Our Power Rankings voting panel has had a wide variety of opinions so far, and it’s rare when all of us have one definitive view on where a team should rank.
For the most part, until recently, the only thing we all agreed on was that the Dodgers were the best team in baseball. As you’ll see below, we have decided that is no longer the case, which brings us to our second unanimous opinion: The Red Sox are No. 1 across the board, with not a single voter going rogue.
If you’re a fan of parity in baseball, there’s good news: 19 teams have records of .500 or better, which gives a tidy sum of fanbases reason to be excited about their teams.
Interestingly, though, only nine teams are more than two games over .500, hinting that while a few squads are poised to separate themselves as elite, we’re not really sure what to make of the rest — including the Dodgers, Astros and Braves, who, while still at or above .500, have thus far underperformed.
Biggest jump: The Cardinals jumped nine spots, from No. 15 to No. 6. The Cardinals began the season 8-10 and were three games out of the NL Central lead, but since then, they’re an MLB-best 13-4 and have a two-game lead in the division.
Biggest drop: The Brewers dropped eight spots, from No. 6 to No. 14. It should be noted that Milwaukee has won its last two games over Miami; it’s also notable that before that, the Brewers were riding a six-game losing streak during which they were outscored 39-17.
1. Red Sox (2 last week)
Comparatively speaking, Boston’s output in its win over Baltimore on Sunday was just so-so, given the tear the offense has been on for nearly a week. The Red Sox scored four runs off the O’s, marking only the third game in the past week they did not put up a double-digit run total. Prior to Sunday, they scored 45 runs over five games.
2. Giants (8)
While we’re all about the mantra “Let the Kids Play,” can we take a moment to acknowledge the veterans, too? The Giants have hit 12 homers in their past six games, and eight of them have come from the team’s old guard: Brandon Belt (3), Brandon Crawford (3) and Buster Posey (2). Belt has four homers and 11 RBIs over his past 11 games, while Crawford is 8-for-21 (.381) with four homers, nine RBIs and seven walks over his past nine games.
3. White Sox (4)
The White Sox pitching is on a roll, and, unsurprisingly, that’s translating to lots of winning. Before they allowed three runs in a 9-3 win over the Royals on Sunday, the White Sox had given up two runs over their past 38 innings, and one of those runs was unearned. In fact, when Lucas Giolito gave up a first-inning run on Sunday, it was the first time in a week that a Sox starter had given up a run. That ended a span of 25 1/3 innings, with 10 hits allowed to 97 batters.
4. Padres (3)
The Padres’ scuffling offense took a deep breath on Sunday and piled up 11 runs in a win over the Giants, a welcome turn of events considering the team scored 13 runs over their prior six games. Fernando Tatis Jr. is again thriving in the leadoff spot, logging four hits in nine at-bats over his past two games. One of those hits was a 454-foot homer off Johnny Cueto on Sunday that landed in the center-field bleachers. Tatis has seven homers and a batting average north of .350 in the leadoff spot, compared to a .122 average in all other spots. Maybe leave him at the top?
5. A’s (11)
That six-game losing streak to start the season continues to fade into memory with each strong week the A’s have put forth since then. Dating back to April 7, Oakland has an MLB-best 21-9 record, though it’s still in the hole with a -10 run differential. The A’s just completed a stretch of 17 games in 17 days, going 9-8. Oakland’s offense hasn’t been great, and the injuries piled up during that stretch, but the A’s are ahead by two games in the AL West. That’s reason for optimism.
The rest of the field of 30:
Voters: Alyson Footer, Anthony Castrovince, Jesse Sanchez, Mark Feinsand, Nathalie Alonso, Mike Petriello, Sarah Langs, Andrew Simon, David Venn
