stltoday.com |
By Nick Ziegler (@Ziggy26x)
MLB Power Rankings Week 12
1.) St Louis Cardinals (47-29) – The
Cardinals had a tough end to the week being swept at home by the
Rangers, but they still have the best record in baseball. Their lead
in the NL Central however has been trimmed to just one game.
2.) Pittsburgh Pirates (46-30) – The
Pirates are coming on strong, as they split a four- game series on
the road against the Reds, and then went out to the West Coast and
swept the Angels. Pedro Alvarez is is having a great month of June
with nine homeruns, and has 19 now on the season.
3.) Texas Rangers (44-32) – Texas
after hitting a rough patch the last few weeks seem to be back on
track, as they are now on a five-game winning streak, and are back on
top of the AL West. Getting Ian Kinsler back in the lineup was much
needed, as he hit .407 in the last seven days.
4.) Cincinnati Reds (45-32) – Jay
Bruce is having a great month of June for the Reds, as the power
hitting lefty has hit 10 homeruns, and is batting .311 in the month.
The Reds however are in third place in the NL Central despite having
the third best record in baseball.
5.) Boston Red Sox (45-33) – Clay
Buchholz was suppose to make his return from the DL this coming
Tuesday against the Rockies, but after feeling tightness in the neck
he may have to push his return back. Even with their top pitcher out
the Red Sox are still in first place in the AL East.
6.) Detroit Tigers (42-32) – Miguel
Cabrera continues to show that he is the best hitter in baseball, as
he looks to get his second straight Triple Crown, Cabrera is hitting
.370 with 20 home runs, and 75 RBIs, which is a major reason the
Tigers lead in the AL Central.
7.) Atlanta Braves (44-33) – The
Braves played eight games in seven days this past week, and it didn’t
go very well for them, as they lost both series to the Mets and
Brewers. Justin Upton, who got off to such a great start is now
hitting just .240 on the season.
8.) Oakland Athletics (44-34) – The
Athletics have hit a a rough patch losing seven of the last 10 games,
a tough home stand is coming for the A's, as the Reds and Cardinals
are coming to Oakland this coming week.
9.) Baltimore Orioles (42-34) – The
Orioles are now in second place in the AL East, and if wasn’t for
running into the red hot Blue Jays over the weekend they probably
would be in first place. Their offense is great with Chris Davis
having 27 homeruns, and Manny Machado has 106 hits already.
10.) Arizona Diamondbacks (41-34) –
Arizona has a major issue in the bullpen, as Closer Heath Bell is
really struggling of late, giving up a home run in five straight
appearances, and he also has an ERA over five.
11.) New York Yankees (41-34) – The
injuries to the Yankees lineup seem to have finally caught up with
them, but Zoilo Almonte was called up and gave them a bit of a spark,
as hes hitting .583 in five games.
12.) Toronto Blue Jays (38-36) – The
Blue Jays are the hottest team in baseball riding a 11 game winning
streak, and they will be getting Shortstop Jose Reyes during the
week.
13.) Cleveland Indians (38-36) – A
two win week from Corey Kluber helped the Indians having a winning
week, and Kluber has been on a roll lately winning three straight
games, while only allowing four runs in 21.2 innings.
14.) Tampa Bay Rays (39-37) –
Recently called up Wil Meyers has had a big impact already for the
Rays, as he hit his first home run against C.C. Sabathia on Saturday,
which was a Grand Slam, and also has a six-game hitting streak.
15.) Colorado Rockies (39-38) – As
expected without Troy Tulowitzki the Rockies had a tough week losing
five straight games before winning the final two games in Washington.
Without Tulowitzki its going to be hard for the Rockies to stay over
.500.
16.) San Francisco Giants (38-37) –
Losing three out of four games at home to the Marlins has to be very
concerning for the Giants, as besides Madison Bumgarner their
starting pitching hasn’t been good at all this season.
17.) San Diego Padres (38-38) – The
Padres have lost Shortstop Everth Cabrera to a strained hamstring,
which is concerning for a great base stealer. With Cabrera out the
Padres really need Chase Headley to get going.
18.) Washington Nationals (37-38) –
Dan Daren is heading to the DL which may be a good thing for the
Nationals, as he has been awful this season with an ERA over six.
Bryce Harper is still on the DL however, and his return is still
unknown.
19.) Kansas City Royals (35-38) – The
Royals offense was nowhere to be found for most of the week averaging
just over two runs per game this week besides a seven run outburst on
Sunday in a win against the White Sox
20.) Philadelphia Phillies (36-40) –
Cole Hamels is now up to 11 losses this season with a ERA of 4.50,
but Cliff Lee has been great with nine wins and a 2.53 ERA, which is
a big reason that the Phillies are hanging close to .500.
21.) Minnesota Twins (34-38) – Joe
Mauer is healthy and looking like the player that earned a monster
contract, as he is hitting .330 with eight homeruns. Kyle Gibson will
be making his debut on Saturday, which may spark the Twins.
22.) Seattle Mariners (34-43) – 41
year old Raul Ibanez is leading the Mariners in home runs (17) and
RBIs (42). The Mariners don’t seem to be any sort of threat however
in the AL West.
23.) Los Angeles Dodgers (32-42) –
Yasiel Puig is still playing out of this world with an impressive
showing in the Bronx, as Puig is hitting .425 still. The Dodgers
however are still 10 games under .500, which has to be a
disappointment.
24.) Los Angeles Angels (33-43) –
Blowing a lead to the Pirates on Sunday and getting swept at home
seems like the kind of lost that could end the Angels season early,
as they are 10 games under .500 with two very good teams ahead of
them in the AL West.
25.) New York Mets (30-42) – Pitching
wise the future looks extremely bright with Matt Harvey in contention
to be an All-Star game Starter, and Zack Wheeler won his debut, and
looked nasty in the process.
26.) Milwaukee Brewers (31-43) –
Being 12 games under .500 the Brewers will be sellers come around the
deadline, and they have a good piece to trade in Yovani Gallardo, who
is starting to pitch very well, making his value go up.
27.) Chicago Cubs (31-43) – The Cubs
offense had a tough week before a 14 run explosion on Sunday against
the Astros. Ryan Sweeney led the way with six RBIs in the 14-6 win.
28.) Chicago White Sox (31-42) – Adam
Dunn hit his 20th home run of the season, but like only
Dunn can do he is hitting .193 with 89 strikeouts. It seems likely
that the White Sox will be trying to move Paul Konerko in the coming
weeks.
29.) Houston Astros (29-48) – The
Astros seem to have a nice Catcher combination in Jason Castro and
Carlos Corporan, who have combined for 15 home runs, but they still
rank last in the majors in team ERA.
30.) Miami Marlins (25-50) – A
shocking series win in San Francisco makes it nine wins in their last
15 games, but they are still 25 games under .500.
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