The Bucs have the best Batting Average and OBP in the majors this year, and are waiting for the Starting Pitching to join them. Considering they have talent in the Minor Leagues to address this, and won 98 Games last year, it is not surprising to see them jump 10 spots in the rankings on a great week of play – where so many of their fellow NL clubs (besides the Nats and Cubs struggled so mightily).

Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer/Part Owner) Follow @stokes_Hunter21

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Disclaimer:  We based these rankings on best strength to win the World Series.  Therefore some teams that have an easier division to play in, with the least path of resistance to the postseason overall may be ranked a lot higher than a club who is equally talented, yet may play in a juggernaut of a division.

Game Records were before the results of the ESPN Sunday Night Game was played

Gone are the days right now where a Yankees and Red Sox Sunday Night matchup wasn’t important in the pantheon that are the weekly MLB Power Rankings.

Boston is still going to be in the top 10 as the AL East lone representative on the heels of their offensive output.

Every time I look up the Beantown Boys are into the double digits in hits for the game, and David Ortiz and Dustin Pedroia are in the thick of it.

While they also didn’t make the biggest movers and shakers either, John Farrell‘s club is looking poised to be cracking the top 5 soon.

The NL West have all teams .500 or worse, and I am shocked at how that has translated for the Dodgers and Giants.

Talking about a buzzkill effort to wreck what should have been a great road trip with momentum – following a 7 game winning streak, the 80 game suspension to Dee Gordon could see the Marlins recede back in the standings and rankings as quick as they jumped up.  Both they and the Pirates rose 10 spots in this weeks rankings.

Even with the Atlanta Braves at an MLB worst 6 – 18 heading into play Monday, the Phillies have won 6 games in a row.

New York and Miami had come into the day with winning streaks of 8 and 7 games respectively, but lost Sunday.

The Mets sat three regulars versus Madison Bumgarner this afternoon.

This division has looked great thus far, but I simply am not sold on Philadelphia maintaining this pace, and Miami will sorely miss Dee Gordon very soon.

Washington, New York (along with the Cubs) represent the best 3 squads in the MLB right now.

Since there has to be a winner in the NL East and the Nats have struggled with their secondary offense, coupled with their early cupcake schedule, I gave the ranking nod to the Mets ever so slightly.  Both of these teams will win 90+ games.

Pittsburgh almost ran the table for the week as well, and have solidified a hold in 2nd place of the Division.  The St. Louis Cardinals have bludgeoned the weaker sisters of the league, but have gone 0 – 6 versus the Nats and Pirates this year.

That last point is really key since those are 3 of the 7 or so teams in the senior circuit vying for the 5 playoff spots.

Detroit righted the ship in a huge way this thanks to the turnaround lineup of Miguel Cabrera, Victor Martinez and Justin Upton, while Nick Castellanos has emerged into a bonafide backup option.  The Tigers surged up the rankings.

On the other side, the Indians finally brought Michael Brantley back to the roster, and then were swept out by the Phillies this weekend.  The offense continues to suffer.  They are among our biggest losers of the week.  Only the Dodgers losing 9 spots, with the Jays and Cards being hit for 9 spots lost were worse.

Rank – Team Record (Last week rank) (Up down) (W – L Record Last week)

(1) (1) Chicago Cubs (E) (17 – 6) (3 – 1):  Only the weather can stop them from winning it seems.  That and Sundays.

Jake Arrieta is still pitching historically.  It is only a matter of time before Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant and Jason Heyward hit better in the warmer climate.

Pittsburgh is already 3.5 Games Behind, and unless injuries occur, the Cardinals are  6.5 in arrears.

Joe Maddon is the right guy to manage this squad.  Jed Hoyer and Theo Epstein will do everything in their realm to add players for a championship run.  Sky is the limit for these guys.

(2) (5) NY Mets (+3):  Yoenis Cespedes is raking it like he was in the 1st 40 games.  A motivated guy like that, still looking to cash in on the winter again, should go for 30 HRs and 100 RBI.

Michael Conforto is the best young player no one is talking about right now.  Depth is a lot better for sure, and the Starting Pitchers all have shaken off injuries and family issues.

With making up so much ground against the Nats, and with their division rival in the midst of a ten game road trip, I wouldn’t be surprised if New York was the leader in the NL East when the two meet up for the 1st time this year.

Jeurys Familia is 8/8 in Save Opportunities., and may be the difference in the club winning the Division or not.

(3) (6) Chicago White Sox (+3) (18 – 8) (5 – 2):  This might just be a once week occurrence, however the Pale Hose deserve the honor of being labeled the best AL team right now.

Chris Sale is looking more like Randy Johnson every start.  If you remember, it took “The Big Unit” about 5 years with the M’s before he took over his dominance on the MLB.

Jose Abreu has not even hit yet with much authority.  Defense is vastly improved, and the Bullpen has plenty of horses who have worked on playoff clubs before.

(4) (2) Washington Nationals (-2) (17 – 7) (3 – 3) :  Nice sweep of the Cardinals by the 1, 2 and 3 starters this weekend masked a growing problem for the club; that is depth in the lineup behind Bryce Harper and Daniel Murphy.

Jayson Werth, Ryan Zimmerman and Anthony Rendon have got to at least see 2 of these guys provide some backup for the lineup or it will spell trouble.

An absolute train wreck of a series versus the Phillies kicked off the week, and they suffered 3 straight defeats at Nats Park.  That can’t happen at home if you want to win their Division.

(5) (15) Pittsburgh Pirates (+10) (15 – 10) (5 – 1):  An elevated ranking yes, but they separated themselves away from St. Louis, meanwhile the Dodgers, Giants also had bad weeks, so this a play on confidence to make the postseason.

They are actually not that far off from the Cubbies either, with plenty of games in head to head combat to settle the NL Central.

Jameson Taillon and Tyler Glasnow could really help shore up this team this year in a few months.

The Bucs are leading the Majors in Batting Average and OBP.  The Starting Pitching should be enough to win most games, and the Bullpen is as solid as there is.  If only they were not in the same division as the Cubs.

(6) (14)  Boston Red Sox (+8) (14 – 10) (5 – 1):  Yep.  I am going there. Not only are the Red Sox playing well offensively, but now Rick Porcello is 5 – 0.  Craig Kimbrel and David Price haven’t even settled in.

Dustin Pedroia is off to a torrid start, and David Ortiz is almost clubbing an Extra Base Hit per game.  Baltimore has struggled since going 7 – 0 to begin the year.

Mostly I believe the management will help add to the roster arsenal when this team is leading the Division in June.  Since I don’t believe the Jays or O’s will follow suit, and the AL West is more up in the air, for now Boston gets the nod as the AL’s 2nd best club.

(7) (8) Texas Rangers  (+1) (14 – 11) (4 – 2):  With Houston being buried early in the year so far, I have to go with the Rangers with the AL West favorite.

These guys are due to get Yu Darvish pretty soon, and have been accomplishing this winning record without Shin soo Choo being in the lineup, and Prince Fielder being off to a horrible Start.  Depth is on its way.

Ian Desmond has started to hit recently – and this bodes well.

(8) (3)  KC Royals (-5) (13 – 11) (2 – 5):  In the narrowest of margins I have selected the reigning champions just ahead of the Detroit Tigers.  They have lost a couple of series in a row, and the offense looks putrid thus far.

Ian Kennedy has come back to earth – although he looked better on Sunday again at Safeco.

They are also lucky that Cleveland tanked the weekend.  It could be an intense fight to make the playoffs for the top 4 squads, although I am leaning to think that both Wild Card clubs could be represented of this Division.

(9) (10) Baltimore Orioles (+1) (14 – 10) (3 – 4):  Again, the fact that Toronto and New York had bad overall weeks, coupled with the Indians, results in this rankings as it were.

The Starting Pitching got a nice bump from outings featuring Kevin Gausman and Chris Tillman.  The O’s have played a tough schedule already, and have survived it.

Adam Jones looks like he is playing hurt.  Chris Davis and Matt Wieters are off to slow starts that are negating what Mark Trumbo and Manny Machado are putting up.

(10) (13) Detroit Tigers (+3) (14 – 10) (5 – 1):  Yes the Motown beat up on the A’s and Twins all weekend, however that lineup is scary when firing on all cylinders.

Any one of their top 4 or 5 hitters can carry the club by themselves for a week or two.  When a few of them are clubbing it like this week, they will crush teams.

Jordan Zimmermann has been the best Pitcher of the American League through one month (sorry to Chris Sale and Mat Latos of the White Sox)

(11) (13) SF Giants (+2) (13 – 13) (4 – 2):  Lost a showdown series this weekend versus the Mets, and New York didn’t field their A roster against Madison Bumgarner.

I still feel that the San Francisco is the best team in the Division.  The low ranking is for the bad record, and for the fact they will have to fend off tt Diamondbacks in the NL West too.

(12) (4) LA Dodgers (-8) (13 – 13) (1 – 6):  So lucky to have Clayton Kershaw end the week so they avoided and o’fer.

(13) (7)  Toronto Blue Jays (-6) (12 – 14) (2 – 4):  It was critical this team concluded a series win versus the Rays this weekend – after being drubbed mightily be the A’s before that.

They are 3 games back of Baltimore and if they make up just 1 1/2 games – I would be inclined to push Canada’s team as the 2nd favorite in the AL East.

(14) (16) Seattle Mariners (+2) (13 – 11) (4 – 2): The Mariners have won 5 straight series with taking the weekends set against the Royals.  Robinson Cano is making his dough this year with clutch base hits late.

Some may feel they are due a better ranking, however they are still in tough for the Division against the Rangers and A’s.

(15) (9) St. Louis Cardinals (-6) (2- 5);  An awful way to cap the week by being swept by the Nationals.  St. Louis needs to play better against good competition -otherwise they will be looking up at the end of the season.

The problem already is chasing the Nats, Mets, Cubs and Pirates already.  They are at least 3 games behind all 4 of those clubs.

The RedBirds may be better than the Dodgers and Giants by years end – but there would be no postseason baseball at Busch Stadium, despite probably winning close to 90 games.

It is time to orchestrate a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays involving Matt Adams and Aledmys Diaz, for a Starter like Jake Odorizzi and throw in Logan Morrison as part of the package coming back.  Both teams could reap the rewards.

(16) (11)  Cleveland Indians (-5) (10 – 12) (1 – 5):  An absolutely awful gut wrench weekend – being just clipped in all 3 games versus the Phillies.  It has illustrated the Tribe’s lack of thunder in the lineup.

The AL Central is a beast of a Division.  With the White Sox looking so good, and the Tigers having a dominant lineup, with the Royals having the better Bullpen, Cleveland only holds a decent rotation to contend.

Carlos Carrasco is also headed to the DL – and that was after the club finally said hello to Brantley.

(17) (20)  Oakland A’s (+3) (13 – 13) (3 – 4):   Oakland is hanging in with the rest of the league  They may be playing a bit over their heads right now, but it looks good on them.

I keep telling people to load up against Rich Hill in DFS, and then the dude pitches well.  If they are sniffing around contention – look for Billy Beane to make a trade to help the offense.

In a weak AL West, anything is possible.

(18) (28) Miami Marlins (+10) (12 – 12) (6 – 1):  The biggest mover and shaker of the week.  The Fish won 6 out of 7 games on a road trip that saw them bring the lumber, and almost have a no-hitter to add.

Giancarlo Stanton is back to serving longballs over the fence.  It is too bad for the Dee Gordon suspension, as this will hurt them severely in the longterm.

(19) (24) Philadelphia Phillies (+4) (15 – 10) (6 – 0):  Ordinarily we would vault a club up the rankings profusely for a 6 – 0 week.  This club is winning against good teams.  Sweeping the Nationals and Indians is a great statement.

Having stated the positives, they still don’t show selective viewing at the plate as their walk rate (beside Odubel Herrera) – and the Starting Pitching has thrown above their pay grade.

I would have liked to given them  a bigger rankings (If were in AL at all, it would have been) – but running against the Mets, Nats and surging Miami is too much to ask all year.

(20) (17) Arizona Diamondbacks (-4) (12 – 15) (2 – 5):  Good to see Zack Greinke throw better at Chase Field this weekend.  Depth is starting to prove they will miss A.J. Pollock.  Colorado has beat them up all year.

Shelby Miller is killing the vibe, and may prove out to be a massive mistake in the long run.

(21) (22) Tampa Bay (+1) (11 – 13) (3 – 3):  The Rays needed to bring in better offensive talent through Free Agency or trade like 2 years ago.

(See the Cardinals):  It is time to trade strength for strength.  The Staff is prone to giving up HRs, and they are playing against the he O’s and Jays 38 times this year  Likely to prevent them from doing much

Good to see Chris Archer finally throw a couple of good games in a row.

(22) (23) LA Angels (+1) (12 – 13) (4 – 2):  It was a good week for the Halo’s.  The problem is the LF, C, SS and 2B positions being so pitiful it kills what the rest of the lineup can do.

Matt Shoemaker looks like a one hit wonder.

(23) (22) Colorado Rockies (-1) (12 – 12) (3 – 3):  It will be hard to duplicate 10 HR months for Trevor Story and Nolan Arenado every month.  Colorado has also played 6 games on the road where they are 5 – 1.

Not buying the usual early start.

(24) (24)  Houston Astros (E) (8 – 17) (2 – 4):  Only thing saving them is the AL West is not getting away from them.

(25) (18)  NY Yankees (-7) (8 – 14) (1 – 4):  The Bronx Bombers are not really living up to the name right now  At least it looks like Alex Rodriguez can still hit a baseball

We said a hundred times this offseason, that it was paramount for them to at least maintain .500 until Aroldis Chapman comes back

They are being buried in the AL behind so many clubs that climbing up from the bottom will be tough.

(26) (26)  SD Padres (E) (9 – 16) ( 2 – 4):  They are so fortunate that the Dodgers and Giants have played so mediocre in the 1st four weeks.  They are only  3 games behind the Giants and Dodgers.

On the good ledger:  Wil Myers and Melvin Upton Jr. are at least hitting the ball well

(27) (25) Cincinnati Reds (-2) (10 – 15) (1 – 5):  Cincy is 5 – 15 after their 5 – 0 start.  I am thinking the last 20 games is a prelude to how the rest of the year will go.

(28) (27) Milwaukee Brewers (-1) (9 – 15) (1 – 5):  Had to win Sunday to avoid a winless week  It is Ryan Braun, Jonathan Lucroy and Chris Carter – with a bunch of guys who should be playing AAA.

(29) (29) Minnesota Twins (E) (7 – 18) (2 – 4):  Joe Mauer has reached base in every game thus far, and is an OBP machine again  Miguel Sano has rectified his sophomore slump.

Danny Santana has contributed too.  Pitching Staff with serious issues, and every club near or behind them in the standings last year are all better than them.

(30) (30) Atlanta Braves (E) (6 – 18) (2 – 4):  They are 2 – 2 on Sundays and split a series with the Cubs.  The 1 – 12 start at Turner Field is abysmal.  16 game homerless streak as a team..ouch..

Perhaps no team could rise faster in the next few weeks than the Toronto Blue Jays.  Last year they had two separate 11 game winning streaks in their calendar season, and are fully capable of reeling off a bunch of wins in a row.  That is something that a lot of the AL clubs don’t have the talent to do.

*** The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of mlbreports.com and their other partners.***

A big thanks goes out to our ‘Chief Writer/Part Owner’ Hunter Stokes for preparing today’s featured post.

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