MLB Power Rankings: Week 2

MLB Power Rankings: Where we care what you've done for us lately when we break down the who's who and the what's what in the baseball world each week.

It's been a while since a week of baseball was this sad -- we saw the tragic passings of Nick Adenhart, Harry Kalas and Mark Fidrych. And without waxing too sentimentally, it's the loss of these men that remind us exactly just how little sports matter in the grand scheme of things. RIP, gentlemen. Power rankings (that feel just a tad inconsequential, to be honest) after the jump.

1. Braves | Previous Week: 5
The Braves rank in the top five in the majors in batting average (fourth) and slugging (third), but it's been their rotation that's been all chocolate-y good. Derek Lowe has a sub-1.00 ERA and almost a strikeout per inning and Jair Jurrjens has a 2.45 ERA and is 2-0 in his first two starts. Kelly Johnson, Jordan Schafer and Brian McCann all have smacked two home runs in their first six games. This team is currently running white hot, but beware of the bullpen. -- Knox Bardeen
2. Cubs| Previous Week: 2
Geovany Soto, Milton Bradley, and Aramis Ramirez are hurt. Derrek Lee can't hit. The bullpen has been inconsistent. And yet, here they sit at 5-2. It's a testament to the depth on Lou Pinella's club. It's the most complete team in the National League, but they face a big early-season test when the rival Cardinals head to Wrigley for a four-game set. -- Matt Snyder
3. Rays| Previous Week: 4
The Rays dropped two straight to the Orioles on Friday and Saturday before exploding for 11 runs on Sunday. Monday saw B.J. Upton return, the AL championship banner get raised and 15 more runs off the Yankees. Then they get no-hit for six innings and who knows what to make of them right now? -- Josh Alper
4. Red Sox | Previous Week: 1
Reason to worry about the health of the Sox? Jon Lester is 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA and David Ortiz has five singles and no extra-base hits. Throw in Josh Beckett's suspension and it's been a shaky start for the Boston nine, although Kevin Youkilis has done nothing but rake since the season began. -- JA
5. Mets| Previous Week: 3
Let's talk about unlucky. Johan Santana strikes out 13 batters, only walks one and doesn't give up a hit in seven innings and loses the game. When the Mets start winning all of Santana's masterful performances (like they should), this team will be tough. J.J. Putz and K-Rod are looking fantastic as the dynamic duo in the eighth and ninth innings, but the Mets offense just isn't clicking yet. -- KB
6. Dodgers | Previous Week: 9
When you can score a run on an inning-ending double play, you must be doing something right. Chad Billingsley's dominant outing against the Giants on Monday bodes well for their future. Of course, it was only against the Giants. See what happens when they face a real lineup. -- Jeff Fletcher
7. Marlins | Previous Week: 12
The starting pitching in Miami was supposed to be the talk of the town, but while it's good it pales in comparison to Bonifacio-mania. Emilio Bonifacio who didn't even earn his starting job until the last week of spring training is batting .500 (14-for-28) with a home run and four stolen bases. Josh Johnson has posted a sick 15-to-1 strikeout to walk ratio on his way to a 2-0 record and Chris Volstad is sporting a 1.80 ERA. The Marlins might get outdrawn by the county jamboree, but they're playing like rock stars. -- KB
8. Yankees | Previous Week: 8
Two ways of looking at 28.53. If you're Citigroup, it is a dream stock price that would cheer the nation. If you're Chien-Ming Wang, it's your ERA and people are wondering if the Yankee rotation needs a bailout. They'll finally open the new stadium this week, which should give them a lift. -- JA
9. Cardinals | Previous Week: 1
If Chris Carpenter's injury on Tuesday isn't too serious, adding him and Adam Wainwright back to the rotation may be enough to push the Cards towards contention. If the injury is serious, many of the questions that surrounded the team last year still linger. -- Pat Lackey
10. Phillies | Previous Week: 4
While the hearts of all baseball fans and especially the Phillies' family are heavy this week with the passing of legendary broadcaster Harry Kalas, the Phillies have been trying to play out of a funk that started with the dropping of their opening series to the Braves. It's not easy to turn things around when your starting pitchers give up 31 earned runs and 11 home runs in 29 innings. -- KB
11. Royals | Previous Week: 24
Zack Greinke has yet to give up a run this season in 11 innings, and has a streak of 25 scoreless going back to last season. The Royals also have the second best ERA in the AL behind Seattle. If only the offense could score runs. -- Tom Fornelli
12. White Sox | Previous Week: 14
The White Sox bats were silent against the Royals to start the season, but since they've scored 29 runs in their last four games and have a team ERA of 3.57 on the season. Hell, even Bartolo Colon went for six shutout innings against the Twins last Saturday. -- TF
13. Mariners | Previous Week: 20
Did everyone blow it on the Mariners twice? Last year we all thought their pitching would be good and it stunk. So this year we didn't make the same mistake. Everyone picked them for last. Now Jarrod Washburn, Erik Bedard and even Carlos Silva are pitching like they did at their best. Don't rain on their first-week parade and say it won't last. Seattle gets enough rain already.
14. Orioles | Previous Week: 17
The Orioles have scored 10 runs twice and they've allowed 11 twice which isn't a recipe for a very good record, but it makes for some watchable baseball. Also watchable: Breakout candidate Adam Jones, who is hitting for power and average and raising hopes in the Charm City. -- JA
15. Rangers | Previous Week: 11
OK, so the total and utter freakout over the Rangers might have been premature ... or maybe not. Everyone on this team has started slowly, including monster-masher Chris Davis, who has finally started to get warmed up in his last two games, parking a ball in the stands each night. Remember the old adage about Texas heat, baseball and the summer? Oh, well, it means more offense.
16. Reds | Previous Week: 19
Aaron Harang seems to have regained his old form and Joey Votto, Brandon Phillips, and Edwin Encarnacion are off to a great start at the plate. The rest of the pitching staff has been pretty putrid, though, and Jay Bruce is off to a poor start as well. -- PL
17. Angels | Previous Week: 13
The injuries to John Lackey, Kelvim Escobar and Ervin Santana suddenly seem so trivial. In the mundane world of the baseball standings, though, it is going to be more vital than ever for those guys to come back soon, and come back strong. Kudos to the Halos for taking two of three from the Red Sox in their first series after the Nick Adenhart tragedy. -- JF
18. Twins | Previous Week: 7
The Twins are 4-5 to start the season, but considering Joe Mauer isn't in the lineup, any record near .500 in his absence has to be considered a victory. Plus Justin Morneau is hitting .324 with two homers and eight runs driven in already. Imagine how his numbers would look if he still had Mauer getting on base ahead of him. -- TF
19. Diamondbacks | Previous Week: 6
Brandon Webb isn't the only great pitcher on this team -- Dan Haren is obviously quite good too -- but if Webb's shoulder injury (something that has consumed my virtual-ink-filled soul the last week) is more serious than either he or the team is letting on, the Snakes will be in serious trouble. Also: Justin Upton is hitless on the season and might need to head back to Triple-A for a little more seasoning.
20. Blue Jays | Previous Week: 22
Are Adam Lind, Vernon Wells and Travis Snider a modern day version of George Bell, Lloyd Moseby and Jesse Barfield? Maybe not, but they are powering the league's highest scoring team thus far and that's good enough for a second week in first place for the Jays. -- JA
21. Pirates | Previous Week: 25
Sure, the Pirates are off to a 4-3 start. But to do that, they've put up a team ERA of 2.70 to this point. Raise your hand if you think that's going to last. No, your vote doesn't count if your name is Zach Duke. -- PL
22. A's | Previous Week: 18
Eric Chavez is out this week with a sore shoulder? In other news, the sun rose in the East. Chavez says it's not a big deal, and he'll be back in a few days. In the meantime, the A's bats are heating up against, of all teams, the Red Sox. Matt Holliday is swinging the bat well, but he's still without a homer. Spring training included. He'd better hit one soon if he doesn't want to hear all those pesky Coors Field questions. -- JF
23. Tigers | Previous Week: 29
The Tigers are off to a 4-4 start, but Justin Verlander's 9.35 ERA can't be a good sign. It looks like the Tigers are going to have to win a lot of 10-8 games, which they're fully capable of, but it's hard to win a division playing that way. -- TF
24. Padres | Previous Week: 30
Yeah, they look great now. Too bad that the folks at ESPN who pull all the Major League Baseball levers behind the big curtain will never allow them to contend. In fact, they are only letting Jake Peavy stay in San Diego to taunt Padres fans. -- JF
25. Brewers | Previous Week: 21
I wouldn't normally say that a team's 2-5 start makes me nervous, but something is vaguely unsettling about the way the Brewers have started this season. It's probably the fact that Braden Looper is their only starter with an ERA below 6.14 right now. That can't last, can it? -- PL
26. Giants | Previous Week: 23
They played only seven games before manager Bruce Bochy decided they already needed to have a postgame team meeting. That's never a good sign. Oh, and Tim (The Franchise) Lincecum, has also gotten hit hard in both of his starts. Also not a good sign. At least Fred Lewis is off to a good start. -- JF
27. Rockies | Previous Week: 26
There is some good news: Dexter Fowler seems like something resembling the "Truth" and Ian Stewart and Clint Barmes are getting along just splendily. Wait ... what? Oh. I see. So there's some mild clubhouse trouble in addition to zero pitching (unless you count the one good personality of Ubaldo Jimenez anyway)? Well, that is a problem.
28. Indians | Previous Week: 15
A 1-6 record, a .241 team average,and an MLB-worst 8.24 ERA? Surely these aren't the Indians we thought we'd see. The only good news in Cleveland right now is that there are still 155 games left on the schedule, plenty of time to get back on track. -- TF
29. Astros | Previous Week: 27
This team stinks. They've been shut out in 26 of their last 27 innings and they're currently reeling from back-to-back shutouts spun by Kyle Lohse and Zach Duke. The ship is sinking quick in Houston and while the 'Stros may tell you that they always play better later in the year, I wouldn't count on it this year. -- PL
30. Nationals | Previous Week: 28
Nobody is denying the fact that Lastings Milledge has talent with major upside. Unfortunately his attitude has been a determining factor in a rough start to a career that, Tuesday, took a turn toward Triple-A Syracuse. The Nationals have started 0-7, partially due to a team 7.71 ERA. Gaining ground in this tough division would be tough enough if the Nats were playing well. Right now they aren't.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

4-15-2009 @ 1:31PM

Ralph Garcia said...

Uncanny, they say that famous people die in threes. I'm not superstitious but this is one time the coincidence is there.

4-15-2009 @ 10:17PM

tobrien28 said...

If you are going to have Power Rankings this early at least base it in results. Don't "update" it by keeping your preseason predictions. The Red Sox are fourth with a 3-6 record when the Yankees are 5-4 (all on the road) and are 8th. Other than Wang the Yankees pitchers have been nothing short of stellar and have outperformed both the Red Sox and Mets' starting staffs.

4-16-2009 @ 12:58AM

d57fan said...

What bullshit...what are the rankings based on if not performance thus far. The Blue Jays are first in the AL and they only rank 20th? For f*ck's sake, there's plenty of time later to be the usual boring predictable Yankee, Red Sox brown-nosers...let's at least give some due to teams that are winning NOW!.

4-16-2009 @ 1:12AM

hockeykev12 said...

You suck as a writer. What a crock of **** with these rankings. How the hell do you stay employed?

4-16-2009 @ 8:27PM

oasismarine said...

Hey KB you should have waited for the Marlins - Braves series to post your rankings. Funny...Braves #1, Mets #5 and Marlins #7. We just took two from the Mets, including one from Santana and took all three from the Braves, including one from their ace, Lowe. The Marlins may not win 100 games this year, but they sure as heck are gonna give the NL east powers a run for their money.