start trending in the wrong direction. They have very little offense and only a little more pitching. How they don’t actually have the worst record in the National League comes as somewhat of a surprise. They even have a chance to finish third in the division although it does feel as if they could be headed toward a sharp decline any week.
Pittsburgh is such a weird team. They somehow managed to beat up on the nearly unstoppable Los Angeles Dodgers this season and yet they smashed regularly against much weaker opponents. The Pirates should factor into the playoff race from afar. Teams hoping to slip in with a hot streak in September better hope Pittsburgh isn’t on the schedule.
23) MLB Power Rankings: Chicago Cubs
It’s a completely lost year for the Chicago Cubs. Expect to be one of the most aggressive sellers at the deadline, the biggest mistake they made was not overhauling the roster in the offseason and buying into the idea that they could compete with this roster in 2022.
The biggest reason why the Cubs aren’t closer to average is the pitching performances from Kyle Hendricks and Marcus Stroman. Previously regarded as two of the game’s more consistent arms, each has had a miserable start to this season. For as bad as they have been, it probably wouldn’t have made a difference anyway. The Cubs are missing too many game-changing players to be competitive.
22) MLB Power Rankings: Miami Marlins
Thank Sandy Alcantara and Pablo Lopez for this spot on the MLB Power Rankings. If not for that pair of pitchers, the Miami Marlins would probably be much closer to the bottom than they are.
Miami is a frustrating team. Jazz Chisholm Jr. is a great talent but completely wasted on this ball club. The Marlins bought lightly this offseason, only really adding Jorge Soler and Avisail Garcia into the mix. It was hardly enough. Miami needed a U-Haul for a drastic change. What they added was the equivalent of moving furniture in a Volkswagen Beetle.
21) MLB Power Rankings: Colorado Rockies
Here’s a prediction: the Colorado Rockies are headed toward a massive fall in future MLB Power Rankings. Briefly a National League West contender this year, the Rockies have fallen on hard times. The offense isn’t carrying them any longer.
Colorado simply can’t win if they don’t have one of the best offenses in the game. Their pitching can be hit or miss from season to season. It’s how their bats perform that ultimately decides whether or not they are in the playoff hunt. With a weak lineup this season, it’s clear why they’ve faded so much.