Apologies for the tardiness for Week 2, had to celebrate my sister’s birthday. I need to meet people who weren’t born in April.
All records are through Monday morning’s Red Sox/Orioles game
#30 Milwaukee Brewers (2-10, 27th last week): Another 1-5 week for the Brew Crew which included the loss of Carlos Gomez. Milwaukee had only scored 30 runs (2.5 per game), the worst in the majors.
#29 Philadelphia Phillies (4-9, 29th last week): The Phils are playing about par for where we’ve all thought they’d be. After an interesting “tussle” between Matt Harvey and Chase Utley last Tuesday, the Mets went on to sweep the Phillies and then they dropped three of four in Washington. Odubel Herrera is looking to be the future for our Fightins (.302 average through the first 13 games).
#28 Texas Rangers (5-8, 28th last week): Prince Fielder is certainly back for the Rangers (.385 average) but the rest of the team is batting .188. With all the injuries to this team and the potential for the AL West, it’s tough to see the climb out of 5th.
#27 Miami Marlins (3-10, 22nd last week): It’s ice cold in Miami. Granted they finished the week against a red hot New York Mets but 65 runs allowed is one off of the league’s worst.
#26 San Francisco Giants (4-10, 20th last week): The Giants are off to easily the most disappointing start in 2015. They’ve lost Jake Peavy to DL now as well, joining Matt Cain and leaving their rotation with a hole.
#25 Minnesota Twins (5-7, 30th last week): A 4-2 week for the Twins sees them jump five spots. Their -20 run differential is what’s keeping them as the lowest ranked AL Central team.
#24 Tampa Bay Rays (6-7, 25th last week): While the offense is scoring almost four runs per game, Tampa Bay is still missing a lot in their rotation. RF Steven Souza has led the way for the Rays offensively while Evan Longoria will need to step up.
#23 Cincinnati Reds (5-7, 17th last week): The Reds are not living up to what their lineup could be producing. Just over three runs per game won’t get you out of the NL Central.
#22 Chicago White Sox (4-7, 19th last week): A 2-3 week for the Southsiders was produced mainly by a strong week from Jose Abreu (6 for 22, 2 HR, 6 RBI) but the team is last in the American league with a team ERA of 4.82.
#21 Arizona Diamondbacks (7-6, 26th last week): Paul Goldschmidt had a week going 8 for 27 with three homers and nine RBI.
#20 Cleveland Indians (4-7, 16th last week): Cleveland is more excited about LeBron in the playoffs. The Tribe has one of the lower total runs allowed (46) but has scored among the fewest in the majors (35).
#19 Colorado Rockies (7-5, 24th last week): The Rockies have started to cool off but are certainly still warm. Take away getting outscored 20-6 by the Dodgers over the weekend, Colorado is still 51/45 (+6 RD) offensively.
#18 Oakland Athletics (6-7, 18th last week): The A’s have the second-best RD (+24) in the majors but are still under-.500; consistency will need to be the key for Oakland this season.
#17 Houston Astros (6-6, 23rd last week): The Astros are ranked 5th in the majors with a 2.81 ERA including a 2-0, 0.90 ERA start from Dallas Keuchel. Jose Altuve went 11 for 24 this past week with three RBI.
#16 Toronto Blue Jays (6-7, 5th last week): Well I was wrong about the Blue Jays rotation, at least statistically (5.14 ERA). The Blue Jays offense is tied with the Red Sox in runs scored, the rotation just needs to step it up.
#15 New York Yankees (6-6, 21st last week): The Yanks swept the Rays this weekend, propelling them to .500. Still a lot of questions in the Bronx but Tanaka’s strong start Saturday is a great sign.
#14 Seattle Mariners (5-7, 3rd last week): Like the Blue Jays, the offense is there with Nelson Cruz bombing six home runs this week but aside from King Felix, the pitching is way off track.
#13 Atlanta Braves (8-4, 14th last week): The Braves are still very hot to start 2015. Ranking just outside of the top 10 in most categories, they’ve certainly earned this spot. I’m still pretty skeptical of where they’ll go, but in a weak NL East, who knows?
#12 Chicago Cubs (6-5, 11th last week): Kris Bryant is a Cub! And he’s batting .300 (3 for 10) after going 0 for 4 in his debut. Chicago is still above .500 despite a weak start in 2015 from Jon Lester. Once Lester gets it going, it could separate them from the NL Central pack.
#11 Pittsburgh Pirates (6-6, 12th last week): A 4-2 week, including a sweep of the Brewers, is what swaps the Buccos and the Cubs this week. Their pitching has been extremely solid only allowing 7 runs against both the Tigers and the Brewers this week.
#10 Los Angeles Angles of Anaheim (5-7, 10th last week): The Halos need to play outside their division. 5-7 is definitely not where you’d think they be, but playing against all their AL rivals won’t help. They return home to face the A’s and Rangers this week.
#9 Washington Nationals (6-7, 9th last week): Ian Desmond is hitting, Jayson Werth is back in the lineup, and Max Scherzer finally won his first game. The signs are pointing the right way, but when three of your week’s four wins came against the Phillies, that’s tough to help you rise up the ranks.
#8 Baltimore Orioles (7-6, 13th last week): Adam Jones came out flying in 2015 batting .457/.490/.848. The pitching staff has been inconsistent however, as shown by their +2 run differential.
#7 Boston Red Sox (8-5, 6th last week): Splitting the weekend set with O’s along with a starting pitching ERA of 6.24 has the Sox moving down a spot this week; the 7-1 win today is great sign though.
#6 Kansas City Royals (9-3, 8th last week): The Royals lost a series to the Twins and then almost lost their heads against the A’s this past weekend (five Royals were ejected Sunday); they were able to put out the series win though.
#5 San Diego Padres (8-5, 7th last week): The Padres’ pitching staff had been terrific this young season, ranking 4th with a 2.79 ERA and a league-high 10 quality starts from their starters. The 4.54 runs per game is a full run higher than the Padres’ average in 2014.
#4 New York Mets (10-3, 15th last week): The Mets didn’t lose last week, sweeping the Phillies and the Marlins at Citi Field. If not for even more injuries to their lineup (David Wright and Travis d’Arnaud), the Mets could be the top NL team this week.
#3 St. Louis Cardinals (8-3, 2nd last week): Why the Cards drop? See below. But staying with St. Louis, the Cardinals have been spectacular with their pitching staff boating a 1.91 ERA and a OBA of .206. Matt Carpenter is red hot to start the season batting .400 with two homers and 10 RBI out of the leadoff spot.
#2 Los Angeles Dodgers (9-3, 4th last week): Clayton Kershaw and Yasiel Puig are both off to slow starts but their offensive is atop the NL with a .288 BA and scoring 5.25 runs per game. Kershaw and Puig will get it going before you know it.
#1 Detroit Tigers (10-2, 1st last week): The entire Detroit lineup is batting .305/.369/.486 scoring 5.67 runs per game while the pitching staff ranks atop the AL with a 2.61 ERA. The Yankees and Indians come into Detroit this week. Watching those pitching staffs against the Tigers’ lineup will be fantastic.
Disagree? Let me know in the comments below.
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