We live in an age of conflicting interests. I’ll never forget when CBS Radio lost the rights to Ravens games to WBAL. How did CBS respond? Of course, it was still in its best interest to cover the Ravens full-bore, but they stamped a new name on their coverage. “Baltimore Gameday Uncensored” was born.
So, did that mean that all the years the games were on 1300 AM and then 105.7 FM the broadcasters were all censored?
You get the point. We live in the age of media collaborations, but those partnerships simply aren’t good for the fans. I’ll never forget talking to former Ravens owner Art Modell. Unlike so many of today’s owners, he welcomed criticism when deserved. He told me, “If you aren’t critical when we are bad, how can the fans believe you when we are good?”
How does this relate to my MLB power rankings?
If you were as incensed as I was by umpire Nic Lentz’s incompetent interpretation of Ernie Clement’s rather circuitous route to avoid Gunnar Henderson’s tag that could have ended the sixth inning with a double play and the Orioles still ahead 4-1, I wanted to hear an objective discussion on national TV.
So, about an hour after the game I landed on MLB Network and started to watch the Sunday wrapup show with Matt Vasgersian and former Mets GM Steve Phillips. They went game by game with all kinds of video of home runs, great plays, whiffs, errors — anything that seemed to matter. Game by game they went. The hour was racing by. They even promoted that when they got back from break they’d look at Orioles-Jays. They got back and did two or three other games before they dug in to discuss the key moments of the game I was waiting for.
Colton Cowser hit a home run and Taylor Ward hit a two-run homer for a 4-0 lead. Then some new guy named Yohendrick Piñango hit a solo homer to get the Jays on the board. Andrés Giménez doubled to drive in the game-tying run. An infield hit by Nathan Lukes and a mystifying decision by Jackson Holliday to lob the ball out of his glove to first allowed Giménez to come from second to score the go-ahead run.
Nowhere was the most controversial play of the game, a decision by Lentz that cost the Orioles four runs in a game they would ultimately lose, 6-4.
Sure, Henderson’s error prior to the controversy was huge, as was Holliday’s play, but the game was really decided by an umpire’s call. Why was this omitted from the coverage and discussion on MLB Network?
Could it be that MLB Network won’t show up incompetence by an umpire? I am really left wondering how much I can trust MLB Network. Individually, I admire all the talents on the Network, but this omission was a real head-scratcher.
Without further ado, here are my latest power rankings.
1. Atlanta Braves (45-21, No. 1 last week): The Braves haven’t had a single sub.-500 week this season. Their worst weeklong mark is 3-3. They have had four five-win weeks. They are still 9.5 games in front of the Phillies.
2. Los Angeles Dodgers (42-24, No. 2): Where would the Dodgers’ rotation be without Nippon Professional Baseball? Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki all graduated to the majors from NPB. Of course, the Angels, perhaps the worst team in the sport, squandered Ohtani’s first six big league seasons.
3. Milwaukee Brewers (40-23, No. 3): I noticed this oddity about the first five hitters in the Brewers’ lineup on Saturday: Christian Yelich, Jackson Chourio, Brice Turang, William Contreras and Jake Bauers all finished the game hitting .281, .282 or .283. That’s what I call hitting. Andrew Vaughn was batting sixth and spoiled it with his .325 batting average.
4. Philadelphia Phillies (35-30, No. 6): The real Phillies appear locked in, having gone 26-11 since Don Mattingly took over as manager. Cristopher Sánchez and Zack Wheeler have been great. Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber are doing their thing. Closer Jhoan Duran is healthy and dominating. Brandon Marsh is leading all qualified batters with a .335 average.
5. New York Yankees (38-26, No. 4): There is an old adage in baseball when you have too many players to fit them all in: “These things have a way of working themselves out.” The Yankees figured out how to get Anthony Volpe and José Caballero in the lineup together, but not the way they wanted to do so. Aaron Judge will be re-evaluated in four to six weeks with a stress fracture in his rib.
6. Seattle Mariners (34-32, No. 7): The Mariners are finally over .500 after going 18-13 in their past 31. They still miss Cal Raleigh, who is due back in the middle of June. Closer Andrés Muñoz is in the midst of an uneven season.
7. Tampa Bay Rays (37-25, No. 5): The dreaded regression to the mean has arrived, as they are 3-10 in their last 13. The schedule may deliver the Rays a respite, with three at home against Boston and then three in Anaheim.
8. Cleveland Guardians (37-30, No. 8): Unheralded defense-first shortstop Brayan Rocchio is breaking out offensively, batting .280/.360/.406 with five homers, 29 RBIs, 28 runs and 11 steals. He has been a huge key in the Guardians continuing to be well above .500.
9. Pittsburgh Pirates (34-32, No. 11): Notwithstanding a three-game sweep at the hands of the Braves, the Pirates are a tough team to beat night in and night out and remain in the top 10 partly because so many teams are so up and down.
10. Arizona Diamondbacks (34-31, No. 9): Any hope that Corbin Burnes was going to be of some immediate help in late June is gone. He suffered a significant setback in his recovery from Tommy John surgery with a teres major strain. Not that it will devastate him the way it did former Orioles top tier starter Grayson Rodriguez, but it’s a tough injury for a pitcher.
11. Chicago White Sox (34-31, No. 13)
12. Chicago Cubs (34-32, No. 12)
13. St. Louis Cardinals (35-28, No. 17)
14. San Diego Padres (33-31, No. 10)
15. Texas Rangers (32-33, No. 18)
16. Washington Nationals (33-33, No. 15)
17. Toronto Blue Jays (32-34, No. 16)
18. Baltimore Orioles (31-35, No. 20)
19. Houston Astros (30-37, No. 22)
20. Athletics (31-34, No. 19)
21. Cincinnati Reds (31-33, No. 14)
22. New York Mets (29-36, No. 21)
23. Miami Marlins (31-35, No. 25)
24. Detroit Tigers (27-39, No. 26)
25. Minnesota Twins (30-37, No. 24)
26. Boston Red Sox (27-36, No. 23)
27. Kansas City Royals (27-39, No. 29)
28. San Francisco Giants (27-39, No. 28)
29. Los Angeles Angels (25-41, No. 27)
30. Colorado Rockies (24-42, No. 30)