Time for the MLB power rankings! The Kansas City Royals feast on the Tigers with a 4 game sweep, go 5-1, and leap up to 2nd place. They now have the best record in baseball (14-8), but I don’t think that will stick. They haven’t had the toughest schedule so far (opponent win percentage of .490, 21st in the league), and their run differential of +3 (95 runs scored, 92 given up) gives them an expected record of 11-11. I think they’ve just gotten a little lucky in close games; these things usually even out over the course of the season.
The Colorado Rockies, on the other hand, have played the 5th toughest schedule (.522 opponent win percentage), and despite the paltry 9-14 record, they’ve managed a respectable run differential of -4 (107-111). This would give an expected record of 11-12. nearly the same as the Royals. What does all this mean? Well, not that much; it’s still pretty early. But although neither team was expected to have a great season and they seem to be heading in opposite directions, they’ve actually been somewhat comparable in actual output. When you divide it into 9 inning slices, the Royals have just timed their scoring (and opponents’ scoring) way, way better. I’d argue the Rockies have actually been the better team since they’ve played a tougher schedule (of course, the Rockies finding ways to lose does positively inform the record of the teams they play, but still, kind of interesting!).
As for the Tigers, we already mentioned the 4 game sweep. They won last night, which gave they a 2-6 record during a busy week. They only gave up 26 runs in 8 games, with an ERA of 3.18. Encouragingly, the previously awful bullpen had a 2.70 ERA last week, and the starters continue to be better than expected (3.73 ERA, good for 8th in MLB). And even though the Tigers somehow had in error in each of the first 5 innings (and a play in the 6th that very easily could have been called an error as well) during their win yesterday, the defense has been pretty good this year (11th in defensive runs saved with 6). The hitting, however, has absolutely disappeared. 19 runs in 8 games last week is exactly how to go 2-6 even if your pitching has been great. Detroit is now last in runs per game (3.1), on base percentage (.268), and on base plus slugging (.635) this season. Pretty much every hitter is underperforming their historical averages, so this should turn around at least a little. It had better if the Tigers want to win some games (by the way, the Tigers expected record is 8-16, the same as their actual record, thanks to their league worst -35 run differential, so no hope there).
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