What a difference a month makes. With just a few days left in the month of May the power rankings have had a large shake-up with every single team in a new position except the Oakland Athletics.
The biggest movers were the Toronto Blue Jays, the hottest team in all of baseball, who jumped way up from where they were at 20 in the rankings at the beginning of the month behind the bat of Edwin Encarnacion. With every team moving there will be a new number one, it’s not the aforementioned Blue Jays, and a new number 30 as the Astros have been doing some streaking as well thanks to rookie sensation George Springer.
30. Chicago Cubs (Last Time 28, Down 2)
The long and short of the Cubs season can be seen in the statistics of ace Jeff Samardzija. In his 11 starts he has an ERA of 1.68 and only one win on his record to show for it. This team has all the talent in the world, but can’t seem to put it all together.
29. Arizona Diamondbacks (Last Time 30, Up 1)
The D-Backs have been the biggest disappointment of the year. They started to turn things around, but are still struggling to succeed. The key to their failure this season is the lack of quality pitching, but they seemed to have figured it out, but are still only 5-5 over their last ten. The most telling stat of their horrible start, though, is their 8-19 home record.
28. Houston Astros (Last Time 29, Up 1)
Don’t look now but the Astros are streaking. The ‘Stros have found an ace, Dallas Keuchel, and what appears to be a bonafide star to play along spark plug Jose Altuve now that Springer has made the majors. It is still a long shot that they make a splash this season, but they are not going to be a pushover anymore.
27. Boston Red Sox (Last Time 21, Down 6)
What’s wrong with the Sox? No one seems to know for sure, but it appears they think moving youngster Xander Bogaerts back to third base and bringing back Stephen Drew is the first step in getting back to their winning ways. They better hope it works because 3-7 over their last 10 isn’t going to cut it for Boston fans.
26. Cincinnati Reds (Last Time 23, Down 3)
The Reds have struggled with health. Nearly every member of the bullpen with closer experience has gone down and they have spent time without their two sluggers Jay Bruce and Joey Votto. With all of those injury concerns it is no surprise that the Reds are struggling to keep up with expectations.
25. Tampa Bay Rays (Last Time 24, Down 1)
Like the Reds the Rays are vastly underperforming. Also like the Reds the Rays have been doing so because of multiple injuries that have plagued the team all season long. Matt Moore was lost for the year to Tommy John and both Alex Cobb and Jeremy Hellickson have spent time on the disabled list as well. They have Cobb back in the rotation and Hellickson is on his way back so they will improve, but they may be in too big of a hole.
24. Philadelphia Phillies (Last Time 15, Down 9)
The Phillies are old, but that’s not the main issue. The main issue is they are a mediocre team. They rank in the bottom third in the league in runs scored, batting average and earned run average. The best thing they have going for them right now is that some of those older players, Chase Utley and Jonathan Papelbon, are having good years and they should be able to turn them into quality young players at the trade deadline.
23. Pittsburgh Pirates (Last Time 27, Up 4)
The Pirates are average. The rank right in the middle in most statistical categories, but that’s not their problem, that’s a part of the turnaround. After the first month of the season they were awful, ranking near the bottom in most categories, but since the trade for Ike Davis the team seems to have turned it around and are now on an upward trend.
22. Kansas City Royals (Last Time 19, Down 3)
The Royals were looking so promising. The have a dominant ace, a young flamethrower and one of the better young lineups in the league, but the flamethrower is hurting and the lineup is under performing. Oh yeah, and they just got swept by the Houston Astros only to have to face the hottest team in all of the land. Things aren’t looking good in the immediate future for the Royals.
21. San Diego Padres (Last Time 14, Down 7)
The Padres have a lot of things going for them. They have Andrew Cashner who is looking like he’ll be great for years to come at the top of their rotation, they seem to be on the better side of the Seth Smith for Luke Gregerson trade and their offense is healthy. Unfortunately Cashner is on the disabled list, last year’s star Jedd Gyorko is struggling and Chase Headley looks more like they guy from last season and less like the guy who finished fifth in the MVP voting in 2012.
20. Minnesota Twins (Last Time 16, Down 4)
Other than Phil Hughes their starting rotation sucks, and although he is healthy Joe Mauer isn’t the same guy he was before they built Target Field. The Twins are getting better and Kurt Suzuki has been better than he ever was this season, but this division is tough and it is going to be hard for them to rise further than their current position in the division.
19. New York Mets (Last Time 10, Down 9)
The mets have compiled a pretty solid starting rotation, but the injury to Dillon Gee has slowed them down. The offense has been led by a tremendous start of the season by Daniel Murphy and Captain America David Wright. They are only adequate right now, but if they can hang close and somehow Matt Harvey can come back in late August this team could make a surprise run for the playoffs.
18. Cleveland Indians (Last Time 25, Up 7)
Michael Brantley is having a breakout year and David Murphy is doing everything he can to make the Rangers regret letting him go, but the rest of the offense has been subpar and the Carlos Santana experiment seems to be failing. The starting pitching has been just as bad as the offense other than Corey Kluber and what was once looking like it could be a three team race in the AL Central is starting to look like a two team race with the Indians losing ground to the White Sox and the Tigers.
17. Washington Nationals (Last Time 11, Down 6)
Like all of the teams that have been underperforming this season the Nationals have been hit hard by the injury bug and have not been able to recover. They lost superstar Bryce Harper to injury just when he was starting to heat up and lost Gio Gonzalez who started out strong but struggled mightily in his two starts before hitting the disabled list. Even with the struggles they are still only 2.5 games out in the NL East and could easily overtake the Atlanta Braves when they get healthy.
16. Baltimore Orioles (Last Time 18, Up 2)
The Orioles are hovering right around .500 but it is no fault of Nelson Cruz. Cruz has been one of the best players in all of baseball and is leading the league in home runs and on pace to hit over 50 this season. With both Manny Machado and Chris Davis now healthy it is just a matter of getting them going before this is an offense no one will want to face.
15. Seattle Mariners (Last Time 26, Up 11)
The Mariners have some great players both old and young. The lineup can be dangerous and no one wants to face that one-two punch of Felix Hernandez and Hisashi Iwakuma, but the team is overall too inconsistent.
14. Texas Rangers (Last Time 4, Down 10)
Injury after injury has plagued Ron Washington’s team. Yu Darvish has missed some starts this season with nagging neck injuries, but he is the least of their worries as the rest of the starting rotation has been struck with injuries. There was talk before this season that Washington might lose his job if this team didn’t make a playoff run after two years of being knocked out in a play-in game (The wild card game in 2012 and game 163 in 2013), but if he can keep this team respectable with all of these injuries he may deserve a medal of honor.
13. Colorado Rockies (Last Time 6, Down 7)
The only thing holding the Rockies back is how good the San Francisco Giants have been so far this season. Their pitching well and have one of the best offenses in all of baseball. There are plenty of statistics that show that the offense is much better at home than it is on the road, but with the team pitching well they can make up for how the offense performs on the road.
12. New York Yankees (Last Time 7, Down 5)
The Yankees are good. Masahiro Tanaka has been everything he’s been advertised as and possibly more. The only problem is they are in the same division as the hottest team in all of baseball.
11. Atlanta Braves (Last Time 2, Down 9)
The Braves once looked like a miracle team as they overcame losing two of their starting pitchers to Tommy John surgery and took a big lead in the NL East. Now, though, Aaron Harang and Ervin Santana have come down to earth and the Miami Marlins have caught up and are currently tied for first in the division.
10. Miami Marlins (Last Time 22, Up 12)
The Miami Marlins are in the top ten! No, it is not a festivus miracle, the Marlins are pitching great, even without Jose Fernandez, and the offense is coming into their own. Giancarlo Stanton is looking like the MVP caliber player that everyone thought he could be now that he has some protection in the lineup.
9 Chicago White Sox (Last Time 13, Up 3)
Jose Abreu and Chris Sale have spent time on the disabled list and yet they are still only two games back of the Detroit Tigers in the win column. When Abreu gets back the rest of the league better beware of the White Sox.
8. Los Angeles Dodgers (Last Time 9, Up 1)
The Dodgers are six games back in the West. It seems like a big deficit for the team who won the West in 2013, but they still own one of the best records in all of the league. What is surprising about this is that they have maintained this level of play with star Clayton Kershaw spending time on the disabled list and struggling slightly since his return.
7. Los Angeles Angels (Last Time 17, Up 10)
Mike Trout struggled to start the season, but he’s starting to turn it around and Albert Pujols looks like the guy we all remember while he was with the St. Louis Cardinals, that’s dangerous for the rest of the league if both of them can stay hot. They are gaining on the AL West leading Oakland Athletics and with all of the injuries to the Rangers and the inconsistency of the Mariners they could be the team that only threat to the A’s at the top of the division.
6. St. Louis Cardinals (Last Time 8, Up 2)
Don’t look now but the Cardinals are gaining on the Brewers for the lead in the National League Central. Everyone knew the pitching would do well, but there were question marks with the offense and defense. Jhonny Peralta has been the guy in the offense they hoped he would be to replace Carlos Beltran but he is also providing above average defense. The other surprise has been Matt Adams who everyone knew could provide power, but he is also batting .325 in 52 games.
5. Detroit Tigers (Last Time 12, Up 7)
The Tigers have struggled since their flight from Boston was cancelled but have appeared to right the ship as they went blow-for-blow with the Oakland Athletics and managed to leave California with a 2-2 split. Joe Nathan was roughed up and showed some signed of weakness, but they still managed to pull out two wins against one of the best teams in all of baseball. Even with all of the struggles they still hold a 4.5 game lead in the AL Central and one of the best pitching trios in all of baseball.
4. Milwaukee Brewers (Last Time 1, Down 3)
It’s a good thing the Brewers built such a big lead because right now they are struggling. They are only 5-5 over their last ten games and the Cardinals are breathing right down their necks. They have a solid rotation and some of the best young players in all of baseball so there is no reason to believe they can’t continue to stay at or near the top.
3. Oakland Athletics (Last Time 3)
Even with a weak bullpen, being run over by the red hot Blue Jays and splitting a tough fought series with the Detroit Tigers the Oakland Athletics still sit atop the AL West tied for the best record in the American League, and own the league's best run differential. Josh Donaldson is proving that his fourth place finish in the AL MVP vote wasn’t a fluke and Sonny Gray is proving to be the ace of the staff that the Athletics hoped he would be.
2. Toronto Blue Jays (Last Time 20, Up 18)
The hottest team in all of baseball reside north of the border. Mark Buehrle has resurrected his career and Edwin Encarnacion is having the best single month of anyone in recent history after a slow start to the season. This team struggled and disappointed in 2013, but they seem to have finally meshed and if they can stay healthy they will be a force to be reckoned with all season long.
1. San Francisco Giants (Last Time 5, Up 4)
The Giants have the best record in all of baseball and they owe a lot of it to two of the most underrated moves of the offseason. The signing of Tim Hudson for the starting rotation and Michael Morse to fill the power hitting void. Both moves are paying huge dividends even with some of the guys who have been mainstays over the World Series years struggling.