The St. Louis Cardinals continue to have a stranglehold on baseball’s best record, as well as the top spot in KP’s latest edition of MLB Power Rankings at The Wife Hates Sports.
Even with another positive gain, the Cards’ lead shrank just a bit, thanks to a big week by the Boston Red Sox, who moved into second place. Rounding out this week’s top five are the Detroit Tigers, Atlanta Braves and Texas Rangers.
Detroit’s return to the top five was due to a major ratings jump and one of the biggest weeks in baseball. The top five teams (since the last poll) are as follows:
Kansas City Royals: +35 points
New York Yankees: +29 points
Detroit Tigers: +28 points
Milwaukee Brewers: +26 points
Colorado Rockies: +20 points
The Cleveland Indians are the big losers of the week, falling six spots and thirty seven ratings points. Here are the five teams that had the biggest decline over the last seven days:
Cleveland Indians: -37 points
Houston Astros: -29 points
Texas Rangers: -21 points
Los Angeles Angels: -17 points
Minnesota Twins: -17 points
The entire list of MLB Power Rankings are as follows, featuring one streaking Fantasy Baseball player for each of the thirty teams, while highlighting the clubs that had positive or negative jumps in the latest poll:
Adam Wainwright and the St. Louis Cardinals continue to dominate baseball
KP’s MLB Power Rankings: June 11, 2013
Note: Statistics and point totals as of Tuesday morning (6/11/13) and do not include night games
1. St. Louis Cardinals (165 points) – Last Week: #1 (+5)
Adam Wainwright – Last 15 Days: 3-0, 2.25 ERA, 24 IP, 22 K’s, 1 CG
2. Boston Red Sox (136 points) – Last Week: #3 (+15)
Ryan Dempster – Last 15 Days: 2-1, 3.60 ERA, 20 IP, 16 K’s, 3 quality starts, available in nearly 44% of ESPN Fantasy leagues
3. Detroit Tigers (114 points) – Last Week: #8 (+28)
Rick Porcello – Last 15 Days: 1-1, 1.80 ERA, 20 IP, 25 K’s, 3 quality starts, available in nearly 85% of ESPN Fantasy leagues
4. Atlanta Braves (110 points) – Last Week: #5 (+8)
Freddie Freeman – Last 15 Days: .367 average, 4 doubles, 1 triple, 3 HR, 13 RBI, a good trade target, especially in keeper leagues
5. Texas Rangers (102 points) – Last Week: #2 (-21)
Jeff Baker – Last 15 Days: .300 average, 4 HR in 30 AB’s, is filling in for the injured Mitch Moreland and is available in nearly 96% of ESPN Fantasy leagues
6. Cincinnati Reds (94 points) – Last Week: #4 (-16)
Mat Latos – Last 15 Days: 2-0, 3 quality starts, 1.86 ERA, 19 K’s in 19 1/3 innings
7. Oakland Athletics (85 points) – Last Week: #6 (-4)
Jarrod Parker – Last 15 Days: 3-0, 1.77 ERA and three quality starts; what took him so long? Oh, by the way, he’s available in nearly 43% of ESPN Fantasy leagues
8. Arizona Diamondbacks (81 points) – Last Week: #7 (-5)
Paul Goldschmidt – Last 7 Days: 12 RBI during this span, which is tied for the most in baseball
9. New York Yankees (74 points) – Last Week: #12 (+29)
Brett Gardner – Last 7 Days: 12 hits, 5 doubles and a .571 average in 21 AB’s
10. Colorado Rockies (65 points) – Last Week: #13 (+20)
Nolan Arenado – Last 7 Days: The rookie third basemen is batting .400 with two doubles, two triples, a homer and 3 RBI in 25 AB’s – and he’s available in 84% of leagues
11. Pittsburgh Pirates (58 points) – Last Week: #9 (-13)
Francisco Liriano – Last 15 Days: 2.50 ERA and 22 K’s in 18 IP; one of the steals of the offseason
12. Baltimore Orioles (57 points) – Last Week: #10 (-10)
J.J. Hardy – Last 15 Days: .400 average, 20 hits, 4 doubles, 4 HR, 8 RBI
13. Tampa Bay Rays (48 points) – Last Week: #11 (-13)
Ben Zobrist – Last 7 Days: His bat is waking up, to the tune of a .481 average, 4 doubles, 13 hits and a home run over his last 27 AB’s
14. Kansas City Royals (44 points) – Last Week: #16 (+35)
Jeremy Guthrie – Last 15 Days: A semi-silent contributor (available in 70% of ESPN Fantasy leagues), he’s 2-0, with a 2.45 ERA and three quality starts spanning two-plus weeks
15. San Francisco Giants (31 points) – Last Week: #15 (+8)
Chad Gaudin – Last 15 Days: A small sample size in the rotation, but he’s 2-0 with a 3.00 ERA and 14 K’s in 15 IP, plus is available in 97% of ESPN Fantasy leagues
16. Washington Nationals (6 points) – Last Week: #18 (+2)
Anthony Rendon: He will soon be second base eligible, and is 6 for 16 with two runs and 3 RBI in the four games since being called up
17. Philadelphia Phillies (-3 points) – Last Week: #21 (+1)
Domonic Brown – Last 15 Days: .396 average, 10 HR (second highest has 6), 4 steals
18. San Diego Padres (-4 points) – Last Week: #23 (+7)
Everth Cabrera – Last 15 Days: .379 average, with an MLB-high 25 hits
19. Chicago Cubs (-6 points) – Last Week: #17 (-12)
Jeff Samardzija – Last 15 Days: 1-1 record, 2.95 ERA, one complete game and 26 K’s
20. Cleveland Indians (-7 points) – Last Week: #14 (-37)
Ubaldo Jimenez: Available in 87% of ESPN Fantasy leagues, Jimenez has allowed three earned runs or fewer in seven of his last eight starts
21. Los Angeles Dodgers (-12 points) – Last Week: #22 (-3)
Yasiel Puig – Last 7 Days: The talented rookie is batting .500 with 4 HR, 10 RBI in 28 AB’s
22. Chicago White Sox (-13 points) – Last Week: #24 (+10)
Adam Dunn – Last 7 Days: The K’s are still there, but Dunn has 4 HR, 7 RBI, 7 walks and a .308 batting average over his last 26 AB’s
23. Minnesota Twins (-14 points) – Last Week: #19 (-17)
Ryan Doumit – Last 15 Days: .288 average, with an AL-high 16 RBI, plus catcher eligibility
24. Los Angeles Angels (-18 points) – Last Week: #20 (-17)
Mark Trumbo – Last 15 Days: 4 HR, 10 RBI and 10 walks spanning 48 AB’s
25. Milwaukee Brewers (-20 points) – Last Week: #28 (+26)
Jonathan Lucroy: Adding nice value as a catcher and available in 52% of ESPN Fantasy leagues, Lucroy is batting .385 with 3 HR and 13 RBI over the last fifteen days.
26. Toronto Blue Jays (-26 points) – Last Week: #26 (+2)
Colby Rasmus – Last 15 Days: Available in 38% of ESPN Fantasy leagues, Rasmus is batting .304, with 3 HR and 10 RBI during this recent stretch
27. Seattle Mariners (-34 points) – Last Week: #25 (-9)
Hisashi Iwakuma – Last 15 Days: 22 2/3 shutout innings during the stretch, with 18 K’s and three quality starts, but just a 2-0 record; Oh, that Seattle offense
28. New York Mets (-39 points) – Last Week: #27 (+1)
Dillon Gee – Last 15 Days: 2-0 record, 2 quality starts, 19 K’s in 14 1/3 IP, with a 1.26 ERA
29. Houston Astros (-84 points) – Last Week: #29 (-29)
Dallas Kuechel: Available in 98% of ESPN Fantasy leagues, Kuechel has posted a 2-1 record, with a 1.89 ERA over the last 15 days.
30. Miami Marlins (-88 points) – Last Week: #30 (+1)
Marcell Ozuna: A surprise success, he’s batting .358, with six doubles, two steals and seven runs batted in over the last fifteen days
* All stats per MLB.com
Note: RED = Falling 3+ spots from last week, GREEN = Rising 3+ spots from last week
The Wife Hates Sports MLB Power Rankings system has a method to its madness, attempting to be different and not just rank by popularity and record. It mixes a secret formula of six completely different categories, meshed into a points system. The categories don’t just include team results regarding record, but how each team has performed recently, as well as incorporating some statistics on both a team’s offense and pitching staff, too.
Well, I didn’t say financially, there weren’t issues… I was saying they have been run well structurally, as in through player development and the draft. In that instance, they have been able to build a team that’s competitive, because they don’t have the major bucks to be able to shell out to get free agents.
The Marlins point on the park is an interesting one… but also, that team went and binged, then took them all away… I can see how that would really tick off the fans and make them not want to come support the team.
There’s still rumblings. It’ll likely happen eventually. There’s just a lot of politics involved and the mayor of St Pete is no budging.
TOP–
Not sure I would say the Rays are badly run across the board… when you consider the actual player development and drafting of players, they have done a fantastic job in recent years. Financially and the situation there, well… that’s a different story. With all the transplanted fans (e.g. New York and Boston, mainly), I’m sure it’s a bit of a challenge to push a lot of people towards the home team, but that ballpark just doesn’t help the cause.
TOP–
I’m actually surprised the Yankees have performed as well as they have. Kuroda has been the best starter and some of the aging veteran bats have kept them afloat, specifically Hafner and Wells. I don’t see it lasting though. Toronto is finally coming around, too… which could mean the entire division may be above .500 in the upcoming days.
REV–
I’m guessing you are talking about the Rays fans that are watching on TV’s at home or in bars… and not at that dump of a stadium. When are they building that park by the water? Did that fall through?
Trust me, Kev, Rays fans have been waiting for Myers to be called up all season.
Heck, they’re just excited to see a guy walking around with a bat.
Everything now about A Rod simply disgusts me ! Not only that , but this latest issue with the player, shows that all along he could not be trusted . Yet , it also shows the Yankees` organization to be simply gutless and a bunch of damn hypocrites !
REV–
The only thing about Puig now, is that others are going to put extra hype on other prospects such as Wil Myers with the Rays, among others.
TOP–
When you say that about A-Rod, all I can think of is that popular photoshopped image where someone gave A-Rod a purse to hold as he was running down the first base line.
Puig’s the best thing that could have happened to Major League Baseball.
And to the Dodgers for that matter.
Is A Rod still taking his dosages of estrogen to stop the monthly cramping ?
The Cardinals have been very impressive . Te Dodgers on te other and , what te ell !