ESPN.com
In Week 14 of our rankings, the St. Louis Cardinals remain the top team for the sixth consecutive week. The Houston Astros, meanwhile, climb three spots to move into the No. 2 position.This week's voters are 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.
Tell us what you think about the Power Rankings. Use the hashtag #ESPNMLBPOWER.
| 2015 Power Rankings: July 6 | |||||
| RANK | TEAM / RECORD | TRENDING | COMMENTS | ||
| 1 |
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Last Week: 1 | Cracks are starting to show in offensive replacements, as the Cardinals lost four straight last week for the first time in 2015. Help is on the way, however, with Matt Holliday's imminent return next week. -- Matt Philip (@fungoes), Fungoes | |||
| 2 | 3 Last Week: 5 | Carlos Correa has played just 25 games in the majors, but with a .315/.339/.593 batting line, you can argue he deserves All-Star consideration in a weak class of AL shortstops. Correa is the first shortstop to hit at least seven home runs in his first 25 career games. -- David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield), SweetSpot | |||
| 3 | 1 Last Week: 4 | With his win on Sunday, Gerrit Cole was the first pitcher in the majors to get to 12 victories this season. He's also eighth in the majors with a 2.28 ERA. -- ESPN.com | |||
| 4 | 1 Last Week: 3 | Lost in the story of the Nats' rotation finally reaching its potential is the incredible control the whole staff has shown recently. It has walked 19 batters in its past 18 games, and in only one game since June 10 did it issue more than three walks. -- Harper Gordek (@harpergordek), Nationals Baseball | |||
| 5 | 3 Last Week: 2 | The Royals have four All-Star starters, but reliever Wade Davis should be a lock as a reserve. In the past calendar year, he has allowed six runs in 85 2/3 innings (including the postseason), has a 0.53 ERA and a .160 batting average allowed. -- David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield), SweetSpot | |||
| 6 |
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Last Week: 6 | On Saturday, Zack Greinke extended his scoreless streak to 27 2/3 innings. He lowered his MLB-leading ERA to 1.48 and his ERA is 0.64 in his past six starts combined. The Dodgers have an easy schedule leading up to the break as they host the Phillies and Brewers this week. -- Diane Firstman (@dianagram), Value Over Replacement Grit | |||
| 7 | 2 Last Week: 9 | Brian McCann powered the Yankees to their first walk-off win of the season on Friday with a three-run homer. All season, McCann has been stepping it up when the Yanks need him the most: With runners in scoring position, McCann is posting a robust line of .371/.424/.671. Just don't ask him to set the table, as he's batting a weak .219/.296/.438 when no one is on base. -- Jason Rosenberg (@IIATMS), It's About the Money | |||
| 8 | 2 Last Week: 10 | The Cubs acquired Clayton Richard from the Pirates for cash considerations and he immediately stepped in and gave the back end of the rotation a much needed boost. While the Cubs may be inquiring about arms at the deadline, don't expect anything major. That will more than likely come in the offseason. -- Joe Aiello (@VFTB), View from the Bleachers | |||
| 9 | 6 Last Week: 15 | In sweeping the Rangers in Texas, the Angels pounded out at least 15 hits in three consecutive games for the just the seventh time in franchise history. With his 545th career home run on Sunday, Albert Pujols is now three shy of Mike Schmidt for 15th all time. -- David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield), SweetSpot | |||
| 10 | 2 Last Week: 8 | The Giants are in a state of flux. In addition to losing ground in the NL West, the team lost Tim Hudson and Tim Lincecum to the disabled list while regaining Matt Cain and Jake Peavy. The Giants are expecting Cain to be a formidable No. 2 starter, but he wasn't sharp in his first start Thursday. -- Connor Grossman (@connorgrossman), West Coast Bias | |||
| 11 |
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Last Week: 11 | Jonathan Schoop returned from the disabled list on Sunday and homered in his first plate appearance. The O's hope he'll continue to provide more power along with solid defense at second base. -- Matt Kremnitzer (@mattkremnitzer), Camden Depot | |||
| 12 |
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Last Week: 12 | The Jays have lost five of their past seven games, yet find themselves in the mix of earning their first playoff berth in more than 20 years. The offense is the best in the American League, but the starting pitching is a hole that GM Alex Anthopoulos desperately needs to address before the Jays fall further behind in the standings. -- Chris Sherwin (@CWSherwin), Blue Jays Plus | |||
| 13 |
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Last Week: 13 | The Twins let two winnable games slip away and settled for a four-game split with first-place Kansas City over the weekend. Shaky bullpen work was a culprit in both losses, and that unit must be addressed if Minnesota wants to hang around. -- Nick Nelson (@nnelson9), Twins Daily | |||
| 14 | 7 Last Week: 7 | The Rays spent most of the week losing in terrible fashion. They were nearly no-hit or saddled with a perfect game multiple times and took a few more losses during their opponents' final at-bats. It took until late June for all the injuries to catch up to them, but this roster is in need of a talent infusion. -- Tommy Rancel (@trancel), The Process Report | |||
| 15 | 2 Last Week: 17 | Matt Harrison will pitch on Tuesday for the first time in more than a year and after having three back surgeries. Martin Perez and Derek Holland will follow shortly after the All-Star break, shoring up what was a strong rotation that has looked weak lately. -- Brandon Land (@one_strike_away), One Strike Away | |||
| 16 | 2 Last Week: 14 | Another losing week -- and the loss of Miguel Cabrera until possibly mid-August -- means the Tigers have tough decisions to make in the next few weeks. They've been a .500 team with Cabrera, and there are serious questions as to how they'll cope without him. That said, they remain very much within striking distance of a wild-card spot. -- Grey Papke (@walkoffwoodward), Walkoff Woodward | |||
| 17 | 3 Last Week: 20 | Any week in which you go 5-2 is a pretty good week. The Indians' starting rotation has been positively stellar. Cody Anderson, Danny Salazar and Carlos Carrasco made the Indians the first team in the expansion era to pitch perfect games through five innings in three straight games. -- Susan Petrone (@susanpetrone), It's Pronounced "Lajaway" | |||
| 18 | 2 Last Week: 16 | Mets rookie pitcher Steven Matz is 2-0 with a 1.32 ERA and a 0.87 WHIP. He's also hitting .500 with a 1.167 OPS and has five RBIs through his first two games. -- Joe Janish (@metstoday), Mets Today | |||
| 19 | 3 Last Week: 22 | The Braves will call up their 48th and 49th players on Monday, one shy of the franchise record for players used in a season (set in 2007). The new call-ups, relievers Arodys Vizcaino and David Carpenter, will be the 21st and 22nd relievers used this season. The right bullpen mix has not been found yet. -- Martin Gandy (@gondeee), Chop County | |||
| 20 | 1 Last Week: 19 | The Diamondbacks finally stole a game from the Dodgers in a great comeback performance last Monday. Unfortunately, they couldn't hold serve as they lost the next two games of the three-game set in Phoenix. Rubby De La Rosa finally turned in a good start against L.A. before the bullpen spoiled it on Wednesday, then the bats couldn't find a way against Brett Anderson on Wednesday. -- Jeff Wiser (@OutfieldGrass24), Inside the 'Zona | |||
| 21 |
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Last Week: 21 | Jedd Gyorko was 7-for-19 with a homer in his first five games upon returning from Triple-A. For all the offseason upgrades, San Diego is still only 13th out of 15 in OPS in the National League. Their defense has yielded a league-worst 45 unearned runs through Saturday. Diane Firstman (@dianagram), Value Over Replacement Grit | |||
| 22 | 4 Last Week: 18 | The Reds were just swept at home by the last-place Brewers, a series in which Milwaukee outscored Cincinnati 25-5. Even worse, Joey Votto is 5 for his last 42. Can this season just end already? -- Chad Dotson (@dotsonc), Redleg Nation | |||
| 23 | 4 Last Week: 27 | With super-utilityman Brock Holt filling in for Dustin Pedroia at second base, manager John Farrell has had fewer options. To fill in for Mike Napoli and his 2-for-30 slump on Sunday, Farrell tapped David Ortiz for his first start at first base at Fenway in 10 years. -- Ryan P. Morrison (@ryanpmorrison), Inside the 'Zona | |||
| 24 | 1 Last Week: 23 | Scott Kazmir continues to pitch extremely well. In his past five starts, he has a 1.53 ERA while allowing only one home run in 35 1/3 innings pitched. ESPN.com | |||
| 25 | 1 Last Week: 24 | Mike Montgomery continued his unlikely rise to success by throwing a complete-game, one-hit shutout Tuesday against the Padres. The former top prospect-turned bust has rediscovered his magic and despite not striking out many hitters, has been incredibly effective for Seattle. Pitching in a pitcher's park never hurts -- he has allowed only one homer in his first six starts. -- Jeff Wiser (@outfieldgrass24), Inside the 'Zona | |||
| 26 | 2 Last Week: 28 | Despite breaking a bone in his left hand on June 26 and currently on the 15-day disabled list, Giancarlo Stanton was named the National League Player of the Month for June. In 24 games, he hit .344 (31-for-90) with 12 home runs and 23 RBIs. The Stanton injury may turn Miami into sellers, with Dan Haren and Mat Latos most likely on their way out. Diane Firstman (@dianagram), Value Over Replacement Grit | |||
| 27 | 1 Last Week: 26 | The White Sox earned their four-game winning streak last week by buzz-sawing through two potent offenses (Cardinals and Orioles) to the tune of 38 IP, 24 H, 4 ER, 7 BB, 44 SO for a 0.95 ERA. And their offense was such that they had to sweat out three one-run games. -- James Fegan (@TheCatbird_Seat), The Catbird Seat | |||
| 28 | 1 Last Week: 29 | Touring Philadelphia and Cincinnati, the Brewers produced their first undefeated week of the season. The offense finally sustained a hot streak, averaging nearly 7.0 runs per game. Even better, Milwaukee succeeded despite some pitching shortcomings, showing that the club did not need everything to go right to go undefeated. -- Nicholas Zettel (@spectivewax), Disciples of Uecker | |||
| 29 | 4 Last Week: 25 | As fireworks exploded all over the country Saturday night in celebration of our nation's birthday, there was only one team in the league with fewer wins than the Rockies: the hapless Phillies. The Phillies' local faithful can at least take pride in calling home the town where this whole having-our-own-country thing took off. It sure is beautiful out here in Colorado, though. -- Ryan Hammon (@ryanhammon), Rockies Zingers | |||
| 30 |
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Last Week: 30 | What kind of toll does losing take on fans? From 2010 to 2012, the Phillies ranked first in the NL in attendance each season, averaging nearly 45,000 fans per game. This season, they rank 13th, averaging 24,472 per game. -- David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield), SweetSpot | |||
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