I said before the season started that spots 12 through 20 in my MLB power rankings were going to be a dogfight every week. What I didn’t anticipate was that a few teams would reveal enough about themselves for me to markedly change my opinion of them this early in the season.
Let’s start with the Astros, who have dropped from No. 5 to No. 9. Especially with Alex Bregman scuffling at the start of another season, you look at that lineup and sure, they have José Abreu, Yordan Álvarez and Kyle Tucker. But other than that, where’s the beef? This lineup looks far more pitchable than the previous five or six seasons.
The Mets started off at No. 3, and then in rapid succession they lost Edwin Díaz, José Quintana and Justin Verlander. To top it off, both Max Scherzer and Carlos Carrasco have looked very human. All of that has them dropping four spots to No. 7.
I know I shocked myself and other readers of this post by ranking the Dodgers at No. 16. Well, two weeks in, I have them dropping to No. 18 after losing three of four in Arizona against the Diamondbacks. They don’t look like they are even the best team in Los Angeles.
Two other squads falling in the rankings are the Detroit Tigers and Oakland Athletics. I know it’s just nine games, but both teams are already 2-7 and look awful in every way imaginable. Both seem like easy 100-plus-loss teams.
On the flip side, the Tampa Bay Rays are 9-0 and sit at No. 4, up from their early spot at No. 11. That starting rotation featuring Shane McClanahan, Jeffrey Springs, Drew Rasmussen and Zach Eflin looks absolutely impeccable through two turns. And everyone is sizzling at the plate.
I thought the Brewers had taken a step back and I started them at No. 19. Well, after a 5-1 week at home, they are all the way back up to No. 11. They take their show on the road and face an improved Diamondbacks squad and then head to San Diego to face the Padres.
The Angels have (fingers crossed) stayed healthy and just have a different look to them. Props to owner Arte Moreno for sticking around and to GM Perry Minasian for giving skipper Phil Nevin something to work with.
After sweeping the Red Sox at Fenway in a three-game series, the Pirates came home and finished up a 5-1 week by winning the series against the other Sox, 2-1. However, No. 22 might be the highest the Pirates will be all season after the devastating ankle fracture to shortstop Oneil Cruz, now out indefinitely.
A comment on the Hometown 9: Nothing to panic about, yet. But it stung a bit to have two home runs hit by Franchy Cordero, one of the last cuts from Orioles camp and now suited up in pinstripes. The Cordero release is made even more head-scratching by the fact that Kyle Stowers was optioned back to Triple-A Norfolk in order to keep third catcher Anthony Bemboom.
These are moves around the margins, but it’s hard to see what Ryan McKenna or Stowers (if you were going to parcel out his playing time in a thimble) had over Cordero. The Yankees fit him in with a $270 million payroll, yet the Orioles couldn’t figure out a way to keep him?
McKenna was a terrific story of self-improvement during the past couple of seasons, and I know he’s a personal favorite of manager Brandon Hyde’s, but this didn’t feel right a couple weeks ago and now it feels even worse.
While I am nitpicking, when the club picked up Adam Frazier they made a point of touting his ability to play the corner outfield spots. As such, it was a puzzler for me to see Terrin Vavra look overmatched on a deep fly by Yankees rookie shortstop Anthony Volpe that turned into a triple on April 8.
Not saying there was any way he should have caught that ball, but he didn’t realize that himself until the ball had caromed way past him and center fielder Cedric Mullins had to race in to relay the ball in. Vavra, who made a terrific catch on a ball coming in, shouldn’t be placed in right field again unless there is an absolute emergency.
Here are my MLB power rankings:
1. San Diego Padres (6-4, No. 2 last week): The Padres have an identical 6-4 mark as the No. 2 Braves, but going into the lion’s den and taking three of four at Truist Park was impressive.
2. Atlanta Braves (6-4, No. 1): There is a lot of talent in the day-to-day lineup. The Braves need to pitch a hell of a lot better to be better than Padres, but with Mets and Phillies scuffling, they are easily the top team in the NL East at the moment.
3. New York Yankees (6-3, No. 4): Manager Aaron Boone and his boys have a bit of an edge about them. Luckily, they still have DJ LeMahieu. They can’t expect much out of aging Josh Donaldson, who is down with a hamstring injury already.
4. Tampa Bay Rays (9-0, No. 11): The schedule-makers gave the Rays three bottom feeders to start with. No, I mean Nos. 28, 29 and 30. Like a good team, the Rays stepped on their throats.
5. Toronto Blue Jays (6-4, No. 8): The Jays completed their long season-opening road trip by taking three of four from the Royals and two of three from the improved Angels. They open up renovated Rogers Centre against the Tigers on April 11.
6. Cleveland Guardians (6-4, No. 7): With standout right-hander Triston McKenzie down, the Guardians have turned to Hunter Gaddis, who turned a solid outing against the A’s on April 5. Free-agent corner bat Josh Bell is doing a great impersonation of Franmil Reyes, whom the Guardians designated for assignment last August. Bell is batting just .086. Conversely, Myles Straw is off to a big start.
7. New York Mets (5-5, No. 3): With injuries hitting the pitching staff and Max Scherzer and Carlos Carrasco underperforming, time is almost overdue for Steve Cohen to pull out the checkbook.
8. Minnesota Twins (6-3, No. 10): Byron Buxton has not hit the IL yet. Be patient. But manager Rocco Baldelli’s team is really competing in the early going. It looks like closer Jhoan Durán is the real deal at 100-plus mph on that heater.
9. Houston Astros (4-6, No. 5): We all knew when José Altuve went down with a thumb fracture in the World Baseball Classic, it was going to sting. But with Alex Bregman off to a horrible start, this offense looks like it’s really gone in reverse. That’s a problem.
10. Seattle Mariners (4-6, No. 9): I am not monitoring innings pitched by this bullpen, but really curious why neither closer Andrés Muñoz nor Paul Sewald were available in three separate closing opportunities on April 9 in the bottom of the ninth (Matt Brash), 11th (J.B. Bukauskas) and 12th (Penn Murfee).
11. Milwaukee Brewers (7-2, No. 19)
12. St. Louis Cardinals (3-6, No. 6)
13. Los Angeles Angels (5-4, No. 18)
14. Boston Red Sox (5-4, No. 14)
15. Philadelphia Phillies (3-6, No. 12)
16. Baltimore Orioles (4-5, No. 15)
17. Arizona Diamondbacks (6-4, No. 20)
18. Los Angeles Dodgers (5-5, No. 16)
19. Chicago White Sox (4-6, No. 13)
20. Chicago Cubs (4-4, No. 21)
21. Texas Rangers (5-4, No. 17)
22. Pittsburgh Pirates (6-3, No. 26)
23. San Francisco Giants (4-5, No. 22)
24. Miami Marlins (4-6, No. 23)
25. Cincinnati Reds (4-4, No. 24)
26. Kansas City Royals (3-7, No. 27)
27. Colorado Rockies (4-6, No. 25)
28. Washington Nationals (3-7, No. 30)
29. Detroit Tigers (2-7, No. 28)
30. Oakland Athletics (2-7, No. 29)
Want more? I discussed this week’s MLB power rankings with PressBox managing editor Luke Jackson: