For the first time this season, the Chicago Cubs weren't the unanimous No. 1 team, with the red-hot Cleveland Indians
picking up one first-place vote. After winning 14 in a row, the Indians
finished the week on a down note, losing their last two, including a
17-1 drubbing on Sunday. But the Indians' winning streak, combined with
the Cubs' struggles in New York, were enough to steal a vote away.
Can the Cubs get back on track and hold onto the top spot heading into the All-Star break at the end of the week?
Elsewhere, the Houston Astros
made their way back into the top 10 ( No. 8) for the first time since
Week 1 when they were No. 9. After starting at No. 5 in our preseason
rankings, the Astros dropped as low as No. 25 (Week 5 and Week 7).
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 12 | Week 11 | Week 10 | Week 9 | Week 8 | Week 7 | Week 6 | Week 5 | Week 4 | Week 3 | Week 2 | Week 1 | Preseason
Record:51-30 Week 12 ranking:No. 1
The Cubs have
played .500 baseball over their past 30 games, but they still find
themselves with the best record in baseball and have a farm system
filled with talent that can be used to purchase reinforcements ahead of
the trade deadline. -- Joe Aiello (@VFTB), View from the Bleachers
Record: 49-32 Week 12 ranking:No. 4
The Indians made
history this week by winning their 14th consecutive game, a franchise
record. It didn't come easy, as it took a marathon 19-inning win against
the Blue Jays on Friday where the Indians were forced to burn through
their entire bullpen, as well as the next day's scheduled starter. -- Stephanie Liscio (@stephanieliscio), It's Pronounced Lajaway
Record:52-32 Week 12 ranking:No. 2
Bruce Bochy rolled the dice Thursday in letting Madison Bumgarner
bat for himself in Oakland, eschewing the chance to use a DH in the
pitcher's spot. While MadBum was far from perfect on the mound, he
sparked a six-run third inning with a double and the Giants never looked
back. -- Jeff Wiser (@OutfieldGrass24), Inside the 'Zona
Record: 50-33 Week 12 ranking:No. 5
What a difference compared to a year ago for Stephen Strasburg.
Last season, he was 5-5, 5.49 on July 4. This year, he's 11-0, 2.71 and
became the first NL starter since Andy Hawkins in 1985 to start 11-0. -- David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield), SweetSpot
Record: 52-31 Week 12 ranking:No. 3
The Rangers, at the
halfway mark, are on pace for around 103 wins, but cracks in the armor
are beginning to show. The bullpen needs some help and if the starting
rotation doesn't get healthy, it will need another reliable arm for the
stretch run. -- Brandon Land (@onestrikeaway), One Strike Away
Record: 47-34 Week 12 ranking:No. 6
During Seattle's
four-game sweep of Baltimore, Orioles pitchers allowed 31 runs. It's not
surprising that O's pitching -- the starting pitching, in particular --
has performed poorly lately, but the team's offense wasn't able to save
it this time. The O's rotation can't get to the All-Star break fast
enough. -- Matt Kremnitzer (@mattkremnitzer), Camden Depot
Record:47-37 Week 12 ranking:No. 8
Despite having six
starting pitchers on the disabled list at one point this year, Los
Angeles is still within shouting distance of the first-place Giants.
With Joc Pederson now hurt, it would be great if Andre Ethier's broken leg would heal a bit quicker. -- Diane Firstman (@dianagram), Value Over Replacement Grit
Record: 43-39 Week 12 ranking:No. 11
A.J. Reed's first
week in the majors has been a struggle. He did hit his first home run
Saturday, but he went 2-for-22 with 11 strikeouts in his first seven
games. The Astros hope he can take over a full-time job, but they're
going to be exploring the trade market for a corner infielder. -- David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield), SweetSpot
Record:44-37 Week 12 ranking:No. 7 Eduardo Rodriguez,
who finally rejoined the rotation in late May, was demoted back to
Pawtucket after yielding 28 earned runs in six starts. It's starting to
look as though pitch-tipping habits could seriously limit E-Rod's future
production. -- Ryan P. Morrison (@ryanpmorrison), Inside the 'Zona
Record: 44-37 Week 11 ranking:No. 10 Noah Syndergaard
is tied for the NL's lowest HR/9 rate (0.4), is second in BB/9 (1.3),
second in K/BB ratio (8.2), second in FIP (1.88), fourth in K/9 (11.0),
and fourth in ERA (2.41). Syndergaard has not walked a batter in seven
of his 10 starts, second-best in the NL, and throws MLB's fastest
average fastball for a starters (98.2 MPH), sinker (98.0), slider
(91.3), and change-up (90.1). -- Joe Janish (@metstoday), MetsToday.com
Record: 43-38 Week 12 ranking:No. 13
After an
up-and-down June that saw them go 14-14 and included a five-game winning
streak and a five-game losing streak, the Cards started off July in
style, winning three straight at home over the Brewers. Despite their
inconsistent play, the Cardinals still own baseball's second-best run
differential at plus-82 (through Sunday). -- ESPN.com
Record:43-38 Week 12 ranking:No. 12 Yordano Ventura
left Sunday's start in the third inning after spraining his ankle while
running the bases. It wasn't a good step up to then, with four runs and
two home runs, pushing his season ERA to 5.26. He'll need to finish
strong like he did last year in the second half. -- David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield), SweetSpot
Record:45-39 Week 12 ranking:No. 9 Marco Estrada
has been dealing with a sore back for the past several weeks, and it
clearly showed Saturday. His velocity was down and at times he could
barely bend over. Jose Bautista, currently in a walking boot, is not expected back until after the All-Star break. Josh Donaldson hit .368/.487/.705 during June. -- Diane Firstman (@dianagram), Value Over Replacement Grit
Record: 44-38 Week 12 ranking:No. 15
The Tigers have
won their past six games. That's good. In their past four series, they
have either swept their opponent or been swept. That's quirky. That
their eight most recent losses and three most recent losing series all
came against the Indians, Royals and White Sox could be a quirk of the
schedule or an indication of where they stand in the AL Central. -- Richard Bergstrom (@rbergstromjr), Rockies Zingers
Record: 43-39 Week 12 ranking:No. 14
Hovering just over .500 at the halfway mark of the season, Miami is apparently making a playoff push, acquiring Fernando Rodney to shore up the back end of the bullpen. Closer A.J. Ramos saw his string of 24 consecutive saves this year and 33 overall come to an end Friday. -- Diane Firstman (@dianagram), Value Over Replacement Grit
Record: 43-39 Week 12 ranking:No. 17
Seattle finally got a little bit of good news this week as Taijuan Walker
returned to the mound after recovering from a foot injury. In his first
healthy start, he threw 6 1/3 innings of one-run ball against the AL
East-leading Orioles. He'll be vital if the M's want to make up ground.
-- Jeff Wiser (@OutfieldGrass24), Inside the 'Zona
Record:41-41 Week 12 ranking:No. 18
A disappointing
9-19 Pirates record in June featured a pair of five-game losing streaks
and a 5.31 team ERA, better than only the Phillies and Twins in the
month. The team is still in the thick of the NL wild-card race, despite
slipping to .500. -- Ryan P. Morrison (@ryanpmorrison), Inside the 'Zona
Record:40-41 Week 12 ranking:No. 16
The Yankees went
3-4 this past week and have repeatedly failed in their attempt make it
above .500 and actually stay there. The good: Didi Gregorius has remained hot at the plate. The bad: Nathan Eovaldi
hasn't had a serviceable start in well over a month and is now toiling
near the bottom of the pitching leaderboards with a lofty 5.54 ERA. -- Stacey Gotsulias (@StaceGots), It's About the Money
Record:42-40 Week 12 ranking:No. 19
Just as it looked
like the Southsiders were resigned to fading into mediocrity and out of
relevance, the team closed out June with three straight series wins
against the Red Sox, Blue Jays and Twins. Chris Sale and Jose Quintana both have a case to start the All-Star Game next week. -- Jeff Wiser (@OutfieldGrass24), Inside the 'Zona
Record: 37-44 Week 12 ranking:No. 21
Though Troy Tulowitzki
returned to Coors Field last Monday as a visitor, by the end of that
week, some of the issues that plagued the Rockies during his tenure
crept up to create a five-game losing streak for Colorado. The pitching
staff has been ineffective and the offense has been nonexistent. To add
salt to the wound, his heir at shortstop, Trevor Story, got injured. -- Richard Bergstrom (@rbergstromjr), Rockies Zingers
Record: 35-46 Week 12 ranking:No. 23
While the Brewers have had trouble against the Dodgers and Cardinals, Junior Guerra
has been nothing but lights-out as of late. He won his third straight
outing Wednesday night, tossing eight scoreless innings of two-hit
baseball against Los Angeles and boosting his record to 5-1. -- Gabe Stoltz (@Stoltzy3), Disciples of Uecker
Record: 37-47 Week 12 ranking:No. 20 Jake Lamb's
breakout .292/.370/.603 slash line has made him one of the game's best
hitters. That slugging mark leads the National League. According to ESPN
Stats & Info, Lamb's .249 "well hit average" also leads the Senior
Circuit. -- Ryan P. Morrison (@ryanpmorrison), Inside the 'Zona
Record:37-46 Week 12 ranking:No. 27
There was a brief period when Peter Bourjos, who is known more for his glove work, was promising enough with the bat to share time with a young Angels rookie named Mike Trout.
Bourjos is currently hitting .446 (12-for-47) during a 12-game hitting
streak where hitting .250 would've been an improvement for this Phillies
team. -- Richard Bergstrom (@rbergstromjr), Rockies Zingers
Record: 33-48 Week 12 ranking:No. 22
As the window
starts to close on the 2016 Rays, the question becomes whether or not
they will be able to pry it open again in the foreseeable future. Guys
like Steve Pearce and Logan Morrison
won't be in St. Pete next year, but if this team is not going to be a
winner for several more years then it makes sense to move some bigger
names, as well. -- Jason Hanselman, The Process Report
Record:35-47 Week 12 ranking:No. 25
After getting
swept by the Pirates, the A's are now playing .427 baseball. Considering
they'll likely trade some relievers, maybe Danny Valencia and perhaps Josh Reddick or Rich Hill, they could be headed to 95 losses for the first time since 1997. -- David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield), SweetSpot
Record:35-47 Week 12 ranking:No. 24
All-Star hopeful Drew Pomeranz
has posted a 2.65 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and .191 opposing batting average
while striking out 10.4 per nine (eighth-best in baseball). Melvin Upton
set a team record with his third walk-off homer of the season Saturday.
-- Diane Firstman (@dianagram), Value Over Replacement Grit
Record:33-49 Week 12 ranking:No. 26 Carlos Perez went 5-for-6 with six RBIs on Saturday ... and he didn't have the best day on the team. C.J. Cron went 6-for-6 with five runs and five RBIs as they became the first teammates to combine for 11 hits and 11 RBIs since 1920. -- David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield), SweetSpot
Record:28-54 Week 12 ranking:No. 29
After taking a couple of weeks off, Atlanta continued to dismember its team for prospects, trading away Bud Norris. Yet the Braves replaced him in the rotation with Lucas Harrell, who pitched in Korea last year and outdueled Jose Fernandez on Saturday in his return to the majors. -- Martin Gandy (@gondeee), Chop County
Record:30-53 Week 12 ranking:No. 28
The beat rolls on for the hapless Reds, who have lost nine of their past 11. On the bright side, Adam Duvall continues to strengthen his All-Star case, with 22 homers, 58 RBIs and a .570 slugging percentage. -- Chad Dotson (@dotsonc), Redleg Nation
Record:27-54 Week 12 ranking:No. 30
The
Twins reached the halfway point with just 27 wins, putting them on pace
to finish with what would be a franchise-worst 54-108 record. -- ESPN.com
