MLB Power Rankings: The Chicago Cubs are the team to beat
Besides one game against the Cincinnati Reds this past weekend, the Chicago Cubs proved just how well they can play against their competition, and for the most part, they’ve outplayed their opponents in this early portion of the MLB season.
These MLB Power Rankings have two Chicago teams in the Top 3 as the Chicago White Sox currently have the best record in the American League, and if you have watched them this season, their pitching and bullpen are playing well. If the White Sox offense eventually catches up to that stellar pitching, they will become an even better baseball team. Plus, the White Sox are getting a lot of clutch runs in the late innings, so if you haven’t watched them this season, give them a look.
The Washington Nationals are also another squad where Dusty Baker has a team in the top spot of a division, as he’s led three other teams in the past to the MLB Postseason. Will he do it again?
Then there are the Atlanta Braves who are just really bad, and though the Minnesota Twins are nearly as bad as Atlanta in the win-loss column, the Braves are a different level of bad when they take the field.
Watch the New York Mets as well, as they are starting to play better baseball, and though they may not be at the top of their division right now, the offensive lineup of the Toronto Blue Jays is scary good.
There is a lot going on with MLB right now, and though we are only into the fourth week of the season, teams are staring to give us a slight look at where they currently are and what they might be able to become. With that said, here is the third installment of the Call to the Pen weekly MLB Power Rankings.
Next: Power Rankings: No. 30-26
. . Atlanta Braves. 30. team. 17. The Atlanta Braves are just tough to watch, and even harder to write about. Though one of my all-time favorite players is on their roster in A.J. Pierzynski, even the former World Series champion can’t help make this team into a contender anytime soon. Atlanta is right where they want to be, as they want to be the Houston Astros or Chicago Cubs 2.0, and play bad baseball for a few seasons to pile up top draft picks and see what happens.
The Twins are bad right now, but are they really that bad of a baseball team? I figured by now the Twins would be playing a lot better baseball by this point in April, and with a 1-10 road record thus far, maybe Minnesota needs to change their routine when on the road, because whatever they are doing now just isn’t working.. . . Minnesota Twins. 29. team. 2
127. Being last place in the NL West isn’t new to the Padres, and with just seven wins this season, at least the San Diego area has sunshine on a daily basis and the All-Star Game to look forward to this summer, which isn’t a bad tradeoff for this team they currently have to watch on the baseball diamond. The Padres are 4-8 at home and 3-5 on the road, so nearly a month into the season, the Padres aren’t any better than they were when last season ended.. . . San Diego Padres. 28. team
The Brewers have a losing record at home and on the road, and the “Brew Crew” are the 13t- ranked team in the NL with a .235 batting average, a full 57 points behind the Pittsburgh Pirates in that regard headed into Tuesday’s games. The Brewers are also 14th in team ERA with a 5.65 ERA in 164.0 innings.. . . Milwaukee Brewers. 27. team. 76
The Marlins are in the middle of the road in pitching ERA as a team as they sit eighth at 4.36 in 19 games (161.0 IP), and when it comes to batting, the Marlins have a .266 batting average, sixth-best in the NL. They are 13th in the NL in runs scored with 66, trailing the first-place Chicago Cubs by 53 runs. Miami is also 13th in home runs in the NL with 12 on the season.. . . Miami Marlins. 26. team. 82
Next: Power Rankings: 25-21
team. 61. Since the first week of the MLB season, the Cincinnati Reds are back to reality with a lot of bad losses, and a bullpen that just isn’t very good, either. The Reds’ bullpen has the worst ERA in the majors at 6.25, and to compare to just how bad it is, the Brewers are the second-worst in the majors from the bullpen at 5.14. Cincinnati was no-hit last week by Jake Arrieta and lost three of four to the Cubs.. . . Cincinnati Reds. 25
Houston Astros. 24. team. 135. The Astros have underperformed thus far this season, as their bullpen is the fifth-worst in all of baseball, and they are 26th overall in baseball with a 4.78 ERA. Houston is also 13th in the majors with a .243 batting average, but again, entering Tuesday’s games, they are 6-14 overall with a 2-8 record on the road and 4-6 at home, and with the World Series predictions just three weeks ago, the Astros look nowhere close to that type of team.. .
. . Los Angeles Angels. 23. team. 102. The Angels should be a little better than a 9-11 record with all of the money on their payroll, but they haven’t been too impressive as they are average at best in ’16. Even with a 9-11 record, the Angles are just 1.5 games out of the AL West lead, and that shows everyone how not so great that division has become. Get this, the Angels have the worst batting average in the majors at .220, even with Mike Trout getting his average back up to his usual standards at .300.
. . Seattle Mariners. 22. team. 62. Not a lot is expected of Seattle, and their second-worst .223 batting average in the majors shows why they are 10-9 overall. Even with a 0.5 lead in the West, I don’t believe they are the best in their division. Seattle has played poorly at home with a 2-5 record but are solid on the road at 804, as they’ve been able to outscore their opponents 78-68 this season and have won seven of their past 10 games.
. . New York Yankees. 21. team. 43. The Yankees are last in the AL East at 8-10 overall and have won four of their past 10 games. What really hurts the Bronx Bombers is the fact they’ve been outscored by their opponents by 10 runs at 79-69, and they also have a losing record at home with a 5-7 mark. The Yankees are three games back from the Baltimore Orioles in the AL East standings. As a team, the Yankees are batting .241 with a 4.14 ERA.
Next: Power Rankings: 20-16
team. 21. Tampa Bay has the same number of losses as the Yankees, but unlike the Yankees, the Rays have a 6-5 record at home, but on the road they are 3-5. Tampa Bay is dead even with their opponents in runs scored vs. runs allowed at 67-67, and in their past 10 games they are 6-4. The Rays’ ERA is the sixth-best in the majors at 3.33 in 167.2 innings.. . . Tampa Bay Rays. 20
team. 126. Texas is 10-10 overall, and though they are 4-6 on the road this season, their home record is above .500 at 4-6, as they’ve been outscored at 82-83. On the bright side, they do have 80-plus runs, something only 12 teams have accomplished thus far this season. The Rangers have a 3.98 team ERA and a team batting average of .246, 15th best in the majors. In their past 10 games, the Rangers are 5-5.. . . Texas Rangers. 19
. Oakland Athletics. 18. team. 96. The A’s are 10-10 after 20 games this season, where they are 0.5 games out of the top spot in the AL West. At home, the A’s are bad at 3-7, but on the road Oakland is 7-3, though they’ve been outscored 69-77 with a 6-4 mark in their past 10 games. Oakland is 22nd in the majors with a .236 batting average and ninth in team ERA at 3.45..
team. 6. The Phillies have a team ERA of 4.36, which ranked them 20th in the majors, but their overall batting is tough to watch as they are batting .230 as a team, which ranks them 26th in the majors. Philly is third in the AL East at 9-10, but they are still five games better than the Braves, as this might be as good as the Phillies are all season long, winning five of their past 10 games.. . . Philadelphia Phillies. 17
108. The Rockies are 9-10 overall as well and are still in the mix of things early on in the NL West as they trail the Dodgers by just 2.5 games. For Colorado, they have won four of their past 10 games, and they do have a winning mark on the road at 5-4. At the plate, Colorado is seventh in the majors with a .266 average, but last in overall team ERA at 5.70, so they need to balance that with their batting if they want to have success.. . . Colorado Rockies. 16. team
Next: Power Rankings: 15-11
15. team. 40. For now, this is a decent spot for the Giants, but as the season goes along, they should move up higher on this list. Their pitching could be better as they are 19th in team ERA at 4.21 in 21 games (188 innings). The Giants are hitting the baseball well at .267 this season, including 96 RBIs, and they’ve struck out the third-least in the majors (134). The Giants have won four of their past 10 games.. . . San Francisco Giants
Detroit Tigers. 14. team. 63. The Tigers should be better than a 9-9 team, but this is a talented team playing in what I believe is the toughest division in the majors right now. Detroit is struggling to win games right now, as they’ve lost seven of their past 10 games and have outscored their opponents by just a single run all season at 79-78. The Tigers are 10th in the majors in batting average (.257), but are 14th in the majors with a team ERA of 3.88.. .
12. team. 39. The Blue Jays’ batting lineup is very scary, but they are underperforming with consistency with their average at .247, and are 12th in the majors with 12 home runs. Toronto’s pitching has a ERA of 3.70, which is 11th-best in the majors, but they are about average right now with a 10-11 overall record, but once they get hot, they could become the best team in the AL.. . . Toronto Blue Jays
11. team. 8. Even with the poor play of Zack Greinke thus far this season, the Diamondbacks are still 11-10 overall and just 1.5 games out of the AL West lead. They have played well on the road with a 7-3 record and in their past 10 games have begun to turn things around with seven wins in that span. Arizona has scored 109 runs, but allowed 105 this season, so that defense could use some help as their ERA overall is 4.51, 24th in the majors, which offsets what they are doing at the plate with the third-best batting average in baseball at .273.. . . Arizona Diamondbacks
Next: Power Rankings: 10-6
The Cardinals don’t look like the Cardinals of usual, and that’s OK because they are still a solid baseball team. St. Louis possesses the 16th-best ERA overall at 3.96, and although they’ve won five of their past 10 games, their team batting average is second-best in the majors at .278. If St. Louis gets their pitching back to their usual standards, they will give both the Cubs and the Pirates a run at the NL Central title.. . . St. Louis Cardinals. 10. team. 33
Boston Red Sox. 9. team. 14. The Red Sox hold the fourth-best batting average in the majors at .272 with a .334 on-base percentage. Boston is currently second in the AL East at 10-9, 1.5 games back of the O’s, and that includes a sub-.500 record at Fenway Park at 4-6 with a road record of 6-2 as they are 5-5 in their past 10 games. Boston looks a lot better than they did this time last season, and I can see them only improving as the season moves along. Boston’s pitching needs to get on track with a 23rd ERA ranking (4.50).. .
The Orioles lead the AL East with a mark of 11-7, outscoring their opposition 81-69, but have lost four of their past 10 games. Baltimore is 12th in the majors with a 3.73 ERA (18 games), and at the plate they are ranked fifth in all of MLB at .269.I believe the Orioles are a team to watch in the AL East, and right now they are the leaders, but I just don’t know if they can hold off the Red Sox for much longer.. . . Baltimore Orioles. 8. team. 11
3. The Mets started off very slow, but since that first week, they’ve begun to play much better even though they are 14th at the plate (.254 bating average). That said, their team ERA jumps off the page at 2.95, fourth in the majors. The Mets trail the Nationals in the AL East standings, and even with eight wins in their past 10 games, that opening week start is keeping them out of the top spot in their division.. . . New York Mets. 7. team
6. team. 4. Pittsburgh currently tops the majors with a .292 batting average and have a best OBP of .378, but still don’t lead their division before games on Tuesday, so that’s going to be a tough problem all season as they contend with the Cubs. The Pirates are one of the few teams in the majors to have already scored 100-plus runs (101) and have won six of their past 10 games with an 11-9 overall mark. Pitching for the Pirates is in need of improvement with a team ERA of 4.39, 22nd in the majors.. . . Pittsburgh Pirates
Next: Power Rankings: The Top 5
71. The Dodgers lead the AL West at 12-8 overall, and a lot of that is due to winning road games with an 8-5 mark in that category, and it does help they’ve won six of their past 10 games. At home, the Dodgers are playing above .500 baseball with a 4-3 mark. LA has the eighth-best ERA (3.51) and own the ninth-best team batting average at .257. LA is a solid team and will only get better. . . . Los Angeles Dodgers. 5. team
7. The defending World Series champions haven’t disappointed this season. Their bats are not in the Top 10 in average with a 12th-best .255 average at the plate, but their pitching is stellar at 3.21 in terms of their ERA, fifth-best in the majors. KC doesn’t have it easy by playing in the AL Central, but they will be the team to beat by the time the end of the season arrives, as they’ve proven that the past two seasons with their great success. Currently, KC is 5-5 in their past 10 games headed into their game on Tuesday.. . . Kansas City Royals. 4. team
Chicago White Sox. 3. team. 128. Maybe the surprise team of the AL thus far, the White Sox have a knack of getting late-inning hits and runs to take over games, and their pitching for most of the season has been amazing to watch. The White Sox are 14-6 after 20 games, as they are 6-3 at home and 8-3 on the road, outscoring their opponents, 68-52 in those games. The White Sox are 6-4 in their past 10 games, including a four-game winning streak following Monday’s games. The White Sox have the second-best team ERA at 2.41 and the best bullpen ERA at 1.41. At the plate, the White Sox could use some work with a 25th-best batting average of .231.. .
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90. The Nationals are 17th in batting average at .246, but hold on to the best ERA in baseball following games on Monday at 2.24 (18 games). Washington leads the NL East at 14-4, and their home record is nearly perfect at 8-1, and on the road they are 6-3. The Nationals are also outscoring their opponents big time with a +34 run differential (79-45) as their pitching has been amazing thus far. In their past 10 games, the Nationals are 7-3. Maybe Dusty Baker was the right choice after all.. . . Washington Nationals. 2. team
1. team. 9. The Cubs are by far the top team in the majors thus far, and for good reason. They are 14-5 after 19 games, have a 10-3 road record (4-2 at home) and have outscored their opponent by 68 runs this season at 119-51. They are 6-4 in their past 10 games, and they have the third-best team ERA currently at 2.56, and within that stat is their no-hitter thrown last week by Jake Arrieta. The Cubs are a dangerous team that can score a lot of runs and have very solid pitching. They will be tough to beat.. . . Chicago Cubs