MLB Top 15 Power Rankings: Week 6 (05/06 - 05/12)
In addition to that, we've started to hear potential rumblings about some potential mixups facing certain teams that were expected to contend like the Washington Nationals and the New York Mets. In particular, the Nationals who fired their pitching coach about two weeks ago, have been under fire and that skepticism could continue to grow after the team got swept by the Milwaukee Brewers earlier this past week and split the series over the weekend against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
In regard to the New York Mets, skepticism grew following a reported meeting that ownership had with their skipper, Mickey Callaway, and General Manager, Brodie Van Wagenen, prior to the start of the series against the Miami Marlins. The meeting reportedly lasted 90 minutes and could signal that ownership is growing frustrated with the team's recent play, but only time will tell, what ends up happening and if a change is ultimately made.
However, shifting back to more positive news now, let's focus on the Top 5 Moments from the past week.
Top 5 Moments
- Return of Sho Time - Shohei Ohtani officially returned from the disabled list this past week for the Los Angeles Angels and it was a welcome sight. Ohtani missed the start of the season after being put on the shelf, as he recovered from Tommy John surgery, and you can guarantee the Angels took a big sigh of relief upon his return. However, it's going to take some time for him to find his groove again, as in the five games since his return Ohtani is 4-for-21 with 3 RBI, 7 strikeouts, and a .190 batting average.
- Mad Max Continues Maximizing His HOF Resume - Washington Nationals starting pitcher, Max Scherzer, recorded his 85th career game with 10 or more strikeouts on Monday night against the Milwaukee Brewers. If you're wondering, that put Scherzer ahead of Hall of Famer, Steve Carlton, for the 7th most in MLB history. If there's any doubt that Max Scherzer isn't a future member of the Hall of Fame, that doubt seems to keep fading away more and more with each feat that he accomplishes.
- Cano Don't You Know Reaches 2500 - Robinson Cano accomplished quite a feat this past Tuesday when he recorded his 2,500th career hit putting him on an elite list of players. Among active players with the most hits, Robinson Cano now ranks third behind, Albert Pujols of the Los Angeles Angels and Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers. Quite an impressive feat and something that surely deserves plenty of credit.
- Triple Dingers for Red Turn 2 - Justin Turner had himself quite a night on Tuesday when he ended up hitting three dingers and recording a career-high six RBI. Over the past few seasons, J.T. or Red Turn 2, has developed quite the notion of being an aggressive hitter and has been a large reason why the Dodgers have won the National League West over that span. LA might bleed blue, but LA might want to think about mixing in some red with that blue blood to honor the contributions of Justin Turner!
- The King Continues His Greatness - Seattle Mariners starting pitcher, Felix Hernandez, has experienced quite a bit of decline over the past couple of seasons and isn't necessarily the pitcher that he used to be in the peak of his career. With that being said, he still accomplished an amazing feat yesterday when he notched down his 2,500th career strikeout. It's too bad that the game wasn't at home in Seattle because if it was, Kings Court would have been rocking!
Top 5 Takeaways
- R Yu Serious?! - Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher, Hyun-Jin Ryu, might just end up being the most disrespected starting pitcher in all of baseball. Following his phenomenal outing this afternoon against the Washington Nationals, Ryu now owns a 1.88 ERA since the start of the 2018 regular season, making it the lowest ERA in all of baseball over that period. So far this year, Ryu has recorded 54 strikeouts over the span of 52 and 1/3 innings and a 0.73 WHIP to go along with those strikeouts. The attention might be centered around Clayton Kershaw and Walker Buehler when someone talks about the Dodgers starting staff, but Hyun-Jin Ryu is quietly starting to change the narrative of those talks.
- Springer Has Sprung - Houston Astros outfielder, George Springer, has always been one of the most lethal hitters in all of baseball in the leadoff spot and today was no exception. During today's Silver Boot matchup against the Texas Rangers, Springer scored five runs and had five hits including two home runs. In total over his big league career, Springer now has five career games with 4 or more hits along with 4 or more runs, which puts him ahead of the great Craig Biggio, for the most in Astros franchise history.
- Boston Red Sox Offense Has Officially Woken Up - Over the course of this weekend against the Seattle Mariners, the Boston Red Sox managed to score 34 runs and had some really strong at bats throughout the series. Following this weekend's series, the Red Sox now have the fourth best offense in the American League with a cumulative batting line of: .253/.341/.423 with 54 home runs, the third most RBI (208), and the most walks in the American League (177). From the time of the struggles to start the year, it was always hard to believe that the Red Sox lineup wouldn't eventually wake up and click on all cylinders. It now seems as though that has happened.
- Philadelphia Phillies Might Have Found Their Next Starter - Cole Irvin made his official MLB debut today for the Phillies and made quite a first impression. During his debut, Cole pitched 7 innings, while recording 5 strikeouts and surrendering 5 hits along with 1 earned run. During his minor league tenure in Triple-A this year, Irvin put up a 2.25 ERA over 36 innings of work with 23 strikeouts. The Phillies have had some question marks regarding the back end of their rotation, but with Aaron Nola and Jake Arrieta locking down the top, Zach Eflin showing what a stud he could be on Saturday with his complete game, and Cole Irvin, those questions might now have been erased. Regardless, it will take some time to come to a solid understanding of how Cole Irvin can perform at the big league level, but today's start was a great first impression.
- The Baltimore Orioles Might End Up Smashing the Home Run Record - Earlier this week, Richard Justice of MLB.com, tweeted out that the Baltimore Orioles are on pace to give up 351 home runs to their opponents. That would virtually smash the previous record set by the 2016 Cincinnati Reds pitching staff which gave up 258 home runs over the course of the season. Going into this year, we all knew that the Orioles would battle for the worst record in all of baseball, but reading a tweet like that and just thinking about it, the already painful season might end up becoming a lot more painful for many Orioles fans.
Top 15 Power Rankings
1. Houston Astros (26-15) [Ranking Last Week: 4]
- Division Ranking: 1st Place
- Winning Percentage: .634
- Win Streak: W 5 Games
- Run Differential: +69
- Team ERA: 3.64 Over 359.0 IP (6th)
- Team Batting Line: .281/.352/.503 Over 1,389 At Bats (Best in Baseball)
2. Los Angeles Dodgers (27-16) [Ranking Last Week: 1]
- Division Ranking: 1st Place
- Winning Percentage: .628
- Win Streak: W 1 Game
- Run Differential: +53
- Team ERA: 3.60 Over 382.1 IP (5th)
- Team Batting Line: .255/.345/.455 Over 1,417 At Bats (6th)
- Division Ranking: 1st Place
- Winning Percentage: .632
- Win Streak: W 2 Games
- Run Differential: +54
- Team ERA: 3.53 Over 339.1 IP (3rd)
- Team Batting Line: .254/.349/.450 Over 1,300 At Bats (9th)
4. Boston Red Sox (22-19) [Ranking Last Week: 9]
- Division Ranking: 3rd Place
- Winning Percentage: .537
- Win Streak: W 5 Games
- Run Differential: +27
- Team ERA: 4.39 Over 363 IP (18th)
- Team Batting Line: .253/.341/.423 Over 1,387 At Bats (10th)
5. Tampa Bay Rays (24-15) [Ranking Last Week: 3]
- Division Ranking: 1st Place
- Winning Percentage: .615
- Win Streak: L 1 Game
- Run Differential: +57
- Team ERA: 2.96 Over 356 IP (Best in Baseball)
- Team Batting Line: .255/.334/.435 Over 1.337 At Bats (7th)
6. Minnesota Twins (25-14) [Ranking Last Week: 6]
- Division Ranking: 1st Place
- Winning Percentage: .641
- Win Streak: L 1 Game
- Run Differential: +51
- Team ERA: 3.74 Over 344 IP (7th)
- Team Batting Line: .263/.332/.497 Over 1,319 At Bats (2nd)
7. Philadelphia Phillies (23-16) [Ranking Last Week: 7]
- Division Ranking: 1st Place
- Winning Percentage: .590
- Win Streak: W 2 Games
- Run Differential: +39
- Team ERA: 3.78 Over 354.2 IP (8th)
- Team Batting Line: .246/.334/.413 Over 1,339 At Bats (14th)
8. New York Yankees (24-16) [Ranking Last Week: 8]
- Division Ranking: 2nd Place
- Winning Percentage: .600
- Win Streak: W 1 Game
- Run Differential: +36
- Team ERA: 3.82 Over 355.1 IP (9th)
- Team Batting Line: .253/.333/.430 Over 1,325 At Bats (11th)
9. Milwaukee Brewers (24-17) [Ranking Last Week: 13]
- Division Ranking: 2nd Place
- Winning Percentage: .571
- Win Streak: L 2 Games
- Run Differential: +5
- Team ERA: 4.34 Over 375.1 IP (16th)
- Team Batting Line: .242/.323/.427 Over 1,427 At Bats (18th)
10. Atlanta Braves (21-20) [Ranking Last Week: 11]
- Division Ranking: 2nd Place
- Winning Percentage: .512
- Win Streak: L 1 Game
- Run Differential: +8
- Team ERA: 4.38 Over 362 IP (17th)
- Team Batting Line: .261/.335/.438 Over 1,400 At Bats (3rd)
11. Arizona Diamondbacks (22-19) [Ranking Last Week: 5]
12. Cleveland Indians (21-18) [Ranking Last Week: 12]
13. Pittsburgh Pirates (20-17) [Ranking Last Week: N/A]
14. San Diego Padres (22-19) [Ranking Last Week: 14]
15. St. Louis Cardinals (22-19) [Ranking Last Week: 10]
Summary of Thoughts
Biggest Jump: The Boston Red Sox are the hot team this week and have risen up through the rankings, over the course of the past month, significantly. Boston can no longer be viewed as the pushover that they were during the first four weeks of the season and have really started to click on all cylinders. For the month of May, over 10 games, Boston's lineup has a cumulative slugging percentage of .492 with 20 home runs and 74 RBI. Certainly no pushover type of lineup anymore and one that opposing team's are going to be fearing again. Furthermore, for the month of May, Boston's pitching staff has combined for a 2.86 ERA over 91.1 innings of work with 105 strikeouts and an Opponent Batting Average Against of .204. Beyond those numbers, the gap is much closer now in the American League East between the Tampa Bay Rays, New York Yankees, and Boston Red Sox, meaning that there is the potential of an intriguing three-team race setting up as we head into the second part of the regular season.
Biggest Fall: For this week, the St. Louis Cardinals fell outside of the Top 10 down to number 15, but they weren't the team that experienced the biggest fall. That honor belongs to the Arizona Diamondbacks who have hit somewhat of a standstill as of late. Over their last 10 games, the Arizona Diamondbacks have a 4-6 record and are currently in the midst of a three-game losing streak. It might feel harsh to give them such a downgrade, but the fact is, they continue to be hot one week and then cold the next week meaning that it's very difficult to get an accurate read on who they truly are. In addition, it's hard to put them back into the Top 10 because of teams like the Minnesota Twins, who continue to outperform expectations and lead the charge in the American League Central, and the Atlanta Braves, who have started putting together a nice roll taking 3 of 4 games from the Diamondbacks. Over the past couple of games, the Diamondbacks lineup has started to look as though they are trying too hard at the plate, while the bullpen remains a massive concern with the recent struggles of Archie Bradley and Yoshihisa Hirano.
New Entries: The only new entry in the Top 15 derby for this week are the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Pirates started off the season somewhat slow, then put things into overdrive and were one of the hotter teams in the league before backing down again, and now are on somewhat of a roll. Over their last 10 games, the Pirates have a 7-3 record and currently sit in third place in the National League Central, 3 and 1/2 games back of first. Next up for the Pirates will be a trip to the desert to face the aforementioned, Arizona Diamondbacks for three games, followed up by a visit to San Diego to square off against the Padres for a four-game series.
Cool Stat of the Week
Top 5 Active Batters Ranked by Average Exit Velocity:
1. Joey Gallo (Texas Rangers) - 96.2 MPH
2. Christian Yelich (Milwaukee Brewers) - 94.9 MPH
3. Josh Bell (Pittsburgh Pirates) - 94.6 MPH
4. Christian Walker (Arizona Diamondbacks) - 94.2 MPH
T-5. Carlos Santa (Cleveland Indians) - 94.1 MPH
T-5. Nelson Cruz (Minnesota Twins) - 94.1 MPH
T-5. Anthony Rendon (Washington Nationals) - 94.1 MPH
Top 5 Active Starting Pitchers Ranked by Strikeouts-Per-9:
1. Gerrit Cole (Houston Astros) - 13.90 Over 55.2 IP
2. Carlos Carrasco (Cleveland Indians) - 12.50 Over 40.1 IP
3. Jacob deGrom (New York Mets) - 12.26 Over 47.0 IP
4. Stephen Strasburg (Washington Nationals) - 12.00 Over 51.0 IP
5. Max Scherzer (Washington Nationals) - 11.98 Over 59.1 IP
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