Week In Review/Top 15 Power Rankings: Week 14 (07/02 - 07/08)

Hope you all had a great Fourth of July and got to spend the day BBQing, watching fireworks, and most importantly watching some baseball! The Fourth of July is always a great day to do all of those things and reflect on how fortunate we are to live here in the United States even though it might not always seem that way with some of the stuff that happens on a daily basis.

Anyhow, if there was a theme to describe this past week in baseball, it would have to be: offense palooza because it sure felt that way in a couple of different games. The games that fell in line with that theme were the Dodgers 17-1 blowout win over the Pirates on Monday night, the Red Sox 11-4 win against the Nationals on Tuesday, the Nationals 14-12 comeback win over the Marlins on Thursday along with the Phillies 17-5 win over the Pirates Friday. If that wasn't enough offense for you, let's not forget about the three high scoring games on Saturday either when the Red Sox won over the Royals (15-4), the Nationals blew out the Marlins (18-4), and the Dbacks pounced on the Padres (20-5). By the way, that was the most runs the Diamondbacks have ever scored, during a single game, in franchise history!

Now that we have those blowout scores out of the way, let's get to the real deal of what else happened this week along with the Top 15 Power Rankings and who the four MVPs from both leagues were below.

Week in Review

• Yankees-Braves Series: The week started off with a bang with the Yankees-Braves series which is likely a preview of a potential playoff series that could happen this October. At the start of the week, the Yankees held the best record in the American League, while the Braves had the best record in the National League. That would not be the case as the week progressed, but regardless it was still a fun series to watch in the Bronx. 
• Francisco Lindor Captures the Stage in Kansas City: Francisco Lindor had himself quite a night on Monday as he went 2-for-4 at the plate with 2 home runs and 7 RBI. If you caught yourself saying, "Lindorable" on Monday night, it was justified for sure! 
• Brewers Walk-Off Courtesy of a Walk: As we all know, anything can happen at the ballpark on any given day and that's exactly what happened on Monday as the Brewers walked off thanks to a walk by none other than, Brad Miller, himself. The Brew Crew has had a phenomenal season to date, but that might be the best win so far this season for Milwaukee because it was just so ironic. 
• Brew Crew First NL Team to 50 Wins: In other exciting Brewers news, Milwaukee became the first team to reach the 50 win plateau on Tuesday. The magic is for real this year at Miller Park and if they can make an impactful addition at the trade deadline, they have as good of odds as anyone in baseball to win it all. 
• Joey Bats Returns to Toronto: The Blue Jays are a loyal fan base, but that loyalty sure came to light on Tuesday night as their beloved hero, Jose Bautista, returned to Toronto for the first time only this time as a member of the New York Mets. Joey Bats received a standing ovation from everyone in attendance along with a video tribute on the videoboard. 
• Dodgers Offensive Outburst: Between the aforementioned 17-1 win over the Pirates on Monday night along with Tuesday night's game, the Dodgers managed to jack 10 home runs, record 32 hits, and put together 25 runs over those two games alone. We all knew the Dodgers could be dangerous if they returned to good health, but wow! 
• Carlos Gomez Gives the Water Cooler a Heck of a Day: In what will probably be one of the highlights of the year, Carlos Gomez was certainly not happy whatsoever on the Fourth of July when he took out his anger and frustration on a water cooler in the dugout. The poor water cooler did absolutely nothing wrong, however, as we have seen in the past, they can often be used as a means of taking out aggression and this was certainly one of those instances! 
• Joe Mauer Ties Kirby Puckett: On Wednesday, Joe Mauer managed to record his 414th career double, which tied Kirby Puckett, for first on the Twins all-time doubles list. It might be a bit of a stretch to make an argument that Joe Mauer is a Hall of Famer, but he certainly has had an accomplished career and been a Twins franchise legend over his 15-year big league career. 
• Red Sox Complete Sweep Followed by Chris Sale Shirtless Photo: Red Sox fans celebrated big time on the fourth as the team completed a three-game sweep against the Washington Nationals. If that wasn't enough excitement, Chris Sale had himself a day going shirtless for the team's Patriotic themed photo prior to their road trip. Red, white, and shirtless was the theme for Sale, I guess! 
• Braves-Brewers Series: If the Yankees-Braves series didn't provide enough excitement, the Braves-Brewers series sure did and was yet another preview of a potential postseason matchup. Heading into this season, almost no one would have guessed the Braves would be playing in the position that they are or that Milwaukee would have the most wins of any NL club, but that's exactly what's happened. 
• Trea Turner Becomes Hero for a Night: Even though this season has certainly been unkind to the Washington Nationals and the fact that they went into Thursday night's game in the midst of a 7-game losing streak, Trea Turner decided he was going to be hero by going 3-for-5 at the plate that night with 2 home runs and 8 RBI. 
• Mookie Reaches 100: With his home run on Friday night against the Kansas City Royals, Mookie Betts officially reached 100 for his career. Don't worry because he is going to keep raking and is only beginning to reach his peak potential. 
• deGrominator Domination: Jacob deGrom continued his dominating season on Friday by going 8 innings pitched, while allowing 4 hits, 1 earned run, and recording 8 strikeouts. His ERA on the year is 1.79. Whether he will be traded or not, has yet to be seen, but regardless his value is extraordinarily high right now. 
• Joey Bats Grand Salami: Joey Bats makes the highlights once again as he jacked his first career Grand Slam on Friday night for the Mets. Amazing that it is his first career one considering the power hitter that he was during much of his career! 
• Sixty is the Magic Number for the Stros: The Astros reached the 60-win plateau on Saturday night which should come as absolutely no surprise considering the talent on their 25-man roster and the dominance they've played with all season long. 
• 14 W's for Sevy: Wins don't matter a heck of a lot anymore, but considering that New York Yankees starter, Luis Severino, has 14 so far this season, you have to say that's domination at its finest. That figure by itself leads all of baseball and what's even more impressive is the fact that Sevy has a 2.12 ERA on the year with a 10.4 strikeouts-per-9 rate. 
• Mark Reynolds Hot Bat Saturday: Every once in a while, a player will come out of nowhere, and have one of the best games of their career. That's exactly what happened for Mark Reynolds on Saturday when he went 5-for-5 with 2 home runs and 10 RBI. Now that's a night at the yard! 
• Wil Myers Rocks Chase Field: Also on Saturday night, Wil Myers had himself a night in the Padres blowout loss to the Diamondbacks. Myers jacked 3 home runs during the game which was the first time that happened during his big league career. 
• Ah-Choo Sunday for the Rangers: Shin-Soo Choo set Rangers franchise history on Sunday as he turned his on-base streak into 47 consecutive games, the longest in Texas Ranger history. Ah-choo is becoming quite a familiar phrase this season! 
• All-Star Selections: Yesterday evening, the entire baseball world learned who would represent both the NL and AL in the All-Star Game and there certainly were some snubs. Did someone say Blake Snell and James Paxton or Jeremy Jeffress and Adam Ottavino?! 

Top 15 Power Rankings

1. Boston Red Sox (62-29) [Ranking Last Week: 3] 

2. Houston Astros (61-31) [Ranking Last Week: 2] 

3. New York Yankees (58-29) [Ranking Last Week: 1] 

4. Seattle Mariners (57-34) [Ranking Last Week: 5] 

5. Chicago Cubs (51-36) [Ranking Last Week: 6] 

6. Milwaukee Brewers (54-36) [Ranking Last Week: 9] 

7. Philadelphia Phillies (49-38) [Ranking Last Week: 7] 

8. Cleveland Indians (49-39) [Ranking Last Week: 4] 

9. Atlanta Braves (50-39) [Ranking Last Week: 8] 

10. Arizona Diamondbacks (50-41) [Ranking Last Week: 10] 

11. Oakland Athletics (50-40) [Ranking Last Week: 11] 

12. Los Angeles Dodgers (48-41) [Ranking Last Week: 13] 

13. Colorado Rockies (46-44) [Ranking Last Week: N/A] 

14. St. Louis Cardinals (46-43) [Ranking Last Week: 15] 

15. Washington Nationals (45-44) [Ranking Last Week: 14] 

Summary of Thoughts

As is the case with every week's report, the top 3 teams are identical once again only in different order this week. Boston comes out on top simply because of their record and the fact that they have 62 wins which is very impressive. Plus, you can't overlook the offensive impact that both J.D. Martinez and Mookie Betts have had on their lineup overall. Furthermore, the Houston Astros had a nice week and finished the week amid a 6-game win streak. The Astros have a +188 run differential on the year and have expanded their lead over the Seattle Mariners in the AL West to 3 and 1/2 games. I don't think anyone saw the Mariners being able to beat out the defending champs for the AL West, but it looks like that separation is starting to take place now. As for the Yankees, they are 6-4 over their last 10 games, but have the fewest wins among the three teams. Still, the Yankees have a very impressive roster, as has been mentioned numerous times before, and plenty of talent on their big league club. 

In regard to the 4 and 5 spots, Seattle moves up to the 4 spot because of their record and the fact that they are 7-3 over their last 10 games. For the Mariners, right now is an exciting time because it appears as though the team will finally break it's postseason drought and will no longer be the only pro team that hasn't made the playoffs over the last 17 years. That is assuming that everything continues to go well for the team and you know if it does, Jerry Dipoto will not shy away from adding to the big league roster at the trade deadline. The Cubs take hold of the 5th spot as they have played well as of late and continue to keep the pressure on the Milwaukee Brewers for the first spot in the NL Central.

Also in the Top 10, the Milwaukee Brewers made the largest gain of any team listed and rightfully so. Milwaukee continues to play a dominating force of baseball and has the best record in the National League which deserves plenty of credit. With that being said, Milwaukee still needs to make a big splash move at the trade deadline and the Cubs appear as though they will pull off the division win, but it will be a fascinating race to watch going down the stretch regardless of the final outcome. As for the team that moved down the most, the Cleveland Indians, it is certainly no knock to them. Cleveland got lost 2 out of 3 to the Oakland Athletics over the weekend, which was a bit of a knock for them considering the grand scheme of things. Still, the Indians are a team that no one wants to play in October and are very capable of moving up in the rankings at anytime. 

Finishing out this thoughts section, it was difficult to not include the Oakland Athletics in the Top 10 considering how they continue to play and the fact that they beat the Cleveland Indians 2 games in a row, but it's hard to put them ahead of other teams like the Phillies, Braves, and Diamondbacks considering how good all three of those teams are. Oakland has been a very big surprise and who knows if they will ultimately make the postseason or not, but regardless of the final result, this has been a tremendous progressive season for the A's and one that they hopefully build off moving forward because the core and the talent is certainly there. Now, Oakland just needs to focus on keeping that core intact and adding on complimentary pieces to go along with that core. 

MVPs of the Week

American League: 

1. Avisáil Garcia (Chicago White Sox): 9-for-27 with 1 double, 5 home runs, 7 RBI, 2 walks, a .333 batting average, and a .367 on-base percentage 

2. Mookie Betts (Boston Red Sox): 10-for-27 with 2 doubles, 2 home runs, 3 RBI, 3 walks, a .370 batting average, and a .452 on-base percentage 

3. Mike Fiers (Detroit Tigers): 1.29 ERA over 14.0 IP with a .160 Opponent Batting Average Against and a 0.71 WHIP 

4. Nathan Eovaldi (Tampa Bay Rays): 1.38 ERA over 13.0 IP with 14 strikeouts and a 0.77 WHIP 

National League: 

1. Wil Myers (San Diego Padres): 6-for-20 with 1 double, 1 triple, 4 home runs, 8 RBI, 5 walks, a .300 batting average, and a .440 on-base percentage 

2. Charlie Blackmon (Colorado Rockies): 9-for-26 with 3 home runs, 5 RBI, 1 walk, a .346 batting average, and a .357 on-base percentage 

3. Junior Guerra (Milwaukee Brewers): 0.82 ERA over 11.0 IP with 12 strikeouts 

4. Anibal Sanchez (Atlanta Braves): 2.84 ERA over 12.2 IP with 12 strikeouts and a 0.87 WHIP