Power Rankings, Check them out!
ESPN and I are not getting along today.
1.
Braves:
78-52
Last Week: 1
ESPN Rank: 3
Jason Heyward is on the 15 Day DL
after being struck in the face by a pitch, breaking his jaw. My friend actually
broke his jaw the same way recently, and I know it’s been holding him back
(ironically, he plays baseball too), so I hope to see a steady recovery.
Luckily for the Braves, they can keep him out for at least a whole month,
because let’s be honest, they’ve clinched the NL East already.
2.
Tigers:
77-53
Last Week: 3
ESPN Rank: 2
Miguel Cabrera has reached base in
117 of 122 games he’s played. Better yet, he’s on track to pass Chris Davis in
home runs, as he just hit his 42nd last night. Triple Crown, here he
comes!
3.
Red
Sox: 77-55
Last Week: 4
ESPN Rank: 6
The Red Sox called up their top
prospect, Xander Bogaerts, and in four games, he’s batted .333 with an RBI. Jake
Peavy went lights out as he pitched a complete game three hitter last night
against the Dodgers. Also, Koji Uehara has not given up a single run since the
all-star break, and silenced the Dodgers Saturday in a 1.1 inning save. He now
is 3-0 with an absurd 1.24 ERA and 13 saves in 58 innings. This team is
rolling!
4.
Dodgers:
76-54
Last Week: 2
ESPN Rank: 1
The Dodgers found a bump in their
hot streak, as they lost their first series in, well, a long time. They still
have seven games to play against the Diamondbacks, but since they are ten games
ahead in the division, they should be ok. Adrian Gonzalez leads qualified
batters in batting average (.291), home runs (17), RBI’s (81), Runs (60), and
OPS (.801). However, is he worth $21 million, more than the entire Astros
salary?
5.
Rangers:
75-55
Last Week: 5
ESPN Rank: 8
Ever since all-star OF Nelson Cruz
was suspended, the Rangers have actually been red hot. They’ve taken a 2.5 game
lead over the Athletics, and have moved their team batting average to .262, the
9th best in the MLB. Since Cruz’s contract expires at the end of
this year, it looks like he won’t be missed. Also, Yu Darvish is the second
Ranger (the other being Nolan Ryan) to post 10 or more double digit strikeout
games in a single season. He could really win the next Cy Young award.
6.
Pirates:
76-54
Last Week: 6
ESPN Rank: 7
The Pirates have lost their lead in
the NL Central, and have two important series against the Cardinals in the next
two weeks too. Luckily, unless they completely choke, they will get a wild card
spot, and have their first winning series in twenty years. If I had to pick a
prodigy on this team, it wouldn’t be McCutchen, but rather Starling Marte.
Marte, 24, is batting .282/.343/.443 with 35 steals and is also a great
defensive outfielder. The one problem? He was just placed on the 15-Day DL.
That’s not good.
7.
Cardinals:
76-54
Last Week: 7
ESPN Rank: 4
The Cardinals sweep in to tie up
the Pirates in the NL Central, and hope to take it to avoid a play-in wild card
game. Their +149 run differential, the best in the NL, makes me think that they
can take it over the Pirates (the Pirates have a +50 run differential). And how
about Adam Wainwright? Coming back from Tommy John surgery in 2011, Wainwright
is now 15-7 with a 2.58 ERA and an absurd 7.28 K/BB ratio. He’s only walked 25
batters this year, that’s less than one batter per game.
8.
Rays:
74-54
Last Week: 10
ESPN Rank: 5
The Rays find themselves with a
43-24 record at home, and their recent homestand has helped them move to one
game behind the Red Sox. Evan Longoria has hit 23 homers against the Yankees,
and showed that by hitting three, one for each game, in their series this
weekend. He now has 28 on the year.
9.
Reds:
74-57
Last Week: 9
ESPN Rank: 9
Slowly but surely, the Reds are
close to tying up the division against the Cardinals and Pirates. They are now
only 2.5 games back, and can change things dramatically with a series with St.
Louis this week.
10. Athletics: 72-57
Last Week: 8
ESPN Rank: 10
Oakland is sliding. They are just
16-18 since the break, and got killed against the Orioles yesterday. The
playoffs aren’t a shoe-in for them. They are only a game and a half ahead from
Cleveland and two games ahead from Baltimore.
11. Orioles: 70-59
Last Week: 12
ESPN Rank: 12
I read an sabermetric article this
past March that showed that the Orioles would not finish as well as last year,
and wind up with about a .500 record. Unless they completely choke, it looks
like they’ll finish above .500 and either inch out a wild card spot, or just
miss the playoffs. Read tomorrow to see what I think about the Orioles.
12. Indians: 71-59
Last Week: 11
ESPN Rank: 11
I have the Indians not making the
playoffs. They can prove me wrong this week, and next, though. After sweeping
the Angels and winning the series against Minnesota, Cleveland takes on
Atlanta, Detroit, and Baltimore in their most important stretch of the season.
13. Yankees: 69-61
Last Week: 14
ESPN Rank: 13
A recent poll asks 36 pitchers if
they “want to bean Alex Rodriguez,” not one said yes. When asked about whether
he should play during his appeal, about 83% said yes. So maybe A-Rod won’t get
hit anymore. If you haven’t been paying attention to him, he’s batting
.273/.360/.394 with six RBI’s. So pitchers, It might be best just to actually
pitch to him.
14. D-Backs: 66-63
Last Week: 14
ESPN Rank: 14
It seems like every time I try to
watch the D-Backs, I have to turn the game off. Not because they are getting
killed, but because they always go into extra-innings. In their crazy 18 inning
with over the Phillies Saturday, they drew 18 walks, the most for one game in
nine years, and the combined amount of walks (28) sets an NL record for one
game. According to ESPN, Tony Campana and Cliff Pennington became the first
teammates of the live-ball era to each draw five walks in a game. Hell, if Tony
Campana can get on base five times, I’d like to see how many steals he had. I’d
also like to see how many times the D-Backs failed to score in crucial situations.
15. Nationals: 65-65
Last Week: 16
ESPN Rank: 15
The problem with the Nats this year
was hitting. They couldn’t hit, and the guys who could hit were either injured
or named Jayson Werth. However, when Gio Gonzalez (7-6, 3.66 ERA) and Dan Haren
(8-11, 4.66 ERA) are the biggest busts on a rotation that was said to be the
best in the Major Leagues, there’s going to be a problem.
16. Royals: 65-64
Last Week: 13
ESPN Rank: 16
Unfortunately for Kansas City, the
watch to get in the playoffs has fallen, and it looks like all they want to do
now is finish with a .500 record. But hey, that’s still a good sign of
improvement for the club. When was the last time you remember Kansas City
having a record above .500?
17. Mariners: 59-70
Last Week: 18
ESPN Rank: 18
King Felix is 12-7 with a 2.63 ERA.
He’s also had seven no decisions, including five when allowing one run.
Remember, this is the guy who won the Cy Young Award at a 13-12 record. He
might be able to pull that off again.
18. Rockies: 61-71
Last Week: 19
ESPN Rank: 19
Look into the future, Rockies fans.
Right now, Colorado has secured their third base spot with Nolan Arenado.
Though he might not be the best at hitting, Colorado has been struggling in the
third base spot, and he leads all NL third baseman in defensive runs saves by a
whole lot. Sometimes it’s not about hitting at all, it’s about defense!
19. Angels: 58-71
Last Week: 21
ESPN Rank: 22
Although he’s been the leader for
so long now, watch Mike Scioscia go for the Angels. Yes, he does have a World
Series ring, and has led Anaheim to many playoff appearances, but when you have
a guy like Mike Trout, you shouldn’t be 13 games under. Same goes with their
General Manager, Jerry Dipoto.
20. Phillies: 59-71
Last Week: 27
ESPN Rank: 20
Talk about a weird week. Three walk
offs, and an 18-inning game last week for the Phils. The Ryno has done a pretty
good job with this organization so far, and I hope he can keep going with it.
Darin Ruf may be the replacement for Ryan Howard in power. In 54 games in his
career, Ruf has smacked 14 out of the ball park, batting a career
.283/.306/.543. This team does have some young talent in guys like Ruf (26) and
Domonic Brown (25).
21. Mets: 58-70
Last Week: 20
ESPN Rank: 17
The Mets were swept by the Tigers
this weekend, and now have ten games against division opponents. Even if they
win all of those games, they’ll still be two games under, and trust me, they’re
not going to get two games under this year.
22. Blue Jays: 58-73
Last Week: 17
ESPN Rank: 24
Injuries and not much depth sums up
this year for the Blue Jays. Here’s what sums up their year:
23. Padres: 59-71
Last Week: 22
ESPN Rank: 21
Edison Volquez was finally
designated for assignment, after going 9-10 with a 6.01 ERA and a -2.4 WAR in
27 starts. He failed to get out of the first inning on Friday, and it looks
like he won’t be missed.
24. Giants: 58-72
Last Week: 26
ESPN Rank: 25
The Giants need Barry Bonds back.
They have a team .375 slugging percentage (28th in MLB), and Hunter
Pence leads the team with 15 home runs. When a team has a .259 team batting
average (10th in MLB), and a team .317 OBP (15th in MLB),
they have the chance to score, but just don’t. They need power!
25. Twins: 57-72
Last Week: 23
ESPN Rank: 23
Joe Mauer’s concussion can really
hurt the Twins not this season but in the future if it’s serious. It’s been a
troubling season, and the Twins hope to get Byron Buxton in the big leagues
next season.
26. Brewers: 57-73
Last Week: 25
ESPN Rank: 26
Watch out for Marco Estrada. Since
returning from the DL earlier this month, Estrada has a 1.88 ERA in 24 innings.
He was supposed to be a big supplement this year, but since this year is
hopeless for Milwaukee, they hope that his recent pitching can help them in
2014.
27. Cubs: 55-75
Last Week: 24
ESPN Rank: 28
The Cubs have played the worst
baseball in the past two weeks. After Starlin Castro’s benching, then two
miserable losses to the Padres, Cub fans wish that the team finally can be good
again. Unfortunately for the fans, Manager Dale Sveum has reported that top
prospect Javier Baez will not play in the big leagues this season, nor will
prospects Jorge Soler or Kris Bryant. Wait ‘til next year, fans.
28. White Sox: 54-75
Last Week: 28
ESPN Rank: 27
The White Sox actually won five
games in a row last week, but still show signs of struggling. Veterans Paul
Konerko and Adam Dunn are falling, and might not be back next year. If the
White Sox want to move into a rebuilding program, they need to fire General
Manager Rick Hahn, possibly President of Baseball Operations Kenny Williams to.
Also, the White Sox bench coach got ejected yesterday from arguing calls about
the previous games. That was embarrassing.
29. Marlins: 49-80
Last Week: 29
ESPN Rank: 29
Jose Fernandez continues to be a
bright spot in the future. In his last ten starts, he’s allowed only 39 hits
and 19 walks in 68 innings, posting a 1.46 ERA with 81 K’s. His ERA at home is
1.29. Unfortunately for him and the rest of the organization, the offense is so
bad that Fernandez has 10 no decisions.
30. Astros: 43-86
Last Week: 30
ESPN Rank: 30
You know how some teams are much
better at home compared to on the road, or vice versa? Like how Atlanta has a
44-18 record at home, but are just .500 on the road? Well, the Astros suck at
both; 21-44 at home, 22-42 on the road.
Email me at statsbuddy42@gmail.com for any
questions/comments/concerns.
-Evan Boyd
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