MLB Power Rankings, week beginning 5/18

Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

The Power Rankings were assembled by BoSox Injection writers Joe Meehan, Michele Pettis, and Drew Peabody.

1. Detroit Tigers (26-12) – Max Scherzer is pitching like he knows a fat contract is in his future. – Joe

2. Oakland Athletics (27-16) – Oakland continues to be one of the hottest teams in the majors, winning seven of their last eight games.  Sonny Gray and the resurgent Scott Kazmir pacing the team with five wins apiece. – Drew

3. San Francisco Giants (27-17) – Firing on all cylinders right now. Pretty hard to beat. – Michele

4. Milwaukee Brewers (27-16) – Four starting pitchers with ERAs under 3.30 have the Brewers atop the NL Central. – Joe

5. Colorado Rockies (24-20) – Best batting average and most home runs in the NL. Good recipe for success. -Michele

6. LA Angels (23-19) – Los Angeles has heated up of late, winning six of their last eight games.  Garrett Richards has been pitching well and leads a strong pitching staff with a 2.42 ERA. – Drew

7. Baltimore Orioles (22-19) – Hot pitching from the bullpen. Darren O’Day, Zach Britton, and Troy Patton have a combined 44 innings with ERAs all under 2.00. – Michele

8. LA Dodgers (23-21) – The Dodgers are holding their opponents to a .245 batting average. – Michele

9. St. Louis Cardinals (23-20) – Winners of four in a row with one of the strongest starting rotations in all of baseball. Could use a power surge offensively. – Joe

10. Atlanta Braves (22-19) – Atlanta has lost three of four, though they still lead the division.  They continue to lean on their pitching which ranks first in the majors in ERA (2.32) while their hitting ranks 29th in runs scored. – Drew

11. New York Yankees (22-19) – Masahiro Tanaka is proving to be the great pitcher everyone thought he’d be. Their offense is catching fire and Jacoby Ellsbury has 11 stolen bases and is batting .284. – Michele

12. Washington Nationals (22-20) – Washington has won three of four.  They beat the Mets on Friday for the ninth straight time and they rank seventh in the majors in ERA.  Phenom Bryce Harper has been out since April 25th with an injured thumb. – Drew

13. Toronto Blue Jays (23-21) – Winners of five of their last six games. They’re over .500 which is more than some people (cough, Red Sox, cough) can say. – Michele

14. Miami Marlins (23-21) – Miami suffered last week from the loss of ace Jose Fernandez for the season to Tommy John surgery.  They are a surprising 22-21 this season (though 2-5 since Fernandez’ last game) based on a strong offense led by budding superstar, and perpetual object of trade rumors, Giancarlo Stanton (.990 OPS, 11 HR, 42 RBI) and ex-Red Sox Jarrod Saltalamacchia (.818 OPS, 6 HR). – Drew

15. Minnesota Twins (21-20) – The Twins are using the “if we can score lots of runs it doesn’t matter how horrid our pitching is” approach, and they’re sitting right around .500 as a result. – Joe

16. Cincinnati Reds (19-22) – Johnny Cueto has been unhittable, but the same can’t be said for Homer Bailey, who is not earning his shiny new contract. – Joe

17. Seattle Mariners (20-22) – Seattle has lost three of four as they continue to hover around .500 trying to overcome an anemic offense (26th in BA, 28th in OBP).  The return of Hisashi Iwakuma (three starts, 1.59 ERA) should bolster the pitching until the offense can turn it around. – Drew

18. Kansas City Royals (21-21) – Yordano Ventura looks like the real deal. Can we give up on Mike Moustakas yet though? – Joe

19. Boston Red Sox (20-22) – They’re summed up in one word: struggling. Offense can’t step up when a pitcher does well. Bullpen can’t sustain a comeback when the offense does get hot. Frustratingly inconsistent. – Michele

20. Chicago White Sox (21-23) – The White Sox took a little bit of a gamble this offseason by giving so much money to Jose Abreu. Think it’s safe to say the gamble is paying off. – Joe

21. San Diego Padres (21-23) – Currently in possession of the second best team ERA in the majors, but the fact that the starting lineup has changed every game this season could be a bad sign for offensive consistency. – Michele

22. Texas Rangers (20-23) – Texas started off the year strong, but has lost 13 of its last 18 as a mountain of injuries to key players has caught up to them.  Yu Darvish has been tremendous (3-2, 2.32 ERA) but not much else is going right. – Drew

23. New York Mets (20-22) – The Mets have lost eight of 11, hammering the Yankees in the Bronx twice this week then being shut out by them twice at home in Flushing. Their offense is faltering, now 18th league-wide in runs scored and 29th both in batting average and slugging percentage. – Drew

24. Cleveland Indians (19-24) – When will we see prized prospect Francisco Lindor with the big league club? It should be sooner rather than later. – Joe

25. Pittsburgh Pirates (17-24) – Hard to single out anyone here. The Pirates need the entire roster to step up a little bit if they’re going to be playing in October again. – Joe

26. Tampa Bay Rays (19-25) – Team ERA of 4.12 is 23rd in the majors. They’re 10th in the AL in team batting average. Can they recover from troubles on both sides of the ball? – Michele

27. Arizona Diamondbacks (17-28) – Dead last in the NL for team batting average and team ERA. – Michele

28. Philadelphia Phillies (18-22) – Philadelphia has lost eight of 10.  Though Chase Utley is pounding the ball (.347 BA, .973 OPS), not many others are; they are 28th in the league in runs. Cole Hamels has a 5.32 ERA after 4 starts. Ex Irish-dancer Jonathan Papelbon has a 1.76 ERA with 11 saves. – Drew

29. Houston Astros (15-28) – Houston took a series at home from Texas this week and has won three of five. Manager Bo Porter is struggling managing his bullpen, finally opting with Chad Qualls over the dreaded “closer by committee.” – Drew

30. Chicago Cubs (14-27) – Free Jeff Samardzija! How is it possible to be 0-4 with a 1.62 ERA? Trade the poor man. – Joe