ESPN.com
In Week 9 of our rankings, our panel of experts were unanimous in choosing the St. Louis Cardinals as the top team in baseball. The San Francisco Giants, meanwhile, jump five spots to take over the No. 2 position in our rankings.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: June 1 | |||||
| RANK | TEAM / RECORD | TRENDING | COMMENTS | ||
| 1 | 1 Last Week: 2 | The Cardinals lost first baseman Matt Adams almost certainly for the season, yet the team extended its NL Central lead to six games as Matt Holliday's on-base streak stands at 44 games to start the season. -- Matt Philip (@fungoes), Fungoes | |||
| 2 | 5 Last Week: 7 | The Giants reached the 21-win mark in a month for the first time since 1968. The team is clicking on all cylinders, and led all of baseball with nearly a .300 batting average in May while throwing 39 consecutive scoreless innings at home during one stretch. -- Connor Grossman (@connorgrossman), West Coast Bias | |||
| 3 | 2 Last Week: 1 | The team OPS fell from .812 in April to .688 in May and the ERA rose from 2.92 to 4.06, but the Royals still managed a 14-12 month, thanks in part to an excellent .296 batting average with runners in scoring position. -- David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield), SweetSpot | |||
| 4 | 1 Last Week: 5 | Rookie left fielder Preston Tucker continues to earn regular playing time with a .306/.377/.516 line through 19 games, including two home runs and seven doubles. He hit .282 with 24 home runs between Double-A and Triple-A last year, but wasn't considered one of Houston's top 10 prospects heading into the season. -- David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield), SweetSpot | |||
| 5 | 1 Last Week: 6 | Friday night saw the Dodgers become only the eighth club in history, and the first since the Cubs in 1992, to get shut out in four consecutive road games. They had scored only 70 runs in their first 19 road contests (3.7 runs per game) versus five runs per game at home. Mike Bolsinger has been a great story so far: 3-1 with a 1.15 ERA in five starts. -- Diane Firstman (@dianagram), Replacement Grit | |||
| 6 | 3 Last Week: 3 | After going 2-4 on their just-completed six-game road trip, the Nationals head home for seven games (three against the Blue Jays, followed by four versus the Cubs). -- ESPN.com | |||
| 7 | 3 Last Week: 10 | The Twins won 20 games in May and haven't lost on consecutive days since mid-April. Closer Glen Perkins has converted all 19 of his save chances. -- Nick Nelson (@nnelson9), Twins Daily | |||
| 8 | 4 Last Week: 4 | The Tigers are mired in an offensive funk. They've hit into 55 double plays, which leads the AL and no doubt has cost them a run or two or 10. They've hit into the majors' only triple play this year. Heck, they scored more runs on Saturday night in their 8-6 loss than they did in their entire three-game series in Oakland. -- Alexandra Simon (@walkoffwoodward), Walkoff Woodward | |||
| 9 | 6 Last Week: 15 | The Pirates led the NL last year in walks but rank just 13th this season. Their runs per game haven't fallen much -- 4.21 to 4.16 -- as they've hit .271/.345/.430 with runners in scoring position, compared to .239/.289/.366 with the bases empty. -- David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield), SweetSpot | |||
| 10 | 1 Last Week: 9 | On Saturday, the last living Cubs player to participate in the 1945 World Series, Lennie Merullo, passed away at the age of 98. The 1945 season was the last time the Cubs were in the World Series. -- Joe Aiello (@VFTB), View from the Bleachers | |||
| 11 | 1 Last Week: 12 | After starting the season 5-1 with a 1.98 ERA, Matt Harvey has lost two straight, allowing 11 earned runs in his past 12 innings and seeing his ERA balloon to 3.11. -- Joe Janish (@metstoday), Mets Today | |||
| 12 | 1 Last Week: 13 | After going through their worst stretch of 2015, the Yankees recovered last week by sweeping the Royals at home and outscoring them 23-4. Sadly, they didn't build on that momentum when they traveled to Oakland to face one of the worst teams in baseball, dropping three of four games in that series. Being wildly inconsistent seems to be the Yankees' new normal. -- Stacey Gotsulias (@StaceGots), It's About the Money | |||
| 13 | 2 Last Week: 11 | An impressive four-game sweep of the Tigers has the Angels three games over .500 for the first time all season. The Angels lost five of Jered Weaver's first six starts (he went 0-4 with a 6.29 ERA), but they've won his past five (4-0, 1.98). -- David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield), SweetSpot | |||
| 14 | 6 Last Week: 8 | The Rays remain in contention despite a six-game slide that dominated their week. In the process, they lost first baseman James Loney (broken finger) for the next month or so. Despite the weak offensive output and a few bullpen malfunctions, the rotation, without Alex Cobb, Drew Smyly and Matt Moore, has kept them in a bunched AL East race. -- Tommy Rancel (@trancel), The Process Report | |||
| 15 | 1 Last Week: 16 | A sweep of the Rays gave the Mariners a much-needed boost in the competitive, if not overwhelming, AL West. A tight series with the Indians has evened things up somewhat, however. Felix Hernandez remains brilliant, and Taijuan Walker had a good week, too. Add Kyle Seager's four home runs in his past nine games, and Seattle finally may be picking up steam. -- Jeff Wiser (@outfieldgrass24), Inside the 'Zona | |||
| 16 | 7 Last Week: 23 | Josh Hamilton returned to cheers from fans at Globe Life Park and he didn't disappoint with a two-hit game followed by a two-homer game, then a two-walk game, and finally a game-winning pinch-hit double on Sunday. -- Brandon Land (@one_strike_away), One Strike Away | |||
| 17 | 3 Last Week: 14 | The Orioles are hovering around .500 despite scoring the second-fewest runs among all American League teams in the month of May. -- Matt Kremnitzer (@mattkremnitzer), Camden Depot | |||
| 18 | 1 Last Week: 17 | On Friday night, Derek Norris became the first player in history to hit a walk-off grand slam after striking out the first four times he came to the plate. Ian Kennedy could lose his rotation spot if his gopheritis continues. He has a 7.15 ERA and has yielded 12 homers in 39 innings. -- Diane Firstman (@dianagram), Replacement Grit | |||
| 19 | 1 Last Week: 18 | Indians pitchers lead all of baseball in strikeouts -- Corey Kluber (leads all pitchers), Carlos Carrasco, Danny Salazar and Trevor Bauer are all ranked in the top 10 in the AL. Kluber just put together a historic four-game stretch where he struck out 50 and walked just two. -- Stephanie Liscio (@stephanieliscio), It's Pronounced "Lajaway" | |||
| 20 | 2 Last Week: 22 | The Diamondbacks nearly swept the much-maligned Brewers this past weekend after getting themselves swept by the Cardinals earlier in the week. Paul Goldschmidt has led the way offensively while Nick Ahmed's bat has finally started to come around. Chase Anderson has emerged on the mound to lead the rotation as Arizona once again approaches .500. -- Jeff Wiser (@outfieldgrass24), Inside the 'Zona | |||
| 21 | 3 Last Week: 24 | A weak division and another week of strong offensive performances has fans in Toronto optimistic once again. The starters are finally going deep into ballgames and Josh Donaldson has hit six home runs in his past six games to help Toronto climb within 3½ games of the division lead. -- Gideon Turk (@gideonturk), Blue Jays Plus | |||
| 22 | 3 Last Week: 19 | The Braves continue to rebuild with trades, but they also continue to insist they are trying to be competitive this season. They're finding it hard to do that with the worst relief ERA in the NL. Last week's trade with the Dodgers sent three relievers to L.A., bringing the total number of relievers traded since the end of last season to 10. -- Martin Gandy (@gondeee), Chop County | |||
| 23 | 3 Last Week: 20 | In his Red Sox debut, Eduardo Rodriguez held the Rangers scoreless in 7.2 innings, struck out seven, walked two and threw 95 mph (touching 98 mph). The team will give Rodriguez at least one more turn this week as part of a six-man rotation. -- Ryan P. Morrison (@ryanpmorrison), Inside the 'Zona | |||
| 24 | 3 Last Week: 21 | The White Sox have the worst offense in the American League and Jose Abreu missed the past two games with a swollen index finger. But at least this past week displayed what Sale-Samardzija-Quintana-Rodon can do. -- James Fegan (@TheCatbird_Seat), The Catbird Seat | |||
| 25 |
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Last Week: 25 | After losing 10 of 11, the Reds won three in a row against the Nats. Not exactly the return of the Big Red Machine, but don't tell Todd Frazier that. The All-Star third baseman leads the Reds in most offensive categories, hitting .287/.372/.624 with 16 home runs and 31 RBIs. -- Chad Dotson (@dotsonc), Redleg Nation | |||
| 26 | 2 Last Week: 28 | Nolan Arenado is among the league leaders in Web Gems (and defensive WAR) and has an OPS near .900, with 10 of his 12 home runs happening away from Coors Field. But he's only fifth in the NL All-Star balloting at third base, so I guess not many people knew that. -- Richard Bergstrom (@RockiesZingers), Rockies Zingers | |||
| 27 | 2 Last Week: 29 | The A's earned their first home series win of the season by taking three of four games from the Yankees this past weekend. -- ESPN.com | |||
| 28 | 2 Last Week: 30 | Dan Haren has compiled a 1.04 WHIP despite yielding 10 homers in 62.1 innings. He has given up at least 20 long balls in nine out of the past 10 seasons (and 19 in the other year). Through Friday, new closer A.J. Ramos held opponents to a .100/.156/.167 line in the ninth inning. -- Diane Firstman (@dianagram), Replacement Grit | |||
| 29 | 3 Last Week: 26 | Their losing streak has hit seven in a row, during which the Phillies have hit a miserable .210/.238/.269 with one home run and one stolen base. There's a reason this is where they rank. -- David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield), SweetSpot | |||
| 30 | 3 Last Week: 27 | As bad as the 2015 season seemed, the Brewers did not manage their first winless week until the end of May. A 17 runs scored/33 runs against team effort was punctuated by a bullpen loss on Friday night. The silver lining now comes from the farm, as Tyler Wagner moves from Double-A Biloxi to Milwaukee in place of the injured Wily Peralta. -- Nicholas Zettel (@spectivewax), Disciples of Uecker | |||
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