MLB Power Rankings: Chicago White Sox surge
The Call to the Pen staff assembled their power rankings and brought them together for another edition of our weekly rankings. Each writer ranked every team from 1st to 30th, with the 1st place vote being worth three points and the last place team earning 0.1 points. The numbers were crunched, and below are your official Call to the Pen power rankings.
1. Texas Rangers
“You know a team’s good when it gives up 21 runs in a May game and keeps its run differential at +79.” – Brian Vaughan
“The rich get richer by signing Roy Oswalt.” – Blaine Blontz
“Seriously, does this team have ANY flaws?” – Spencer Hendricks
2. Tampa Bay Rays
3. Los Angeles Dodgers
“Matt Kemp may be headed back to the DL after briefly returning, and things have already been starting to even out.” – Brian
“The loss of Ted Lilly hurts, but the return of Matt Kemp figures to outweigh it.” – Blaine
“The Dodgers will only go as far as Matt Kemp’s hamstring is willing to stretch, seriously” – Glenn DuPaul
4. St. Louis Cardinals
“Pythagoras thinks the Cardinals are awesome, but Lady Luck doesn’t. The bullpen will have to get its act together to help St. Louis top the Reds.” – Brian
“Still the second best run differential in baseball. When the pitching stops regressing, the wins will return.” – Spencer
5. Washington Nationals
6. Chicago White Sox
“The offense is scoring runs and Chris Sale is striking out every hitter foolish enough to look in his direction. Maybe they’ll stick around.” – Brian
“They’re on fire right now, but their offense still needs help.” – Spencer
7. Toronto Blue Jays
“The Jays have won three in a row, and it looks like Lawrie and Rasmus are heating up to compliment the established hitters.” – Brian
“For some reason Edwin Encarnacion reminds me of Jose Bautista, I’m not really sure why…” – Glenn
8. Cincinnati Reds
“Cincy is continuing their dominant streak which has propelled them ahead of the Cardinals in the otherwise lackluster NL Central.” – Blaine
9. Baltimore Orioles
“The Orioles are falling back to earth, if by earth I mean last place. We all know that’s where things are headed.” – Brian
” It looks like the drop off many have anticipated has begun. The Orioles need to right the ship, but the road ahead isn’t getting any easier.” – Blaine
“Five straight losses and counting. Sorry, Baltimore fans, but it was only a matter of time.” – Spencer
“Is it time for Buck Showalter‘s team to begin their free fall? I’m really not sure” – Glenn
10. New York Yankees
“How long are Yankees’ fans going to have to deal with Phil Hughes in their rotation? It’s painful to watch at this point” – Glenn
11. Atlanta Braves
“Despite their seven game losing streak, this is a pretty good team with few obvious holes.” – Brian
12. Boston Red Sox
“They’re 7-3 in their last 10 and they’re looking good on all fronts. The AL East is ridiculous.” – Brian
“They’ve played well of late and figure to start getting healthy in the near future.” – Blaine
13. Miami Marlins
“The Marlins just keep winning, and I’m trying my best not to mention their right fielder. Giancarlo Stanton! I just couldn’t do it…” – Brian
“Bet you didn’t guess that Omar Infante would be the team’s second best offensive player through the first third of the season.” – Spencer
14. Los Angeles Angels
“The Angels continue playing the way they were supposed to, only it’s Mark Trumbo slugging them to wins instead of Albert Pujols.” – Brian
“The real Angels have arrived, and so has Mike Trout.” – Spencer
“TnT it’s dynamite. The combination of Trout and Trumbo has the Angels looking like the team we all thought they would be.” – Glenn
15. Cleveland Indians
“The Indians have their charms, but their under-the-radar pitching staff may not be as good as many advertised.” – Brian
16. Philadelphia Phillies
“The Phillies are playing reasonably well, but losing Roy Halladay for a couple months could crush their playoff hopes. ” – Brian
“A game over .500 finds them in the basement of the ultra-competitive NL East. Still, Philadelphia is only four games back from the first-place Nationals (as of Wedesday afternoon).” – Blaine
“With Halladay out and the offense ailing, it’s almost tempting to feel sorry for them.” – Spencer
“With Halladay going down, people are up in arms, no pun intended, about the Phillies trying to acquire another rotation guy. I say it’s more pertinent than ever that Phildelphia shops Victorino and Hamels. They have no chance to win it all this year” – Glenn
17. San Francisco Giants
18. Detroit Tigers
19. New York Mets
“The results are going to catch up to the numbers soon, and the Mets play in the only stacked division the NL has to offer.” – Brian
20. Seattle Mariners
“The Mariners now have a positive run differential, but don’t get too excited. Unless the offense intends to score 21 on a regular basis, they’re not going anywhere.” – Brian
“How does an offense with a .650 OPS score 21 runs in one game? No, never mind; some things are not meant to be understood.” – Spencer
21. Houston Astros
22. Oakland Athletics
23. Arizona Diamondbacks
24. Pittsburgh Pirates
25. Kansas City Royals
26. Milwaukee Brewers
27. Colorado Rockies
28. San Diego Padres
“This is the kind of team that gets swept by a team that just lost 12 in a row. ” – Brian
“They’re really, really bad. On the bright side, if this were a Zoo Power Rankings list, this city would be at the top.” – Spencer
29. Chicago Cubs
” Following their extended losing streak the Cubs won two in a row this week. The outlook still looks bleak as the trade deadline may be the most exciting part of Chicago’s regular season.” – Blaine
“Theo Epstein cries himself to sleep clutching a Red Sox pillow every night.” – Spencer
30. Minnesota Twins