We’re two weeks away from the All-Star Break, and this week of our MLB Power Rankings may have featured the biggest shakeups that we’ve encountered yet. One squad that was outside the top 20 as recently as two weeks ago is now on the verge of cracking the top 10. On the other hand, two teams that finished in the top five last week had dismal performances over the past seven days, so do we finally get a new leader? Let’s take a look at our latest addition of our rankings to see where the teams stack up.
30. Minnesota Twins (24-51, previously 30) – Congratulations to the Twins on becoming the first team to reach 50 losses in 2016, a designation that no squad wants to have. To put in perspective just how bad things are in the Twin Cities, Minnesota is 13.5 games behind the White Sox and Tigers who are tied for 3rd in the AL Central at 38-38.
29. Atlanta Braves (26-49, previously 29) – The Braves are 7-3 in their last ten games, but even if they finally have figured things out, it’s far too little too late for Atlanta to rescue a 2016 season that has gone wrong in so many ways. Their “hot streak” if you will is most likely to come to an end this week too as they will be forced to deal with the red-hot Cleveland Indians.
28. Cincinnati Reds (29-47, previously 28) – Sunday was a nice day for Cincy as they retired Pete Rose’s number before blanking the Padres 3-0, but the Reds continue to remain absolutely dreadful as they maintain their last place position in the NL Central. The future may get even bleaker as it seems more and more likely that the squad’s RBI and BA leader Jay Bruce will be shipped off at the trade deadline next month.
27. Tampa Bay Rays (31-43, previously 23) – What got into the water in Tampa Bay? The Rays have lost eleven straight games, allowing five runs or more in every one of those contests. Maybe it’s no coincidence that the song “Free Fallin'” was written by a Floridian in the form of Tom Petty, because that is exactly what the Sunshine State’s northern team is in right now.
26. Philadelphia Phillies (32-46, previously 26) – Once again the Phillies find themselves trending in the wrong direction, this time the result of a 2-8 stretch that concluded with a walk-off loss to the San Francisco Giants on Sunday afternoon. On the bright side of things, they were able to hand Giants ace Madison Bumgarner his second consecutive loss Saturday night.
25. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (32-44, previously 22) – It was a disastrous week for the Angels, who lost six straight at the hands of division rivals Houston and Oakland before beating the A’s on a walk-off Sunday after erasing a 6-2 deficit. Tim Lincecum was rocked in his home debut Thursday night, getting chased after only three innings in which he surrendered four earned runs. The Angels have now dropped all the way to last place in the AL West, 17 games behind the Texas Rangers.
24. Oakland Athletics (32-43, previously 27) – The A’s were able to string together three straight wins this week by catching the ice-cold Angels at just the right time, escaping the cellar of the AL West in the process. Khris Davis is becoming the second player in the majors with such a variation of that name to prove himself as a force at the plate, now with a team leading 18 homers and 50 RBIs this season.
23. Milwaukee Brewers (34-41, previously 23) – The Brewers were able to catch the NL East-leading Nationals in the midst of a slump to take the series 2-1, but Milwaukee still sits far out of playoff contention as Ryan Braun trade-talks continue to increase. Braun leads the team with a .342 batting average, making him a highly desirable asset for any team looking to make a playoff push or retain their playoff position.
22. San Diego Padres (33-44, previously 25) – The Padres appear to be getting hot just in time for when they host All-Star Game in the coming weeks, as they have now won six of their last eight games, three of those wins coming against first-place squads in Baltimore and Washington. They’ll get a chance to do it again when they host Baltimore this week, their second series against the AL East leaders in the past week.
21. Colorado Rockies (36-39, previously 18) – Colorado’s bats continue to stay hot, punctuated by a Carlos Gonzalez grand-slam on Sunday’s win against Arizona, but the pitching is just not there for the Rockies (largely the result of injuries). Colorado has the 2nd most runs and third highest team batting average in all of baseball, but the team ERA of 5.04 is the third worst in the majors.
20. Arizona Diamondbacks (36-42, previously 21) – The Diamondbacks entered this past weekend in the middle of a solid 8-1 stretch before dropping two in a row against Colorado on Saturday and Sunday. Zack Greinke has now reached the double-digit mark in wins this season, and Arizona could make even more noise as they host the sluggish Philadelphia Phillies this week at home.
19. Seattle Mariners (38-38, previously 14) – Seattle is back to .500 and has now fallen into third place in the AL West after a 2-7 stretch that saw them lose six straight before taking two out of three against St. Louis this weekend. Nobody on the Mariners is batting .300, but Seattle has the 7th best team ERA in baseball at 3.48.
18. Detroit Tigers (38-38, previously 16) – The Tigers did not have things go well for them this weekend as they were swept by the Indians to lose even more ground in the AL Central standings. Justin Verlander allowed four home runs on Sunday afternoon, adding another chapter to the uncharacteristically mediocre year for the Detroit ace. If anything, they can smile that they completed a four game sweep of the Seattle Mariners immediately before they entered the current three game skid.
17. Chicago White Sox (38-38, previously 20) – The White Sox had themselves a 5-2 week, taking series against Boston and Toronto to get back to .500. It’s the best single week the squad has had since early May in terms of W/L, and they may have a chance to catch even more momentum as they host the MLB-worst Twins this week on the south-side.
16. Pittsburgh Pirates (37-39, previously 19) – Pittsburgh got back to their winning ways with a sweep of the Dodgers at PNC Park this weekend, driving in four runs off of Clayton Kershaw on Sunday night to hand the ace his first loss since April. Maybe that victory will kick-start the under-achieving Pirates squad that finds itself 12 games out of first place in NL Central.
15. New York Yankees (37-37, previously 15) – The most average team in all-of baseball once again finds themselves ranked right in the middle of the pack of No. 15, and whether or not the Yankees stay there or not in the coming weeks is at large. There have been rumors of Carlos Beltran being shipped by the trade deadline, but it’s just talk for now. Also, can we point out that the Yankees have had in fairly easy in the past ten days, having faced the Twins seven times?
14. St. Louis Cardinals (39-35, previously 13) – The Cardinals got a jolt by sweeping the Cubs in three games last week at Wrigley Field, only to lose two of three against the slumping Mariners over the weekend at Safeco Field. Aside from that, the Cardinals continue to knock in runs at the plate, now at 381 on the season. Matt Carpenter continues to lead the squad with 47 RBIs on the year.
13. New York Mets (40-34, previously 12) – If you want to know how the Mets are doing of late, all I need to tell you is that they’ve played the NL-Worst Braves seven times over the past two weeks and have gone a lack-luster 2-5 in those games. Noah Syndergaard has yet to reach double-digit wins, only at eight, despite posting a envious 2.08 ERA. Fortunately for New York, an absolutely atrocious past week by the NL East leading Nationals has kept them in the division hunt, only sitting three games behind Washington in the standings.
12. Kansas City Royals (39-35, previously 8) – The Royals took a sizable step in the wrong direction last week, losing four in a row and absolutely getting blasted by the Astros in a 2-1 series loss over the weekend. Kansas City allowed 13 runs in back-to-back starts against Houston, facing a 9-0 deficit before than even had a chance to bat on Friday night. Edison Volquez surrendered 12 earned runs in less than two innings pitched in that game, posting a 99 ERA that night. Ouch.
11. Houston Astros (39-37, previously 17) – Houston, we have lift-off. The Astros won seven straight games before Sunday’s loss to launch themselves above .500 and all the way into 2nd place in the AL West standings. George Springer has proven he is #ASGWorthy, now with 46 RBIs and 16 homers on the season, while Jose Altuve is now batting a ridiculous .347. Despite this stretch, Houston finds themselves 10 games out of first place, but expect them to be a serious wildcard contender if they keep clicking on all cylinders as they have this past week.
10. Los Angeles Dodgers (41-36, previously 10) – The Dodgers extended their winning streak last week to six games, one which ended on a Yasiel Puig inside-the-park walk-off homer, before getting swept by the Pirates over weekend – a series that saw Clatyon Kershaw suffer his first loss in two months. Even at eight games out of first place, LA has too big of a payroll to go down without a fight, so expect the Dodgers to make some big moves before the trade-deadline as part of a playoff-push attempt.
9. Toronto Blue Jays (41-36, previously 9) – Toronto only played five games this past week and went 2-3, but the Jays only find themselves a game behind second place Boston in the Al East despite that. Edwin Encarnacion has stayed hot at the plate with 66 RBIs and 19 homers on the season. On the mound, Marco Estrada has lowered his ERA to 2.70, and Aaron Sanchez now leads the team in strikeouts with 93 on the year. The Jays now travel to Colorado to take on the Rockies this week, marking the first time Troy Tulowitzki will play in the mile-high city since his departure from the Rockies to Toronto last July.
8. Miami Marlins (41-35, previously 11) – The Marlins may have officially proven their ability to contend after they took three out of four from the Cubs in south Florida this weekend. CF Marcell Ozuna has erupted to boost his batting average all the way up to .320, and Jose Fernandez now has 10 wins on the year with a 2.28 ERA. Miami now sits in a tie with New York for second place in the NL East.
7. Washington Nationals (44-32, previously 4) – The past week was about as bad as it could possibly get for the Nationals. They lost seven games in a row. They blew a late lead over three times. They lost on a walk-off inside-the-park home run. Stephen Strasburgh was scratched twice and is now on the 15-Day DL. And their NL East division lead has been reduced to a mere three games. The Nats are still in one piece after all on that, but things will have to change if they intend to avoid a potential mid-season debacle that appears to be in the works.
6. Boston Red Sox (41-36, previously 6) – The Red Sox continue to show signs of vulnerability after they led the AL East less than a month ago. The Sox have lost five of their last seven games and have now fallen four games out of first place behind Baltimore in the division. Boston’s 417 runs on the season lead all teams in the majors, but the team ERA of 4.16 is 16th in all of baseball. If the pitching doesn’t get much better anytime soon, expect a big trade to be on the way, one that may ship somebody such as Clay Buchholz away from Bean-town.
5. Baltimore Orioles (45-30, previously 5) – Baltimore has padded its lead in the AL East by winning five straight contests and getting back to .600 in the process. Mark Trumbo can’t be stopped, as the man now has 22 homers on the season. With 51 homers this month, the Orioles just need nine more big-flies before Friday to set an MLB record for the most home runs by a team in a single month. The other stat: The O’s 31-13 record at Camden Yards is the best home-record in all of baseball.
4. Cleveland Indians (44-30, previously 7) – What is happening in Cleveland? The Indians have won an MLB-best nine straight games as of Sunday afternoon, and have now built a five game lead for first place in the AL Central. This streak may grow even more as the Tribe has the luxury of going to play the lowly Braves in Atlanta this week, starting tomorrow night. While Francisco Lindor continues to play sensational baseball at shortstop, Mike Napoli has been a key part of the lineup of late, now with a team leading 16 homers and 51 RBIs on the season.
3. Chicago Cubs (48-26, previously 1) – Yes. I know. I’m probably going to get a lot of heat for this one. But after maintaining their position as the team to beat for the entire 2016 season up to this point, the Chicago Cubs have finally fallen out of the No. 1 spot. The Cubs had their worst week of the season last week, dropping six out of seven and getting swept for the first time this season in the process. Chicago may continue to boast the best winning percentage in baseball, but it is only by one game, and they no longer have the most wins. It is also notable that the Cubs have only gone 23-20 since starting the season 25-6, and there are two teams that have played far better in their past 43 games than the Cubbies, any way you cut it. So sorry Chicago, the streak was nice while it lasted.
2. San Francisco Giants (49-28, previously 2) – The Giants have taken over as the team with the most wins in the National League after they beat the Phillies on Sunday for their 49th win of the season. While it may raise some eyebrows that Madison Bumgarner has dropped his last two starts (each with very little run support), that does not change the fact that the giants have gone 32-11 in their past 43 games, a stretch they have not seen since 1954 when they were playing at Polo Grounds. San Francisco now has an eight game lead in the NL West.
1. Texas Rangers (49-27, previously 3) – Numbers don’t lie; the Texas Rangers are the team to beat right now in all of baseball. Sure they’re behind the Cubs for the best winning percentage in the majors, but by merely one game, and the Rangers have gone 17-6 in their past 23 games, a span that included a seven game win streak which came to an end on Tuesday. The Rangers are on pace for well over 100 wins, and like the Giants, they have just simply looked more dominant than the Cubs when you compare their past 43 games played (31-12 opposed to 23-20). To put things in perspective, the Rangers have not lost any of their last 12 series, something you just don’t see everyday considering how competitive the game has become these days. Texas is damn good, and there no signs of this team stopping its rampage anytime soon.
Biggest Jump: Houston Astros (+6)
Biggest Drop: Seattle Mariners (-5)