We’re essentially now two weeks into June, and the 30 squads in the MLB continue to shuffle as some gain significant ground while others still find themselves trending downward. One National League squad made a major push this past week while a division foe of theirs continued to tumble. Both however still sit far behind their division leader, who took home the No. 1 spot once again. So, let’s find out how each team fared in this week’s edition of our MLB Power Rankings.
30. Atlanta Braves (18-44, previously 29) – The Braves find themselves back in the cellar of our rankings after losing eight of their last ten to take over the worst record in the majors at 18-44. The woes in that time period most recently featured a 13-2 demolition at the hands of the Chicago Cubs on Sunday at Turner Field, a place where Atlanta is 7-22 this season.
29. Minnesota Twins (19-43, previously 30) – Minnesota was able to walk-off against the formidable Boston Red Sox at home on Sunday, but remains 16 games out of first place in the AL Central as we near the midway point of the season in the coming weeks. The Twins may be able to rid the momentum from yesterday’s contest into a series against the struggling Angels this week in Anaheim.
28. Oakland Athletics (26-36, previously 26) – The A’s have gone 3-7 in their last 10 games, dropping a three game series to 2-1 to the lowly Cincinnati Reds in Ohio this weekend. It appears that Oakland is officially seeing the dark side of Moneyball once again as we have now played ten weeks of baseball.
27. San Diego Padres (26-38, previously 27) – San Diego is playing .500 baseball again as of the past week and half, but it may be too little too late by this point as they are 12 games below the overall .500 mark. The Padres lost two of three to Colorado this weekend, allowing 10 runs in Sunday’s debacle against their division rival. Only one month remains until Petco Park will see a capacity crowd for the All-Star festivities, a rare sight in 2016 thus far.
26. Cincinnati Reds (24-39, previously 28) – A 6-4 stretch and a series win over Oakland at home this weekend puts the Reds at the highest spot they have ever seen in our power rankings this season, even if that may only be 26th. Cincinnati may continue their “hot streak” if you will this week as they head to Turner Field to take on a Braves squad that has been dismal at home this season.
25. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (27-36, previously 21) – The Angels suffered a four game sweep in the Bronx this past week before losing two out of three against Cleveland at home this weekend. Even their lone win in the midst of a 1-6 stretch resulted in disaster as a 3-0 ninth inning lead vanished before the squad walked off in the bottom half of the inning. Mike Trout exited Sunday’s loss after getting hit by a pitch in the thumb, but is expected to return immediately. Tim Lincecum is also set to make his pitching debut for the squad in the coming week.
24. Arizona Diamondbacks (28-37, previously 25) – Zack Greinke has appeared to finally return to his normal self after a dismal start to the season, finding himself at 8-3 on the season with a 3.88 ERA, which can be deceiving given his quality starts of late. Even then however, Arizona finds itself 10.5 games back of first place in the NL West as they prepare to host the Dodgers this week.
23. Tampa Bay Rays (29-32, previously 24) – Tampa finds itself in the middle of a 7-3 stretch and is now only a mere three games below .500 despite sitting last in the AL East. Evan Longoria seems to be finding his groove finally, batting .343 with six home runs since June 1. Could Tampa be in position to make a come from behind run into and beyond the All-Star break?
22. Philadelphia Phillies (29-34, previously 19) – Things get worse and worse for the city of brotherly love. The Phillies were swept by the NL East-leading Washington Nationals this weekend and now face a four game slate against the talented Toronto Blue Jays – the first two games north of the border and the last two back home. Questions continue to linger too as to whether or not Ryan Howard will be traded away if not released in the coming weeks, having lost his job as starting first baseman this weekend.
21. Milwaukee Brewers (30-33, previously 22) – Milwaukee split a four game series at home against the Mets this weekend, dropping the first two before bouncing back with wins on Saturday and Sunday. Milwaukee is now only 3 games below .500 and will head out west to take on the San Francisco Giants for a three game series this week before heading to Chavez Ravine to face the Dodgers next weekend.
20. Houston Astros (30-35, previously 17) – After a brief hot-stretch that sparked some hope for Astro fans, the ‘Stros have now lost five of their last seven, dropping three games of a four game series against the Texas Rangers in Arlington last week. Dallas Keuchel struggled once again in Tampa on Sunday, allowing five runs as Houston was blanked in the loss. Now they will have to face the surging Cardinals in the days to come
19. Colorado Rockies (30-33, previously 23) – The Rockies powered home 10 runs in San Diego on Sunday to take two of three against the Padres. Colorado is now 6-4 in its last ten contests and only sits 4.5 games out of playoff position. Next up will be a home series against the New York Yankees as part of inter-league action, pitting power against power on each side in the mile-high city.
18. Chicago White Sox (31-32, previously 18) – The South Side’s squad now finds themselves under .500 after dropping two out of three in Kansas City this weekend. Chris Sale got back to winning form with his 10th victory of the season on Friday, but that doesn’t change the fact that Chicago has now fallen to fourth place in the AL Central.
17. New York Yankees (31-32, previously 20) – The Yankees had themselves a 5-2 week, taking five straight from Monday to Friday to finally get to above .500 for one night until they dropped two straight against Detroit at home this weekend. New York is now 18-14 at home and only sits 5.5 games out of first place. Meanwhile, Alex Rodriguez remains six homers shy of joining the 700 club.
16. Pittsburgh Pirates (32-31, previously 10) – Pittsburgh finds themselves in yet another skid, this time five games, and has now dropped twelve spots in our rankings since they were No. 4 two weeks ago. It didn’t help either that the five game dry-spell consisted of a sweep at the hands of the St. Louis Cardinals, losing valuable ground in an already highly competitive division. The Bucs are now 2-7 since defeating the Angels on June 3. For now the Steel City can cheer about the Penguins winning the Stanley Cup on the brighter side of things.
15. Miami Marlins (32-31, previously 15) – The Marlins are only a game above .500 after dropping a series against the Diamondbacks in the desert this weekend, which concluded with a 6-o shutout loss on Sunday. Their bats may have a chance to come back to life this week as they take on the struggling Padres at Petco Park.
14. Kansas City Royals (32-30, previously 11) – An eight game losing streak in which Yordano Ventura was levied a nine game suspension for a fight last week was no fun for the defending champs, but they were finally able to string together wins on Saturday and Sunday against the slumping White Sox. A huge series against Detroit will be on tap, a team which the Royals sit tied with for 2nd place in the AL Central, and whether or not Ventura will be available is questionable as he awaits the verdict of his appeal.
13. Detroit Tigers (32-20, previously 16) – Roar. The Tigers have finally come to life, breaking the .500 mark by going 7-3 in their last ten games to move into a tie for 2nd place in the AL Central. The Tigers pitching staff that now includes as healthy Jordan Zimmerman has been dominant of late, and the squad will have a chance to solely take over 2nd place as they take on the Royals this week.
12. Los Angeles Dodgers (33-31, previously 9) – It looked to be a solid week for the Dodgers after Clayton Kershaw dominated the Giants on Friday to move within three games of first place on Friday, but things took an abrupt turn with the squad blew a 4-3 lead in extra innings on Saturday afternoon before falling a run short of victory again on Sunday to drop the series against their rivals and fall five games out of first place in the NL West. Outfielder Trayce Thompson, the younger brother of Golden State Warriors’ star Klay Thompson, did deliver a walk-off home run last week and tallied multiple hits on Saturday in front of his brother at AT&T Park.
11. Seattle Mariners (34-29, previously 12) – Seattle has had a bit of a rough-going of late as they have dropped seven of their last ten games, but they remain 5 games over .500 and 5 out of first place despite that slump they are in. For those that are nostalgic, you can celebrate that the squad drafted Ken Griffey Jr.’s son Trey Griffey in the ML Draft over the weekend.
10. New York Mets (34-28, previously 8) – The Mets limped out of Milwaukee this weekend after they dropped the final two contests of a four game series against the Brewers. The Mets allowed five home runs in Saturday’s loss, and manager Terry Collins was hospitalized shortly before Sunday’s finale to make matters even worse. It’s safe to say the squad will be happy to return to Queens for a series against the ice-cold Pirates this week.
9. Toronto Blue Jays (35-30, previously 14) – The Blue Jays took three out of four against Baltimore this weekend to creep within 2.5 games of first place in the AL East. Toronto tallied 10 and 11 runs in the final two games of the series and can potentially inch even close to the top of the division as they face the struggling Phillies four times this week, twice at home and twice on the road.
8. Cleveland Indians (35-27, previously 7) – The Indians took two out of three in Anaheim this weekend, with SS Francisco Lindor tallying three hits (including a home run) on Sunday to further solidify his all-star campaign. The squad unfortunately suffered a loss in the form of 3B Juan Uribe who exited the contest after taking a Mike Trout grounder to the place where no man wants to be hit by a 106 mph baseball. While the tribe remains in first place, they are only a mere three games ahead of Detroit and Kansas City as it stands, and will have to keep up their solid play to maintain that position.
7. St. Louis Cardinals (35-28, previously 13) – The Cardinals are soaring high, now having won five straight and seven of their last ten to move into second place in the NL Central. They may still be nine games back thanks to the Cubs’ extraordinary season thus far, but Yadier Molina has come back to life at catcher as have other pieces of the lineup such as Matt Carpenter. Carpenter now has 10 homers on the year and has raised his batting average nearly 30 points in the last nine games.
6. Baltimore Orioles (36-26, previously 6) – The Orioles took the opener of a four game series against Toronto this weekend before losing the last three, and they may be without a key figure Manny Machado in the near future as he appeals his suspension for his actions in the fight last week. Baltimore now sits in a virtual tie with Boston for first place in the AL East, whom they will play this week.
5. Boston Red Sox (36-26, previously 4) – Boston remains atop the the leader board in the AL East but continues to play sluggishly, now 4-6 in their last ten games. The squad was able to split a two-game road trip in San Francisco last week before taking two of three in Minnesota to cap off a 3-2 week. The Red Sox now host Baltimore this week with first place on the line as the two are currently tied.
4. San Francisco Giants (38-26, previously 5) – After it seemed as if they may be falling victim yet again to the annual cycle of June Swoon, the Giants split a two game stint with the Red Sox at home before taking two out of three against the Dodgers this weekend to extend their division lead to five games. The San Francisco bullpen however remains a hot topic, blowing two leads and giving up three homers in the eighth inning or later this weekend. Buster Posey delivered a walk-off single on Saturday, possibly reinvigorating the former All-Star after a sluggish start to 2016.
3. Washington Nationals (39-24, previously 3) – The Nationals walked off on Sunday to complete a three game sweep of the Phillies and win their seventh contest in their last ten. The Nats now have a 4.5 division lead over the Mets but will face a major test this week as they host the MLB-best Chicago Cubs.
2. Texas Rangers (39-24, previously 2) – The Rangers continue to dominate at home, taking three out of four against Houston last week before winning two of three against Seattle on the road this weekend to cap off a great week against division rivals. Texas now leads the AL West by five games, and Nomar Mazara has continued to solidify his AL ROY campaign with an incredible throw from the warning track to get the game-ending out at home on Sunday.
1. Chicago Cubs (44-18, previously 1) – The Cubs just keep rolling in 2016. They are a remarkable 22-8 at home and are on pace for the most wins in a single season since Seattle set an all-time record with 116 in 2001. The only uncertainty in Chicago at the moment is whether or not ace Jake Arrieta will have his request honored to participate in the home run derby next month.
Biggest Jump: St. Louis Cardinals (+6)
Biggest Drop: Pittsburgh Pirates (-6)