Power rankings system devised and compiled weekly by Stemshul. “Expert” analysis by paradroid.
Plenty of movement in this week’s edition. The White Sox, Cardinals, and Giants move into the top three, neatly displacing last week’s top three into 4th, 5th, and 6th, in that order. The bottom four, however, have remained fairly static, with just a little shuffling around between them. Biggest jump goes to the New York Mets, who have leapt up 14 spots to #8 by having a 6-1 week, including 2 out of 3 against the #2 team, St. Louis. The Metropolitans are doing it with pitching (2.96 ERA, 2nd in baseball). The offense (3.47 runs per game) is second worst to only your Detroit Tigers (3.40). They managed 4.77 runs per game last year and added Francisco Lindor this offseason, so although he and the team are off to a slow start with the bat, I expect that to turn around. Thanks to a strong pitching staff led by Jacob deGrom, Marcus Stroman, and Taijuan Walker, and a likely improvement at the plate, I think this upward trend will stick.
On the other end of the spectrum lie the Kansas City Royals. Just two weeks ago, the Royals were up in 2nd place with a 14-8 record. They even managed to get to 16-9 before their current 9 game losing streak. In those games they have been outscored 66-28, so both halves of the inning have been a disaster. Are they going to lose every game the rest of the year? Nope, but the .640 winning percentage they topped out at (104-58 over a full season) wasn’t going to happen either. Around .500 seems likely for this team, although their -32 run differential suggests worse. I think this is currently skewed down a bit due to this tough stretch. Maybe 75-80 wins this year for the Royals?
The Tigers, however, have finally found their bats! In a light week of action (scheduled day off and a rainout in Minnesota), Detroit went 3-2 and scored 33 runs (6.6 per game). That’s more than they scored between April 15th and May 2nd (30 runs in 17 games). Ok, so they gave up 34 runs, the bullpen still sucks, and the starters were inconsistent, but Matt Boyd returned from missing a start to pitch 6 scoreless Tuesday night and rookie Tarik Skubal looked dominant striking out 8 in 5 innings despite giving up 2 solo home runs. The Tigers remain in last by a margin, but the Twins and Rockies are drifting closer and fans have a little hope. Let’s see if they can keep the bats alive for another week!
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