Gopín’s Treinta: MLB Power Rankings Week 8

Glen Perkins has been perfect in save opportunities for the surging Twins.

Two months of baseball has passed and the Minnesota Twins, yes the Minnesota Twins, have the best record in the American League.

1. St. Louis Cardinals (33-17, Last Week-2): Losing Matt Adams for an extended period of time will hurt, but there are first basemen that should be available at the trade deadline for them to pick up, such as Garrett Jones and maybe even Ryan Howard if they do not have to take on a lot of money from his contract.

2. Minnesota Twins (30-19, Last Week-7): Don’t know if this can last because a batting average of .304 with runners in scoring position isn’t sustainable, but it sure is a fun time to be Twins fan as they 20-7 in May.

3. Houston Astros (31-20, Last Week-4): Yes Scott Feldman hasn’t been great, but he’s been reliable for the most part and losing him until the All-Star break weakens an already thin Astros rotation.

4. Los Angeles Dodgers (29-20, Last Week-5): Kenley Jansen is yet to allow a hit since coming back from the DL, which has stabilized the back end of their bullpen.

5. Kansas City Royals (29-19, Last Week-1): The Kansas City fanbase has showed up in All-Star voting, as they currently have five players who would start if voting ended today.

6. San Francisco Giants (30-22, Last Week-8): After not hitting any home runs in his first 30 games, Brandon belt has seven in his last 16.

7. Washington Nationals (28-22, Last Week-3): They go on this crazy hot streak to take first place, then get swept by the Reds? Not what you’d expect from a team as loaded as they are. Injuries this week to Stephen Strasburg and Jayson Werth are concerning.

8. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (27-24, Last Week-11): A four game sweep of the Tigers puts them only four games behind Houston as they start to pull away from .500.

9. Detroit Tigers (28-24, Last Week-6): After their torrid start, they’ve gone 17-22 and the only way it will stop is if Justin Verlander is good and healthy and Anibal Sanchez isn’t getting shelled every other start.

10. New York Mets (28-23, Last Week-10): Bartolo Colon got a double and it was the best thing ever.

11. Chicago Cubs (26-22, Last Week-9): Tsuyoshi Wada has been racking up the strikeouts since returning from the DL with K/9 rate of 10.91.

12. Pittsburgh Pirates (26-24, Last Week-13): Starling Marte has been quietly having a very strong season as he is on pace to hit over 30 home runs this season.

13. Texas Rangers (26-25, Last Week-16): Losing Adrian Beltre hurts for an offense that has been one of the best in the month of May.

14. New York Yankees (26-25, Last Week-14): So after losing 10 of 11, they sweep the Royals then lose three of four to the A’s. Makes total sense.

15. Tampa Bay Rays (26-25, Last Week-12): Steven Souza Jr. is striking out 42.5% of the time, but he’s been productive when he makes contact as he has an OPS of .808.

16. Cleveland Indians (24-26, Last Week-22): Jason Kipnis should be the starting second baseman for the All-Star Game because he is hitting .340 and has an OPS of .940.

17. Seattle Mariners (24-26, Last Week-17): Kyle Seager is hitting now, which is important for their playoff hopes, but Robinson Cano has got to be more productive as his bat is crucial for that to happen.

18. Atlanta Braves (25-25, Last Week-18): Mike Foltynewicz, the pitcher they received from Houston in the Evan Gattis trade, has been a nice addition to their rotation as he has an ERA under four.

19. San Diego Padres (25-27, Last Week-21): A prime example of why people are starting to care less about pitcher wins and losses is in the Padres rotation as James Shields is 6-0 with an ERA of 3.69 while Andrew Cashner is 2-7 with an ERA of 3.00.

20. Baltimore Orioles (23-26, Last Week-15): Finally getting Matt Wieters back will be helpful, but Caleb Joseph hasn’t been bad as his replacement so far this season with an OPS of .745

21. Arizona Diamondbacks (23-26, Last Week-20): They had ten (TEN!) games this month that they lost that could have easily gone the other way with some luck and better relief pitching. If they won five of those they would be 28-21, one game behind the Dodgers for first.

22. Chicago White Sox (23-26, Last Week-23): Melky Cabrera is struggling from the right side as he an average of .087 versus left-handed pitchers.

23. Cincinnati Reds (22-27, Last Week-28): Todd Frazier has been fantastic with a slash line of .287/.372/.624 and 16 home runs, but only has 31 RBIs as a result of a lousy offense around him,

24. Toronto Blue Jays (23-29, Last Week-24): Pitching continues to struggle as they gave up four or more runs in four of their six games this week.

25. Boston Red Sox (22-29, Last Week-19): No one has an OPS over .800 and that is a big reason why they have one of the worst records in the American League.

26. Colorado Rockies (22-26, Last Week-26): Looks like the injuries are starting to catch up to Tulo as he is struggling to keep his OBP over .300, but there is a new star in Denver in third baseman Nolan Arenado who is slugging .563.

27. Oakland A’s (20-33, Last Week-29): Billy Beane must be excited for what he can get in return for Stephen Vogt when he trades him at the deadline.

28. Miami Marlins (20-31, Last Week-30): It should be a little concerning for the Marlins that Giancarlo Stanton is striking out nearly 36% of the time and is hitting only .228, but they have bigger problems, such as having their general manager being their manager.

29. Philadelphia Phillies (19-33, Last Week-25): They’ve lost seven in a row and it’s only going to get worse when they trade their only two good pitchers in Aaron Harang and Cole Hamels.

30. Milwaukee Brewers (17-34, Last Week-27): Snapped another long losing streak, this time with a walk-off home run in the 17th inning by catcher Martin Maldonado who slid into home when scoring the winning run.


Sources:

http://m.mlb.com/video/topic/11493214/v139105683/must-c-colon-bartolo-helps-himself-with-bat
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/schedule/index.jsp
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/standings/index.jsp
http://mlb.mlb.com/stats/sortable.jsp
https://nbchardballtalk.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/glen-perkins-twins.jpg
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2015/05/26/mlb-all-star-game-ballot-results-five-royals-starters/27975487/

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