MLB Power Rankings: Week Three

The Rangers stay on top, but things are beginning to shuffle around below as the Rays have become red hot, the Tigers have dipped, and the Red Sox are slowly climbing back. Here is this week’s MLB Power Rankings

1. Texas Rangers (17-6) LW: 1 You know about the lineup, but Yu Darvish is 4-0 after shutting down the Blue Jays on Monday. They hold the best ERA in the AL and I don’t see them leaving this spot anytime soon. -MM

2. St. Louis Cardinals (14-8) LW: 2 The Cardinals offense is fourth in runs (113), third in batting average (.280), third in on base percentage (.350) and fourth in slugging (.442). Who needs Pujols? –RT

3. Tampa Bay Rays (15-8) LW: 9 The stats on this team don’t exactly jump out at you. So why are they ranked 3^rd? The schedule. They took two from the Rangers in Texas, and swept the Angels. -MM

4. Los Angeles Dodgers (16-7) LW: 6 Matt Kemp has officially let beast mode off of its leash. –RT

5. Atlanta Braves (14-9) LW: 7 Let me remind you that this team started 0-4. Now, they lead the NL in runs. Brandon Beachy (2-1/1.05 ERA) has also been big on the mound, as the rotation has struggled otherwise. -MM

6. New York Yankees (13-9) LW: 5 The Yankees offense continue to chug along but CC Sabathia can’t win every game. –RT

7. Washington Nationals (14-8) LW: 4 The promotion of Bryce Harper distracted people from the fact that they got swept this weekend. The pitching is good; but with Ryan Zimmerman on the DL, the offense is a concern. -MM

8. Detroit Tigers (11-11) LW: 3 The Tigers continue to slump. A seven game suspension for a hate crime on left fielder, Delmon Young doesn’t help this team either. –RT

9. Baltimore Orioles (14-9) LW: 12 April was a huge success for the Orioles. Adam Jones has been terrific (.330/5 HR/12 RBI). They are 3^rd in MLB in homers with 30. -MM

10. San Francisco Giants (12-10) LW: 13 Big Time Timmy Jim aka Tim Lincecum is starting to find his groove but the walks (12) are still high for him. –RT

11. New York Mets (13-10) LW: 15 They had a great first week and a half, then they faded, and now they are back after sweeping Miami last week. To show for their inconsistency, they are 2^nd in the NL in AVG (.269), but also lead the NL in Ks (196). -MM

12. Toronto Blue Jays (12-11) LW: 8 The Blue Jays are MLB’s enigma. The question coming into the season was whether the pitching staff could hold up. The staff is pitching well, but the offense is struggling particularly Jose Bautista (.181 AVG/ .320 OBP)

13. Cleveland Indians (11-9) LW: 14 They don’t have a guy batting over .300. But Derek Lowe has been very solid for them. (4-1/ 2.27 ERA). –MM

14. Arizona Diamondbacks (12-11) LW: 11 After taking three of four at Miami, Arizona heads to Washington in a battle to determine who the better up-and-comer is. –RT

15. Boston Red Sox (11-11) LW: 22 The Sox are finally at .500. Bobby Valentine can breathe a little. He has the offense to thank for that. David Ortiz raised his batting average to .405 after his two-homer game vs. the A’s; he now has 6 big flies along with 20 RBI. –MM

16. Cincinnati Reds (11-11) LW: 21 Mat Latos was supposed to be the Reds ace but instead he 1-2 and holds the worst ERA (5.97) amongst Cincinnati’s staff. –RT

17. Chicago White Sox (11-11) LW: 10 Nothing statistically stands out about this White Sox team. Luckily for them, nothing stands out about the entire AL Central. –MM

18. Milwaukee Brewers (11-12) LW: 18 Ryan Braun closed out April by slugging 3 home runs and a triple. Look out Matt Kemp. –RT

19. Philadelphia Phillies (11-12) LW: 19 The rotation is solid, no surprise there. Vance Worley has solidified himself as another stout arm in the rotation, but the concern sits with Jimmy Rollins (.222 AVG), Shane Victorino (.230 AVG) and Hunter Pence (.253 AVG). –MM

20. Colorado Rockies (11-11) LW: 10 In the last seven days, Carlos Gonzalez is 11 for 26 (.423 AVG) with four home runs and 13 RBI’s. Colorado needs his bat if they want to contend in the NL West. –RT

21. Seattle Mariners (11-13) LW: 24 They swept the Tigers, which for this team, a sweep against anybody, let alone the Tigers is big. Then they followed it up with three straight losses. –MM