Power Rankings: 8 5 13

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 2^nd 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 5^th 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 14^th. 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 7^th best batting average (.263) and a good .320 OBP (11^th in MLB), they are 27^th in ERA (4.32) and 28^th 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 3^rd 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 (15^th 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 28^th 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

Who's Hot/Who's Not 8/2/13

Hey there, happy Friday! It’s time to look at who’s hot and who’s not this week. A lot of teams have either been winning a consecutive amount of games, or losing a whole lot. Take for example the entire AL Central: The Royals have won nine in a row, the Indians have won eight in a row, the Tigers have won 9 of their last 10, and the White Sox have lost seven in a row. The Red Sox have won three in a row after an amazing comeback against the Mariners. Nevermind teams though, let’s look at players that are hot!

Freddie Freeman: The player that is leading in OBP for the team, and soon might just have the best batting average as well. This week he’s batted .385 with 3 homers and 7 RBI’s. He’s moved his batting average has moved up to .309, and his OBP is at .390. He also leads the team in cool dance moves and bro hugs, which always count.

Torii Hunter: Hunter has been tearing it up this entire second half, and continues to show it this week. He’s batting .419 with four homers and eight RBI’s, and is now batting .316 with 11 homers and 53 RBI’s. The Tigers should be glad that they got a veteran like him! I had to pick the picture of him robbing Bonds' home run in the all-star game. I'll never forget that.

 

 


Wil Myers: Who? The guy that’s been leading the Rays towards a hot streak, that’s who. Not only did he hit for the cycle, but he’s also batting .400 with two homers and eight RBI’s this week. That’s moved his batting average to .331. He’s only 22 years old too. If he gets enough plate appearances to qualify (meaning he’d have to play the rest of the season), he could be up for Rookie of the Year. 

Edwin Encarnacion: Encarnacion is batting .500 this week. He’s moved his home run total to 29 after hitting 3 in his last seven, and now has 84 RBI’s. Unfortunately, nothing else has been working for the Blue Jays. 

 
David Price: Price has done a much better job with opponents since returning from his injury. In his last three starts, he’s 3-0 with a 2.31 ERA, and has struck out 17 while walking only one. He’s only 6-5 with a 3.57 ERA now, but hey, that ERA is just going to get lower and lower now. He’s not going to win the Cy Young again, but he is pitching well right at the time when the Rays are red hot.

Felix Hernandez: Granted, he’s usually red hot, but man is he good right now. His last outing was tonight against the Red Sox, and only gave up one run in seven innings, but the bullpen blew it and gave up seven runs to blow the win. Poor Felix. Before that though, he had a complete game, giving up one run and striking out 11 while walking none, but got the no-decision. He’s 2-0 with a .39 ERA and a 22/1 K/BB ratio in his last three starts. Still is Cy Young worthy.

 

 Craig Kimbrel: The Braves have been red hot, and each time they have won in this streak, Kimbrel has helped get the save. He is 7/7 in his last save opportunities with a 0 ERA, striking out 13 in that span. He now has 31 saves and a 1.34 ERA. Ahhh!

Those are the seven for who’s hot. What about who’s not?

Jedd Gyorko (Padres): It’s not good when you’re on the “Who’s Not” list two weeks in a row. Gyorko is batting .107 in his last seven starts, and has moved his average down from .280 to .252. He’s young so cut him some slack, but I think scouts wanted much more potential out of him.

Jose Tabata (Pirates): He really needs to break out of his slump if he wants to keep it up with these red hot Pirates. This week he’s batting only .067 with nothing much in the offensive category, and now is batting .252 with only 12 RBI’s. His defense is much better than his offense, but the Pirates need offense more than defense right now. 

Josh Johnson (Blue Jays): Johnson only has one win this season, which was all the way back on June 23^rd. His last six outings have gone for losses, moving his ERA from 4.60 to 6.08. In his last three starts he’s 0-3 with a 12.51 ERA and a 1.83 WHIP. He’s now 1-7 with a 1.57 WHIP. Not good for a veteran like him.

CC Sabathia (Yankees): I’ll be honest, I didn’t expect his name to come up in this list. But that’s been the type of year for CC. He’s 9-9 with a 4.65 ERA, and has racked up a 10.93 ERA in his last three starts. Yankees fans are not happy. I just read an article from a Yankee fan affiliate that was titled “CC Sabathia is the worst.” Granted, he’s 32 years old, but he should still be doing a little better. 

Ernesto Frieri (Angels): This week Frieri blew two saves, going 0-2 with a 13.50 ERA. He has now blown four saves in 29 opportunities, with a 4.20 ERA. That still isn’t terrible, but hopefully he can break out of this streak and start getting wins for the team.

Lollapalooza is this weekend, so I’ll have the Power Rankings Monday. Email me at statsbuddy42@gmail.com for any questions/comments/concerns.

-Evan Boyd

The Pirates are Something Special

The Pirates aren’t that team that chokes anymore. In fact, they have some of the best talent in the MLB in both pitching and hitting. Would you believe me if I told you that they are the best team in baseball? They might not win the World Series, or even the pennant, but they have a team that not only is incredible this year, but can be scary to watch in the upcoming years. It may not seem like it because they have only one starter that bats over .300. It’s the pitching that has made them successful.

If I asked you three years ago if you knew who Andrew McCutchen, Starling Marte, Pedro Alvarez, Jeff Locke, and Gerrit Cole were, you would probably only know who McCutchen was. Everyone else except for Alvarez were not even in the league three years ago. They are the future of this team.

 

McCutchen and Marte dominate the outfield. McCutchen, who batted .327/.400/.553 with a gold glove last year, is doing just as well this year. His offensive stats have lowered, batting .301/.371/.494 now, but his defense has been even better, having a 1.3 dWAR compared to a -.2 last year. 

Marte is also a very good defender. He bats .277/.333/.441 with 31 steals offensively, but has a 1.6 dWAR to top a 4.3 overall WAR. He’s also only 24 years old, and keeps getting better and better. He needs to walk more and strikeout less, but that can improve. He also has shown signs of immense power, even though he only has 10 home runs. There was talk of the Pirates acquiring an OF at the trade deadline, including Alex Rios or Giancarlo Stanton. If they got Stanton, that would be a scary lineup.

Pedro Alvarez has lots of power. Though batting only .242/.304/.494, he has 87 hits, 27 home runs and 70 RBI’s. Last year he hit 30 home runs on 128 hits, so you can see some improvement in his power and contact. Jeff Locke is Cy Young eligible, having a 9-3 record and a 2.36 ERA. Gerrit Cole, the number one draft pick in 2011, is showing some signs of a talented professional. He is 5-4 with a 3.56 ERA. 

The Pirates have young talent, but they also have players that some considered wash-ups, but are now all-stars or just really good. My favorite to watch is Francisco Liriano. Liriano, who had six of nine seasons with an ERA over 5, now is 11-4 with a 2.16 ERA this year. Lately, he has been untouchable against teams. Others include Jason Grilli, the 36 year old who has a 2.34 ERA and 30 saves, or Mark Melancon, who has 26 holds and a .88 ERA. 

The Pirates have the best ERA in the MLB at 3.03, which is absolutely incredible. Baseball’s average is 3.89, and the Reds are second best with a 3.30 ERA. They also have a .226 BAA, the best in the MLB as well. They have a strong starting rotation, as well as a dominant relief core. Their hitting is underrated, but still could use some more, and I wish they took advantage of some guys in the trade deadline.

They remind me of the 2003 Cubs, who had a dominant pitching roster in Kerry Wood and Mark Prior. Let's just hope that if they get to the NLCS, they don't choke in Game 6.

Why mention them now? Two reasons. First off, the Pirates usually choke at this point. It’s been two years in a row where they’ve had a record over .500 going into the all-star break, but finished under .500. They have not had a winning season in twenty years. Don’t worry Pirates fans, this is the year!

Also, this week they have had a five-game series with the St. Louis Cardinals. They have won the first four games against the Cards in dramatic fashion, and look to complete the sweep tonight to win five in a row. The Cardinals have lost seven in a row, and hopefully won’t make it eight. They now have the best record in baseball at 65-42, and also are the only team with a win percentage over .600.

This team is something special. Thank manager Clint Hurdle and the rest of the organization for that. They have done an amazing job, and I can’t wait to see them in October.

Mike Trout didn't get a hit, so I'm back to zero in Beat the Streak. Let's hope that he redeems himself, as I have Trout again, and Freddie Freeman as well. Email me at statsbuddy42@gmail.com with any questions/comments/concerns.

-Evan Boyd