The San Francisco Giants, riding a five-game winning streak, rise seven spots to No. 3, while the equally hot Detroit Tigers move up two spots to No. 4. The Los Angeles Dodgers also move up two spots to take over the No. 5 position.
This week's voters were Jim Bowden of ESPN Insider, Tim Kurkjian of ESPN The Magazine, David Schoenfield of the SweetSpot Blog Network/ESPN.com and Jayson Stark of ESPN.com. Most of the team comments come courtesy of the bloggers on the SweetSpot Blog Network. How do you rank all 30 teams? Go ahead and rank them yourself.
Tell us what you think about the Power Rankings. Use the hashtag #ESPNMLBPOWER.
| 2014 Power Rankings: May 5 | |||||
| RANK | TEAM / RECORD | TRENDING | COMMENTS | ||
| 1 |
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Last Week: 1 | The Brewers survived a road trip through St Louis and Cincinnati by going 3-4 despite a lineup decimated by injuries. With Ryan Braun on the disabled list and Carlos Gomez's suspension still pending, the Brewers will need other players to step up and help the team score runs. -- Ryan Topp (@RDTopp), Disciples of Uecker | |||
| 2 | 1 Last Week: 3 | The A's still have a 20-run lead on the next best team in run differential (Colorado), though their record stands just fourth-best in baseball. Derek Norris may be hitting his way out of his platoon, as only Devin Mesoraco has out-OPS'd him among catchers with at least 25 plate appearances. -- Jason Wojciechowski (@jlwoj), Beaneball | |||
| 3 | 7 Last Week: 10 | The Giants are 9-1 in their last 10 games after their first sweep in Atlanta since 1988. The pitching staff has allowed a combined five runs during their current five-game winning streak. Their bullpen ranks first in the majors with a .197 batting average against and their offense trails only Colorado with 39 home runs. -- Andrew Tweedy (@WCBGiants), West Coast Bias | |||
| 4 | 2 Last Week: 6 | Detroit completed a 6-1 road trip against three division rivals with a convincing sweep of the Royals, averaging nearly seven runs per game over those seven games. The rotation posted a 3.07 ERA on the trip and the lineup now boasts the best team batting average in the AL. With the Astros and Twins set to come in on the next homestand, the Tigers could be poised to go on a major roll. -- Grey Papke (@spacemnkymafia), Walkoff Woodward | |||
| 5 | 2 Last Week: 7 | Swept three in Minnesota before dropping two of three versus tough-at-home Miami. They welcome back Clayton Kershaw on Tuesday, but lost Hyun-Jin Ryu to the disabled list (shoulder blade inflammation). The Dodgers' staff tied is for the most walks allowed (108) in the NL. -- Diane Firstman (@dianagram), Value Over Replacement Grit | |||
| 6 | 4 Last Week: 2 | The Braves added Mike Minor to the rotation this past week, and they expect to add Gavin Floyd back this coming week. That's two big pieces on a pitching staff that already has the best ERA in the majors. Unfortunately, Atlanta's offense is currently one of the five worst in baseball. That anemic offense, coupled with some rough starts, led to back-to-back sweeps from the Marlins and Giants. -- Martin Gandy (@gondeee), Gondeee | |||
| 7 | 2 Last Week: 9 | The Nats expect Wilson Ramos and Doug Fister to be back by the weekend, which will pay immediate dividends for the team as they'll replace the tiring Jose Lobaton (.125/.300/.250 in the past seven days) behind the plate and already sent down Taylor Jordan (5.61 ERA, 1.64 WHIP) in the rotation. -- Harper Gordek (@harpergordek), Nationals Baseball | |||
| 8 | 3 Last Week: 11 | The Rockies have won their last five series and sport the best run differential in the National League. Interleague play is the theme this week, but they will dodge Yu Darvish. With a good two weeks, they would set up a first place-fight against the Giants and have home-field advantage in the series. -- Richard Bergstrom (@rockieszingers), Rockies Zingers | |||
| 9 | 4 Last Week: 5 | The Yankees started the week with a two-and-a-half game lead in the AL East. They still occupy the lead position, but only by a half-game as the team tumbled to four losses in the last five games -- all in their home ballpark. During the homestand, the Yankees struggled to score with runners in scoring position and Derek Jeter and Carlos Beltran both had prolonged slumps. -- William Tasker (@FlagrantFan), It's About the Money | |||
| 10 | 2 Last Week: 12 | The Orioles have had difficulty getting consistent solid performances out of their starting rotation, but still find themselves a half-game out of first place in the AL East. If Ubaldo Jimenez can string together a few games like his last one, this team will not fade any time soon. -- Jon Shepherd (@CamdenDepot), Camden Depot | |||
| 11 | 7 Last Week: 4 | The Rangers started the week by getting swept at home by Oakland, but after going 2-1 on the road against the Angels, they're still only two games back in the AL West and have the third-best record in the AL. -- Brandon Land (@one_strike_away), One Strike Away | |||
| 12 | 3 Last Week: 15 | It could be the end of the line for Raul Ibanez. He's batting just .141 with a .289 slugging percentage in 90 at-bats. -- ESPN.com | |||
| 13 | 5 Last Week: 8 | Little has gone according to plan for the Cardinals so far, with their starting pitchers walking a league-high 3.28 batters per nine innings, and the team demoting promising rookie second baseman Kolten Wong to Memphis and narrowly avoiding a sweep by the Cubs to remain at .500 on the young season. -- Matt Philip (@fungoes), Fungoes | |||
| 14 |
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Last Week: 14 | After a month, the only things certain in Boston are death, taxes and the Red Sox not hitting with runners in scoring position. What's worse is the .222 average w/RISP is an improvement from a couple of weeks ago. But while the lumber's been ice cold, Jon Lester has been white-hot. He has 58 strikeouts in 48.2 innings in a contract year? It's about time the front office pays him. -- Brett Cowett (@BACowett), Fire Brand of the AL | |||
| 15 | 10 Last Week: 25 | Swept the Braves and took two of three from the Dodgers to run their home record to a major league-best 14-5. Miami is hitting .307/.370/.495 at home (.215/.287/.333 on the road). -- Diane Firstman (@dianagram), Value Over Replacement Grit | |||
| 16 | 3 Last Week: 13 | Juan Lagares and Daniel Murphy are getting the Mets started at the top of the lineup -- Lagares has a 13-game hitting streak and reached base in 16 of the 17 games he's played; Murphy has hit in 16 of his last 18, batting .346 over that stretch. -- Joe Janish (@metstoday), Mets Today | |||
| 17 | 1 Last Week: 16 | Cincinnati took three of four from the previously unbeatable Brewers, even with three starters out of the lineup with injuries. Jay Bruce's meniscus injury is causing angst in the Queen City, as the Reds remember the difficulties Joey Votto faced when returning from a similar injury less than two years ago. -- Chad Dotson (@dotsonc), Redleg Nation | |||
| 18 | 2 Last Week: 20 | The Rays capped off a three-city, 10-game road trip with back-to-back road series wins in Boston and New York. The starting pitching is still suspect and the bullpen still overused, but the patchwork pitching staff has done enough to keep the Rays in the middle of the AL East pack. They'll need to maintain over the next few weeks as the club waits for healthy replacements to arrive. -- Tommy Rancel (@TRancel), The Process Report | |||
| 19 | 2 Last Week: 17 | Remember how Eric Hosmer had improved from June 1 onward last year, hitting .318 with 16 home runs? Well, he's hitting .286 and is second in the AL with 12 doubles, but he's yet to homer and has 10 RBIs in 30 games this season. -- David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield), SweetSpot | |||
| 20 | 3 Last Week: 23 | The Phillies just took two of three from the division-rival Nationals and can look forward to 16 more home games before May ends. After finishing .500 following a tough April, the Phillies can make some headway in the season's second month in their quest to prove their many doubters wrong. -- Bill Baer, Crashburn Alley | |||
| 21 | 2 Last Week: 19 | The Twins got three straight quality starts in a series victory over the Orioles over the weekend, providing a needed boost heading into a seven-game road trip within the division. -- Nick Nelson (@nnelson9), Twins Daily | |||
| 22 | 4 Last Week: 18 | The White Sox -- a team full of interesting young players, lacking in depth but capable of finishing with a winning record if everything breaks right -- put seven players on the DL in April alone. In the past week, Adam Eaton went on the shelf with a hamstring issue and Nate Jones moved to the 60-day DL and underwent back surgery. Jose Abreu also hit a couple more home runs. -- James Fegan (@TheCatbird_Seat), The Catbird Seat | |||
| 23 | 2 Last Week: 21 | The Blue Jays' seven losses over the past 10 days can be attributed to a bullpen with an ERA that is ranked 29th out of 30 teams. With Brandon Morrow now on the DL, Marcus Stroman has been called up to stabilize the pen -- but for how long? -- Callum Hughson (@callumhughson), Mop-Up Duty | |||
| 24 | 3 Last Week: 27 | Seattle has already used eight different starting pitchers, but at least the eighth was Hisashi Iwakuma, who returned on Saturday and allowed four runs in 6.2 innings. Offense continues to struggle: 13th in the AL in runs as they rank 14th in batting average and walks and thus have a .294 team OBP. -- David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield), SweetSpot | |||
| 25 | 3 Last Week: 22 | It was a tough week for the Indians. They got swept by the Angels to finish off a horrendous West Coast road trip and came home to slightly better success against the White Sox. Corey Kluber set a team record with seven straight strikeouts and a personal high of 13 K's in Sunday's loss to Chicago. -- Susan Petrone (@SusanPetrone), It's Pronounced "Lajaway" | |||
| 26 | 2 Last Week: 24 | By FanGraphs WAR, the Pirates have the worst starting rotation in the majors with 0.0 WAR. While they rank second in ground-ball percentage, they still rank fourth-worst in home runs per nine innings. -- David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield), SweetSpot | |||
| 27 | 1 Last Week: 26 | Did I write this last week? The Padres' four best hitters were supposed to be Chase Headley, Jedd Gyorko, Yonder Alonso and Will Venable, and all four are still hitting under .200. Xavier Nady is hitting .135 ... but leads the team with three home runs. Yes, the Padres are averaging fewer than three runs per game. -- David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield), SweetSpot | |||
| 28 |
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Last Week: 28 | The Cubs won a series for the first time since Sept. 9-11, 2013, with a win over the St. Louis Cardinals over the weekend. -- Joe Aiello (@VFTB), View from the Bleachers | |||
| 29 |
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Last Week: 29 | The D-backs rotation may have turned a corner in a three-game set against the Padres, letting up just three earned runs in 21 innings while tallying 16 strikeouts. Nonetheless, the D-backs still eke out the Astros for worst team ERA in the majors, and trail every other team with 5.47 runs allowed per game. -- Ryan P. Morrison (@InsidetheZona), Inside the 'Zona | |||
| 30 |
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Last Week: 30 | Now 3-6 in one-run games after dropping two such games to the Mariners this past weekend. They've allowed at least seven runs in nine games already this year. George Springer has scuffled since his call-up, batting 185/.254/.215 with five errors in 16 games. -- Diane Firstman (@dianagram), Value Over Replacement Grit | |||
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