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Tuesday, April 16, 2013

MLB Power Rankings Week 2

wrcbtv.com

By Nick Ziegler (@Ziggy26x)

MLB Week 2 Power Rankings

1.) Atlanta Braves (11-1) - The Braves have separated themselves from the rest of the majors early, as they are the only team with double-digit wins, and have only lost one game thus far this season. Sweeping the Nationals this weekend while facing their top two pitchers was extremely impressive for Atlanta.

2.)  Oakland Athletics (9-4) - The Athletics had a nine game winning streak snapped on Saturday by the Tigers, but they have the best record in the American League without their best player Yoenis Cespedes, and seem to be a serious contender in the AL West.

3.) San Francisco Giants (9-4) - The Giants have the lead in the NL West, and have played well on the road so far this year at (5-2). The defending champs are hitting the ball pretty well, which could be a scary combo for the National League, as the Giants pitching are still very good.



4.) Arizona Diamondbacks (8-4) - The Diamondbacks are also playing very well in the NL West, as their young pitcher Wade Miley and Patrick Corbin look starting their second season in the majors, but a big nine game road trip is coming for the Diamondbacks which will be tough.

5.) Texas Rangers (8-5) - The Rangers are getting it done so far this season with pitching, as their lineup hasn’t gotten going yet, but a team ERA under three will help you win a lot of games during the season.

6.) Colorado Rockies (8-4) - The Rockies are handling their business against the bad teams so far, which has helped them get off to a nice start to the season. The offense has been great for Colorado, as they are first in the majors in slugging percentage, and the pitching has been better than expected so far, with eight quality starts so far.

7.) Boston Red Sox (7-4) - The Red Sox look much better this season compared to last season, as Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz both look great early on, and are a combined (5-0) at the top of Boston’s rotation.

8.) Washington Nationals (7-5) - The Nationals second week of the season wasn’t very good, as they were swept by the Division rival Braves, and Gio Gonzalez was roughed up badly by Atlanta on Sunday, as he gave up seven runs.

9.) St Louis Cardinals (7-5) - The Cardinals are scoring runs, as they rank second in the majors in that category, and they are also not giving many runs up, which is what every team tries to do.

10.) Detroit Tigers (7-5) - The Tigers lineup is stacked, and they are showing it led by Prince Fielder, who is hitting .429 with four homeruns, and 19 RBIs.

11. New York Mets (7-4) - The Mets are being led by young Starting Pitcher Matt Harvey, who is off to a great starting, while looking like the Ace the Mets hope he can be for a long time. Harvey is (3-0) with a .82 ERA. John Buck is also off to a great start, as he has six homeruns and 19 RBIs in his first two weeks as a Met.

12. Los Angeles Dodgers (7-5) - The Dodgers had a tough week losing Zack Grienke in a brawl with the Padres to a broken collarbone. The offense has been a disappointing for the Dodgers, as they are ranked 28th in runs scored.

13. Kansas City Royals (7-5) - The young Kansas City Royals are off to a nice start, led by some good pitching, which will be needed in week three, as the Royals will be playing the Red Sox and Braves.

14. New York Yankees (6-5) - After a tough first week for the Bronx Bombers, they bounced back nicely in week two with a four game winning streak, and won series between the Indians and Orioles. Hiroki Kuroda ended the Yankees week strong with a complete game shutout against the Orioles on Sunday.

15. Baltimore Orioles (6-6) - The Orioles rank in the middle of the pack early on in most pitching and hitting category’s, but Center Fielder Adam Jones is off to a hot start batting .412, with a homerun and 11 RBIs.

16. Pittsburgh Pirates (6-6) - The Pirates had a nice 5-1 week, with an impressive sweep of the Reds, but the Pirates are having a lot of problems scoring runs, which will have to change if the Pirates look to keep winning.

17. Philadelphia Phillies (6-6) - After two bad starts Roy Halladay was able to bounce back with a strong start against the Marlins going eight innings, but it is the Marlins, so the jury is still out to weather or not Halladay talents have fallen off.

18. Seattle Mariners (6-8) - Injuries are starting to pile up in the Mariners Outfield, which led to Jason Bay, Endy Chavez, and Raul Ibanez starting in a series against the Rangers, which the Mariners were able to take two out of three.

19. Cleveland Indians (5-6) - The Indians started the week losing two straight home games to the Yankees, and then had the next two rained out, but being well rested the Indians were able to take two out of three against the White Sox to end the week.

20. Toronto Blue Jays (5-7) - One of the Blue Jays big off-season acquisitions, Jose Reyes was lost for one to three months after sliding into Second Base, and sprained his ankle. The injury will hurt the Blue Jays losing a player as good as Reyes.

21. Chicago White Sox (5-7) - The White Sox’s Ace Chris Sale has been hit hard in his last two starts, as he’s given up four homeruns. The offense has been a real struggle though, as only one starter in Alex Rios is batting over .300.

22. Cincinnati Reds (5-7) - The Reds probably had one of the worst weeks in all of baseball going (1-5), and they lost Ace Johnny Cueto to the disabled list. The offense is hitting at least with Shin-Soo Choo and Brandon Phillips both off to great starts, as both are batting over .300

23. Tampa Bay Rays (4-7) - The Rays are built on good pitching, but in order to win games they have to at least score one run. In the last five games the Rays have only scored six runs, which resulted in only one win in the span.

24. Los Angeles Angels (4-8) - The Angels are not off to a good start, and a lot of that has to do with their starting pitching. Jered Weaver is likely to be out for a month, and no Angel’s starter has made it seven innings, which is going to be hurting the bullpen down the road.

25. Minnesota Twins (4-7) - The Twins were 4-2 to start the season, but reality set in in week two, as they went winless during the week, as they were swept by the Royals, and then lost two straight to the Mets to end the week.

26. Chicago Cubs (4-8) - The Cubs defense has been pretty awful this season so far committing 10 errors in their last 11 games, and the offense hasn’t been much better, as they ranking in bottom half of the league in most offensive category’s

27. Milwaukee Brewers (3-8) - Injuries to the lineup has hurt the Brewers early this season with sluggers Aramis Ramirez, and Corey Hart. Second Baseman Rickie Weeks hasn’t been able to help Ryan Braun carry the offense, as Weeks is batting just .200 on the season.

28. Houston Astros (4-8) - The Astros had a pretty good week winning three games, which including actually winning the series against the Mariners on the road.

29. San Diego Padres (2-10) - The Padres are quickly looking like one of the worst teams in baseball, as their pitching staff led by Edison Volquez has been awful, as the Opening Day Starter, Volquez has lost all three of his starts, and has been hit hard in them all.

30. Miami Marlins (2-10) - Giancarlo Stanton is out with a shoulder injury, and the Marlins can’t do a thing on offense without him, as they are last in runs, on base percentage, batting average, and slugging percentage.

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