MLB: Power Ranking the Division Leaders
We are at the beginning of June and the dog days of summer are fast-approaching. The scorching hot night games and countless rain delays are already peaking their heads out and as baseball fans, we secretly love it.
The season has posed lots of surprises thus far. The division leaders are not who we thought they’d be at this point in the season. Yes, there are some obvious division leaders such as the Washington Nationals. And even though they’re struggling, we expected the Chicago Cubs to be leading the NL Central.
We just didn’t expect them to be tied with the Milwaukee Brewers.
But isn’t that what makes baseball so much fun? In the other big American sports you can typically have a good idea who will be competing each and every year before the season even starts. Yet with baseball, there is always going to be a surprising team; there will always be an underdog. Sometimes the underdog even wins!
The majority of the division leaders have seriously come out of left field. We’re past the quarter mark of the season so this is a good time to take a look at those teams leading their divisions and how they stack up against each other.
6.) Minnesota Twins (AL Central)
Somehow, by some divine miracle, the Minnesota Twins are in first place. With a record of 29-24, they find themselves in first place and one game up on the second place Cleveland Indians.
The AL Central has been painfully mediocre thus far. The Kansas City Royals continue to burn in the cellar of the division as their season turns to rubbish, despite breaking the Astros’ 11-game win streak last night. Sitting above them are the irrelevant (this season anyway) Chicago White Sox and then the roughly .500 Detroit Tigers. The AL Central is the only division in baseball without a 30+ win team.
The Twins rank a decent 13th in batting average at .252. They rank 21st in runs with 246, as well as home runs with 64 round-trippers. Their pitching has been nothing noteworthy, as their team ERA sits at 4.60, good for 23rd in Major League Baseball. They also have a run differential of -19.
Despite those so-so statistics, the Twins do rank eighth in on-base percentage at a solid .333. At the very least, they’re getting on base.
Miguel Sano has carried the offense thus far with his .303 batting average and 14 home runs. Ervin Santana is finally paying dividends as he has carried the pitching staff with his 2.44 ERA. If Byron Buxton could finally break out and hit consistently, the Twins’ success would look more sustainable. However, it’s only a matter of time before the Indians catch fire and zoom past the Twins.
5.) The Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers (NL Central)
The Central part of the United States has been incredibly mediocre with regard to baseball. Like the AL Central, the NL Central has been so-so at best and it certainly has a plethora of surprises.
The Pittsburgh Pirates have disappointed as they sit in the basement of the division. The Cincinnati Reds are irrelevant for now (apologies to Scooter) and the St. Louis Cardinals sit at 26-30 but not out of it — they’re only 3.5 games out of first place. While the Reds are closer to the top in the standings, the Cardinals are in more of a win-now mode while the Reds will likely sell at the deadline.
That should speak to how poor this division is.
But, the Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs do sit atop the Central. The Brewers started off the season hot out of nowhere and propelled themselves into first place. The Cubs continue to be suffering from a massive World Series hangover, as they only sit three games above .500 thanks to a five-game winning streak. The Brewers have been the better team thus far, however the Cubs have begun to show signs of pulling away. After losing six straight to round out May, they’ve won their first five games of June.
Undoubtedly, this is the Cubs’ division. However, the Brewers could keep things close throughout the season.
4.) New York Yankees (AL East)
No one expected the New York Yankees to be this good. They sit atop arguably the best division in baseball and have some serious competition behind them. The Boston Red Sox sit one game back of the Yanks and the Baltimore Orioles sit two and a half games back.
The Yankees have been outstanding on offense. Their team batting average (.265) ranks sixth in the league. Their on-base percentage (.341) ranks third, their runs (294) rank fourth and their home runs (84) rank fifth. Aaron Judge has flown onto the scene and become his own landmark in New York City, as he’s carried this offense. With his league-leading 18 home runs and 41 RBI alongside his .324 batting average, he has become one of the great forces of the game.
At 6’7” and 282 lbs, Judge is not supposed to be this good. But the gamble the Yankees took on drafting Judge in the first round is beginning to pay off. He’s the piece the Yankees will build around moving forward.
The pitching has also been quite impressive. Their team ERA ranks fourth in the majors at 3.76 and batting average against is ranked third at .234. Luis Severino appears to be in the midst of a comeback season with his 2.90 ERA and WHIP of 1.07.
The Yankees dropped their first game of the three-game set with the Red Sox on Tuesday.
3.) Colorado Rockies (NL West)
The Colorado Rockies have surprised everyone thus far with their record of 37-23. They currently edge out the Los Angeles Dodgers by one game for two place in the division and the Arizona Diamondbacks, another surprise, by the same margin.
The Rockies seem to begin every season hot and then cool down come mid-May. But this season has seen a new type of success for the Rockies, one that is sustainable and consistent.
Their offensive numbers are impressive to say the least. Their batting average ranks third in baseball at .267. Their 300 runs rank third as well.
Though they don’t get much press, the Rockies have quietly built the foundations for one of the league’s best offenses. Nolan Arenado, DJ LeMahieu, and Charlie Blackmon look to be the foundation of the Rockies’ offense for at least the next few seasons, if not for the foreseeable future. Complimented by the great play of Mark Reynolds and Gerardo Parra, the Rockies have an offense that will carry them throughout the season.
The questions lie with their pitching.
Their team ERA ranks 14th at 4.17, which isn’t too bad and it’s better than most every other Rockies staff. Their batting average against ranks 12th at .247. Rookies Antonio Senzatela and Kyle Freeland have found success this year in the Rockies’ starting rotation.
The Rockies will be challenged by the Dodgers from now until the final day of the season. If the Rockies can just continue to pitch as they’ve been doing, they will finish with the division crown.
2.) Washington Nationals (NL East)
The Nationals are far and away the best team in the NL East. The second place Atlanta Braves sit 12.5 games back of the Nationals with 24 wins and 31 losses. After the Braves, there’s the New York Mets, Miami Marlins, and Philadelphia Phillies, all teams who sit at or under 24 wins.
In other words, the Nationals have this division locked up.
They rank number one in baseball for batting average (.277) and on-base percentage (.345). They rank second in runs with 318 and rank third in home runs with 87. Their pitching has been mediocre, as their team ERA of 4.15 ranks 12th.
Somehow, Ryan Zimmerman has been the best player on this team. His batting average of .372 ranks number one in all of baseball. To go alongside that, he also has 16 home runs and 48 RBI. He has been superb and his success was not something that the Nationals were expecting. Bryce Harper and Daniel Murphy have also been raking, as both are batting over .320.
On the pitching end, Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, and Gio Gonzalez are forming a big-three of starting pitchers that the Nationals can put a heavy reliance on.
All in all, the Nationals will win this division. The real question will come in October as to whether or not the Nationals can break the Washington curse of actually having success in the playoffs.
1.) Houston Astros (AL West)
The Astros are baseball’s best team and it isn’t even close. They sit atop the AL West with the closest team, the Los Angeles Angels, sitting 14 games back. They are 42-16 and were just riding an 11-game win streak. They are the best team in the American League by 10 wins and have a run differential of +104. They are also on pace for over 116 wins this season.
They are having a season to remember.
On offense, they’ve been outstanding. They rank first in on-base percentage (.345), runs (319), and home runs (92). Their batting average of .276 ranks second in the league. Jose Altuve, Marwin Gonzalez, and Carlos Correa are hitting for consistency while George Springer rakes. Springer has 16 home runs on the season and seems to be finally having the breakout year the Astros had been hoping for.
On the pitching side of things, they’re arguably even better. Their ERA ranks second in the league at 3.43. Opponents can’t seem to figure out the staff, as the batting average against is .228 which is good for a number one ranking. Their WHIP ranks second at 1.19. Lance McCullers Jr. has been having an outstanding season on the mound with his ERA of 2.71.
But the real star has been Dallas Keuchel.
Like the Astros, Keuchel had a down year last year. Keuchel won the AL Cy Young award in 2015, so last year made 2015 seem as if it may have been a fluke. However, his 9-0 record alongside an eye-popping 1.67 ERA may make last year seem like the fluke. Keuchel has been lights-out this season and if his dominance continues, he will win another Cy Young award.
The Astros have a real chance to shock all of baseball by being the best team this year. It’s a foregone conclusion that they will win the AL West because no team behind them will be able to catch up.
What the ‘Stros are doing could be the start of a dynasty for years to come.