ESPN.com
In Week 7 of our rankings, our panel of experts continues to say that the St. Louis Cardinals are baseball's best team. The Los Angeles Dodgers (No. 2) and Kansas City Royals (No. 3), meanwhile, flip-flopped spots from last week.This week's voters were Jim Bowden of ESPN Insider, Eric Karabell of ESPN Fantasy, Tim Kurkjian of ESPN, 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.
| 2015 Power Rankings: May 18 | |||||
| RANK | TEAM / RECORD | TRENDING | COMMENTS | ||
| 1 |
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Last Week: 1 | The Cardinals placed Jon Jay and Jordan Walden on the disabled list, but maintained their four-game lead in the NL Central. They have the best record in baseball, and continue to get dominant starts by new ace Lance Lynn. -- Matt Philip (@fungoes), Fungoes | |||
| 2 | 1 Last Week: 3 | Clayton Kershaw finally secured his 100th win, becoming the Dodgers' all-time leader in winning percentage for those with at least 100 wins (.662, surpassing Sandy Koufax's .655). Kenley Jansen made his 2015 debut Friday, coming off the disabled list to pull off a rare four-strikeout inning. -- Diane Firstman (@dianagram), Replacement Grit | |||
| 3 | 1 Last Week: 2 | This is the Eric Hosmer everyone dreamed of after his rookie season in 2011. He's hitting .302/.404/.554, ranking in the top 10 in the AL in both OBP and slugging. And from the you-couldn't-have-dreamed-it files: Kendrys Morales is second in the AL with 28 runs. He scored 28 in all of 2014. -- David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield), SweetSpot | |||
| 4 |
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Last Week: 4 | The Tigers' rediscovery of offense coincided with Miguel Cabrera hitting four home runs in a three-game span, the last of them his 400th career blast. The timely power surge helped Detroit win its series against Minnesota and St. Louis, teams that have looked very impressive against everyone else. -- Grey Papke (@walkoffwoodward), Walkoff Woodward | |||
| 5 |
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Last Week: 5 | The Astros lead the majors with 57 home runs, three more than the Dodgers, giving them a pace of 243 for the season. They've only hit 200 twice in franchise history: 2000 (249) and 2001 (208). They hit 163 last season. The home runs are carrying an offense hitting .229. -- David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield), SweetSpot | |||
| 6 | 2 Last Week: 8 | Bryce Harper batted .522 with three home runs and nine RBIs in seven games last week. He leads the National League in homers (14) and the majors in RBIs (37). -- ESPN.com | |||
| 7 | 6 Last Week: 13 | Kris Bryant is tied for seventh in the majors in walks this season and is a big reason for the Cubs' success. -- Joe Aiello (@VFTB), View from the Bleachers | |||
| 8 | 2 Last Week: 6 | The Yankees' offense sputtered this past week, which showed how much they rely on the top two batters, Jacoby Ellsbury and Brett Gardner, to drive the offense. Both cooled off and the Yankees struggled to score, especially during their four-game losing streak. The Yankees also need more bullpen reliability behind Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller. -- William Tasker (@flagrantfan), It's About the Money | |||
| 9 | 2 Last Week: 7 | After scoring three runs or fewer in 13 of 17 games, and scoring only 33 runs in the month of May, the Mets exploded for 19 runs in two games against the hapless Brewers. They lead the majors in home ERA (2.42) and have the second-best record at home (15-4). -- Joe Janish (@metstoday), Mets Today | |||
| 10 | 4 Last Week: 14 | Jered Weaver has lowered his ERA by nearly two runs (6.29 to 4.44) in his past two starts. -- ESPN.com | |||
| 11 |
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Last Week: 11 | Thursday's rain delay was the first at Petco Park in 337 games, dating to April 8, 2011, against the Dodgers. Justin Upton's eight stolen bases already match his season total in each of the past two seasons. He has yet to be caught. Andrew Cashner is the best 1-7 pitcher in baseball, with a 3.24 ERA and getting two or fewer runs of support in five of his eight starts. -- Diane Firstman (@dianagram), Replacement Grit | |||
| 12 | 3 Last Week: 9 | The Rays, just a game back, continue to keep pace with the Yankees a quarter of the way through the season. The Rays did not actually lose any players this week; instead, they activated 2014 closer Jake McGee and Nick Franklin, who was slated to be their primary second baseman. -- Tommy Rancel (@trancel), The Process Report | |||
| 13 | 5 Last Week: 18 | After setting a franchise record for consecutive games without scoring more than six runs, things are now looking up for a Giants offense that scored a combined 30 runs in three straight wins over the Reds. Hunter Pence made his season debut on Saturday. In two games and eight at-bats, he has four hits, including a home run. -- Connor Grossman (@connorgrossman), West Coast Bias | |||
| 14 | 2 Last Week: 12 | Against the Tigers, the Twins are 2-7 and have been outscored 56-23. Against all other opponents, they are 19-10 with a plus-35 run differential. -- Nick Nelson (@nnelson9), Twins Daily | |||
| 15 |
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Last Week: 15 | How much longer will the Reds stubbornly refuse to admit that the Jason Marquis experiment has been an abject failure? Marquis, who did not pitch in the big leagues last season and has not been an effective starter since 2009, has a 6.63 ERA in seven starts. -- Chad Dotson (@dotsonc), Redleg Nation | |||
| 16 | 3 Last Week: 19 | Other than a 10-run outburst in a 12-inning loss to the Cubs on Friday, the offense continues to struggle. The Pirates are third in the majors in ERA but 23rd in runs, even though they're hitting better with runners in scoring position (.263) than overall (.241). They just need to get more runners in scoring position. -- David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield), SweetSpot | |||
| 17 | 4 Last Week: 21 | Although Boston inched up in the standings by going 4-3 last week, it did so with a disappearing offense that scored 11 runs in the past six games and has the majors' worst batting average on balls in play. -- Ryan P. Morrison (@ryanpmorrison), Inside the 'Zona | |||
| 18 | 8 Last Week: 10 | Things looked promising following series wins against the Yankees and Red Sox, but poor pitching and mounting injury issues have led to back-to-back series losses for the Blue Jays. The starters need to go deeper in games and the relief corps needs to improve or this team could be in trouble quickly. -- Joshua Howsam (@House4545), Blue Jays Plus | |||
| 19 | 5 Last Week: 24 | In their past two series, the Mariners split two games with the Padres, then took two of four from the Red Sox. In their past six, the offense managed more than a pair of runs only twice. Meanwhile, the pitching staff didn't allow more than four runs in a game all week, but with the offense scuffling, Seattle could only manage a .500 record. -- Jeff Wiser (@outfieldgrass24), Inside the 'Zona | |||
| 20 | 4 Last Week: 16 | Bud Norris (bronchitis) and Chris Tillman (back spasms) recently had their starts pushed back. So rookie Mike Wright stepped up and threw 7 1/3 shutout innings in Sunday's 3-0 win over the Angels in his major league debut. -- Matt Kremnitzer (@mattkremnitzer), Camden Depot | |||
| 21 | 4 Last Week: 17 | After losing 10 of 14 and nearly getting no-hit by Shelby Miller on Sunday, Miami fired manager Mike Redmond. Henderson Alvarez, who had been on the disabled list since April 13 with right shoulder inflammation, returned to the rotation Sunday. Three of the homers launched by Giancarlo Stanton during the week traveled at least 474 feet. -- Diane Firstman (@dianagram), Replacement Grit | |||
| 22 | 2 Last Week: 20 | So far the Shelby Miller-Jason Heyward trade has worked out better for the Braves than the Cardinals. With his near no-hitter on Sunday, Miller helped the Braves sweep the Marlins for the second time this season. It was Atlanta's first winning week since the first week of the season. -- Martin Gandy (@gondeee), Chop County | |||
| 23 | 3 Last Week: 26 | The woebegone White Sox, saddled with the second-worst run differential in the American League and slow starts from every major contributor save for Avisail Garcia, have now won four series in a row. -- James Fegan (@TheCatbird_Seat), The Catbird Seat | |||
| 24 | 1 Last Week: 25 | Shin-Soo Choo continues to heat up with a .347/.392/.694 triple slash line with five home runs since the start of May, and Adrian Beltre padded his Hall of Fame résumé with career homer No. 400 on Friday. -- Brandon Land (@one_strike_away), One Strike Away | |||
| 25 | 2 Last Week: 27 | Even though the Indians may have dug themselves a hole from which they can't escape, they've been more fun to watch. Corey Kluber's masterful 18-strikeout, one-hit performance against the Cardinals, and Jason Kipnis' strong showing since his move to the leadoff spot, have given fans hope the rest of '15 will at least be better than April and early May. -- Stephanie Liscio (@stephanieliscio), It's Pronounced "Lajaway" | |||
| 26 | 3 Last Week: 23 | Saying it was a tough week in the desert is an understatement. The D-backs lost two of three to the Nationals, then got swept by the Phillies. A blown save by Addison Reed on Wednesday led to his demotion, while Andrew Chafin, Daniel Hudson and Randall Delgado also had bullpen struggles. Pitching remains the team's Achilles' heel, as was projected heading into the season. -- Jeff Wiser (@OutfieldGrass24), Inside the 'Zona | |||
| 27 | 5 Last Week: 22 | The A's finished off a 1-5 week by getting swept in a three-game series by the White Sox. At 13-26, the A's currently have the worst record in all of baseball. -- ESPN.com | |||
| 28 | 2 Last Week: 30 | Milwaukee produced another .500 week, offsetting low-scoring losses with a Mother's Day walk-off and thrilling offensive outbursts. With the team going nowhere in the standings, fans can look for the small joys, such as Elian Herrera's homers and Luis Sardinas' call-up. -- Nicholas Zettel (@spectivewax), Disciples of Uecker | |||
| 29 |
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Last Week: 29 | Five wins in a row! Aaron Harang continues to pitch well, tossing his third scoreless outing of the season in his start against the Pirates. He's 4-3 with a 2.03 ERA with a .216 batting average against and has allowed only two home runs in 53.1 innings. -- David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield), SweetSpot | |||
| 30 | 2 Last Week: 28 | The Rockies finally broke their 11-game losing streak, but they continue to struggle offensively, striking out 40 times in the past three games. While the club flounders, rumors that star shortstop Troy Tulowitzki may seek a trade caught fire last week, though both Tulowitzki and GM Jeff Bridich deny that any trade is imminent. -- Sarah L. Ford (@Sarah_L_Ford), Rockies Zingers | |||
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