Eleven weeks have now been completed in the 2016 MLB Season. Two teams out west that have been near the top for a while now have absolutely caught fire this week, so do we finally get a new leader among the power rankings this week, or does the team that has been there since day one hold its ground yet again? Let’s take a look at the latest edition of our MLB Power Rankings to find out.
30. Minnesota Twins (21-48, previously 29) – The Twins lost five in a row last week before beating the Yankees on Sunday to move back into the cellar of the MLB Power Rankings. Shortstop Eduardo Nunez is the lone light for the Minnesota Squad, batting a team-best .321.
29. Atlanta Braves (23-46, previously 30) – Something I probably won’t type again for quite a while – the Atlanta Braves have won five games in a row. At one point it looked like that would be Atlanta’s win total for the entire season, but a three-game sweep of the ice cold Mets has given the Braves their longest win streak of the season. Keep in mind the Braves had only won 18 games before matching over a quarter of their win total within five games.
28. Cincinnati Reds (27-43, previously 26) – After a brief hot streak two weeks ago, the Reds split a four game series last week with the Braves before dropping two of three to Houston this weekend. The Reds continue their Texas Road trip this week with a visit to DFW to take on the red-hot Rangers. Do we dare say that a Texas-Chainsaw massacre could be in store for Cincinnati this week given the team with the worst ERA meets the 6th highest scoring squad in all of baseball?
27. Oakland Athletics (28-41, previously 28) – Oakland’s woes continued last week, dropping series to AL West rivals in the form of the Rangers and Angels at home. Combine that with their next-door-neighbor Warriors blowing a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals, and there really is nothing to cheer about in the East Bay at the moment.
26. Philadelphia Phillies (30-40, previously 22) – Not a fun past week for Philadelphia, as they lost three out of four from Toronto before losing three straight to Arizona immediately after. Philadelphia has now lost six straight games and will look to avoid the four game sweep when they conclude their series against the Diamondbacks today.
25. San Diego Padres (29-42, previously 27) – San Diego is the only NL West squad under .500 in their last ten games despite taking two in a row against the red-hot Nationals this weekend at home. While the pitching hasn’t quite been there for San Diego this season, Matt Kemp continues to hit well, now with a team-high 74 RBIs on the year.
24. Milwaukee Brewers (31-39, previously 21) – Milwaukee’s seven game road trip to the West Coast last week was downright brutal. The Brewers suffered a three game sweep in San Francisco before dropping three out of four to the Dodgers in Los Angeles, all three of those losses featuring blown leads and two of them ending on walk-offs. What’s more, talk has increased about a potential trade that would send Ryan Braun to the Giants. If there was any doubt about Milwaukee starting to turn the page towards next season, it looks pretty clear now that’s the plan.
23. Tampa Bay Rays (31-36, previously 23) – Tampa fell victim to a red-hot Giants squad this weekend, getting swept at home in three games by the team that almost moved to Tampa 24 years ago before the Rays even existed. Evan Longoria tallied yet another homer over the weekend, but pitching was the downfall for Tampa in the series, as the bullpen faltered late on both Saturday and Sunday. Despite sitting in last place in the AL East, the Rays only have a run differential of minus eight and are the only last place squad less than 10 games out of first place. Safe to say things could be a lot worse for this squad.
22. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (31-38, previously 25) – Tim Lincecum shined in his debut for the Angeles on Saturday against Oakland, only surrendering one run en route to a 7-1 Halo victory. The Angels still have much work to do if they want to have any shot in the AL West, plagued by injuries and faulty pitching staff, but perhaps the addition of “Big Time Timmy Jim” is the boost they needed as they prepare to head to Houston before hosting Oakland later in the week.
21. Arizona Diamondbacks (32-39, previously 24) – After dropping four out of six, Arizona rebounded nicely to sweep the Phillies in three games at Citizens’ Bank Ballpark this weekend. Arizona is now commendable 19-14 on the road this season, which makes it a shame they are a disastrous 13-25 at Chase Field. At least Zack Greinke continues to look more and more like the pitcher Arizona was expecting to get, now having won his seventh straight start over the weekend.
20. Chicago White Sox (33-36, previously 18) – Just when you think it can’t get any worse, it does. The White Sox were swept by the AL leading Indians yet again this weekend and are now a season-worst three games below .500 in fourth place. Todd Frazier’s batting average is now down to only .197, failing to tally a single hit last week. Not a single player on the team is batting .300 as it stands.
19. Pittsburgh Pirates (33-36, previously 16) – The Jolly Roger has not been raised anytime recently, as Pittsburgh has dropped five in a row and nine of their last ten. The skid included a sweep at the hands of the MLB-best Chicago Cubs this weekend, and the squad won’t get any relief as they host the San Francisco Giants this week – a squad that has won an MLB-best eight straight games. Pittsburgh has now fallen below .500 for the first time this season, 15 games out of first place.
18. Colorado Rockies (32-36, previously 19) – The Rockies ended the week by dropping three straight to the Marlins and will look to avoid a four game sweep during the series finale tomorrow night. Nonetheless, Colorado sat at a solid 8-2 in their past ten games prior to the series, though they now sit 11 games out of first place with Arizona right on their tail. Nolan Arenado now has an NL-leading 20 homers on the season.
17. Houston Astros (34-36, previously 20) – Houston swept St. Louis at the beginning of last week before taking two of three against Cincinnati over the weekend to improve to 6-4 in its last ten contests. The Astros now find themselves only two games under the .500 mark and will need to continue to play solid baseball if they want to get over the hump as they host the Angels this week for a three game series. Jose Altuve has stayed hot for Houston, now batting an incredible .342 on the season.
16. Detroit Tigers (34-35, previously 13) – After looking to finally be coming to life a week ago, the Tigers lost three of four to Kansas City this weekend to drop back-below the .500 mark. Detroit surrendered 26 runs in a two day span during the series, an uncharacteristic performance by a squad that has been defined by pitching talent in recent years with names such as Justin Verlander and Jordan Zimmerman.
15. New York Yankees (34-35, previously 17) – Yet again we find the Yankees hovering just below .500. The Bronx Bombers are 5-5 in their last ten games played, taking three out of four against the lowly Twins in Minneapolis this weekend. Friday night was quite the highlight for the squad, as every batter in New York’s lineup had tallied a hit by the 4th inning. New York will have to chance to further exhibit its power when the squad heads to Denver this week to take on the Colorado Rockies.
14. Seattle Mariners (36-33, previously 11) – Seattle has continued to stay in a slump ever since their brief stay in first place during the month of the May, posting a 3-7 record in their last ten games to fall all the way back to just three games over the .500 mark. Last week’s East Coast road trip for the Mariners did not go smoothly, dropping two of three to the Rays before facing an identical fate against the Red Sox at Fenway Park. Seattle now finds itself 8.5 games out of first place.
13. St. Louis Cardinals (35-33, previously 7) – The Cardinals did not fare well against the team whose hearts they broke in 2011, getting swept by the Texas Rangers in three games at Busch Stadium this weekend. St. Louis has now dropped five games in a row and are 12.5 games back of the Cubs despite sitting in 2nd place in the AL Central. The Cardinals continue to hit well, as their 356 runs this season are good enough for second best in all of baseball, but the squad obviously needs to be more timely when it scores those runs.
12. New York Mets (36-32, previously 10) – It was another tough week for the struggling Mets, who were humiliated this weekend when they were swept by the NL-worst Atlanta Braves in Queens this weekend. New York only scored four runs in the series against Atlanta and now finds themselves in third place, getting passed up by the Marlins this weekend.
11. Miami Marlins (37-32, previously 15) – The Marlins have not only won seven of their past ten to move into 2nd place in the AL East, but Ichiro surpassed Pete Rose’s all-time hit record this past week when combining his time in the MLB and Japanese Leagues. The Marlins will have the chance to complete a four game sweep of the Rockies tomorrow in South Florida.
10. Los Angeles Dodgers (38-33, previously 12) – The Dodgers won three straight against Milwaukee this weekend to win the series and improve to five games over .500, though they remain 6.5 games behind the NL-West leading San Francisco Giants. Third baseman Justin Turner stole the show on Friday, recording all three RBIs (including the game tying home run and walk-off single) in the contest. Now Los Angeles will be tested when they host the NL-East leading Nationals this week.
9. Toronto Blue Jays (39-33, previously 9) – Toronto squandered a chance to take over the lead in the AL East this weekend when they dropped a three game series to the Baltimore Orioles, but the Jays have gone a solid 7-3 in their last ten contests and are only a mere three games out of first place in the division. Toronto tallied 13 runs in back to back contests last week, and Troy Tulowitzki is now back after spending time on the DL. Expect Toronto’s bats to continue to make more and more noise going forward.
8. Kansas City Royals (38-31, previously 14) – Kansas City completed a three game sweep of the Tigers this weekend and is now 8-2 in its last ten contests. Royals fans can also smile that Yordano Ventura’s suspension was reduced to four games after his role in the fight with the Baltimore Orioles last week. The defending champs now find themselves only half a game out of first place in the AL-Central, and they will have a solid chance to take over first place as they face the struggling Mets in the week ahead.
7. Cleveland Indians (38-30, previously 8) – The Royals might be on their tail suddenly, but Cleveland continues to dominate within their division, sweeping the White Sox in three games once again this weekend. Cleveland is now 20-12 at home this season after Sunday’s walk off win, and Francisco Lindor continues to shine with a .307 BA and a .446 slugging percentage. Combined with the Cavaliers first ever NBA championship victory on Sunday (the city’s first pro-sports title in over 50 years), its not a bad time to be a sports fan living along the shores of Lake Eerie.
6. Boston Red Sox (39-29, previously 5) – The Red Sox dropped two out of three against Baltimore last week to fall out of a tie for first place in the AL East, and now they will have to keep an eye on the Blue Jays who sit only two games behind them. Meanwhile, David Ortiz continues to put on a farewell show that any retiring player dreams of, now with 18 homers and 59 RBIs on the year.
5. Baltimore Orioles (40-28, previously 6) – The Orioles moved into first place alone last week, although Manny Machado has now begun his suspension for his role in the fight with Yordano Ventura after an appeal last week. Mark Trumbo has now improved his home run total to an AL-Best 20 on the season while tallying 51 RBIs thus far, which is also best among all Baltimore hitters. Baltimore will play a single make-up game against Texas tomorrow night before heading to San Diego for a two game series against the Padres.
4. Washington Nationals (43-27, previously 3) – Despite dropping two in a row to the lowly Padres on the road to end the weekend, the Nationals had themselves a 4-3 week in which they took two of three from the mighty Chicago Cubs in the nation’s capital. Bryce Harper now has 14 homers on the season while Stephen Strasburgh has lowered his ERA down to a team-best of 2.90. Next up is a trip to tinsel-town to take on Clayton Kershaw and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
3. Texas Rangers (45-25, previously 2) – The Rangers are now 6-0 against the Cardinals since the infamous games six and seven in the 2011 World Series, completing a three game sweep of the redbirds in the Gateway City this weekend. The Rangers have now won six games in a row and are 20 games over .500, though there was some disappointment to the news of Yu Darvish returning to the DL after his long awaited return last month. Anyhow, the rest of the Rangers’s stars such as Rougned Odor and rookie phenom Nomar Mazara continue to shine big and bright deep in the heart of Texas
2. San Francisco Giants (44-26, previously 4) – The Rangers would be the hottest team in baseball if it wasn’t for San Francisco’s play within the past seven days. The Giants completed a perfect week en route to an active eight game winning streak, their second of such within the past two months. Madison Bumgarner and Johnny Cueto recorded their ninth and tenth wins of the season respectively, Buster Posey has hit .522 over the course of the week, and San Francisco has built a formidable 6.5 lead over the Dodgers for first place in the NL West. That lead may grow even larger as the Giants take on the ice-cold Pirates while LA simultaneously takes on the NL-East leading Nationals.
1. Chicago Cubs (47-20, previously 1) – Raise the W again and again. The Cubs are now 27 games over .500 after completing a three game sweep of the Pirates. Chicago’s 354 runs are the third best in baseball while they boat a second best OBP of .350, and the Cubs’ pitching staff has a incredible MLB-leading combined ERA of 2.63. The Cubbies will have a very realistic chance of reaching 30 wins over the .500 mark this week as they take on their slumping rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals.
Biggest Jump: Kansas City Royals (+6)
Biggest Drop: St. Louis Cardinals (-6)