Happy Monday everyone! I hope your
weekend was good. Sources say that Alex Rodriguez will be suspended until the
end of the 2014 season, but Joe Girardi is expected to put him in the lineup
tonight against the White Sox. More on that tomorrow!
A lot of changes in the Power
Rankings. Some teams just got really hot.
1.
Pirates:
67-44
Last Week: 4
ESPN Rank: 2
The Pirates proved themselves by
taking four of five against the Cardinals, playing eight games this week and
winning six. Their pitching is amazing, that’s what’s been giving them hope.
Jeff Locke, Francisco Liriano, A.J. Burnett, and Gerrit Cole have become the
best pitching rosters in the Major Leagues.
2.
Red Sox:
68-45
Last Week: 3
ESPN Rank: 1
Make it 10 walk offs for the Bo
Sox, with their most recent being a huge comeback from 7-1 to 8-7 all in the
ninth to beat the Mariners. With this Peavy trade, they lost a lot of
prospects, but also gained a strong pitcher that can help them win a pennant.
3.
Braves:
67-45
Last Week: 6
ESPN Rank: 3
The Braves have now won ten in a
row, and are only a half game back from the best record in the Major Leagues.
They now have only seven games against teams over .500 for the rest of the year
(because nobody else in the NL East has a winning record), so they will
probably finish with the best record in the league.
4.
Rays:
66-45
Last Week: 2
ESPN Rank: 4
The Rays have still been hot,
winning seven of their last ten, but now are a game out of first place. Wil
Myers has lead the offense, batting .417/.491/.792 since the all-star break.
The Rays pitching staff also has the 2nd best BAA in the MLB (.235).
5.
Cardinals:
65-45
Last Week: 1
ESPN Rank: 5
The Cardinals lost seven straight
games before winning a series against the Reds, including losing four in a row
against the Pirates. When they needed to play the hardest, they’ve played the worst
baseball this year. Remember that come October time.
6.
Tigers:
64-45
Last Week: 8
ESPN Rank: 6
The Tigers have played good
baseball even with Miguel Cabrera out day to day. They have won nine of their
last 10, including winning eight in a row. I have just been informed from ESPN
that the suspensions have been made, meaning that SS Jhonny Peralta will be
suspended 50 games for his connection to the Biogenesis case in Florida. That
means the Tigers, in my opinion, just won that Jake Peavy trade by getting Jose
Iglesias. What a great move!
7.
A’s: 64-47
Last Week: 5
ESPN Rank: 7
Since Alberto Callaspo has become
an A, he has gone 0-10 in three games. But don’t worry A’s fans, they have two
games against the struggling Reds, then four against the last-place Blue Jays,
then are at home against the Astros.
8.
Indians:
62-49
Last Week: 13
ESPN Rank: 9
Terry Francona and the Indians are
really sparking something, as they swept the Rangers in their first road series
win since June. They have won 9 of their last 10, but their skills will come to
the test in a four game homestand against the Tigers.
9.
Dodgers:
61-49
Last Week: 10
ESPN Rank: 8
Capping off a four game sweep
against the Cubs, the Dodgers have now moved to 12 games over .500 and a 5.5
game lead over the D-Backs. They have now won 8 of their last 10, and have
played much better than earlier in the season. Their bullpen, which was a big
problem earlier, now posts a 2.84 ERA, which is the 5th best in the
Majors.
10.
Rangers:
62-50
Last Week: 11
ESPN Rank: 12
I’m not worried about the Rangers
not making the playoffs, even if they are 2.5 games back from the A’s in the AL
West and only have a half game back in the wild card. With Nelson Cruz
suspended, that’s going to be a big blow. Remember that they still have
pitchers like Yu Darvish, Matt Garza, and Alexi Ogando, to help shut down big
hitting teams in the AL. On their schedule they still have 10 games against the
Astros, and 10 games against the Angels, so it looks like they will have 15
more wins in their pocket.
11.
Orioles:
61-51
Last Week: 9
ESPN Rank: 10
The Orioles are now 6.5 games out
of the AL East, and they really need to do something right now if they want to
keep up. The teams that are taking their spots in both the wild card and
division are red hot, and they need to keep up. My prediction is that they won’t.
In fact, I see them dropping to about .500, maybe a few games over, by the end
of the season. Sabermetrically, their on track to go about 79-81.
12.
Reds:
61-51
Last Week: 7
ESPN Rank: 11
The Reds are 11-14 in the last four
weeks, and have seen their lead in the wild card spot slowly start to fall.
Luckily, they have nobody really in contention with them. Todd Frazier needs to
step it up; he’s gone 0-for-28 in his last 9 games. The Reds now have a 28-32
record on the road.
13.
Royals:
56-52
Last Week: 15
ESPN Rank: 13
This Royals team has started to
become real fun to watch. Good news for them is that they’ve played their best
ball by winning nine of their last ten. The bad news is that the Indians and
Tigers have as well. If one of these three teams fell, it would be the Royals.
They just lost all-star catcher Salvador Perez to the DL for about a week, but
they really need him in order to bring some wins in.
14.
Yankees:
57-53
Last Week: 14
ESPN Rank: 14
Adding Alfonso Soriano really
helped the Yankees because their outfield had no power. In fact, in the month
of July, Soriano had more homers (9) than the rest of the Yankee outfield and
for most of the month than the entire team. However, if A-Rod gets suspended,
they need to find a new answer to their third base problems, which is the worst
in the MLB.
15.
D-Backs:
56-55
Last Week: 12
ESPN Rank: 15
Now is the time for the D-Backs to
get hot, as they have all home games until August 14th. If they don’t,
then they have to deal with Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and Philadelphia all on the
road, which won’t be much fun to deal with.
16.
Nationals:
57-57
Last Week: 17
ESPN Rank: 17
What happened to Stephen Strasburg
talks? He’s not all-ever this year, but he still has a 3.04 ERA and 134
strikeouts in 130.1 innings. Oh wait, I know why: it’s because he’s 5-9 this
year. Come on, offense!
17.
Mariners:
52-59
Last Week: 16
ESPN Rank: 21
The Mariners have now passed the
Angels in the AL West in winning two in a row. Their infield is something to
note of, too. Kyle Seager is batting .296/.364/.488 with a 4.5 offensive WAR.
18.
Rockies:
52-61
Last Week: 18
ESPN Rank: 17
The Rockies have performed as one
of the worst clubs since the beginning of July. Even though they have the 7th
best batting average (.263) and a good .320 OBP (11th in MLB), they
are 27th in ERA (4.32) and 28th in BAA (.274).
19.
Padres:
52-60
Last Week: 25
ESPN Rank: 20
Jeez, the Padres are always off,
then on, then off, then back on again. This past week they moved from last
place to 3rd in the NL West, winning seven of their last 10. With
Evereth Cabrera out for the rest of the season, things won’t get better,
though.
20.
Blue Jays:
51-60
Last Week: 21
ESPN Rank: 19
How about Edwin Encarnacion, a
member of my Who’s Hot List last week. He’s batting .375 with a 1.094 OPS in 64
at-bats since the break.
21.
Angels:
51-59
Last Week: 20
ESPN Rank: 18
Nothing to see here anymore, folks.
Pujols looks like he’s done for the season, and they will need a miracle if
they want a shot at the playoffs. According to ESPN.com, they have a 1.1%
chance of making it this year.
22.
Phillies:
50-61
Last Week: 19
ESPN Rank: 22
The Phils have now lost 9 of their
last 10, including losing 5 in a row, and are now 16.5 games back from the
Braves. A once .500 team, I can still see them going back to .500, but nothing
better than that. In lighter news, they have a chance to get the #1 overall
draft pick for next June.
23.
Mets:
49-60
Last Week: 23
ESPN Rank: 23
The Mets have a pitching staff that’s
on par with the major leagues (15th in ERA, Quality Starts, and WHIP),
which isn’t that bad for a rotation that will just keep getting better and
better. Even with David Wright and the hot hitting Daniel Murphy, it’s the
offense that’s killing the team. They now have a .237 batting average, which is
28th in the MLB.
24.
Giants:
49-61
Last Week: 24
ESPN Rank: 24
The Giants have moved back into
last place, even though many people thought they’d be in first place at this
point from the beginning of the season. Why would they keep Hunter Pence, even
though he has the worst swing and his contract expires by the end of the year?
Because he is the only power in an outfield that ranks last in home runs.
25.
Twins:
48-60
Last Week: 26
ESPN Rank: 26
This weekend the Twins swept the
Astros, which still counts as wins, mind you. They now are only one game under
.500 at home, but need to play better on the road (22-33 on the road). They go
on the road to play the Royals this week. I got a bad feeling for the Twins.
26.
Cubs:
49-62
Last Week: 22
ESPN Rank: 25
Unlike the Twins, the Cubs are
doing well on the road and not at home. The Cubs have won 26 games on the road,
which is already more than how many they had last year. They are 23-33 at
Wrigley, which was just shown by a four game sweep by the Dodgers.
27.
Brewers:
47-64
Last Week: 27
ESPN Rank: 27
The Brewers have now moved to look
at the 2014 season, signing young outfielders like 24 year old Caleb Gindl, who
is hitting .349/.404/.605 since mid-July. With Braun out, they need to sign
some young outfielders who will hopefully have potential.
28.
Marlins:
43-67
Last Week: 29
ESPN Rank: 28
Congrats, Marlins. I never thought
you’d move out of the 29 or 30 spot, but you did. Why did they? Because rookie
Jose Fernandez is a tank! He broke his own record with a 14-K performance on
Friday. In his last 11 starts, he’s 6-2 with a 1.67 ERA with 86 K’s. However,
they have a tough road trip against the Pirates, Braves, then Royals.
29.
White Sox:
40-69
Last Week: 28
ESPN Rank: 29
Will the White Sox ever win again?
They now have lost 10 in a row, and are only 4.5 games ahead of the Astros for
worst record in baseball. If they keep it up, they will easily have 100 losses.
30.
Astros:
36-74
Last Week: 30
ESPN Rank: 30
Chris Carter is on pace for 214
strikeouts, and is now batting .213/.314/.426 with 145 K’s. Too bad, he just
will miss Mark Reynolds’ record of 223.
Email me at statsbuddy42@gmail.com for any
questions/comments/concerns.
-Evan Boyd
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