Tuesday, July 28, 2015

MLB Power Numbers
Posted by Danny B

MLB Power Rankings - July 27: Surging Yankees grab No. 5 spot; Giants return to top 10

by Jonah Birenbaum

          
Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

1. St. Louis Cardinals

RECORDPYTHAG RECORDPREVIOUS RANK (CHANGE)
63-3563-352 (+1)
Matt Holliday's return has diverted everyone's attention away from the ongoing woes of Matt Carpenter, who's hitting .165/.283/.253 in July. Relegated earlier this month to the No. 7 spot in the lineup, Carpenter is a driving force behind the club's 83 wRC+ this month - the fifth-worst mark in the National League. The Cardinals still continue to win in spite of this, of course.

2. Kansas City Royals

RECORDPYTHAG RECORDPREVIOUS RANK (CHANGE)
59-3857-405 (+3)
Dayton Moore's desire to take advantage of his club's competitive window manifested Sunday when he shipped three young left-handers to Cincinnati for Johnny Cueto, an impending free agent and a true ace who will - for the next few months - serve as the leader of a rotation that has been among the worst in the American League this season.

3. Pittsburgh Pirates

RECORDPYTHAG RECORDPREVIOUS RANK (CHANGE)
57-4155-431 (-2)
Wait, you really thought an injury to Jordy Mercer would derail the Pirates' season? Since taking over as Pittsburgh's everyday shortstop last week, Jung Ho Kang is hitting .423/.464/.577 with four doubles in seven games.

4. Los Angeles Dodgers

RECORDPYTHAG RECORDPREVIOUS RANK (CHANGE)
56-4457-433 (-1)
Among the three Dodgers pitchers with two starts since the All-Star break, Zack Greinke owns the worst ERA of the bunch at 1.20. Impressive as that seems, the Dodgers have needed sublime pitching performances to compensate for their scuffling offense, which has scored just three runs or fewer in six of 10 games since the second half began.

5. New York Yankees

RECORDPYTHAG RECORDPREVIOUS RANK (CHANGE)
55-4252-457 (+2)
Propelled offensively by baseball's most impressive near-quadragenarian, the Yankees are 7-2 since the All-Star break while Alex Rodriguez - he of the 151 OPS+ this season - became just the ninth player in history age 39 or older to record a three-homer game Saturday in Minnesota.

6. Los Angeles Angels

RECORDPYTHAG RECORDPREVIOUS RANK (CHANGE)
55-4356-428 (+2)
Mike Trout is tied for the MLB lead with five homers since the All-Star break after blasting a pair Sunday afternoon. The Angels, meanwhile, rank second in the AL with a 122 wRC+ over that span.

7. Houston Astros

RECORDPYTHAG RECORDPREVIOUS RANK (CHANGE)
55-4558-426 (-1)
Scott Kazmir sure looked comfortable back in his Astros debut Friday, hurling seven shutout innings for his new team. Thrust into a rotation anchored by Dallas Keuchel and Lance McCullers Jr., the veteran left-hander dramatically improves the depth of a starting corps that already ranks fifth in the majors in WAR since the beginning of July.

8. Washington Nationals

RECORDPYTHAG RECORDPREVIOUS RANK (CHANGE)
52-4552-454 (-4)
Eager to assign blame for Washington's offensive woes? Look no further than Michael Taylor and Wilson Ramos, who have combined for an 1.030 OPS during the last four weeks. No, like, that's the sum. Like, individually, Taylor has an OPS of .589 and Ramos has an OPS of .441 over the last 30 days.

9. San Francisco Giants

RECORDPYTHAG RECORDPREVIOUS RANK (CHANGE)
54-4455-4311 (+2)
Five straight wins? Three of the last five World Series championships? Maybe that's because they can take an unspectacular specimen like Matt Duffy, inject him with some of Buster Posey's sweat, and produce an everyday third baseman who's been better offensively this season (130 wRC+) than Matt Carpenter, Kyle Seager, and Evan Longoria.

10. Chicago Cubs

RECORDPYTHAG RECORDPREVIOUS RANK (CHANGE)
51-4649-489 (-1)
Recalled after the All-Star break to replace Miguel Montero, rookie Kyle Schwarber became the 23rd player since 2000 to record a multi-homer game within his first 11 MLB contests Tuesday, putting on a show at Great American Ball Park in his native Ohio. Isn't it nice to see the Cubs finally getting some production from a high-profile prospect?

11. Minnesota Twins

RECORDPYTHAG RECORDPREVIOUS RANK (CHANGE)
52-4650-4810 (-1)
With six losses in their last eight games, the Twins are finally starting to perform like a team still giving regular at-bats to Kurt Suzuki (61 wRC+) and Danny Santana (45 wRC+) and handing starts to Kyle Gibson and Tommy Milone.

12. New York Mets

RECORDPYTHAG RECORDPREVIOUS RANK (CHANGE)
51-4849-5012 (-)
Terry Collins took the blame for some questionable bullpen management in Wednesday's loss to the Nationals, but it certainly isn't his fault that nobody on his team can hit, right? The Mets rank fourth-last in the NL in OPS over the last 30 days, though Juan Uribe and Kelly Johnson may constitute slight upgrades to the 25-man roster.

13. Toronto Blue Jays

RECORDPYTHAG RECORDPREVIOUS RANK (CHANGE)
50-5059-4114 (+1)
A superlative offense is cool and all, but the Blue Jays are still 10-21 in one-run games following Sunday's extra-innings defeat in Seattle and have managed more bullpen meltdowns since the All-Star break than all but two AL teams.

14. Baltimore Orioles

RECORDPYTHAG RECORDPREVIOUS RANK (CHANGE)
48-4953-4413 (-1)
If Dan Duquette was sincere when he said the Orioles will be buyers at the deadline, he ought to direct his efforts toward improving a rotation that owns an ugly 4.54 FIP over the last 30 days amid recent skids from Ubaldo Jimenez and Miguel Gonzalez.

15. Detroit Tigers

RECORDPYTHAG RECORDPREVIOUS RANK (CHANGE)
48-5047-5115 (-)
His clubhouse addled by trade rumors, manager Brad Ausmus reiterated hours before the Tigers dropped below .500 on Tuesday that he doesn't "subscribe to the theory that we're out of it." Similarly, his starters don't "subscribe to the theory that we have to be effective," as Detroit's rotation owns the second-worst ERA in baseball (5.58) while averaging 1.31 homers per nine innings this month.

16. Tampa Bay Rays

RECORDPYTHAG RECORDPREVIOUS RANK (CHANGE)
49-5147-5316 (-)
Turns out a lineup that includes names like Curt Casali and Jake Elmore on a regular basis may not be so good, after all. Currently 7 1/2 games back of the division lead, the Rays own a 7-14 record this month and haven't scored more than four runs in a game since July 8.

17. Texas Rangers

RECORDPYTHAG RECORDPREVIOUS RANK (CHANGE)
47-5046-5118 (+1)
The desire to land Cole Hamels has to have intensified in the Rangers' clubhouse of late, as the team's rotation owns a disastrous 5.69 ERA with a 1.59 WHIP over the last two weeks, managing the third-worst walk rate (8.6 percent) in the AL throughout that span.

18. Chicago White Sox

RECORDPYTHAG RECORDPREVIOUS RANK (CHANGE)
46-5041-5522 (+4)
After months of futility, Chicago's offense is starting to click at the least opportune time - the White Sox own a 101 wRC+ since the All-Star break and have won four straight games - creating more confusion for general manager Rick Hahn as the trade deadline looms.

19. Arizona Diamondbacks

RECORDPYTHAG RECORDPREVIOUS RANK (CHANGE)
46-5149-4917 (-2)
After watching Rubby De La Rosa (0.60 ERA) and Patrick Corbin (2.25 ERA) enjoy such success to open the second half, Diamondbacks chief baseball officer Tonny La Russa barely managed to resist the temptation to ask Randy Johnson to join the club for the stretch run at Sunday's HOF induction ceremony.

20. San Diego Padres

RECORDPYTHAG RECORDPREVIOUS RANK (CHANGE)
47-5243-5623 (+3)
Justin Upton- an impending free agent and likely trade candidate_ pleased the scouts in attendance by sending one over the fence Sunday against Miami, but the 27-year-old outfielder is still hitting just .136/.200/.237 with 17 strikeouts dating back to June 28.

21. Atlanta Braves

RECORDPYTHAG RECORDPREVIOUS RANK (CHANGE)
46-5244-5419 (-2)
Freddie Freeman returned from the disabled list Saturday after missing more than five weeks with a wrist injury, going hitless as a pinch-hitter before finishing 1-for-3 with a walk the following afternoon. Though he was expected to need more recovery time, Freeman figured it'd be less painful to return to game action Sunday than listen to John Smoltz's interminable HOF speech.

22. Cleveland Indians

RECORDPYTHAG RECORDPREVIOUS RANK (CHANGE)
45-5244-5320 (-2)
It's tough to cobble together a second-half surge when you can't, you know, hit. Over the last week, the Indians have managed a brutal .639 OPS with a 24.3 percent strikeout rate, dropping five of six games throughout that span.

23. Seattle Mariners

RECORDPYTHAG RECORDPREVIOUS RANK (CHANGE)
46-5344-5524 (+1)
Despite their efforts to contend this season, the Mariners ought to cut their losses and trade Hisashi Iwakuma before Friday. Though he missed more than two months earlier this season, the 34-year-old owns a 1.74 ERA over his last three starts and remains one of the more attractive rentals available on the trade market when considering both talent and acquisition cost.

24. Boston Red Sox

RECORDPYTHAG RECORDPREVIOUS RANK (CHANGE)
44-5543-5621 (-3)
There's a delicious irony to the fact that one of the finest pitchers in Red Sox history was inducted to the Hall of Fame on Sunday with his former club's current rotation in total disarray. Of the eight pitchers to make a start for Boston in the last 30 days, three possess an ERA below 5.19 throughout that span.

25. Oakland Athletics

RECORDPYTHAG RECORDPREVIOUS RANK (CHANGE)
44-5654-4625 (-)
GM Billy Beane essentially admitted after trading Scott Kazmir that "the future is probably more important than the present" - a principle he intimated months ago when he traded Josh Donaldson to Toronto for Brett Lawrie and a package of non-elite prospects.

26. Cincinnati Reds

RECORDPYTHAG RECORDPREVIOUS RANK (CHANGE)
43-5343-5326 (-)
A combined 18 years of team control over a trio of young left-handers - one of whom has reached the majors and another that sits comfortably in the mid-90s - isn't a bad haul for two months of Johnny Cueto. Now it just remains to be seen what the Reds do with Marlon Byrd/Jay Bruce/Aroldis Chapman.

27. Colorado Rockies

RECORDPYTHAG RECORDPREVIOUS RANK (CHANGE)
42-5442-5427 (-)
Here's the exhaustive list of Rockies starters with an ERA below 4.50 since the All-Star break:

28. Milwaukee Brewers

RECORDPYTHAG RECORDPREVIOUS RANK (CHANGE)
43-5645-5429 (+1)
Losers in four of their last five games, the Brewers might have a better shot at retaining some respectability if trade candidates Adam Lind, Gerardo Parra, Francisco Rodriguez, Carlos Gomez, and Jean Segura didn't bring their cell phones out onto the field with them.

29. Miami Marlins

RECORDPYTHAG RECORDPREVIOUS RANK (CHANGE)
41-5846-5328 (-1)
Since the All-Star break, the Marlins have been limited to three runs or fewer in seven of their 10 games while tallying as many home runs as Mike Trout over that span.

30. Philadelphia Phillies

RECORDPYTHAG RECORDPREVIOUS RANK (CHANGE)
37-6335-6530 (-)
Determined to get out of Philadelphia by any means necessary, Jonathan Papelbon decided last week to start celebrating walk-off victories by physically assaulting his teammates. His tactic pales in comparison to Cole Hamels' exit strategy, though, as the left-hander tossed a 129-pitch no-hitter Saturday at Citizens Bank Park.
 
 

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