MLB Power Rankings: Sizzling Braves, ice-cold Brewers
By Tim Boyle
This week’s MLB Power Rankings includes a big jump for the sizzling Atlanta Braves and a drop for the ice-cold Milwaukee Brewers.
There are some big shakeups in this week’s MLB Power Rankings in comparison to the ranking of all 30 teams from last week. Some hot teams have cooled. Some cold teams have warmed. Massive winning and losing streaks have lifted some clubs or knocked a few on their backs.
The most elite teams in Major League Baseball are still there while the worst teams remain pretty much the same. The big difference this week is how several teams in the middle have either gone up the ladder or fallen off the roof.
Now about two full months into the 2022 MLB season, some sleepers have finally woken up.
30) MLB Power Rankings: Oakland Athletics
The Oakland Athletics are right where the front office wanted them to be. Goldfish on a sunny elementary school blacktop have a better chance at surviving than the 2022 Athletics do. The entire franchise is in disarray with no clear future as to what city they will represent.
On the field, things have gone poorly. Offense is non-existent. A couple of pitchers have done well but even top trade candidate Frankie Montas is seeing his value drop a little bit. The Athletics are caught in a post-sell mode without the notable young prospects to get excited about. Their last-place spot this week is something they should get used to.
29) MLB Power Rankings: Kansas City Royals
One could debate whether or not the Kansas City Royals are worse than the Athletics. Does it really matter? Both teams are having miserable years. At least Kansas City has a few young players they hope to win with eventually.
Andrew Benintendi continues to play his way out of Kansas City and into plenty of midseason trade discussions. Fellow outfielder Michael A. Taylor could join him. They are practically the only two players hitting this season although MJ Melendez has produced, too. The pitching situation is far worse than they could have ever predicted. As an added to kick while they’re down, Zack Greinke remains on the IL with a 0-4 record and 5.05 ERA. Amazingly, it’s one of the better ERAs for their starting pitchers this year.
28) MLB Power Rankings: Washington Nationals
Only because they got a sweep last weekend were the Washington Nationals able to fight off a last place finish in the MLB Power Rankings among National League clubs. This week, it’s hard to justify anything else. This continues to be a lost season for a franchise with so much only a few years ago.
Stephen Strasburg did return only to give up 7 earned runs in 4.2 innings of work. The pitching continues to be a nuisance for this ball club. Nelson Cruz has started to hit but it’s all for nothing as the Nationals continue to play losing baseball.
27) MLB Power Rankings: Cincinnati Reds
This year’s Cincinnati Reds team can point at injuries for a big reason as to why they are consistently one of MLB’s worst clubs each week. Even if it is true, the healthy players aren’t performing well enough for them to get much better than this week’s spot.
Because the Reds were so bad early on, it’s hard to point at their record when ranking them. They are practically stuck near the bottom of the league with things only likely to get worse as they trade pieces away. Unfortunately, each of their major trade candidates have some questions. Tommy Pham’s temper is certainly one of them. The best trade asset they may actually have is the season’s home run leader: Brandon Drury.
26) MLB Power Rankings: Detroit Tigers
Unlike the previously mentioned teams, the Detroit Tigers actually tried to build a good team this past offseason. Not much has worked out for them. A crushing blow this past week was the announcement of Casey Mize’s Tommy John Surgery. Detroit wasn’t left looking at strike three with the moves they made. Instead, they swung at one out of the zone.
It’s disappointing in a different way for this ball club. After so many years of losing, fans were hopeful they were taking a step in the right direction. Instead, they’re repeating the process and maybe stuck paying players like Javier Baez a lot of money to underperform.