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We are midway through May and MLB teams have already completed around 25% of their schedule. It's time to refresh our weekly power rankings and make some adjustments!
Remember, I will be factoring in past performance, the current level of performance, overall talent, and preseason expectations into the rankings -- though it's time to start letting go of expectations and focusing on what each team is doing on the field so far.
We have even more movement amongst teams this week with some big-time risers (and fallers) and a new No. 1 team! Without further ado, here are your Week 8 MLB Power Rankings!
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The Bottom Dwellers
30. Miami Marlins (13-32)
Last Week's Ranking (28)
With the other two bottom dwellers surging a bit, Miami drops to the last spot with the fewest wins in baseball. Its -87 run differential is tied with Chicago for the worst mark in baseball.
29. Chicago White Sox (14-30)
Last Week's Ranking (29)
Chicago got a surprisingly good performance from Mike Clevinger in his return to the mound last week and if he holds up, that gives it three pretty decent arms in its rotation with Garrett Crochet and Erick Fedde. The offense is terrible, however, scoring only 128 runs this season (24 less than the next-worst offense -- Toronto).
28. Colorado Rockies (15-28)
Last Week's Ranking (30)
The Rockies have won seven straight and might be starting to separate themselves from the rest of the bottom tier. Brenton Doyle has been fantastic at the plate, while Cal Quantrill has been quietly very good in the rotation.
At Least We're Not Those Guys
27. Los Angeles Angels (16-28)
Last Week's Ranking (27)
The Angels stink and are one more bad week from being demoted to the lowest tier of the rankings. Jo Adell is the lone bright spot on offense right now with Patrick Sandoval being the one Angels pitcher who has been fairly reliable as of late.
26. St. Louis Cardinals (18-25)
Last Week's Ranking (25)
The Cardinals continue to fall down the rankings and are in jeopardy of joining the bottom tier, too. Their offense has scored fewer runs than Miami, Colorado, Oakland, Washington, and Pittsburgh. It feels like a lost season already, I'll be really interested to see how quickly the front office admits defeat and starts looking to move veterans like Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado, Lance Lynn, or Sonny Gray.
25. Oakland Athletics (19-27)
Last Week's Ranking (21)
The A's got a big dose of reality, rising up the ranks last week only to drop back down again this week after losing five straight games. They're just 2-8 over their last 10 games now as their bats have cooled off significantly and they've been forced to use some minor league arms in their rotation.
24. Pittsburgh Pirates (20-25)
Last Week's Ranking (22)
The Pirates managed to win Paul Skenes' debut last week despite walking in five runs after he left in the fourth inning. Skenes will face the Cubs again tonight as all eyes will be on him and his 102 mph fastball. If only the Buccos could muster some offense; they are starting to assemble quite a strong, young rotation with Skenes, Jared Jones, and Mitch Keller leading the way.
Happy Paul Skenes bump day 🥳 pic.twitter.com/JkemloFAW5
— The Bucco Beat (@TheBuccoBeat) May 17, 2024
23. San Francisco Giants (20-25)
Last Week's Ranking (24)
The Giants are -47 in run differential, which is on par with St. Louis and Oakland. They struggle to score and don't have the same caliber of pitching that teams like Pittsburgh and Detroit do to save them. After Logan Webb and Jordan Hicks, the rest of the rotation has struggled.
22. Houston Astros (19-25)
Last Week's Ranking (26)
Here are our biggest jumpers of the week. The Astros might finally be waking up as they have won five straight games and seven of their last 10. The bats have come alive, but the bad news is that Ronel Blanco (their most consistent starter) just got suspended for 10 games for having a foreign substance on his glove. Perhaps Cristian Javier and Justin Verlander can hold down the fort.
21. Toronto Blue Jays (19-23)
Last Week's Ranking (23)
Toronto's offense continues to struggle, scoring just 152 runs through its first 42 games. That's just 3.6 runs per game. Even with a solid pitching staff, the Jays are simply not going to win many games with an offense that is very inept, especially in such a competitive division as the AL East.
20. New York Mets (20-23)
Last Week's Ranking (17)
The Mets dropped down a few spots this week as they're now three games under .500. J.D. Martinez is starting to hit, but the team as a whole is still putting up mediocre offensive stats. Jose Butto was sent down to Triple-A while Adrian Houser was brought up to take his spot in the rotation -- I'm pretty confident that doesn't make them better.
Pete Alonso rockets one outta here! 🚀 pic.twitter.com/nCyzpScmGm
— SNY (@SNYtv) May 16, 2024
19. Cincinnati Reds (19-25)
Last Week's Ranking (18)
The Reds picked up a big win against the Dodgers last night, but overall they have been pretty bad now for the last two weeks. They just put their best pitcher, Nick Lodolo, on the IL and continue to be a streaky team that is hard to figure out. They have so much talent that they're likely to be better than this at some point in the season -- it's just a matter of getting everyone healthy and back in sync.
18. Washington Nationals (20-22)
Last Week's Ranking (20)
The Nats continue to be better than a lot of bad teams, but I certainly wouldn't call them a good team by any means. They have enough scrappy hitters to give pitchers a hard time, but they still don't have much starting pitching behind MacKenzie Gore. Trevor Williams has been good but is likely pitching over his head. How soon until we see James Wood?
So...Are They Good?
17. Tampa Bay Rays (23-22)
Last Week's Ranking (19)
The Rays have shown some signs again this week of righting the ship. They still have the worst run differential of any team with a winning record (-28), so I am not sure how sustainable it is. For now, I have to bump them up into the middle tier. As I mentioned before, they could be getting a lot of help on the pitching side sometime this summer, so they just need to at least tread water until then.
16. Arizona Diamondbacks (21-23)
Last Week's Ranking (16)
The Snakes are holding steady here and are showing signs of getting it going as they've won seven of their last 10 games. They are a hard team to peg right now, but I still think they will be a potential contender when it's all said and done.
15. San Diego Padres (22-24)
Last Week's Ranking (15)
The Padres just got swept by the Rockies, which is pretty unforgivable.
The Rockies just swept the Padres and have won 7 straight 😳 pic.twitter.com/AfAJDwZRdV
— B/R Walk-Off (@BRWalkoff) May 15, 2024
I know Padres fans were probably not surprised and have come to expect their team to underperform based on the last handful of seasons, but there is really no way to explain how a team with this much talent continues to be so average.
14. Detroit Tigers (21-22)
Last Week's Ranking (14)
The Tigers were never really contenders, but their early-season run was fun and they are still playing very competitive baseball. Tarik Skubal is a legit Cy Young contender and Jack Flaherty has looked as good as he ever was in St. Louis so far. As long as they keep getting good pitching, they should be in games and can hang around the .500 mark.
Contenders, Maybe?
13. Boston Red Sox (22-22)
Last Week's Ranking (13)
This team is just .500 despite a solid +22 run differential. That tells me that it should have won at least a few more games and has probably been somewhat unlucky here in the early going. The good news is that Brayan Bello and Nick Pivetta are both back in the rotation and Garrett Whitlock is set to return next week. This team has enough pitching and hitting to hang in the Wild Card mix; let's see if it can go on a streak and create some separation from the rest of the field.
12. Texas Rangers (23-22)
Last Week's Ranking (8)
Texas could be running away with the division considering that the Astros started off so slowly and the Mariners took a while to get going -- but they are not. The Rangers have their own issues -- from a pitching staff that has been quite "mid" (as the kids say) and their offense being relatively inconsistent.
11. Seattle Mariners (24-20)
Last Week's Ranking (11)
The Mariners have the best rotation in baseball, I will stand by that statement. But they're being held back considerably by the offense that continues to lead all of baseball in strikeouts. The AL West is wide open as no one has been able to separate from the pack.
10. Milwaukee Brewers (26-17)
Last Week's Ranking (12)
I never really know what to do with Milwaukee, I will be honest. I bumped it back up a few spots as I may have been too quick to drop them last week. The Brewers just continue to hit and get just enough pitching to get by and keep winning.
🔵 9-game hit streak
🔵 23-game on-base streak
🔵 Reached base in 40 of 43 games
🔵 1st in NL in runs
🔵 2nd in averageBest catcher in baseball. pic.twitter.com/8t486sEGiK
— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) May 15, 2024
I am not sure when their magic runs out -- or maybe it never will and they will be a surprise winner of the NL Central this season.
9. Chicago Cubs (25-20)
Last Week's Ranking (10)
The Cubs are sitting five games above .500 and are clearly one of the more balanced teams in baseball. I am not sure they have enough pitching right now to win a playoff series, but Shota Imanaga and Justin Steele would at least give them a puncher's chance. Mike Tauchman might be my favorite blue-collar hitter and Cubs MVP so far this season.
8. Kansas City Royals (26-19)
Last Week's Ranking (9)
The Royals are really good and might be flirting with a bump up to the contenders section soon. They continue to get quality starting pitching and have a very healthy +45 run differential, which shows that they belong among the best teams in baseball.
7. Minnesota Twins (24-19)
Last Week's Ranking (7)
The Twins have dropped three straight games as they ran into the buzz saw that is the New York Yankees. They had put together several really good weeks of baseball before that, however, to move them back into contention with KC and Cleveland in the AL Central. This could be a really fun three-team race as all three teams seem equally matched right now.
Contenders, For Sure
6. Cleveland Guardians (27-17)
Last Week's Ranking (6)
The Guardians are very much on the borderline here as I think they could contend for their division, but I also don't view them as true contenders for a World Series title as I do with the other five teams up here. They are likely overachieving so far but don't tell them that. This is a good ball club and they are likely heading for a winning season. But I have my concerns about the back half of their rotation with Ben Lively, Carlos Carrasco, and Logan Allen all looking very hittable lately.
5. Atlanta Braves (26-14)
Last Week's Ranking (5)
The Braves are still an elite team, but their offense has limped along lately. They're at 193 runs scored this season, which is fewer than 12 other teams. On the bright side, Chris Sale continues to dominate on the mound and has given them a true ace in their rotation to fill the void left behind by Spencer Strider.
4. Los Angeles Dodgers (29-17)
Last Week's Ranking (1)
The Dodgers drop to fourth, but not because they really did anything wrong, as it's just a matter of the other teams surging at the moment. L.A. is still leading the league with an impressive +76 run differential and it's almost a foregone conclusion that they will be playing baseball in the final few weeks of the postseason.
3. Baltimore Orioles (27-14)
Last Week's Ranking (3)
The O's are 7-3 over their last 10 games and continue to be my favorite to win the American League. They're loaded on offense and they are getting healthy on their pitching staff. Plus, they have the minor league prospects to use as trade bait when the time comes.
2. New York Yankees (30-15)
Last Week's Ranking (4)
The Bronx Bombers just keep on rolling right along! They've won four in a row and continue to prove the haters (myself included) wrong. Clarke Schmidt pitched a gem yesterday and is starting to look like a really darn good pitcher. If this team can keep up this pace without Gerrit Cole, they will surely be in a great spot to contend for their division and the American League pennant this fall.
1. Philadelphia Phillies (31-14)
Last Week's Ranking (2)
Are the Phillies the best team in baseball? Well, right now, they have the best record in the game and they continue to surge ahead of the Braves in the NL East. The pitching staff is phenomenal and the lineup is deep with the bottom half of the order contributing to their run totals quite often.
“I wouldn’t be surprised to see these guys in the World Series again”
-Phillies legend Chase Utley sees similarities with these Phillies to his 2011 team that is the last Phillies team to win 100+ games. Phils record 102 wins https://t.co/KDd9wxEGjg
— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) May 17, 2024
I'll see you next week for my newest batch of rankings -- feel free to let me know what I got right and wrong!
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