I’m not sure I remember ever having one league dominate the top five of my power rankings like this. My top five — Dodgers, Padres, Mets, Phillies and Cubs — are all from the National League. However, every team in baseball has warts, especially given all the pitching injuries staggering the game.
I’ve never said this before, but MLB should be embarrassed by product in Chicago with the White Sox and the Rockies in Denver. To go along with that, commissioner Rob Manfred should be embarrassed by the job he did in Oakland and Tampa Bay in recent years that allowed for a scenario with two big league teams playing in minor league parks.
MLB has slow-rolled the introduction of a meaningful automated balls-and-strikes system, which is really appalling. The ridiculous two-challenges-per-team tease in the spring only brought to light just how many pitches are missed.
Not using even a limited challenge system is really insulting to the public, though offering two challenges per team when games routinely have 275 pitches thrown is utterly ridiculous as well.
Here are this week’s MLB power rankings:
1. Los Angeles Dodgers (16-7, No. 1 last week): As the offseason progressed and the Dodgers added Blake Snell, Tanner Scott and Roki Sasaki and re-signed Teoscar Hernández, I had them winning the NL West by 10-12 games. Who knows, maybe they still will. But the team’s .227 batting average and .311 on-base percentage are red flags. With Snell on the IL, Dustin May’s comeback has been awe-inspiring: 17 innings (three starts), 1.06 ERA, 0.76 WHIP and no home runs.
2. San Diego Padres (16-6, No. 3): The Padres are keeping up with the Dodgers despite ranking 14th in runs scored (97). Makes me think skipper Mike Shildt pushes a lot of right buttons, though it helps to be second in runs allowed (62).
3. New York Mets (15-7, No. 5): Offensively, the Mets are awfully lucky that Pete Alonso is back (.346/.453/.718 with six homers and 24 RBIs). Only two other players have double-digit RBIs. They have a team ERA of 2.35 and WHIP of 1.15. Get a load of this: In 195 innings pitched, they have only allowed nine home runs. That is roughly one every 22 innings. That is outlandish.
4. Philadelphia Phillies (13-9, No. 2): The 7-2 start blurred some troubling trends. The team has hit just 20 home runs and the pitching staff has posted a 4.29 ERA. Free-agent addition Jordan Romano has struggled mightily, though trade acquisition Jesús Luzardo has been one of the best starters in baseball.
5. Chicago Cubs (14-10, No. 4): The Cubs have scored 19 more runs than the Aaron Judge-led Yankees and have nine players with double-digit RBIs. Yes, Kyle Tucker is the leader, but this is an impressive offense. With Justin Steele done for the season, they need some step-ups on the mound to maintain these heights.
6. New York Yankees (14-8, No. 7): I’m not sure how manager Aaron Boone will be able to navigate the next six months unless the starting pitching improves mightily. At least his bullpen options are strong (especially once Devin Williams really appears). It also helps that they are the only team with an OPS over .800. Trent Grisham has been an early Christmas miracle as a run producer.
7. Boston Red Sox (12-11, No. 9): The offense is missing big boy Rafael Devers, who has been mostly a whimper for the season’s first 23 games. The starting pitching after Garrett Crochet has been spotty at best. Walker Buehler and Tanner Houck have been hugely disappointing.
8. Detroit Tigers (13-9, No. 6): Four of five starters have ERAs below 3.00 — only Reese Olsen (4.50) is higher — but they look underwhelming on the offensive side.
9. Arizona Diamondbacks (13-9, No. 10): The D-Backs remain in the top 10 despite the fact that highly-paid ace Corbin Burnes has yet to record a W in four starts and has an ERA well over 4.00. That’s because two other starters — Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly — are doing very well and five offensive players have double-digit RBIs.
10. Texas Rangers (13-9, No. 8): The Good: The old Jacob deGrom appeared the other night against the Dodgers. The Bad: Marcus Semien is slashing .141/.209/.192. The Ugly: Joc Pederson is slashing .055/.148/.073.
11. Toronto Blue Jays (12-10, No. 13)
12. San Francisco Giants (14-8, No. 14)
13. Milwaukee Brewers (12-10, No. 11)
14. Cleveland Guardians (12-9, No. 15)
15. Baltimore Orioles (9-12, No. 16)
16. Houston Astros (10-11, No. 17)
17. Kansas City Royals (9-14, No. 12)
18. Cincinnati Reds (11-11, No. 19)
19. Seattle Mariners (12-10, No. 21)
20. Athletics (10-12, No. 23)
21. Los Angeles Angels (11-10, No. 18)
22. Atlanta Braves (8-13, No. 20)
23. Tampa Bay Rays (9-13, No. 22)
24. St. Louis Cardinals (9-13, No. 26)
25. Washington Nationals (9-13, No. 24)
26. Pittsburgh Pirates (8-15, No. 27)
27. Minnesota Twins (7-15, No. 28)
28. Miami Marlins (9-12, No. 25)
29. Chicago White Sox (5-16, No. 29)
30. Colorado Rockies (4-17, No. 30)