Ah, thank goodness we’re on to a new week of power rankings. Why, you ask?
Well, four of the top 10 teams in my previous power rankings had rough weeks: No. 1 Yankees (1-5), No. 3 Mets (1-5), No. 4 Brewers (1-5) and No. 10 Astros (0-6). That is a combined 3-21. Meanwhile, five teams from Nos. 20-30 went a collective 29-9: No. 20 Athletics (5-1), No. 21 Padres (6-1), No. 22 Diamondbacks (4-2), No. 23 Rays (4-2), No. 28 Twins (6-1) and No. 29 Nationals (4-2). That is upside down and then some.
Some things seem to be taking root across baseball. Pittsburgh is really, pretty good. Pirates GM Ben Cherington’s offensive additions (except Marcell Ozuna) are working out. Brandon Lowe and Ryan O’Hearn are paying big dividends.
The Athletics — we aren’t allowed to call them Sacramento, even though they play in a minor park there — were always going to score some runs, but the pitching of Jeffrey Springs and Aaron Civale has been excellent.
Twins manager Derek Shelton may be making an impact in Minnesota. His club swept a four-game series against the Tigers at home and then took two out of three from the banged-up Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. The trio of Joe Ryan, Taj Bradley and Mick Abel has been impressive.
On the flip side, the Astros’ pitching is so banged up with Hunter Brown, Josh Hader and Cristian Javier on the injured list. Japanese free agent Tatsuya Imai is also down with a tired arm. I’m not sure they’ll stay afloat.
In Baltimore, manager Craig Albernaz faced down a horrible series in Pittsburgh, the loss of Zach Eflin, the continuing absences of Jackson Holliday and Jordan Westburg and the mysterious health issues of Tyler O’Neill. His club responded by winning 5 of 6 against two limited teams in the White Sox and Giants.
The Orioles called up pitchers Cade Povich, Albert Suárez and Brandon Young, all of whom helped right the ship. Start No. 3 for Chris Bassitt proved to be a major improvement. Now, Dean Kremer returns. Rookie Anthony Nunez looks like a steal for two months of Cedric Mullins.
Let’s dig into this week’s power rankings.
1. Los Angeles Dodgers (11-4, No. 2 last week): The Dodgers dropped from No. 1 to No. 2 last week because the Yankees were hot and Los Angeles had just lost Mookie Betts. But, they still have weapon after weapon. Andy Pages is hitting .442 and has already driven in 17 runs.
2. Seattle Mariners (7-9, No. 5): I know, how can I have a sub-.500 at No. 2? Well, despite a 3-3 week, Cal Raleigh woke up. That gives us some hope the offense is due to pick up. Raleigh, Julio Rodríguez and Josh Naylor are all hitting below .200. That doesn’t figure to last.
3. New York Yankees (8-7, No. 1): The Yankees finished the week on a five-game losing streak. They have problems offensively all over the place. Wonder if Jasson Domínguez can play third base? Luis Gil didn’t look great in his first start.
4. Atlanta Braves (10-6, No. 8): Drake Baldwin and Matt Olson lead the offense, Chris Sale, Bryce Elder, Grant Holmes and Reynaldo López give them a chance to win every day. Relievers Robert Suárez and Raisel Iglesias have combined for 11.2 scoreless high-leverage innings.
5. Chicago Cubs (7-8, No. 7): The Cubs move up due in part to the slide of teams just above or below. They just got Seiya Suzuki back, but Alex Bregman, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Ian Happ have to come around soon, right?
6. Milwaukee Brewers (8-7, No. 4): If a 1-5 week wasn’t bad enough, Christian Yelich left Sunday’s game against the Nationals with left hamstring tightness. If Yelich is down for any length of time, he’ll join Jackson Chourio, Andrew Vaughn and several pitchers on the IL.
7. Boston Red Sox (6-9, No. 12): The starting pitching had been pretty bad, but this past week the club got terrific starts from Brayan Bello, Sonny Gray and Ranger Suárez. That’s promising.
8. Detroit Tigers (7-9, No. 9): Got swept in Minneapolis in a four-game series but bounced back and swept the Marlins. Not surprisingly, Justin Verlander is on the IL, but Keider Montero has filled in and been an upgrade. Parker Meadows is down with a concussion and broken arm after colliding in the outfield with Riley Greene.
9. New York Mets (7-9, No. 3): The Mets end the week like their New York City brethren — on a five-game losing streak. They miss Juan Soto (calf), and it’s still not clear that president of baseball operations David Stearns paid enough attention to how far Marcus Semien had been receding as an offensive contributor with the Rangers. Brandon Nimmo has been off the charts in Arlington.
10. Cleveland Guardians (9-6, No. 15): Manager Stephen Vogt just keeps on keeping on. It’s nice to see that José Ramírez has an actual partner in crime in Chase DeLauter, who can take a bit of pressure off of him. Gavin Williams, Joey Cantillo and Parker Messick have been excellent so far. And the bullpen? Emmanuel Clase, who?
11. Baltimore Orioles (8-7, No. 16)
12. Pittsburgh Pirates (9-6, No. 11)
13. Philadelphia Phillies (7-8, No. 6)
14. Athletics (9-6, No. 20)
15. Cincinnati Reds (9-7, No. 13)
16. San Diego Padres (10-6, No. 21)
17. Arizona Diamondbacks (9-7, No. 22)
18. Texas Rangers (8-7, No. 18)
19. Kansas City Royals (7-9, No. 17)
20. Minnesota Twins (9-7, No. 28)
21. Toronto Blue Jays (6-9, No. 14)
22. Tampa Bay Rays (8-7, No. 23)
23. Los Angeles Angels (8-8, No. 24)
24. Houston Astros (6-10, No. 10)
25. San Francisco Giants (6-10, No. 26)
26. Washington Nationals (7-8, No. 29)
27. Miami Marlins (8-8, No. 19)
28. St. Louis Cardinals (8-7, No. 27)
29. Chicago White Sox (6-10, No. 25)
30. Colorado Rockies (6-10, No. 30)