MLB Power Rankings: Guardians dash, Yankees mash, Pirates crash

5) MLB Power Rankings: St. Louis Cardinals

The National League Central belongs to the St. Louis Cardinals and if you ever thought the Brewers had a shot you were fooling yourself! Not really. But it’s rather impressive how the Cardinals were able to leave Milwaukee in their dust and secure themselves a division title without any issue.

The current Cardinals team is much different from the one many of us witnessed early on. They can hit well. More importantly, Jordan Montgomery and Jose Quintana have given the starting rotation a lot more stability. The Cardinals are fully capable of shutting down any starting lineup.

4) MLB Power Rankings: New York Yankees

The New York Yankees are back a little stronger this week in the MLB Power Rankings than they have found themselves recently. There was a time when they were immovable out of first. As players return from the IL, they’ve found their winning ways again.

The Yankees will have themselves a first-round bye which sets them up well to recover and see if this is finally the year they take down the Houston Astros. They’ll need more production than what Aaron Judge can offer. Many recent Yankees clubs featured lineups where the bats went silent. That can’t happen again in 2022 if they want to win it all.

3) MLB Power Rankings: New York Mets

There doesn’t seem to be any way to stop the New York Mets who continue to win games. They don’t have the same level of offense as some other teams. What they do have are capable run producers like Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor along with a ton of guys who know how to get on base in front of them.

Needless to say, their greatest asset is the pitching staff. As long as they can keep Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer healthy, it’s going to be tough to defeat them in a short series. Some classic pitching duels lie ahead for this team in October.

2) MLB Power Rankings: Houston Astros

The cream of the crop in the American League, the Houston Astros are a giant to be slayed. This is a club with a starting rotation deeper than Justin Verlander. Their bullpen, a mix of castoffs from other organizations, is about as good as it could possibly get.

This year’s Astros team feels a little bit like the early days of their current run when certain players were becoming household names. This year could be the year when Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez have huge postseasons and grow into stars everyone knows. Framber Valdez could be the new pitching darling of the American League by the time the World Series is over.

1) MLB Power Rankings: Los Angeles Dodgers

Baseball’s first team to 100 wins, the Los Angeles Dodgers are a team no one should want to face in the postseason. They have more recent National League pennants than they know what to do with. That lone championship from a shortened season weighs heavily. They want a 162-game regular season win, too.

The fact that Trea Turner has turned into an RBI machine for the Dodgers this year is utterly terrifying. The Dodgers can hit, they can pitch, and they should be a favorite to become the championships. The only thing that could stop them is a massive cold snap from the lineup. Running into a team with some hot pitching could be the only way to stop them.