Power Pulse: Inaugural Edition

Welcome to the inaugural Call to the Pen “Power Pulse” Power Rankings. The rankings will be a weekly column here at Call to the Pen and will encompass the week starting on Thursday and ending on Wednesday. When coming up with my rankings I have used various stats such as team record and run differential, plus I have also looked at how the team has done during their last 10 games. Feedback is welcomed, so if you don’t like where your team is ranked then by all means let me know in the comments section.

Rankings after the Jump

1. New York Yankees – (70-43) – Dispite being 4-6 over their last ten game, the New York Yankees capture the top spot in the inaugural Call to the Pen Power Rankings. They sport the best record in baseball and the top Run Differential at +138 and just took two out of three games from the Texas Rangers in Arlington.

2. Tampa Bay Rays (69-45) – The Rays rather than being number 2 should probably be listed as 1a. They trail the Yankees by only a game and a half for the best record in baseball and are second in Run Differential at +132. If not for a recent losing streak, they would have been a sure thing for the top spot.

3. San Diego Padres (67-46) – The Padres have arguably the best pitching staff in the National League. They have the  top run differential in the National League at +107 and currently have a 2.5 game lead over the San Francisco Giants. The Padres have allowed a Major League Low 388 runs.

4. Texas Rangers (65-48) – The Rangers come in with the third best record in the American League and take the fourth spot in our rankings. They have the biggest lead of any division leader at 7.5 games over the Angels.

5. Atlanta Braves (66-48) – After struggling to score runs, the injury bug has begun to bite the Braves. Martin Prado is on the DL and Chipper Jones is out for the season with a torn ACL. Still the Braves have the second best record in the National League and to this point have held off a hard charging Philadelphia Phillies team.

6. Minnesota Twins (64-50) – The Twins have tied the Chicago White Sox for the top spot in the Central Division.  The Twins boast a .282 team batting average and have done much of their damage of late without the services of Justin Morneau.

7. Boston Red Sox (66-50) – Dustin Pedroia is on his way back soon but the Red Sox are a distant third in the American League East. An excellent performance by Jon Lester salvaged one game in the Yankees series but with Kevin Youkilis out for the year can the Red Sox avoid sliding even further back to the pack?

8. San Francisco Giants (66-50) – The struggles of Tim Lincecum of late have all Giants fans concerned. The Braves took three of four from them over the past weekend and have since split with the Cubs. The frustrating part for Giants fans is that they could have possibly won all of the games in the Braves series had they been able to catch a break. They still have a lot of pitching but are only 5-5 in their last ten.

9. Philadelphia Phillies (63-50) – Before dropping the first game of their series with the Dodgers the Phillies were absolutely surging. They are hot on the heels of the Braves in the National League East all the while being without the services of Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, and Shane Victorino. When they get healthy watch out for this club.

10. St Louis Cardinals (64-49) – The Cardinals have brawled their way into a tie at the top of the Central Division with the Cincinnati Reds. With Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainright at the top of the rotation it is going to be hard for the Reds to keep pace.

11.Cincinnati Reds (64-51) – The Reds ran their mouth and then got swept away by the Cardinals. They need to bounce back in a big way and Dusty Baker needs to get the team to focus more on the field than talking off it.

12. Chicago White Sox (64-50) – The White Sox are our lowest ranked team that is currently leading their division. However, we justify it with their 5-5 record over their last ten games and by having the lowest run differential of any of the division leaders at +60. The next closest is Atlanta at +88.

13. Toronto Blue Jays (60-54) – The Blue Jays have the misfortune of being in the same division as the Yankees, Red Sox, and now the Rays also. While the Jays lead the Majors in home runs they are only 25th in Batting Average with a .250 team average.

14. Colorado Rockies (59-55) – Once again the Rockies are doing a lot of hitting: Top 10 in Batting Average, Home Runs, RBI’s and Hits, and not a lot of pitching:  15th or worse in ERA and WHIP.

15. Los Angeles Dodgers (59-55) – The Dodgers split the first two games of a three game set with the Phillies and remain a distant 8.5 games out in the West entering play on Thursday. They open a four game set with the Braves on Friday.

16. Anaheim Angels (59-57) – It is a credit to Mike Scioscia that the Angels are currently the only team with a winning record that has a run differential that is in the negative -14. They have won three straight games but are still 7.5 behind Texas.

17. Oakland Athletics (57-56) – The A’s dropped two out of three to the Mariners and are coasting along at about a .500 clip 8 games behind Texas.

18. Detroit Tigers (55-59) – Miguel Cabrera can only do so much. Injuries to Carlos Guillen and Magglio Ordonez have caused the Tigers to slide miserably in the second half.

19. Florida Marlins (56-56) – The Marlins are the near perfect example of a .500 ball club. They sport a 29-30 record at home and a 27-26 record on the road.

20. New York Mets (57-57) – You just keep waiting for the hammer to fall on manager Jerry Manuel but it never seems to happen. The Mets are very good at home (35-20) but not so good on the road (22-37).

21. Milwaukee Brewers (54-62) – The Brew Crew has won six of it’s past ten but there is an uncertainty hanging over the club. They remain one of the better hitting clubs but also have one of the worst pitching staff’s in the lead despite having Yovani Gallardo.

22. Washington Nationals (49-65) – First Strasburg got hurt, then he came back and showed everyone he was human by getting knocked around by the Marlins.

23. Houston Astros (48-65) – The Astros probably could make a case to be ranked higher but no matter how well they played they still were only able to salvage one game from the Braves in their series.

24. Kansas City Royals (47-67) – KC has lost four in a row and seven of it’s last ten. Doesn’t get any easier with the Yankees in town over the weekend.

25. Cleveland Indians (47-67) – The Tribe is currently tied with KC for last in the AL Central and doesn’t look to be in any hurry to escape the cellar by losing their last four games.

26. Chicago Cubs (48-67) – The wheels have completely come off for the Cubs in 2010. They have lost two in a row and eight of their last ten. Carlos Zambrano is back but do they really want him back?

27. Arizona Diamondbacks (46-70) – The D’Backs unloaded their best pitcher in Dan Haren and have responded by winning seven of their last ten. Still while they are not terrible at home they sport a dismal 18-38 record on the road.

28. Baltimore Orioles (40-74) – The O’s got a new manager in Buck Showalter and took a four game winning streak into Thursday night’s game against Cleveland.

29. Seattle Mariners (44-71) – The Mariners finished off a tough week after firing their manager Don Wakamatsu. Seattle’s 370 runs scored is by far the lowest in the Majors for good reason. They are dead last in Batting Average, Home Runs, RBI’s and Hits.

30. Pittsburgh Pirates (39-75) – Thanks in large part to Baltimore’s recent win streak, The Pirates find themselves currently leading the race to the #1 pick in next year’s draft. The Pirates are sporting a league worst 13-45 road record.