ESPN.com
In Week 20 of our rankings, the St. Louis Cardinals
keep on rolling. They own the top spot for the 12th straight week.
Meanwhile, the Cardinals' main rivals in the National Central Central,
the Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago Cubs, hold the Nos. 3 and 4 spots, respectively.This week's voters are Jim Bowden of ESPN Insider, Tim Kurkjian of ESPN and David Schoenfield of the SweetSpot Blog Network/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: August 17 | |||||
| RANK | TEAM / RECORD | TRENDING | COMMENTS | ||
| 1 |
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Last Week: 1 | The Cardinals won two of three from the Pirates last week and now hold a five-game lead over their rivals in the NL Central. Jaime Garcia continues to dominate after returning from the DL. His ERA stands at 1.57, thanks to an uncanny 67 percent ground-ball rate. -- Matt Philip (@fungoes), Fungoes | |||
| 2 |
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Last Week: 2 | The bullpen suffered a couple of meltdowns last week, but the Royals still went 5-2. Lorenzo Cain remains a viable MVP candidate, ranking second in the AL to Mike Trout among position players in WAR. -- David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield), SweetSpot | |||
| 3 |
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Last Week: 3 | After sweeping the Mets, the Pirates concluded a tough 11-game stretch against the Mets, Cardinals, Dodgers and Cubs with an 8-3 record. Only seven of their next 27 games are against teams with winning records. -- David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield), SweetSpot | |||
| 4 | 1 Last Week: 5 | The last time the Cubs went on a streak like their current one was 2008, when they made the playoffs. If they play just .500 baseball the rest of the way, they will win 90 games. -- Joe Aiello (@VFTB), View from the Bleachers | |||
| 5 | 3 Last Week: 8 | After getting thumped handily by the Blue Jays two weekends ago and then losing two straight to the Indians last week, the Yankees found themselves suddenly out of first place. Two impressive wins over the Blue Jays this past weekend returned the Yanks back atop the AL East. -- Jason Rosenberg (@IIATMS), It's About the Money | |||
| 6 |
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Last Week: 6 | Baseball's hottest team may have finally started to come back to earth. After completing a sweep of the Yankees in their own ballpark, they powered through a sweep of the A's at home. Alas, their 11-game winning streak ended when they lost to the Yanks on Friday night. The Jays' roster remains mostly healthy, and they look to start a road winning streak this week. -- Greg Wisniewski (@coolhead2010), Blue Jays Plus | |||
| 7 | 3 Last Week: 4 | Tough schedule ahead: The Dodgers play 18 of their next 24 on the road, with the home games against the Cubs and Giants. Clayton Kershaw became the 10th pitcher in history to have at least 200 strikeouts in six straight seasons. The only other Dodger to achieve the feat was Sandy Koufax (1961-66). -- Diane Firstman (@dianagram), Value Over Replacement Grit | |||
| 8 | 1 Last Week: 7 | Jacob deGrom has pitched extremely well since the break. In five starts (33 innings pitched), he's 2-0 with a 1.64 ERA, while allowing 19 hits and striking out 40. -- ESPN.com | |||
| 9 | 1 Last Week: 10 | Astros batters have taken advantage of Minute Maid Park: They're hitting .249 with 93 home runs in 59 home games, but .236 with 68 home runs in 59 road games. Their pitchers, however, have allowed just one more home run at home and have a lower ERA at Minute Maid. -- David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield), SweetSpot | |||
| 10 | 1 Last Week: 9 | The Giants rebounded nicely from a four-game sweep at the hands of the Cubs two weekends ago by winning five of their next six games against the Astros and Nationals. NL Rookie of the Year candidate Matt Duffy has led the charge, with four extra-base hits and eight RBIs during the stretch. -- Andrew Tweedy (@WCBGiants), West Coast Bias | |||
| 11 | 2 Last Week: 13 | Hisashi Iwakuma's no-hitter Wednesday was a low point for the Orioles. But by riding Chris Davis' torrid streak, the O's bounced back by earning walk-off wins on Friday and Saturday and are still in the thick of the AL wild-card race. -- Matt Kremnitzer (@mattkremnitzer), Camden Depot | |||
| 12 | 1 Last Week: 11 | Since hurting his wrist on July 26 (and missing a couple of games), Mike Trout is hitting .203/.320/.375 with two home runs in 17 games. -- David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield), SweetSpot | |||
| 13 | 1 Last Week: 12 | Since Anthony Rendon, Ryan Zimmerman and Jayson Werth played their first game together on July 28 after stints on the DL, the Nats have gone 6-14, their worst 20-game stretch of the season. -- Harper Gordek (@harpergordek), Nationals Baseball | |||
| 14 |
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Last Week: 14 | Derek Holland is knocking at the door and could make his first start since April 10 as soon as Wednesday. Meanwhile, the Rangers are also knocking at the door of the playoff picture (they're currently one game back of the second AL wild card). -- Brandon Land (@one_strike_away), One Strike Away | |||
| 15 | 1 Last Week: 16 | The good news is the Rays' offense has been one of the better units in recent weeks. Asdrubal Cabrera has been the AL's hottest hitter, while veterans like John Jaso and Evan Longoria are hitting the ball with authority. The bad news is the pitching staff has been less than stellar. Tampa Bay, even with a returning Drew Smyly, appears to be a starter short. -- Tommy Rancel (@trancel), The Process Report | |||
| 16 | 2 Last Week: 18 | Although Paul Goldschmidt has "cooled off" at the plate in the last month, outfielder David Peralta has picked up the slack. Since the All-Star break, he's hitting .443 (35-for-79), including four triples and four homers. A former pitcher the D-backs converted out of independent ball in 2013, Peralta is here to stay as he's put himself on the map as one of the team's best assets. -- Jeff Wiser (@OutfieldGrass24), Inside the 'Zona | |||
| 17 | 2 Last Week: 15 | Winning games on the road has been tough for the Twins, who are 21-34 away from Target Field. That's why their 10-game AL East road trip that gets underway Monday will be a huge test as they try to hang in the wild-card race. -- Nick Nelson (@NickNelsonMN), Twins Daily | |||
| 18 | 1 Last Week: 17 | Though the Tigers are five games under .500, they have a bright spot in Justin Verlander, who has regained some of his old form to the tune of a 1.75 ERA, five walks and 32 strikeouts over his past five starts, covering a 36-inning stretch. -- Grey Papke (@walkoffwoodward), Walkoff Woodward | |||
| 19 | 4 Last Week: 23 | Matt Kemp hit for the cycle Friday night, becoming the first Padre in franchise history to do so, in the club's 7,444th game. Kemp hit .305/.370/.537 with five home runs and 20 RBIs in his first 95 at-bats since the All-Star break. Struggling Jedd Gyorko put up a more promising .258/.307/.452 line in his first 93 post-break at-bats. -- Diane Firstman (@dianagram), Value Over Replacement Grit | |||
| 20 |
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Last Week: 20 | Despite having All-Star Jason Kipnis and stalwart Michael Brantley on the DL, the Indians managed to go 4-2 last week. Corey Kluber notched his second straight complete game win on Friday. On Saturday, the Tribe's feeble offense again ruined a perfectly good outing, in this case Josh Tomlin's first 2015 start in his continual quest to recover from Tommy John surgery. -- Susan Petrone (@susanpetrone), It's Pronounced "Lajaway" | |||
| 21 | 2 Last Week: 19 | Jose Abreu at the center of the lineup stands out as a reliable positive going forward for the White Sox as they suffered through another up-and-down week featuring their trademark combination of standout pitching and gross incompetence. Abreu already has more homers since the All-Star break (eight) than he had in the second half of 2014, and has hit .291/.386/.564. -- James Fegan (@TheCatbird_Seat), The Catbird Seat | |||
| 22 | 1 Last Week: 21 | Atlanta continues its bullpen merry-go-round. Last week saw them sign Cubs castoff Edwin Jackson for a relief role and then promote a fan favorite, Aussie side-armer Peter Moylan. Those were the Nos. 32 and 33 pitchers used this season by the team, already a franchise record. -- Martin Gandy (@gondeee), Chop County | |||
| 23 | 1 Last Week: 24 | The Reds are still floundering, 23½ games out of first place. No Red has struggled this year more than center fielder Billy Hamilton (.228/.272/.293). The Reds got a glimpse of the player they thought they were getting when Hamilton went 4-for-4 with a homer and four runs scored in a game against the Dodgers on Thursday. -- Chad Dotson (@dotsonc), Redleg Nation | |||
| 24 | 2 Last Week: 22 | There was magic in the air at Safeco Field on Wednesday as Hisashi Iwakuma, a player many forecast Seattle would trade before the July 31 deadline, went on to pitch the fifth no-hitter in Mariners history. While he was masterful, the Orioles helped him out as they swung at almost 55 percent of his pitches; Iwakuma threw less than 38 percent in the strike zone. -- Jeff Wiser (@OutfieldGrass24), Inside the 'Zona | |||
| 25 | 1 Last Week: 26 | In a season in which few things have gone right, Red Sox Nation got its most sobering news on Friday, when manager John Farrell revealed that he has been diagnosed with lymphoma and will begin treatment immediately. Our thoughts are with Farrell, one of the most impressive human beings you could ever meet. -- Ryan P. Morrison (@ryanpmorrison), Inside the 'Zona | |||
| 26 | 2 Last Week: 28 | The back-and-forth continued for Milwaukee, prolonging recent divisional woes and separating the club from Philadelphia. Last week's chance to look forward came from GM Doug Melvin, who stepped aside after leading the club to one of its most prolonged competitive stretches in franchise history. -- Nicholas Zettel (@spectivewax), Disciples of Uecker | |||
| 27 | 2 Last Week: 25 | The A's were winless last week (0-6), as they were outscored 48-18. Times sure are bad in Oakland. -- ESPN.com | |||
| 28 | 1 Last Week: 29 | A key initiative for the Phillies in the offseason will have to be improving their team defense. They're last in the majors with minus-83 defensive runs saved, 37 runs worse than any other club. -- David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield), SweetSpot | |||
| 29 | 2 Last Week: 27 | The Rockies had a tough week, going 1-6. This season has been rough for the Rockies, who sit in last place in the NL West. -- Marco Mamolen (@DrHekylR), Rockies Zingers | |||
| 30 |
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Last Week: 30 | On Saturday night, Ichiro Suzuki collected his 4,192nd professional hit -- counting his totals from Japan and Major League Baseball -- passing Ty Cobb's total that ranks second all time. After Wednesday, Miami will not play another game this year west of Atlanta. -- Diane Firstman (@dianagram), Value Over Replacement Grit | |||
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