Monday, May 23, 2016

2016 Week 7 MLB Power Rankings

  • ESPN.com
It wasn't the best week for the Chicago Cubs, but they are still unanimously on top of the rankings. After climbing to No. 2 last week and making it an all-Chicago top two, the White Sox fell back four spots to No. 6 after a 2-4 week.
It was just a .500 week for the Boston Red Sox (3-3), but that was enough to carry MLB's top offensive team into the No. 2 spot behind the Cubs. Can they put any pressure on the Cubs for No. 1?
The biggest move up at the top of the rankings comes from the San Francisco Giants, who jumped from No. 10 up to No. 4 following a 5-1 week that saw them take two of three from the Cubs.
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 SweetSpot Blog Network.
Past rankings: Week 6 | Week 5 | Week 4 | Week 3 | Week 2 | Week 1 | Preseason


1. Chicago Cubs

Record: 29-13
Week 6 ranking: No. 1
The Cubs dodge a major bullet with the announcement that Jason Heyward will miss only a few days after colliding with a wall in San Francisco on Friday night. -- Joe Aiello (@VFTB), View from the Bleachers


2. Boston Red Sox

Record: 27-17
Week 6 ranking: No. 3
In dropping two of three in a short road trip to Kansas City, the team lost just its fourth series of the year. But the Red Sox have been dominant at home, scoring 6.75 runs per game and allowing 4.67 per game. -- Ryan P. Morrison (@ryanpmorrison), Inside the 'Zona


3. Washington Nationals

Record: 27-17
Week 6 ranking: No. 4
How good has the rotation been? Max Scherzer has the worst ERA of the five at 3.80. With Lucas Giolito, the top pitching prospect in the minors, ready at some point, would the Nats consider a trade? Only Bryce Harper, Daniel Murphy and Wilson Ramos have been above average and the bench guys are all hitting below .200 except Chris Heisey. -- David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield), SweetSpot


4. San Francisco Giants

Record: 27-19
Week 6 ranking: No. 10
A four-game sweep of the Diamondbacks and a three-game sweep of the Padres gave the Giants their first cushioned lead in the NL West, pulling away from Dodgers with wins Saturday and Sunday over the Cubs. -- Jeff Wiser (@OutfieldGrass24), Inside the 'Zona


5. Baltimore Orioles

Record: 26-16
Week 6 ranking: No. 5
Matt Wieters has been on a tear of late. He has totaled more than half of his extra-base hits in recent games, making up for his slow start to the season. The Orioles would more than welcome a full year of above-average production at the plate. -- Matt Kremnitzer (@mattkremnitzer), Camden Depot


6. Chicago White Sox

Record: 26-18
Week 6 ranking: No. 2
The White Sox have lost four straight series and have seen their division lead over the Indians and Royals melt away. Inconsistent offense and some shaky starts by Mat Latos and Carlos Rodon haven't helped matters. -- Jeff Wiser (@OutfieldGrass24), Inside the 'Zona


7. Seattle Mariners

Record: 26-17
Week 6 ranking: No. 7
In a career that has been filled with ups and downs, Franklin Gutierrez reached a new high with a 473-foot blast Saturday against the Reds. His slow start hasn't held back the M's as they lead the division narrowly over the Rangers. -- Jeff Wiser (@OutfieldGrass24), Inside the 'Zona


8. New York Mets

Record: 25-18
Week 6 ranking: No. 6
The Mets are 20-7 when they hit a home run, lead the National League with 60 homers, and have allowed only 27. That plus-33 homer differential is the best in MLB. Their 17 multihomer games are the most in the NL and Yoenis Cespedes' 14 HRs are tied for tops in the senior circuit. -- Joe Janish (@metstoday), Mets Today


9. Cleveland Indians

Record: 22-19
Week 6 ranking: No. 14
The Indians swept the battle of Ohio last week against the Reds, outscoring them 43-16 over the course of the four-game series. It was a rare offensive outburst for a team that has struggled to score runs at times this year, led by Rajai Davis and Francisco Lindor, who hit .563 and .524 respectively during the series. -- Stephanie Liscio, It's Pronounced Lajaway


10. St. Louis Cardinals

Record: 23-21
Week 6 ranking: No. 11
They were last in the NL in home runs in 2014 and 11th last year, but rank second so far this season. And they're leading the league in runs. -- David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield), SweetSpot


11. Pittsburgh Pirates

Record: 23-19
Week 6 ranking: No. 12
The Pirates have a positive run differential despite a defense that has graded barely above average per UZR and a pitching staff deemed replacement level, per fWAR. A .785 OPS ranks the Pirates fourth in baseball -- but just third in their own division. -- Ryan P. Morrison (@ryanpmorrison), Inside the 'Zona


12. Texas Rangers

Record: 25-19
Week 6 ranking: No. 8
The Rangers took another series from the Astros this weekend -- their second this season -- and find themselves within striking distance of first place in the AL West. The best news? Yu Darvish is scheduled to return Saturday. -- Brandon Land (@onestrikeaway), One Strike Away


13. Kansas City Royals

Record: 22-21
Week 6 ranking: No. 14
Mike Moustakas went 0-for-7 in his return from the DL as the offense continues to struggle. Still, it was a good week, taking two of three from both the Red Sox and White Sox as they allowed less than three runs per game. -- David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield), SweetSpot


14. Philadelphia Phillies

Record: 25-19
Week 6 ranking: No. 13
Based on Baseball-reference.com's strength of schedule, the Phillies have faced the fourth-easiest schedule in the league. If they want to contend, they'll need to do better than their recent 9-6 stretch against the Braves, Reds and Marlins because it's not going to get any easier. -- Richard Bergstrom (@rbergstromjr), Rockies Zingers


15. Los Angeles Dodgers

Record: 22-23
Week 6 ranking: No. 9
A shaky bullpen will have the Dodgers continuing with eight relievers for at least the next few games. Meanwhile, uberprospect Julio Urias lowered his ERA to 1.10 with his fifth straight scoreless Triple-A start (in seven turns) on Friday, and he has a 44-8 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 41 innings on the season. Opposing hitters are batting just .176 against Urias. -- Diane Firstman (@dianagram), Value Over Replacement Grit


16. Tampa Bay Rays

Record: 20-21
Week 6 ranking: No. 18
The Rays' offense is doing what was once thought impossible, hitting for a bunch of power. Over the past two weeks the Rays have the highest team ISO (isolated power) fueling a second best wRC+ (weighted runs created plus). Kevin Kiermaier's injury means the team will be down another of their few, true every-day players. Do not overlook the enormousness of his loss.-- Jason Hanselman, The Process Report


17. Miami Marlins

Record: 22-21
Week 6 ranking: No. 16
Christian Yelich has been the early-season MVP for Miami. Yelich's slash line through Saturday was .320/.420/.524 with five homers, 24 walks and 20 RBIs. From May 7 through Saturday, Giancarlo Stanton had gone 4-for-48 (.083) with one homer, one RBI and 26 strikeouts. Through Saturday, Jose Fernandez's 13.08 strikeouts per nine innings leads the majors. -- Diane Firstman (@dianagram), Value Over Replacement Grit


18. Toronto Blue Jays

Record: 22-24
Week 6 ranking: No. 15
Toronto's next 12 games are against either the Red Sox or Yankees. They haven't been two games over .500 since starting the year 2-0. Josh Donaldson's ejection was the 53rd in the majors this season and Toronto's nine ejections account for almost 17 percent of the leaguewide total (thanks, Rougned Odor). -- Diane Firstman (@dianagram), Value Over Replacement Grit


19. Detroit Tigers

Record: 21-22
Week 6 ranking: No. 22
The Tigers have won six of their past seven games. That's the good news. The bad news is they lost Jordan Zimmermann (groin) and Miguel Cabrera (knee) to injury. Hopefully they are just dings because any significant time lost by either of them would put a huge dent in their playoff hopes. -- Richard Bergstrom (@rbergstromjr), Rockies Zingers


20. New York Yankees

Record: 21-22
Week 6 ranking: No. 20
A slow start to the first West Coast trip of the season ended with the Yankees winning five straight and coming home no longer in the AL East basement. The rotation got back on track this latest turn through and the team is getting healthier by the day, so perhaps the dark days of a few weeks ago are behind the Yanks as they prepare for another homestand. -- Brad Vietrogoski, It's About the Money


21. Colorado Rockies

Record: 21-21
Week 6 ranking: No. 19
The Rockies had one game this week where three different hitters had three hits, but they managed to score only one run. Hitting with runners in scoring position has been their bugaboo and they need to find a solution if they want to stay afloat in the NL West. -- Richard Bergstrom (@rbergstromjr), Rockies Zingers


22. Los Angeles Angels

Record: 20-24
Week 6 ranking: No. 26
Mike Trout left Sunday's game after tweaking his ankle, but he says he's fine. C.J. Cron needs to get going. He was supposed to be another power source but has just three home runs. -- David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield), SweetSpot


23. Arizona Diamondbacks

Record: 21-25
Week 6 ranking: No. 21
The D-backs' pitching staff had a slow start to the year, but after posting a 4.90 ERA in April, they've pitched to a respectable 3.86 ERA in May. Rubby De La Rosa has been a revelation, but has had his most recent start skipped because of groin tightness. -- Ryan P. Morrison (@ryanpmorrison), Inside the 'Zona


24. Oakland Athletics

Record: 19-26
Week 6 ranking: No. 25
Khris Davis has 12 home runs and 29 RBIs, but he also has five walks, 42 strikeouts and .a 263 OBP. It adds up to 0.5 WAR. -- David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield), SweetSpot


25. Houston Astros

Record: 17-28
Week 6 ranking: No. 23
The Astros are now 11 games under .500 after getting swept by the Rangers. The last team with a record this poor through 45 games to make the postseason was ... the 2005 Astros, who started 15-30 and eventually reached the World Series. -- David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield), SweetSpot


26. Milwaukee Brewers

Record: 18-26
Week 6 ranking: No. 27
A pair of dazzling performances from starting pitchers headlined the week for Milwaukee, which began with Chase Anderson taking a no-hitter into the eighth inning against the Cubs. Junior Guerra followed that up with an 11-strikeout performance, pushing his record to 3-0 and allowing the Brewers to steal a series from the top team in baseball. -- Gabe Stoltz (@Stoltzy3), Disciples of Uecker


27. San Diego Padres

Record: 19-26
Week 6 ranking: No. 24
Raise your hand if you had Melvin Upton Jr. leading the team in OPS (.766 through Saturday). Carlos Villanueva has a 23-4 strikeout-to-walk ratio through his first 24⅔ innings, but also has allowed 33 hits, including eight homers. Drew Pomeranz is sporting a sterling 1.96 ERA but has recorded a seventh-inning out in only one of his eight starts. -- Diane Firstman (@dianagram), Value Over Replacement Grit


28. Cincinnati Reds

Record: 15-29
Week 6 ranking: No. 28
Just when you think it can't get any worse, the Reds proceed to lose seven in a row and 10 out of 11. Some potential good news, however, is that Jay Bruce may be rebuilding his trade value, hitting .270/.327/.518 with eight homers and 28 RBIs. -- Chad Dotson (@dotsonc), Redleg Nation


29. Minnesota Twins

Record: 11-32
Week 6 ranking: No. 29
What looked on paper like a potentially explosive offense has turned out to be quite the opposite. The Twins have scored seven or more runs only three times all season. Joe Mauer, one of lineup's lone bright spots in April, is batting .182 in May.-- Nick Nelson (@NickNelsonMN), Twins Daily


30. Atlanta Braves

Record: 12-31
Week 6 ranking: No. 30
The last-place Braves, determined to be first at something, became the first team to fire their manager early last week. The team responded with a season high in runs scored in the first game for new manager Brian Snitker, who is now 3-2 in his first week at the helm. -- Martin Gandy (@gondeee), Chop County

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