Milwaukee Brewers Move Down In Latest MLB Power Rankings

The Milwaukee Brewers salvaged a tough road trip out west, but still ended up going 2-4 out in Los Angeles against both the Angels and Dodgers.

The latest MLB.com power rankings have been released. After a big jump in last week’s rankings, the Milwaukee Brewers have taken a step down. Their tough week out west could’ve been worse, but also could’ve been much better.

The Angels series was especially rough, as the Crew was swept in three games, the first series that the Brewers haven’t won a game in since prior to last year’s All-Star Break. To make matters worse, the Angels were without superstar Mike Trout for effectively two of those games as he left in the third inning of the second game.

Where Are The Brewers Ranked?

MLB.com’s Alyson Footer has the Milwaukee Brewers ranked as the 5th best team in baseball. That’s just one step down from last week’s ranking when they were fourth.

Here’s what she had to say about her dropping the Crew down one spot in the list.

"The Brewers cooled a bit after making a dent early against intradivision opponents, when they won series over the Cardinals, Reds and Cubs. Their SoCal trip started on a down note with a sweep by the Angels, but they recovered to take two of three against the Dodgers. The Brewers so far have stayed above the fray in an NL Central division predicted to be relatively mediocre this season. Individually, Yasmani Grandal has had a nice start to the year, batting .514 (18-for-35) with 10 runs scored over his last 10 games."

Clearly the Angels sweep played a role in dropping them down, but bouncing back to take two of three from the Dodgers was key. The Dodgers are a much better squad and those wins showed this team still has fight and the first week and a half of the season wasn’t a fluke with their 8-2 start.

I find it interesting how she says the NL Central division is thought to be “relatively mediocre” this year. I suppose it’s a matter of semantics. The NL Central is going to be the toughest division in baseball this year, every single team in the division is going for it and trying to win and be competitive. That makes for a great division. However, with each of the teams beating up on each other, it’s more difficult to rack up high win totals. The division champ might end up with only 90-92 wins, which, from her perspective, is relatively mediocre.

Earned Respect

During the offseason and at the start of the year, the Milwaukee Brewers were much farther down in the power rankings. Once the games started to be played, the team on the field is showing itself to be much better than it is on paper, which is all anyone has to go off of in the offseason.

The first 10 games of the year from the Brewers demanded the respect of the national media, and now they have that respect. Despite a down week, the Brewers remained in the Top 5 and are still tops in the division.

The Rest Of The Top Five

The Brewers are ranked fifth, and the only teams ahead of them are the 9-5 Phillies in fourth, the 9-8 Dodgers who are now third (they were in 1st place last week), the 12-4 Rays in second, and the 11-5 Astros are atop the list.

It’s hard to argue with any of those teams above the Brewers at this point. At 10-6, the Crew still has a ways to go to prove themselves worthy of a top spot in the rankings. The Brewers aren’t a perfect team, and this past week showcased some of the weaknesses on the roster, namely the bullpen and the starting rotation. There needs to be more consistency from that group.

This week, the Brewers face off against the St. Louis Cardinals and the Los Angeles Dodgers yet again. Both are tough opponents, but a winning series against both of them would boost this team even higher in next week’s rankings.