The Pirates?!
I’m glad I put them as the third
best team last year to prove that I kind of saw this happening. I am surprised
that they are the best team in baseball though.
Some changes as usual in the Power
Rankings. This is the first week where ESPN and I are almost exact with our
picks. Let’s take a look.
1.
Pirates: 51-30
Last Week: 3
ESPN Rank: 1
The Pirates are the hottest team in
baseball, have the best record in baseball, and are still possibly the most
underrated team in baseball. They are no joke this year, which is actually a
bold statement when the past two years they were really good but choked after
the all-star break. Last year at this point, the Pirates were 42-35, and were
red hot like now. They now have the best team ERA and the best batting average
against in baseball, passing the Cardinals and Braves in those categories. They
don’t have a single regular starter batting over .300, but they don’t have a
single regular starter with an ERA above 4. Francisco Liriano is tied a team
high 7 wins, and is making a great comeback season, having an ERA of 2.23. He’s
tied with Jeff Locke, who is the most underrated pitcher in baseball, having a
2.06 ERA in 16 starts. Future star Gerrit Cole has won all four of his starts,
something that even Stephen Strasburg didn’t do. Having said that, the Pirates
have put up 29 runs when he pitches. Nevertheless, the Pirates will finish over
.500 for the first time since 1992, and have a great shot at the playoffs. They
are the first team to get to 50 wins, and have now won 9 in a row. I’m not
saying this is a World Series team, but they do have the talent not only now,
but in the future, to get them there.
2.
Cardinals: 49-32
Last Week: 1
ESPN Rank: 2
The Cardinals are still a very,
very good team. The Pirates have just been red hot. Adam Wainwright enters July
with a 2.22 ERA in 125 innings. The last time a pitcher had an ERA under 2.25
while pitching 125+ innings was Randy Johnson for the D-Backs in 2000 (he won
the Cy Young that year). They still have amazing pitching and a pretty
underrated hitting. They get on base, they can hit, and they can get teams out.
That’s all you need.
3.
Red Sox: 50-34
Last Week: 2
ESPN Rank: 3
The Red Sox have won their last 4
of 5, backed up by their great hitting. Mike Carp stays hot as he’s now batting
.313/.376/.652. Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz are the duo to watch, though.
Both have batting averages over .300, OBP over .400, and Wins Above Replacement
stats above 2.0. They need to get back Clay Buchholz, though.
4.
Rangers: 48-34
Last Week: 5
ESPN Rank: 4
The Rangers have maintained their
lead against the Athletics, but are still only a half-game ahead. It’s their
bullpen that’s helped a lot; they’ve lost only 1 game when their ahead into the
8th inning. Ian Kinsler is batting .288/.360/.442, which is still
alright but not incredible, yet it seems like when Kinsler plays, the Rangers
win a lot. That’s always nice to hear when he’s healthy right now.
5.
A’s: 48-35
Last Week: 4
ESPN Rank: 5
The A’s have been playing the NL
Central, taking both games against the Reds, and look to take the series
against the Cardinals. They play the Cubs next. In his last 8 starts, Bartolo
Colon is 8-0 with a sub 2 ERA, and he’s 40 years old! How does he do that?
Well, there have been lots of talks about steroid issues with him, which would
be a blow to Billy Beane’s organization.
6.
Braves: 48-34
Last Week: 7
ESPN Rank: 6
The Braves still have a 6.5 game
lead up on the Nationals, so they have no trouble. They just swept the
Diamondbacks, which is Huge. Julio Teheran and Mike Minor have been the
pitchers to watch out for on this team. And Craig Kimbrel, but that one is
obvious.
7.
Orioles: 47-36
Last Week: 8
ESPN Rank: 7
Chris Davis now has hit 32 home
runs. Could he break Barry Bonds’ record? If he keeps it up, he just might.
Their pitching, however, had the second worst performance in the Major Leagues
in June. Besides power, they have good fielding, having the 2nd best
fielding percentage in June.
8.
Reds: 46-36
Last Week: 6
ESPN Rank: 8
Joey Votto is actually having an MVP
like season; he has the best OBP baseball and is a league leader in hits. He’s
just not hitting many homers or RBI’s this year. Instead, it’s Brandon Phillips
who’s taken charge in the RBI category with 61 RBI’s.
9.
Tigers: 43-37
Last Week: 9
ESPN Rank: 9
I was surprised when I saw that
ESPN had the Tigers ranked as #3 last week. Max Scherzer may be 12-0, but they
had a 14-13 record in June. Phil Coke has an ERA over 6, which is not helping
the bullpen whatsoever.
10.
D-Backs:
42-39
Last Week: 10
ESPN Rank: 11
How can you be in first place when
you are only 3 games above .500 and have a losing record on the road? Without
Patrick Corbin, who is a 9-0 with a 2.28 ERA, the D-Backs starting rotation is
13-28 with a 4.81 ERA. Wow, nothing about Paul Goldschmidt this week.
11.
Indians: 44-38
Last Week: 12
ESPN Rank: 10
Cleveland has stepped it up this
month, as they are now tied with the Tigers in 1st place. For once
the AL Central has something to watch out for! Carlos Santana was hot in the
beginning of the year, but it’s all about Jason Kipnis, who hit .419/.517/.699
in June. Wow.
12.
Rays: 43-39
Last Week: 15
ESPN Rank: 13
David Price will return to the
rotation tomorrow after missing 6 weeks with a tricep injury. They also head
into the all-star break with 14 games against the Astros, White Sox, and Twins.
Watch them make a big run.
13.
Yankees: 42-39
Last Week: 11
ESPN Rank: 12
The Yanks scored the fewest runs in
June, and went 11-16 on the month. Even the Marlins did better, come on. Derek
Jeter and Alex Rodriguez just might be back soon though.
14.
Nationals: 41-40
Last Week: 17
ESPN Rank: 14
The Nationals have won 7 of 11, but
they are still only a game over .500. They start a 7 game homestand against the
Brewers and Padres. Maybe they can finally gain some ground against the Braves.
15.
Blue Jays: 40-41
Last Week: 13
ESPN Rank: 16
After a hot streak, the Jays went
2-5 on the week to drop below .500. No matter! They look to gain back some
ground playing the Tigers and Twins later this week.
16.
Rockies: 41-42
Last Week: 15
ESPN Rank: 15
The Rockies somehow are only 1 game
below .500 despite losing their best player, Troy Tulowitzki, for an extended
period of time. It’s ok, they still are able to get in first because they’re in
the NL West. They do have a good offense though, probably because of Michael
Cuddyer, who has extended his hitting streak to 27 games.
17.
Padres: 40-42
Last Week: 16
ESPN Rank: 17
The Padres have fallen and have
been cold at the end of June, but they look to bounce back with a hot start
against some average teams in the league. Nothing much from them really. Like
the Rockies, they still can get into first with a losing record.
18.
Royals: 38-41
Last Week: 19
ESPN Rank: 22
3 games under .500 makes them 4.5
games behind the Tigers and Indians. Watch out for Eric Hosmer, he hit 3 homers
last week and just might have found a power surge.
19.
Giants: 39-42
Last Week: 14
ESPN Rank: 18
If anyone asked me before the
season started if the Giants would go under .500 at this point, I probably
would have laughed and said “I doubt it.” The world series winners are playing
so bad. Everyone that is, except for Buster Posey, who’s actually batted .374
in June.
20.
Dodgers: 38-43
Last Week: 24
ESPN Rank: 20
The Dodgers are still in last
place, but have won 7 of their last 8. Yasiel Puig had 44 hits in June, second
only to the great Joe Dimmagio. The Dodgers are 15-11 when Puig starts, but I
don’t care what anyone says, PUIG SHOULD NOT BE IN THE ALL-STAR GAME. He’s
played only 26 games!
21.
Angels: 39-43
Last Week: 22
ESPN Rank: 21
The Angels have been hot, but let’s
see if they can stay hot as they host the Cardinals and the Red Sox. If they
do, they could seriously make a run back into contention before the all-star
break.
22.
Phillies: 39-44
Last Week: 21
ESPN Rank: 19
The team has a 4.20 ERA, and a .259
Batting Average Against. That’s 25th and 24th in the
league, respectively. Yet they have the most quality starts in the majors with
55. They are now on the road against the Pirates. That’s not going to look
good.
23.
Twins: 36-42
Last Week: 20
ESPN Rank: 23
The Twins have lost 6 of their last
9, but watch out for Kyle Gibson, the Twins’ first round pick in 2009. He won
his MLB debut as the Twins beat the Royals 6-2.
24.
Cubs: 35-45
Last Week: 27
ESPN Rank: 25
Even Theo Epstein has come out
saying that the Cubs will make trades before the deadline, including possibly
the most wanted pitcher in baseball, Matt Garza. July will be an interesting
month for Cubs fans, as guys even like Alfonso Soriano might go.
25.
Mariners: 35-47
Last Week: 23
ESPN Rank: 24
The Mariners lost the series to the
Cubs, two games going into extra innings. In one of the games, Eric Wedge ran
out of position players, so pitcher Joe Saunders had to bat, making the final
out to lose. Good job Mariners!
26.
White Sox: 32-47
Last Week: 25
ESPN Rank: 26
Chris Sale pitched 124 pitches
yesterday as the White Sox lost 4-0. They went 8-19 in June, and moved to last
place in the Central in that time.
27.
Brewers: 32-48
Last Week: 27
ESPN Rank: 28
Jean Segura leads the NL with 105
hits, and Carlos Gomez has the best WAR in the Majors. They lost star outfielder
Corey Hart for the season, which is going to be rough.
28.
Mets: 33-45
Last Week: 28
ESPN Rank: 28
Matt Harvey continues to stay
strong, while Zach Wheeler just got rocked, and now has an ERA over 5.
29.
Astros: 30-52
Last Week: 29
ESPN Rank: 29
Bud Norris has posted a 2.42 ERA in
his past 8 starts, and seems to be a bright spot that the Astros could trade
potentially. I watched a game with them last week where they got rocked, but
they just looked like they couldn’t do anything. It was bad.
30.
Marlins: 29-51
Last Week: 30
ESPN Rank: 30
Somehow, Miami had the best record
in June among the NL East, going 15-10. They’ve won 13 of their past 20, and
have actually looked good. Too bad there is no way that they will have any
contention this year.
Email me at
Statsbuddy42@gmail.com for and questions/comments/concerns.
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