6/15 MLB Power Rankings; can anyone stop the Giants?

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

(Last week’s ranking in parentheses.)

1.(1) San Francisco Giants (43-26) – They’re still hot, and they have the upcoming return of Brandon Belt to look forward to. – Michele

2.(2) Oakland Athletics (41-27) – Oakland has lost three of six.  Scott Kazmir is pitching like he’s back in Tampa; he has a 7-2 record, with a 2.20 ERA and 0.98 WHIP, anchoring a pitching staff that leads the majors in ERA and WHIP. – Drew

3.(4) Milwaukee Brewers (41-28) – Give them credit: they’ve had a somewhat easy stretch of games, but they’ve performed well. – Joe

4.(3) Toronto Blue Jays (40-30) – Still sitting atop the division with little fanfare. Mark Buehrle deserves a lot of the credit. – Michele

5.(6) LA Angels (37-30) – The Angels won last night and won five in a row earlier in the week. Josh Hamilton continues to hit since his return, batting .440 (11 for 25) in their recent five-game winning streak. – Drew

6.(5) Detroit Tigers (35-29) – They’re scuffling a little bit, and there are four teams behind them that are within striking distance in the division. – Joe

7.(10) Washington Nationals (35-32) – Washington briefly held the division lead on June 12, but has fallen back after dropping three straight. Ian Desmond is the only National in double figures in home runs with 13 to go along with 42 RBI. – Drew

8.(7) Atlanta Braves (35-32) – Atlanta has lost three of four, which has caused their NL East lead to disappear. Evan Gattis is making a strong case for the NL All-Star team, slugging 14 homers while posting a .909 OPS. – Drew

9.(12) St. Louis Cardinals (36-32) – For a while, the Cardinals only had to worry about catching Milwaukee, but now they’ve got the Pirates visible in the rearview mirror. – Joe

10.(14) New York Yankees (35-32) – Masahiro Tanaka is cruising. It doesn’t hurt that Yangervis Solarte is hot as well. – Michele

11.(18) Kansas City Royals (35-32) – How bout them Royals? They’re winners of six in a row and eight of their last 10, making them the hottest team in baseball. – Joe

12.(13) LA Dodgers (37-33) – When your highest starting pitcher ERA is 3.54 you know you’re in a good place. – Michele

13.(11) Baltimore Orioles (35-32) – Will Manny Machado‘s suspension hurt the team? Probably not much. The team as a whole is still playing steady baseball. – Michele

14.(8) Miami Marlins (34-33) – Miami has lost five of seven games. Giancarlo Stanton continues to lead a strong offense that ranks fifth in the majors in runs. Stanton leads the NL in home runs with 18 and RBI with 54 and an OPS of .989. – Drew

15.(22) Pittsburgh Pirates (34-34) – The Pirates are gaining steam, led by the hot bat of Andrew McCutchen. – Joe

16.(9) Seattle Mariners (34-34) – Seattle has lost five in a row, including a sweep by the Derek Jeter farewell tour. Fernando Rodney has been on a roll as the Mariners’ closer, allowing runs only once since April 29, and converting 15 of his last 16 save chances. – Drew

17.(15) Cleveland Indians (34-35) – The Indians are 21-11 at home and 13-24 on the road. That’s an issue that’s going to need to be solved if they’re going to catch the Tigers. – Joe

18.(21) Colorado Rockies (33-35) – While the divisional-rival Dodgers have a great ERA, the Rockies have the worst team ERA in baseball. – Michele

19.(20) Cincinnati Reds (32-35) – The Reds are tough to figure out; they have the talent to win, but they just can’t put it all together. – Joe

20.(17) Texas Rangers (34-34) – Texas has won three in a row, but lost four in a row before that. Injuries have decimated the Rangers this season; Mitch Moreland was the latest to go down, hoping for a September return after ankle surgery. – Drew

21.(19) Minnesota Twins (32-34) – They can only survive so long with such poor pitching. – Joe

22.(16) Chicago White Sox (33-36) – If you haven’t seen Jose Abreu yet, try to check him out. The guy does nothing but mash. – Joe

23.(23) Boston Red Sox (31-37) – Inconsistent. Streaky. Struggling. But they’re not dead yet. – Michele

24.(26) Houston Astros (32-38) – Houston has won five of seven, continuing their march back to respectability. Jose Altuve paces the offense with a .319 BA and .790 OPS. – Drew

25.(25) New York Mets (30-38) – The Mets have lost nine of eleven games since a grueling series with Philadelphia in which three of the games went into extra-innings. David Wright is struggling to live up to his $140 million contract, posting only a .685 OPS this season, though he does lead the team with 33 RBI. – Drew

26.(29) Philadelphia Phillies (29-37) – Philadelphia has won four of five. Perpetual object of trade rumors Jimmy Rollins may have removed an obstacle to a trade when he passed Mike Schmidt to become the team’s all-time hits leader (2235) on Saturday. – Drew

27.(28) Chicago Cubs (27-39) – It sounds like the Jeff Samardzija trade talks have started to pick up steam. I’ll be praying that the Red Sox are one of the teams in on him. – Joe

28.(27) Arizona Diamondbacks (29-42) – They say defense and pitching win ball games. The D-backs have the worst starting rotation in baseball and it shows. – Michele

29.(24) San Diego Padres (29-39) – They’re just plain bad. We’re rapidly approaching the time of year when all eyes turn to the manager and wonder how long he’ll be employed. – Michele

30.(30) Tampa Bay Rays (26-43) – Consistently bad. It’s almost time to wonder what their next move will be. A big trade involving David Price perhaps? – Michele

Biggest Jump: Royals, Pirates (+7)

Biggest Drop: Mariners (-7)