1. St. Louis Cardinals (53-28, Last Week-1): First bad week in what seems like forever as they went 2-4 against the White Sox and Padres.
2. Pittsburgh Pirates (47-34, Last Week-4): Should have two pitchers from their rotation (Cole and Burnett) in the All-Star Game as they have been fantastic this year.
3. Houston Astros (48-36, Last Week-5): It looks like they will be going after an outfielder too at the trade deadline as George Springer broke his wrist this past week.
4. Kansas City Royals (46-33, Last Week-2): Houston showed their rotation needs upgrades when they were swept and only competitive in the last game of the series.
5. Washington Nationals (46-36, Last Week-6): It is really amazing how far Ian Desmond has fallen this year as he has a slash line of .215/.257/.340/.597. He has played himself out of a lot of money this season.
6. Los Angeles Dodgers (46-37, Last Week-3): Stories about Puig being unpopular in the locker room wasn’t too surprising. Is there a chance they trade him straight up for one of the Mets young starters? Would be an interesting trade.
7. Chicago Cubs (44-36, Last Week-12): A sweep against the Cardinals would be great as it would take a nice chunk out of their 8.5 game deficit in the NL Central standings.
8. New York Yankees (44-38, Last Week-9): Great first halves by Brian McCann, A-Rod, and Mark Teixeira. If they can keep up that production, they should be the favorites to win the AL East.
9. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (44-38, Last Week-15): Will need an upgrade on offense if they want to catch up to Houston because other than Trout and Pujols, the lineup is very thin.
10. Baltimore Orioles (43-39, Last Week-7): Replacing Bud Norris with Kevin Gausman in the rotation is a smart move as Norris has really struggled this season with an ERA of 6.63.
11. Tampa Bay Rays (43-41, Last Week-8): Matt Moore did not have a great first start after his return from Tommy John surgery; but, if he pitches the way he did before the injury, he would be a big boost to their rotation.
12. Toronto Blue Jays (43-41, Last Week-11): Landing a front of the rotation starter would do wonders to their rotation and practically guarantee them a win every time he would pitch because of their offense.
13. San Francisco Giants (42-41, Last Week-10): Matt Duffy, Joe Panik, and Brandon Crawford have been great for them as they have OPS’s of .796, .825, and .806 respectively.
14. New York Mets (42-41, Last Week-13): Have scored more than three runs only two times over the last two weeks. They are the complete opposite of the Toronto Blue Jays.
15. Minnesota Twins (43-39, Last Week-16): Miguel Sano was called up this week and has played well so far going 6-15 with two doubles. Also, it would be a shame if Brian Dozier and his 16 home runs do not make the All-Star Game.
16. Detroit Tigers (41-40, Last Week-14): Losing Miguel Cabrera for an extended period of time will definitely hurt as the team is continuing to struggle get out of third place.
17. Cleveland Indians (38-43, Last Week-24): Big four-game series at home against Houston and it comes at a good time as their pitching looks like it has hit its stride.
18. Texas Rangers (41-42, Last Week-17): Their thin rotation and Adrian Beltre’s struggles are why they have fallen below .500.
19. Arizona Diamondbacks (40-42, Last Week-18): Paul Goldschmidt is in the two of the Triple Crown categories and is making a great case for NL MVP.
20. Atlanta Braves (40-42, Last Week-20): If Julio Teheran can get back to his 2014 form, a rotation featuring him, Shelby Miller, and Alex Wood will be scary for several years.
21. Boston Red Sox (39-45, Last Week-25): Only six games out of first and a good week coupled with a bad week from the Yankees and Orioles could have them three or four games out by the All-Star Break.
22. Oakland A’s (38-47, Last Week-21): Marcus Semien is on pace for 50 errors at shortstop this season.
23. San Diego Padres (39-45, Last Week-19): A big reason they have been a big disappointment is that Matt Kemp has an OPS of .642 with the most at-bats on the team.
24. Seattle Mariners (38-44, Last Week-22): Taijuan Walker has been fantastic in his last seven starts going 6-1 with an ERA of 1.68 and a WHIP of 0.79.
25. Cincinnati Reds (36-44, Last Week-23): Getting swept by the Brewers pretty much ends their hopes of getting back into contention. Expect many trades following the All-Star Game.
26. Chicago White Sox (36-43, Last Week-26): Even though this season has been a disappointment, their rotation has a good future in Sale, Quintana, Rodon, and first-round draft pick Carson Fulmer.
27. Milwaukee Brewers (36-48, Last Week-29): The current eight-game winning streak is very impressive, especially that it includes starts from Garza and Lohse.
28. Miami Marlins (35-48, Last Week-28): What a disappointing season for Marcell Ozuna as he was sent down after he has struggled all year long (.638 OPS).
29. Colorado Rockies (35-47, Last Week-27): Other than his power, Tulo has had a good season and has stayed healthy playing in 74 of his team’s 82 games.
30. Philadelphia Phillies (28-56, Last Week-30): They are by far the worst team in baseball (7.5 to be exact) and it is going to get worse before it gets better. Hiring Andy MacPhail is a good hire and should help them turn it around.
Sources:
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/schedule/index.jsp
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/standings/index.jsp
http://mlb.mlb.com/stats/sortable.jsp
http://www.courant.com/sports/baseball/hc-george-springer-astros-uconn-0703-20150702-story.html