MLB Power Rankings: Week 13

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By Nick Ziegler (@Ziggy26x)

MLB Power Rankings: Week 13

1.) Pittsburgh Pirates (51-30) – The Pirates after 81 games have the best record in baseball, and have a two-game lead in the NL Central. They are on a nine-game winning streak, as after a great West Coast trip they returned home to sweep the Brewers this past weekend.

2.) St Louis Cardinals (49-32) – St Louis had a bit of a tough week against the AL West, losing three out of five games to the Athletics and Astros. The Cardinals are still in the top 10 in most batting and pitching categories, and still have the second best record in baseball.

3.) Boston Red Sox (50-34) – A good week for the AL East leading Red Sox keeps them on top of their division, and they cooled off the Toronto Blue Jays, taking three out of four games against them this weekend. They are the number one in runs scored with a lineup led by Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz.

4.) Texas Rangers (48-34) – The Rangers are rolling, and are in first place in the AL West going (8-2) in there last 10 games. Elvis Andrus is having a disappointing first half of the season however batting just .243

5.) Atlanta Braves (48-34) – Atlanta has built a very good pitching staff once again, as they are second in team ERA and quality starts. The main concern for the Braves has to be their team batting average, which is just .245.

6.) Oakland Athletics (48-35) – Taking four out of five games from the Cardinals and Reds at home is a very impressive feat for the Athletics, who are just .5 games behind the Rangers for first in the AL West. Bartolo Colon has 11 wins with an ERA of 2.79, and looks to be heading to New York for the All-Star Game.

7.) Baltimore Orioles (47-36) – Chris Davis is having a breakout year, as he leads the majors with 31 homeruns. Davis isn’t the only Oriole to be having a great season at the plate, as Manny Machado leads the MLB in doubles with 38.

8.) Cincinnati Reds (46-36) – The west Coast trip the Reds have been on has been a real problem for them, as they lost series to the Diamondbacks, Athletics, and Texas. On the road the Reds are (20-22), which is surprising considering the talent they have.

9.) Cleveland Indians (44-38) – Eight road games this week resulted in six wins for the Indians who split four games with Baltimore and then swept the White Sox in Chicago. The good week from the Indians has put them in a tie with the Tigers for first place in the AL Central.

10.) Tampa Bay Rays (43-39) – David Price is ready to come back on Tuesday after missing six weeks with a triceps injury, which is great news for the Rays whose schedule is pretty easy heading into the All-Star break.

11.) Detroit Tigers (43-37) – The Tigers will hope that using Joaquin Benoit instead of Jose Valverde in the Closer role will help sure up a bullpen that hasn’t been good this season. The Tigers will also need to start hitting better on the road to improve on a (17-21) road record this season.

12.) New York Yankees (42-39) – The Yankees are now on a five-game losing streak after being swept by the Orioles, as they are now just three games over .500, and are heading in the wrong direction in the AL East.

13.) Washington Nationals (41-40) – Bryce Harper will be back in the lineup on Monday, which should help a lineup that besides a 13-run outburst on Sunday, has struggled for most of the season, as they rank 28^th in the majors in runs scored.

14.) Arizona Diamondbacks (42-39) – If Patrick Corban isn’t pitching the Diamondbacks are in trouble, as Trevor Cahill and Wade Miley combined have 17 losses already with a high four ERA. They are still in first place in the NL West, but they need to give Corban some help to stay there.

15.) Colorado Rockies (41-42) – The Rockies are hanging tough in the bad NL West without Troy Tulowitzki thus far, and their next 13 games heading into the All-Star break are all against division opponents, which could be good or bad for Colorado.

16.) Toronto Blue Jays (40-41) – A bit of a tough week for the Blue Jays after winning 12 straight lost five games this week to the Red Sox and Rays, which pushed them back below .500. Jose Reyes did come back however, and they will be back at home this coming week as they look to get back over .500.

17.) San Diego Padres (40-42) – Not a good week for the Padres, as their offense seems to be missing Everth Cabrera. They are not off to a good start on their East Coast trip losing two out of three already to the Marlins, and things wont get easier for them with series against Boston and Washington coming up.

18.) Los Angeles Angels (39-43) – The Angels finally seem to have gotten something going this week winning six straight on the road in Detroit and Houston, but as they head home two difficult teams will await them this coming week in the Cardinals and Red Sox.

19.) Kansas City Royals (38-41) – A mediocre week for the Royals is keeping them close in the AL Central, and a good sign for them this week was Eric Hosmer hitting three homeruns after hitting just four before this week started. If Hosmer gets going that could really help and offense that needs to score more runs.

20.) San Francisco Giants (39-42) – This was a really bad week for the Giants losing five games to division opponents, and they are now three games under .500. They did end the week on somewhat of a positive note, by snapping a six game losing streak on Sunday.

21.) Los Angeles Dodgers (38-43) – Yasiel Puig is making a case to be an All-Star despite playing in just 26 games. Puig is hitting .436 with seven home runs, and has taken the country by storm. The Dodgers as a team are starting to win now as well, sitting just 4.5 games behind the the first place Diamondbacks.

22.) Philadelphia Phillies (39-44) – A tough stretch of games is coming up for the Phillies, as in the next week and a half they have to play the Pirates, and then are home against the Braves and Nationals which could either help get them back in the NL East race or push them even further behind heading into the All-Star break.

23.) Minnesota Twins (36-42) – Rookie Kyle Gibson made an impressive debut this weekend, as he earned his first major league win by going six innings allowing just two runs against the Royals. Besides the nice start from Gibson it wasn’t a very good week for Minnesota,as they lost fours games.

24.) Chicago Cubs (35-45) – A good week for the Chicago Cubs win both road series they had to play against the Brewers and the the Mariners led to a (4-2) week. A very disappointing season for Starlin Castro continues however, as he is batting just .233 this season.

25.) New York Mets (33-45) – The Mets ended their week on a sour note, as on Sunday Zack Wheeler picked up his first career loss against the Nationals at home. Matt Harvey continues to pitch amazing, but gets let down by a poor lineup and a poor bullpen almost every start.

26.) Seattle Mariners (35-47) – A tough week at home for the Mariners resulted in just one win against the Cubs. They have possibly the toughest end to the first half of the season having to play the Reds, Rangers, Red Sox, and Angels. Things could get ugly very quickly for the Mariners.

27.) Milwaukee Brewers (32-48) – Brewers probably didn’t think they’d be in last place in the NL Central, but that is where they are half way thru the season. Shortstop Jean Segura has been great this year, batting .327 with 11 homeruns, and leads the NL with 105 hits.

28.) Chicago White Sox (32-47) – The White Sox seem to be going nowhere fast, and they have seemed to made almost everybody on their team available for trades besides Chris Sale, who has a ERA of 2.79, but more losses than wins due to the lineup being so bad.

29.) Houston Astros (30-52) – With the Astros not going anywhere for at least a few years, Bud Norris seems like a player who will be traded for some pieces, and with the way hes been pitching the Astros should be able to get a nice little haul for him.

30.) Miami Marlins (29-51) – The Marlins had the best record in June of any NL East team going (15-10), as they have been on a bit of a roll lately. Jacob Turner and Jose Fernandez seem like they might be two pretty good pitchers for the Marlins in the future.