ESPN.com
In Week 18 of our rankings, the St. Louis Cardinals reach a milestone as they own the No. 1 spot for the 10th consecutive week. The Houston Astros, meanwhile, are back among our top five spots (at No. 5) for the first time in four weeks.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. 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 3 | |||||
| RANK | TEAM / RECORD | TRENDING | COMMENTS | ||
| 1 |
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Last Week: 1 | The Cardinals went minimalist, acquiring Brandon Moss and Jonathan Broxton for the stretch drive after losing Matt Holliday to injury for the second time this season. -- Matt Philip (@fungoes), Fungoes | |||
| 2 |
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Last Week: 2 | The Royals exchanged a few words with the Blue Jays on Sunday after a few too many inside pitches, but the bigger news was that the Jays took three of four and scored at least five runs in all four games in the series. -- David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield), SweetSpot | |||
| 3 |
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Last Week: 3 | A.J. Burnett, who has allowed 19 runs in his past 16 innings pitched since the All-Star break, landed on the DL last week, and his career could be over if his exam on Monday reveals a torn elbow ligament. Will Joe Blanton take his spot in the rotation, or will the Pirates try to find a starter via a waiver trade? -- David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield), SweetSpot | |||
| 4 |
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Last Week: 4 | The Dodgers bolstered their pitching for the stretch run with trades for Luis Avilan, Jim Johnson, Alex Wood and Mat Latos. Clayton Kershaw extended his scoreless innings streak to 37 with a two-hitter over eight innings on Saturday. Yasmani Grandal hit his 15th homer Saturday. Paul Lo Duca was the last Dodger to hit 20 homers as a catcher in a season (2001). -- Diane Firstman (@dianagram), Value Over Replacement Grit | |||
| 5 | 2 Last Week: 7 | The Astros have suddenly opened up a little ground over the Angels in the AL West race, winning seven of 10 -- including a sweep of the Angels -- as the Angels have stumbled. Scott Kazmir has provided a big lift, with two scoreless outings. -- David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield), SweetSpot | |||
| 6 | 1 Last Week: 5 | The Giants acquired Mike Leake to bolster their rotation, bumping Tim Hudson out in the process. Leake should transition well, since he's 4-0 with a 2.59 ERA lifetime at AT&T Park. -- Connor Grossman (@connorgrossman), West Coast Bias | |||
| 7 | 1 Last Week: 8 | While the Yankees stood (mostly) quiet at the deadline, Mark Teixeira has been screaming with the bat, crushing four home runs over the last week. He's been on fire since the All-Star break, carrying the Yanks with seven homers, 13 runs and 12 RBIs. He's quietly having an MVP-caliber season, posting 4.0 WAR for the season through July. -- Jason Rosenberg (@IIATMS), It's About the Money | |||
| 8 | 2 Last Week: 6 | Not a good week for the Angels: C.J. Wilson is likely out for the season, the Astros swept them and then added Carlos Gomez, and then the Dodgers swept them in the battle of L.A. -- David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield), SweetSpot | |||
| 9 |
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Last Week: 9 | Anthony Rendon, Ryan Zimmerman and Jayson Werth are all back in the lineup, but the Nats have yet to see the benefits. They've scored two or fewer runs in six of their last seven games. -- Harper Gordek (@harpergordek), Nationals Baseball | |||
| 10 |
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Last Week: 10 | Dexter Fowler hit .232/.308/.369 before the All-Star break. Since the break, he's put up a .305/.461/.458 slash line has been a big reason that the Cubs have been hot. -- Joe Aiello (@VFTB), View from the Bleachers | |||
| 11 | 1 Last Week: 12 | It was a very exciting week for the Blue Jays, as they made deadline moves for superstars Troy Tulowitzki and David Price, as well as useful pieces Ben Revere, Mark Lowe and LaTroy Hawkins. Toronto still has some work to do to make the postseason, but the team finally has the roster to make a run at the postseason possible. -- Joshua Howsam (@House4545), Blue Jays Plus | |||
| 12 | 1 Last Week: 13 | Noah Syndergaard has allowed two or fewer runs in each of his past seven starts. During that stretch, he's compiled a 1.44 ERA. -- ESPN.com | |||
| 13 | 3 Last Week: 16 | The Orioles hope Gerardo Parra can give the top of their lineup a boost while shoring up their corner outfield. -- Matt Kremnitzer (@mattkremnitzer), Camden Depot | |||
| 14 | 3 Last Week: 11 | The Twins are still clinging to a playoff position in the American League, but they haven't won a series since the All-Star break, and fellow postseason contenders improved a lot more at the deadline. -- Nick Nelson (@NickNelsonMN), Twins Daily | |||
| 15 | 2 Last Week: 17 | Texas gave the Phillies a good haul of talent for Cole Hamels and Jake Diekman, but retained the 80-grade power of Joey Gallo and highly touted outfielder Nomar Mazara. -- Brandon Land (@one_strike_away), One Strike Away | |||
| 16 | 1 Last Week: 15 | Technically sellers at the trade deadline, the Rays remain in contention for a playoff spot despite a prolonged slide down the standings and a roster lacking top-tier talent. In an effort to give the current group a boost, power prospect Richie Shaffer will join the club Monday in Chicago. -- Tommy Rancel (@trancel), The Process Report | |||
| 17 | 3 Last Week: 14 | Daniel Norris, acquired in the trade that sent David Price to the Blue Jays, pitched well in his debut with the Tigers on Sunday, allowing one run on four hits in 7⅓ innings. -- ESPN.com | |||
| 18 | 1 Last Week: 19 | The Padres shocked most analysts by not dealing Justin Upton, Craig Kimbrel or any of their starting pitchers. San Diego scored only 74 runs (and gave up 85) in their 24 July games, but managed to go 13-11 anyway. Their next game against a team currently over .500 isn't until Aug. 21 (Cardinals). -- Diane Firstman (@dianagram), Value Over Replacement Grit | |||
| 19 | 3 Last Week: 22 | Don't look now, but the D-backs are back within striking distance of .500 after taking three of four from Milwaukee, sweeping Seattle and scrapping with Houston. Despite a quiet trade deadline, 2015 has been an improvement. -- Jeff Wiser (@OutfieldGrass24), Inside the 'Zona | |||
| 20 |
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Last Week: 20 | An actually decent month for the White Sox offense (.753 OPS in July) has placed them within an arm's length of the pack of AL wild-card contenders. But after a quiet trade deadline, they'll be hard-pressed to run down the Angels, the Twins or the souped-up Blue Jays. -- James Fegan (@TheCatbird_Seat), The Catbird Seat | |||
| 21 | 3 Last Week: 18 | The front part of the Indians' rotation has been stellar, getting complete games from Corey Kluber and Carlos Carrasco and an excellent eight innings from Danny Salazar over the last week. Unfortunately, they just don't seem to be able to sustain strong starts and consistent offense for more than three games in row. -- Susan Petrone (@SusanPetrone), It's Pronounced "Lajaway" | |||
| 22 | 1 Last Week: 23 | At the deadline, Seattle held on to Hisashi Iwakuma, who's been excellent in four of his last five starts, instead dealing J.A. Happ, Dustin Ackley and Mark Lowe to the Pirates, Yankees and Blue Jays, respectively. Of note, Taijuan Walker threw a one-hit, one-run complete game during Friday's win over the Twins. It was the bright spot of the Mariners' week. -- Jeff Wiser (@outfieldgrass24), Inside the 'Zona | |||
| 23 | 2 Last Week: 21 | Atlanta surprised everyone by trading Alex Wood and top prospect Jose Peraza to the Dodgers. Now they are eagerly awaiting the purported hitting prowess of the principal player they got in return, third baseman Hector Olivera. They haven't won back-to-back games since July 20-21, a stretch that's seen them go 2-9, only once scoring more than three runs. -- Martin Gandy (@gondeee), Chop County | |||
| 24 | 1 Last Week: 25 | After the trades of Johnny Cueto and Mike Leake, Cincinnati's five-man starting rotation now consists entirely of rookie pitchers. The last time the Reds had rookies take the mound to start five or more consecutive games? 1935. -- Chad Dotson (@dotsonc), Redleg Nation | |||
| 25 | 1 Last Week: 26 | The trade deadline came and went without a major Red Sox trade, but as reported by ESPN Boston's Gordon Edes, it wasn't for lack of trying. This week the team will take a different tack in its preparations for 2016, promoting Brian Johnson and Henry Owens for an extended look. -- Ryan P. Morrison (@ryanpmorrison), Inside the 'Zona | |||
| 26 | 2 Last Week: 24 | Sonny Gray has pitched extremely well over his past three games, compiling a 1.17 ERA. -- ESPN.com | |||
| 27 | 1 Last Week: 28 | John Axford is out as closer after he blew his last four save chances for the Rockies. In his last six appearances, he has walked nine batters, including walking in the winning run on July 30 at St. Louis. With a dwindling bullpen, the Rockies will have to search for their fourth closer of the season. -- John Bristow (@GeologyJack), Rockies Zingers | |||
| 28 | 1 Last Week: 27 | After a short four-game winning streak to open the second half, the Brewers quickly fell back into old habits by going 2-10 over their past 12 games. But fans seem thrilled with the club's direction after an excellent trade deadline: President and GM Doug Melvin traded a handful of veterans for seven prospects, including one of the fast-rising stars of the Astros' system. -- Nicholas Zettel (@spectivewax), Disciples of Uecker | |||
| 29 |
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Last Week: 29 | After dealing Mat Latos, Dan Haren, Steve Cishek and Michael Morse, Miami has only four players under contract on their payroll once the 2015 season ends. They compiled a 2.79 team ERA in July but only went 10-15. Christian Yelich hit .319/.404/.429 in July. -- Diane Firstman (@dianagram), Value Over Replacement Grit | |||
| 30 |
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Last Week: 30 | Hey, give them credit for playing some good baseball. Even though Cole Hamels, Jonathan Papelbon and Ben Revere were shipped out at the trade deadline, the Phillies have gone 12-3 since the All-Star break, best in the majors. -- David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield), SweetSpot | |||
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