Atlanta Braves begin to rise in the May 6th MLB Power Rankings
Another week of baseball, and another week of results for our MLB Power Rankings.
The Atlanta Braves ended the week on a high note after sweeping the Miami Marlins, and as a result, they are starting to creep up our MLB Power Rankings.
Let’s take a look around the rest of the game for our weekly MLB Power Rankings:
1. Chicago Cubs
This team is red hot and has come a long way since that opening series against the Atlanta Braves. Currently, they are now in first in the NL Central and are both hitting the ball well and pitching the ball well.
2. Los Angeles Dodgers
The team the Atlanta Braves start a series with Monday night. A rematch of the NLDS from last season. This will be an extremely tough test for the Braves, and I myself will gladly take 2 out of 3 from them.
3. Houston Astros
Maybe lost in the bashing of the Angels in Mexico over the weekend, is the fact of how dominate relief pitcher Ryan Pressly has been. He is currently sitting at 33 straight innings pitched without a run allowed.
4. Tampa Bay Rays
We are getting close to the quarter pole of the season, and here still are the Rays in first place in the vaunted AL East. To stay there though, they will probably need Blake Snell to pitch more like the 2018 version of Snell, however.
5. New York Yankees
Another week, and yet another Yankee player going on the injured list. This time it is James Paxton who the Yankees announced will miss a few weeks. The Yankees have managed to stay right in it so far though.
6. Philadelphia Phillies
A good test this week for the Phillies when they play the Cardinals as the Phillies come off winning 2 out of 3 against the Nationals. The boos for Bryce Harper will only get louder if he continues to struggle.
7. Minnesota Twins
The Twins proved to be real by winning 3 out of 4 against the Astros early last week, however, they did turn around and lose 2 out of 3 to the Yankees. I look for the Twins to stay in it all year.
8. Arizona Diamondbacks
The early surprise of the season has to be the Diamondbacks. The early front runner for NL Manager of the year is probably Torey Lovollo. The Dbacks won 4 of 5 last week facing the Rockies and Yankees.
9. St. Louis Cardinals
The Cardinals were ho-humming along and then ran into the hottest team in the game right now. As much as the Cards hate the Cubs, I’m sure the sweep this weekend will light a fire under them.
10. Milwaukee Brewers
Welcome back, Christian Yelich. The reigning MVP came back and launched a home run Sunday that still might not be traveling. His comeback spurned a sweep of the Mets, which came after a split with the Rockies
11. Atlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves did exactly what it had to do against the Marlins this weekend sweeping the series. Hopefully, the Braves can now get on a run and catch the Phillies, but it won’t be easy this week against the Dodgers and Diamondbacks.
12. Cleveland Indians
Even though he wasn’t pitching as well as he usually does, the loss of Corey Kluber will no doubt be a huge blow as he will be out a while with a broken arm. Francisco Lindor starting to heat up could be a good sign for them though.
13. San Diego Padres
Braves fans were able to witness first hand how good this team could be, specifically the young pitching they have in their system. It also doesn’t hurt that prized slugger Manny Machado is starting to heat up at the plate.
14. Boston Red Sox
The defending champs seem to slowly be getting back to form as they are now within a game of .500. It stands to only get a little bit better as well as they start a series with lowly Baltimore Monday night.
15. Seattle Mariners
The Mariners continue to smash home runs at an amazing pace as they lead baseball with 68, six ahead of Milwaukee. However, the team is starting to play more like expectations were, which is not a good thing.
16. Texas Rangers
The Rangers are battling and are currently right at the .500 mark with a record of 16-16. However, if the team wants to be more competitive, they will need the team ERA which is currently at 5.14 to drastically come down.
17. New York Mets
The Mets dipped below the .500 mark this week after getting swept by Brew crew, but the good news for them is Noah Syndergaard looked like his normal self against the Reds last week.
18. Pittsburgh Pirates
Jameson Taillon going on the shelf with an elbow injury has to be unsettling for the Pirates and the team’s fans. They also start a 4-game series with the Cardinals this week who will be fired up after getting swept.
19. Colorado Rockies
Reversing the roles from the team’s series against the Braves last week, the Rockies needed late heroics against the Diamondbacks Sunday to avoid a sweep. German Marquez also is proving he is a reliable good starter.
20. Detroit Tigers
Spencer Turnbull, the former Alabama Crimson Tide pitcher, is enjoying a breakout year so far this year in Detroit. He is averaging more than 9 K/9 and an ERA in the two’s. It will be interesting to see if he and Matthew Boyd can continue to deliver.
21. Los Angeles Angels
The Angels swept the Blue Jays and then went south of the border and gave up a ton of runs to the Astros. The team has pitched better lately and should get good results playing the Tigers and Orioles this week.
22. Washington Nationals
The Nationals are just a mess right now. They are the NL version of the Yankees as it seems half the team is on the IL currently. The good news is Anthony Rendon should be coming back Tuesday evening to play again.
23. Cincinnati Reds
Young Phenom Nick Senzel was called up and has already homered. In case you missed it, the Reds cut former Brave Matt Kemp. Despite being last in the NL Central, the Reds are one of 13 teams with a positive run differential.
24. Chicago White Sox
Pitching, Pitching, Pitching. That is the current problem with the White Sox. The team ERA currently sits at an unpleasant 5.67. That obviously won’t get the job done.
25. Toronto Blue Jays
Rough week for the Blue Jays last week as they went 1-5 for the week. The only win was a 1-0 extra-inning win against the Texas Rangers. We are still waiting on that first Vlad Guerrero Jr bomb.
26. San Francisco Giants
The Giants did manage to win both of their series last week taking 2 out of 3 against both the Reds and the hated Dodgers. The problem continues to be much of the team having extremely low batting averages.
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27. Oakland Athletics
Oakland lost a bunch of games last week, but the biggest blow might have been losing Khris Davis. If he is gone for any length of time, it is tough seeing the Athletics duplicate last year’s success.
28. Baltimore Orioles
The one positive from rebuilds is you get to see some players make it who kinda come out of left field (pun intended). Dwight Smith has been a big bright spot for the Orioles this season.
29. Kansas City Royals
It continues to be a long season for the Royals. I’m sure many fans are already counting down the days until they can go to a Chiefs game across the parking lot.
30. Miami Marlins
The Miami rebuild has not gone smoothly so far, to say the least. The bullpen, which has been a bright spot in the past few years, showed signs of weakness in the sweep at the hands of the Braves this past weekend.
Next. MacFlow exceeding expectations. dark
So that’s our MLB Power rankings for this week. Let us know who is too high and who is too low. Hopefully next week, the Atlanta Braves will be even higher.