Hi everyone, with me closing on my new home tomorrow we moved up Power Rankings to Monday this week. Drewsports will be out for the next 8 days with but will be back with Power Rankings next Tuesday then back in full force in two weeks. Rankings below heading towards dog days of summer!
Hanging on the bottom rung
30. Diamondbacks 20-41 5th in NL West, LW: 29
The Diamondbacks have lost 17 road games in a row and are 5-28 in their last 33 games. Went from 2 out to 18 in the division in that span, historically bad.
29. Orioles 21-38 5th in AL East, LW: 30
John Means was having an outstanding season but just got put on the injured list with a shoulder strain. At least can still watch Ryan Mountcastle hit bombs
28. Rangers 23-38 5th in AL West, LW: 26
The Rangers at least got a game from Tampa last week. Otherwise a very bad week and a tough trip up to the Mile High City.
27. Rockies 24-36 4th in NL West, LW: 28
The Rockies are now 20-14 at the friendly confines of Coors Field. If they could just be mediocre on the road the Rockies would be around .500.
26. Pirates 23-35 5th in NL Central, LW: 27
The Pirates had a great series against the Marlins over the weekend and the over 58 wins is still looking mighty good for the overall record.
25. Tigers 24-35 5th in AL Central, LW: 25
Going 2-4 at the Brewers and White Sox would seem to be a bad week but that is better than any team below them on this list would do, so they stay here.
Bad but not Really Bad
24. Twins 24-35 4th in AL Central, LW: 24
Miguel Sano hits the ball very very far. But overall the Twins early week series in Baltimore is adding to the evidence that this is just not a very good team.
23. Nationals 24-32 5th in NL East, LW: 23
Max Scherzer is going to be an All-Star again. Trea Turner is having a breakout season (if he hadn’t already) otherwise a very disappointing team.
22. Marlins 25-33 4th in NL East, LW: 21
The Marlins are who we thought they were. Good news Sandy Alcantara was able to break an 8 game losing streak on Sunday. He throws absolute gas.
21. Angels 27-32 4th in AL West, LW: 22
There is too much talent on this team to be toiling around in the lower ends of the middle tier but here is where the Angels sit, staring into the abyss.
20. Phillies 28-30 3rd in NL West, LW: 19
We would say the same for the Phillies than the Angels but with recent seasons stemming similar results these two organizations may just be mediocre.
19. Mariners 30-31 3rd in AL West, LW: 16
In latest Mariners batting average watch the Mariners were flat out raking last week and got their team overall batting average up to .208, baby steps.
Outside looking in
18. Reds 28-29 4th in NL Central, LW: 20
Great weekend sweep over the Cardinals has allotted the Reds to still be currently playing meaningful baseball. Jesse Winker MVP talks are not a joke.
17. Braves 28-29 2nd in NL East, LW: 18
Nice series win over the Dodgers this weekend. The Braves feel like a team that is about to go on a big run, Marcell Ozuna might be out a while injury/legal.
16. Royals 29-28 3rd in AL Central, LW: 17
The Royals go on a big game west coast swing as the fighting Royals try to just hang around for that second AL Wild Card spot, certainly be up for grabs.
15. Cardinals 31-29 3rd in NL Central, LW: 10
Getting swept at home by the Reds was a momentum killer as the Cards have sunk to third place in the NL Central, avoided a scare on Yadier Molina foul.
14. Yankees 31-29 4th in AL East, LW: 13
The Yankees maybe didn’t have the biggest drop in rankings but they did have the most damaging weekend in getting swept at home by their arch rival.
13. Blue Jays 30-27 3rd in AL East, LW: 15
The Blue Jays will be in Buffalo through July 21st as they just completed their first homestand in their triple A affiliates stadium. But Jays still hanging around.
12. Indians 31-26 2nd in AL Central, LW: 11
Losing a series to the Orioles including a 18-5 trashing on Sunday took away the shine from an early week series win over the first place White Sox.
11. Mets 29-23 1st in NL East, LW: 8
I know we talk about him every week but how can we not. Jacob Degrom’s stats are now 5-2 record, 0.62 ERA, 0.57 WHIP, 11.6 K/BB ratio, best season ever?
The Contenders
10. Brewers 33-26 2nd in NL Central, LW: 14
All it takes is the abysmal Dbacks coming into town to get Christian Yelich and this offense rolling. You like ridiculous stats Corbin Burnes has 13.4 K/BB ratio
9. Astros 33-26 2nd in AL West, LW: 12
Jose Altuve’s pandemic shortened season looks to be an outlier to his excellent hitting career. Reputation tainted for sure but he’s hitting .302 this year.
8. Cubs 33-26 1st in NL Central, LW: 7
Taking the finale from the white hot Giants is good enough to retain first place in the NL Central from a team that appeared to be done in mid May.
7. Athletics 35-26 1st in AL West, LW: 9
A very nice 4-2 road trip through the Pacific Northwest all the way to the Rockies has the A’s on verge of going on a run. Dbacks coming to town will help.
6. Dodgers 34-25 3rd in NL West, LW: 6
There is no way around it here. The Dodgers being third in division and 6th in the Power Rankings makes them one of the most disappointing team thus far.
5. Padres 36-25 2nd in NL West, LW: 3
The Padres had a very pedestrian week last week losing a series at Wrigley then splitting with the Mets. Did we say Fernando Tatis Jr. is fun to watch?
4. Red Sox 36-23 2nd in AL East, LW: 5
Sweeping the Yankees in Yankees stadium would usually have you jumping higher in rankings but top three teams are so dominant right now.
3. White Sox 36-23 1st in AL Central, LW: 4
The White Sox still have the best run differential in baseball and are on the verge of running away in their division. Not a glaring weakness with this team.
2. Giants 37-22 1st in NL West, LW: 2
We keep waiting for the Giants to fade and we are still waiting. All the metrics say this is a really darn good baseball team, I think they are here to stay.
1. Rays 38-23 1st in AL East, LW: 1
Many fans believe you have to pay the big bucks to score runs but the small market Rays only behind the Dodgers and Astros in runs scored, questions?