Week In Review/Top 15 Power Rankings: Week 20 (08/13 - 08/19)

It's that time again! Time for another Week In Review/Top 15 Power Rankings report. It's been quite a week of highlight baseball reels and the continuation of some good postseason races. Furthermore, there's been another sideshow, The Little League World Series, along with the Little League Classic that took place yesterday evening against the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Mets. So if you hadn't gotten your baseball fill heading into this week, you definitely did with the Little League action that took place. What it dream it must be for some of those Little Leaguers to get to interact with big league players like they did last night. Alright, now let's get back to the MLB and focus on everything that happened around baseball.

Week In Review

• deGrominator Rakes Up 12 Strikeouts - Jacob deGrom started off a Maniac Monday on the right note raking up 12 strikeouts and continuing the phenomenal, likely Cy Young season that he is having. It's pretty much a race between deGrom and Max Scherzer for the Cy Young, but just because his win record doesn't show it, don't count out the deGrominator. 
• Castellanos Goes 5-For-5 - The week also got off to a good start for Detroit Tigers outfielder, Nick Castellanos. Castellanos went 5-for-5 during Monday's game against the Chicago White Sox and showed once again what a valuable commodity he is for a rebuilding Tigers team. 
• Week of Clayton Kershaw - Monday night started off with a dazzling performance by Dodgers ace, Clayton Kershaw, which shouldn't come as a surprise and the week was capped off yesterday when Kershaw earned his 150th career win. Kershaw recorded 9 strikeouts in his brilliant outing on Monday against the rival, San Francisco Giants. 
• Acuna Mania Continues - Over the last 7 days, Acuna went 14-for-27 with 2 doubles, 5 home runs, 11 RBI, 6 walks, and a .519 batting average. Amazing performance to add to the young resume of the Braves left fielder and something that no doubt makes him the NL Rookie of the Year favorite at the moment. 
• Bud Black Victorious - Tuesday wasn't just some ordinary day for Colorado Rockies skipper, Bud Black, who locked down his 800th career managerial win. The Rockies have been having a hot season, but this is definitely an accomplishment that deserves mention and something that Black should be more than proud of. 
• Benches Clear in La La Land - It seems as though any Giants-Dodgers game wouldn't be complete without some sort of benches clearing altercation and that's exactly what happened this past week between Nick Hundley and Yasiel Puig. I guess sometimes both teams forget that they aren't WWE fighters! 
• Mike Leake-Brett Anderson Pitching Duel - When you see the names Mike Leake and Brett Anderson on paper, you don't think of the potential of there being a headline pitching duel, but that's exactly what happened on Wednesday night out by The Bay in Oakland. Leake pitched 8 innings for the Mariners, while striking out 6, and Brett Anderson went 7 and 2/3 innings, while striking out 2 and allowing 5 hits. They say you never know what will happen at the ballpark and this was a prime example of just that! 
• Jose Urena Plunks Ronald Acuna - Amid the tremendous week that Ronald Acuna had for the Atlanta Braves, mixed in there was the incident that happened Wednesday night when Miami Marlins starter, Jose Urena, hit Acuna right around the elbow. The hit-by-pitch occurred on the first pitch during Acuna's at bat and was a 97 MPH fastball.  
• Phillies Match Their Win Total from 2017 - What a fantastic season it has been thus far for the Philadelphia Phillies who matched their 2017 win total on Wednesday night with their 66th victory. The best part for Phillies fans was the fact that it happened against the Boston Red Sox, which was a very good test, for a young team.
•  Mets Blowout Win Against the Phillies - On the heels of matching their 2017 win total, Thursday wasn't a good day for the Phillies who fell to the New York Mets with a final score of, 24-4, during the first game of the doubleheader. I guess the Mets ate their Wheaties prior to Thursday's game because man did they come out swinging! 
• Forsythe Thursday - The Minnesota Twins have certainly had their fair share of struggles and disappointment all season long, but Thursday night brought a moment for Twins fans to rally about as second baseman, Logan Forsythe, went 5-for-5. Since being acquired by Minnesota prior to the Trade Deadline, Forsythe is hitting: .361/.418/.426 over 17 games. 
• Triple Play Mania - It's not that often that we get treated to a Triple Play, but it happened Thursday night during the Rangers-Angels game. According to STATS, Inc., that was the first triple play when the batter was not retired since June 3rd, 1912. Wowzer! 
• Clay Buchholz Serves Up a Gem - Clay Buchholz was definitely on his game on Thursday afternoon as he went the distance tossing a complete game against the San Diego Padres. It was definitely a series table setter for the Arizona Diamondbacks, who ended up, getting the series win. 
• Seager Show Hits Seattle - This weekend brought an exciting matchup between the two Seater brothers, Kyle and Corey. Unfortunately, Corey is still on the DL recovering from Tommy John surgery, but it was still a special moment to see their Mom donning a Mariners-Dodgers jersey with Seager on the back. 
• Double Play Bonanza for the Pirates - On Friday night, the Pittsburgh Pirates decided to tie a franchise record as they hit into 7 double plays, during their duel against the Chicago Cubs. For those of you who love watching Javier Baez turn double plays in the middle infield, you definitely got your wish on Friday! 
• Aces Wild - Aaron Nola showed the rest of baseball that he wants to continue to be in the conversation for the NL Cy Young Award as he recorded 11 strikeouts over 7 innings against the Washington Nationals, while Max Scherzer was also on point striking out 7 Phillies hitters over 6 innings of work. 
• Postseason Races Continue - Saturday afternoon treated us to a day when the Milwaukee Brewers would move into sole possession of the second NL Wild Card spot and the Oakland Athletics (yes, the Athletics) would move into first place in the AL West. Unfortunately, after yesterday, the A's are back in second place, 1 game behind the Houston Astros, while the Brewers are tied with the Phillies and Rockies for the two Wild Card spots. Gonna be some exciting late August-September baseball come down the track! 
• Cobb Cobbfidently Dominates Against the Tribe - Amid a rough season for Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher, Alex Cobb, Saturday afternoon was bright spot as he went the distance pitching a complete game on exactly 100 pitches, against the Cleveland Indians. Definitely an exciting moment for Orioles fans to enjoy after the season the team has had this year. 
• Verlander Hits 200 - No Justin Verlandet didn't hit 200 MPH on the radar gun on Sunday afternoon even though when it comes to Verlander, anything is possible. However, Verlander did lock down his 200th career victory, an accomplishment to add to an already impressive resume of someone who should be a future Hall of Famer. 
• Khrused Sunday - Khris Davis of the Oakland Athletics recorded his 6th multi-home run game of the season, tied for the most, in the MLB this season with Manny Machado. If there is anyone that is underrated in the game still, it is Khris Davis. 

Top 15 Power Rankings

1. Boston Red Sox (88-37) [Ranking Last Week: 1] 

2. New York Yankees (78-46) [Ranking Last Week: 2] 

3. Oakland Athletics (74-50) [Ranking Last Week: 3] 

4. St. Louis Cardinals (68-57) [Ranking Last Week: 12] 

5. Cleveland Indians (71-52) [Ranking Last Week: 5] 

6. Chicago Cubs (71-52) [Ranking Last Week: 4] 

7. Colorado Rockies (68-56) [Ranking Last Week: 15] 

8. Arizona Diamondbacks (69-56) [Ranking Last Week: 9] 

9. Atlanta Braves (68-55) [Ranking Last Week: 7] 

10. Philadelphia Phillies (68-56) [Ranking Last Week: 8] 

11. Houston Astros (75-49) [Ranking Last Week: 6] 

12. Milwaukee Brewers (69-57) [Ranking Last Week: 10] 

13. Los Angeles Dodgers (67-58) [Ranking Last Week: 11] 

14. Seattle Mariners (71-54) [Ranking Last Week: 13] 

15. New York Mets (54-69) [Ranking Last Week: N/A] 

Summary of Thoughts 

This week's Top 3 features the same exact three teams as last week in the same exact ranking order. It's obviously hard to shift the order given how the last week has played out and while the Yankees have been on a tear as of late, they still are struggling offensively, which gives them a bit of a ding compared to the Boston Red Sox. Still, both teams are in great shape, as illustrated by their records this season, and let's give some serious love to the Oakland A's. Almost no one would have put them in their Top 3 rankings at this point in the season, yet here they are in that spot and it doesn't appear as though they are going to get weaker anytime soon. If there was a true stealth team in both leagues, the A's would be the AL's representative with the Rockies (if you read my article from the other day, you would know) being the NL's representative. 

Rounding out the Top 5 are the St. Louis Cardinals and Cleveland Indians. The Cardinals have obviously been on a tremendous run as of late and are another team that doesn't appear to be getting weaker anytime soon. If they continue to play the way they have the past week, they may very well find themselves climbing up in the rankings. As for the Cleveland Indians, they have the same exact record as the Chicago Cubs, but if you were to compare both teams on paper, you would probably favor the Indians over the Cubs. Regardless, both teams have recognizable names, deep pitching staffs, and although Cleveland received bad news regarding Trevor Bauer this past week, the Indians are likely a team that no one wants to face in the postseason come October. Same thing can be said for the Chicago Cubs who aren't that far removed from their World Series Championship. 

Among the rest of the rankings, the team that made the biggest leap were the aforementioned, Colorado Rockies. Colorado has an 8-2 record over their last 10 games and are currently amid a 4-game winning streak as they sit a 1/2 game back of first place in the NL West. Colorado certainly is a team lurking in the weeds and continues to be a threat to both the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Los Angeles Dodgers for first place in the division. As for the team that had the biggest fall this week compared to last, that honor belongs to the Houston Astros. For those fans that disagree, it's not based on the talent or the names on the roster, but recent performance by the team. Things have just not gone well for Houston over the last 10 games, as illustrated by their 3-7 record, over that span. Still, Houston has the second best run differential (+200) in all of baseball and is a threat, but they have to show more if they want to climb back up to where they were in the rankings earlier this season. 

MVPs of the Week

American League: 

1. Miguel Andujar (New York Yankees): 11-for-29 with 5 doubles, 3 home runs, 9 RBI, a .379 batting average, and a .379 on-base percentage 

2. Nick Castellanos (Detroit Tigers): 11-for-28 with 3 doubles, 2 home runs, 10 RBI, 5 walks, a .393 batting average, and a .485 on-base percentage 

3. J.A. Happ (New York Yankees): 1.46 ERA over 12.1 IP with 12 Strikeouts and a .186 Opponent Batting Average Against 

4. Brad Keller (Kansas City Royals): 1.50 ERA over 12.0 IP with a 1.08 WHIP 

National League: 

1. Ronald Acuna (Atlanta Braves): 13-for-28 with 2 doubles, 4 home runs, 9 RBI, 5 walks, a .464 batting average, and a .559 on-base percentage 

2. Rhys Hoskins (Philadelphia Phillies): 8-for-24 with 1 double, 3 home runs, 5 RBI, 2 walks, a .333 batting average, and a .407 on-base percentage 

3. Jacob deGrom (New York Mets): 1.15 ERA over 15.2 IP with 21 Strikeouts and a 0.89 WHIP 

4. Mike Foltynewicz (Atlanta Braves): 0.60 ERA over 15.0 IP with 16 Strikeouts and a .176 Opponent Batting Average Against