Power rankings system devised and compiled weekly by Stemshul. “Expert” analysis by paradroid.
Week 8 features more dominance from the N.L. West. The L.A. Dodgers rose 7 spots via a 6-0 week to join San Diego and San Francisco in the top four. Is this the best division in baseball? It certainly boasts the best 1-2-3 punch, but what about the other two teams?. Unfortunately, the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks are two of the worst teams in the league and currently occupy the 25th and 30th spots in our rankings. With the unbalanced, division heavy scheduling MLB employs, things don’t look like they’ll be getting any easier for the N.L West bottom feeders.
The best competition for division supremacy is all the way across the country in the A.L. East. The division may not boast three of the top four, but the Tampa Bay Rays (#3), N.Y. Yankees (#6), Boston Red Sox (#7), and Toronto Blue Jays (#9) are all sitting within the top ten. The Blue Jays may only have a 24-23 record, but playing all 19 of their intra-division games against the three teams above them (avoiding the hapless Orioles until June 18th) has bolstered their strength of schedule, making it the toughest among all teams. Their +31 run differential also gives them an expected record of 27-20. The most impressive thing about the Jays may actually be managing all this without playing any home games yet this year. With COVID-19 travel restrictions ruling out teams going across the border to Toronto, Canada, The Blue Jays have been playing at Sahlen Field in Buffalo, N.Y., home of their Triple A affiliate, the Buffalo Bisons. I think Toronto is a dark horse contender for the division title, especially if they can start playing their first real home games since 2019 soon. The final team in the division, the Baltimore Orioles, had a winless week (0-7) and have descended to the worst record overall and dropped to 28th in our rankings.
Detroit has had a 2-4 week, with 4 consecutive losses through last night. All four of those games were competitive, with a walk-off home run by the Royals in the second loss and a diving, game saving catch by Cleveland with two outs in the ninth and the bases loaded the next night. Last night the Tigers loaded the bases again in the ninth, bringing the winning run to the plate before a fly ball out ended things. Wins are the ultimate goal, but the team has been much more competitive lately and could easily have won 4 or 5 games last week. As long as that competitiveness continues and the young prospects like Mize, Skubal, and Baddoo continue to play well, it’s hard to call even a 2-4 week a failure for this Tigers team.
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