Lake County Sentinel
Justin Lada's Major League Baseball Power Rankings
Week Six
1. Chicago Cubs (27-9) (LW 1, 0) - Somehow lost two of three to the Padres and then continued to give noogies to the Pirates, who despite their record against the Cubs, are actually a pretty good baseball team.
2. Boston Red Sox (24-14) (LW 10, +8) - Scored 73 runs in the last six games and now own baseball’s best offense. And Mookie Betts is only slashing .262/.306/.442. Wait till he heats up.
3. Washington Nationals (23-15) (LW 4, +1) - People were worried about Max Scherzer after he allowed four homers in his previous start. Then he struck out 20. He also has the highest ERA among Nationals starters. I think they’re going to be OK.
4. Chicago White Sox (24-14) (LW 3, -1) - They went from looking like their performance was unsustainable to having a +38 run differential. Now fourth in the AL in runs scored and have the fourth best ERA in baseball as a team. Might be time to take the ‘hot start’ label off.
5. Baltimore Orioles (23-13) (LW 5, 0) - Kevin Gausman has been pretty good since coming off the DL for a team that needed a starter to step up. Mark Trumbo already has half as many HR as he had a year ago. However, his .364 BABIP is .071 points higher than his career average and his K% and BB% are right around career average. Sell high, fantasy owners.
6. New York Mets (21-16) (LW 2, -6) - The legend of Noah Syndergaard continues but Matt Harvey is struggling. A .373 BABIP might have a little to do with that and his FIP is 3.35. HIs fastball velocity is down a tick. They’ll be fine as long as the Phillies come back to earth.
7. Philadelphia Phillies (22-16) (LW 16, +9) - Speaking of the Phillies. They had a -27 run differential as of last Sunday. It’s now -30 but if the season ended today, they’d be an NL Wild Card team. Baseball reference’s pythagorean W-L says they should be 15-22. Their 14-3 record in one run games may have something to do with it. How long will the glass slipper fit for?
8. Seattle Mariners (21-16) (LW 6, -2) - They swept the Rays and then Steve Cishek blew back to back saves against the Angels. They were shutout by the only pitcher on LA with a pulse these days, Hector Santiago. If Cishek is beginning to falter, this bullpen may have enough options to ride it out.
9. Texas Rangers (22-16) (LW 8, -1) - It looks like AJ Griffin will be fine, but this pitching staff is still short a quality arm at the moment. They could have a chance to showcase Jurickson Profar in a trade for an arm soon if he fills in for Rougned Odor when he serves his suspension for the haymaker he gave to Jose Bautista Sunday.
10. St. Louis Cardinals (20-18) (LW 7, -3) - At some point, Kolten Wong and Randal Grichuk are going to hit. But will Almedys Diaz finally fall off and will Adam Wainwright finally get itt together?
11. Los Angeles Dodgers (20-18) (LW 13, +2) - 20 pitchers who have made starts this season have less walks than Clayton Kershaw (4). Only one has more than five starts (Josh Tomlin).
12. San Francisco Giants (22-18) (LW 14, +2) - Still have the worst and highest paid back end of a rotation in baseball but Brandon Belt is having an All-Star caliber season.
13. Pittsburgh Pirates (19-17) (LW 11, -2) - They finally won a game against the Cubs. They’re 18-12 against everyone but the Cubs. But those games count, so they might be a good team but not a great team.
14. CLEVELAND INDIANS (17-17) (LW 9, - 5) - Corey Kluber had no-hit stuff in a start against Houston then it fell apart in one inning. He was OK against the Twins but doesn’t quite look like the 2014 Corey Kluber. Trevor Bauer was the Indians best starter this week and Michael Brantley is back on the DL. They’re hanging on for now but are going to need a few consistent weeks at some point.
15. Miami Marlins (20-17) (LW 17, +2) - 20-17 would be good enough to have them in a serious hunt in the AL East. In the NL East with the Nationals and Mets, they’re hoping they can stay ahead of the Phillies at some point.
16. Toronto Blue Jays (19-20) (LW 12, -4) - They’ll have to get something more from Troy Tulowitzki and Russell Martin if they want to go another round in the ring with the Rangers. They played their last regular season game against each other already.
17. Colorado Rockies (19-18) (LW 20, +3) - 2013 first round pick Jon Gray finally won his first career game this week in spite of how poorly they’ve handled his development.
18. Kansas City Royals (18-19) (LW 18, 0) - Now the fourth worst offense in baseball. Yordano Ventura has more walks than strikeouts and that Alex Gordon contract is beginning to be a lesson in making the smart choice and not the popular choice.
19. Tampa Bay Rays (16-19) (LW 15, -4) - Only the Phillies and Braves have a worse offense and they’ve now lost Logan Forsythe for a while.
20. San Diego Padres (17-22) (LW 26, +6) - B.J (Melvin) Upton is showing signs of life and they took two out of three from the Cubs. Might be the peak of their season.
21. Detroit Tigers (16-21) (LW 19, -2) - Justin Upton was supposed to get better along with the Tigers offense. But his K% is up to an ungodly 38.8% and his BB% is a career low 4.6%. Good signing so far.
22. Arizona Diamondbacks (17-23) (LW 21, -1) - Speaking of regrettable moves, Dansby Swanson is now in Double-A and Shelby Miller has more walks than strikeouts.
23. Los Angeles Angels (16-21) (LW 22, -1) - Their sweep of the Mariners might be their high point of the season.
24. Houston Astros (15-24) (LW 24, 0) - Found a way to take two of three from the Indians and then got slaughtered at Fenway Park.
25. Oakland Athletics (16-22) (LW 23, -2) - Sonny Gray was looking at a shiny trade chip for Billy Beane. Then he allowed three homers in his last start.
26. New York Yankees (16-20) (LW 25, -1) - Luis Severino’s triceps strain is actually good news for them. The rest of the rotation outside of Tanaka is in shambles.
27. Milwaukee Brewers (16-22) (LW 27, 0) - It might look ugly, but if the Brewers can turn Jonthan Lucroy and Ryan Braun into a nice haul of prospects, they can shorten this rebuild fast with the kind of year those two are having.
28. Cincinnati Reds (15-22) (LW 28, 0) - The Reds have two potential trade chips who aren’t playing all that well and have untradeable contracts that make it worse.
29. Minnesota Twins (10-24) (LW 29, 0) - 40% of their wins are against the Indians.
30. Atlanta Braves (9-27) (LW 30, 0) - Matt Wisler has allowed five runs in his last 23 ⅓ innings. They moved Jhoulys Chacin to the Angels, proving there is a team more desperate for pitching than they are.
jlada@lakecountysentinel.com or follow Justin on Twitter @JL_Baseball you can also check out our IndiansNation fan page
POSTED 05/16/2016 00:00
