MLB Power Rankings: Week 11

Justin has moved on to pastures new, so this week I will be taking on the MLB Power Rankings. I hope to keep up his high standards and create some discussion along the way.

I’ve found this week particularly tough as so many teams have played baseball around the .500 mark. The Giants continue to surge away with the best record in baseball and the Rays have been cut adrift.

The top two places remain in California, but the Athletics have to visit the Angels this week in a tough road trip.

So, here are my Week 11 power rankings. Disagree? Bring It!

1. San Francisco Giants (42-21) (No change)

A five game winning streak and a 9.5 game lead over the Dodgers, the Giants remain the team to beat.

2. Oakland Athletics (39-24) (No change)

The A’s are 7-3 in their last 10 games and avoided getting too caught up the Manny Machado madness on Sunday to take their latest series with the Orioles.

3. Toronto Blue Jays (38-26) (Up 3)

Despite drawing a blank in their last two games to the Cards, the Blue Jays have one of the best records in baseball. However, if the bats remain cool their pitching staff will need to keep up the 3.17 ERA over the last week.

4. Milwaukee Brewers (38-26) (Up 1)

The Brewers keep finding a way to win, taking 2 of 3 from the Pirates to end the week. Khris Davis leads the majors with .405 average over the last fortnight.

5.Detroit Tigers (33-26) (Down 2)

A sweep at the hand of previously surging Blue Jays meant a slow start to the week. Miguel Cabrera DTD with a tight hamstring could be a more pressing issue in the short term.

6. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (34-28) (Up 1)

Ended the week with a sweep of the White Sox, but losing 5 of 6 to division rivals Oakland and Houston sees them 4.5 games behind.

7. Seattle Mariners (33-29) (Up 12)

Mariners pitching has a 2.55 ERA over the last 7 days, all on the road in New York, Atlanta and Tampa Bay. Felix Hernandez career high 15K’s can only be a positive for Seattle.

8. Washington Nationals (32-29) (Up 5)

The Nationals rotation has been unhittable lately, posting a 1.20 ERA and leading the Nationals to a 5-1 record against the Phillies and San Diego. Finally, they’ve started to hit too, .273 as a team over the last two weeks, against .251 on the season.

9. St. Louis Cardinals (33-21) (No change)

I would have moved the Cards down this week, but they finished a slow week with impressive back-to-back shutouts of the surging Blue Jays. It will be important to see how niggling injuries to Kolten Wong and Matt Holliday develop over the next few days.

10. Cleveland Indians (32-31) (Up 13)

The Indians are about the hottest team in baseball right now and find themselves back over .500. They’ve won 2 of 3 in Texas and have a team .292 batting average this week.

11. Atlanta Braves (32-29) (Down 7)

Justin’s prediction was correct, they are already out of my top 10. The Braves have only scored 18 runs this week and lost 4 of 5, they still don’t give up many runs but they need to start to hit with RISP.

12. Miami Marlins (33-30) (Up 3)

The Marlins swept four games from the woeful Rays, but slipped up in Chicago against the Cubs. They are now tied for the division lead with slumping Braves.

13. Los Angeles Dodgers (33-31) (Down 3)

The Dodgers continue to slide, winning just 3 of 6 against the White Sox and struggling Rockies. Don Mattingly has called for his players to step up their game and a four game road trip to Cincinnati will measure his impact.

14. New York Yankees (31-31) (Down 6)

CC Sabathia, Carlos Beltran and Francisco Cervelli remain on the disabled list and no regular member of the lineup has a batting average above .300. It shows, the Yankees have scored only 21 runs in their 7 games this week.

15. Baltimore Orioles (31-30) (Down 4)

The Orioles desperately need more starting pitching, 6.59 ERA over the last week. Ubaldo Jimenez has been particularly worrying, dropping to 2-7 with a 5.01 ERA. They can’t just rely on Chris Davis and Nelson Cruz. They will hope the Machado sideshow on Sunday doesn’t lead to a long suspension.

16. Texas Rangers (31-32) (Down 4)

Yu Darvish is dominant, but to reach the playoffs they will need to win more than two games from home series against the Indians and Orioles.

17. Kansas City Royals (31-32) (Up 3)

Dale Sveum has had an early effect, helping the Royals score 6+ runs three times this week. Especially impressive, as it has meant series wins over the Cards and Yankees.

18. Chicago White Sox (31-33) (No change)

A week on the road in LA ended with a sweep at the hands of the Angels. Hector Noesi heads to the mound on Monday with a 2.33 ERA in his last three starts, looking to stop the rot.

19. Cincinnati Reds (29-32) (Down 3)

Finally they scored more than 6 runs in a game on Tuesday, but proceeded to score a total of 3 over the next 3 games! The Reds batted a miserable .193 as team this week, but at least Joey Votto is due back soon, could he be the catalyst?

20. Pittsburgh Pirates (29-33) (Up 2)

The Pirates batting improved this week but the bottom half of their batting lineup is still in a deep slump, Ike Davis has a single hit in his last 30 at bats. The 1-0 defeat to the Brewers on Sunday will hurt for a long time.

21. Boston Red Sox (28-34) (Down 4)

Five straight defeats and a team 5.33 ERA this week sees the Red Sox 9 games back of the Blue Jays. Is it getting too late, even for David Price to make a difference?

22. Minnesota Twins (29-32) (Up 2)

The Twins split a close home and away series with Brewers, but a 14-5 beating at the hands of the Astros will do nothing for their confidence.

23. Colorado Rockies (29-33) (Down 9)

A horrible last week for the Rockies, including a demolition at the hands of the steadily improving Dbacks. Giving up 8 runs a game and 28 runs over two nights this past week says it all!

24. Arizona Diamondbacks (28-37) (Up 1)

Slowly edging back from the edge of oblivion, they pounded the baseball this week scoring 44 runs. Miguel Montero and Chris Owings hit 5 long balls and drove in 17 between them. 6 more runs than the Padres.

25. New York Mets (28-35) (Down 4)

Finally Curtis Granderson is showing some form, but even 2 homers on Sunday couldn’t stop a hideous six game slide.

26. Houston Astros (28-36) (Up 2)

The Astros are steadily improving as they bring up prospects.

27. Chicago Cubs (25-35) (Up 3)

A five game winning run against the Mets and Marlins ended on Sunday. Jeff Samardzija finally grabbed a second win, but don’t expect him to be around in Chicago much longer.

27. San Diego Padres (28-35) (Down 1)

Amazingly the Padres managed to win twice this week, despite a woeful team .135 average.

29. Philadelphia Phillies (25-36) (Down 4)

The Phillies had a 6.05 ERA as a team this week and are 2-8 in their last 10 games. However, despite all that they are only 7 games out in the NL East.

30. Tampa Bay Rays (24-40) (Down 1)

Awful, that is all!