Here are my MLB power rankings.
1. Atlanta Braves (96-53, No. 1 last week): Of all the amazing stats involving the Braves, how about this one? Two ex-Oakland A’s have combined for 72 home runs and 196 RBIs. Matt Olson has hit 52 homers and knocked in 129 runs, while Sean Murphy has hit 20 homers and driven in 67. This is reminiscent of when the Yankees had the Kansas City Athletics of the late ’50s and early ’60s as their own private farm team.
2. Baltimore Orioles (93-56, No. 2): The Orioles’ four-game losing streak had the faithful fans in a tizzy. The O’s came into the big four-game series with the Rays unprepared for that intensity. To their credit, they pulled themselves up, matched the intensity of the Rays and got the split, which was really all the O’s needed. The O’s got an epic Saturday night start from Grayson Rodriguez, which has to change the odds of the O’s making a deep run this year.
3. Tampa Bay Rays (92-59, No. 3): Not sure how manager Kevin Cash did it, but he kept his team together, even with all the key losses. Entering the Saturday night game against the O’s, the Rays had a 23-9 mark in their last 32 games, the best record in MLB during that stretch.
4. Milwaukee Brewers (84-65, No. 6): The Brewers are one of the few teams that can pitch well enough to hang with the Braves, but there’s a huge saga possibly brewing. Skipper Craig Counsell is a pending free agent and could be in more demand than Joe Maddon was before he left Tampa Bay for Chicago. What makes this so interesting is the man who hired Counsell in Milwaukee was David Stearns, who is now the president of baseball operations for the Mets.
5. Los Angeles Dodgers (91-57, No. 4): With all the big, high-priced names on the Dodgers’ roster, keep an eye on little-known lefty Ryan Yarbrough. The former Ray and Royal will have to play an important role on a staff that has a void of innings eaters.
6. Philadelphia Phillies (81-68, No. 8): The Phillies have a leg up for the first wild-card spot, but as close as the Diamondbacks, Cubs, Marlins and Reds are, the Phillies’ three-game trip to start the week in Atlanta figures to make this a tense gauntlet between these five teams battling for wild-card spots in the NL.
7. Houston Astros (84-66, No. 5): The Astros had a real head-scratcher of a week, losing back-to-back series against the two worst teams in the AL. They’ll host the O’s for three and then the Royals this coming weekend. Let’s not pull any punches, they are in a dogfight to win their division or at least hold on to a wild-card spot.
8. Seattle Mariners (81-68, No. 7): The Mariners went on a real roll during a 38-game stretch this summer, going 28-10. In the three weeks since, they are just 7-12. That included a 10-game road trip to Citi Field (1-2), Great American Ball Park (1-2) and Tropicana Field (1-3).
9. Texas Rangers (82-67, No. 12): GM Chris Young made some bold free-agent acquisitions in the offseason and then doubled down in his recent trade for right-hander Max Scherzer, but his team is still in desperate need for quality starting pitching. Jacob deGrom and Scherzer will offer no more innings. Nathan Eovaldi is being eased back into his role. Hard to see the Rangers holding on to a playoff spot if Seattle and Toronto play well these next two weeks.
10. Minnesota Twins (79-71, No. 11): The Twins are playing some of their best baseball of the season (21-13 in the past month). They now have a sizable lead in the AL Central, but it’s hard to imagine a deep run is in store for the team that plays at Target Field.
11. Toronto Blue Jays (83-67, No. 10)
12. Arizona Diamondbacks (79-72, No. 13)
13. Miami Marlins (78-72, No. 14)
14. Chicago Cubs (78-72, No. 9)
15. Cincinnati Reds (78-73, No. 16)
16. San Francisco Giants (76-74, No. 15)
17. New York Yankees (76-74, No. 18)
18. San Diego Padres (72-78, No. 20)
19. Cleveland Guardians (72-78, No. 19)
20. Boston Red Sox (74-76, No. 17)
21. Detroit Tigers (70-79, No. 23)
22. Pittsburgh Pirates (70-80, No. 22)
23. New York Mets (69-80, No. 25)
24. Los Angeles Angels (68-82, No. 21)
25. St. Louis Cardinals (66-83, No. 24)
26. Washington Nationals (66-84, No. 26)
27. Colorado Rockies (56-93, No. 28)
28. Chicago White Sox (57-93, No. 27)
29. Kansas City Royals (48-102, No. 30)
30. Oakland Athletics (46-103, No. 29)