Welcome back to The Call to the Pen! Very quick strike today as I’m getting this up late Monday night. Be back next week for the full post. The Rays reached double digits in their losing streak while the Phils stopped the bleeding at nine in a row. The Giants look nearly unbeatable as does the City of Cleveland. An interesting story in Cincy yesterday following up on the cover photo. Pete Rose had his number retired by the Reds. I’m a fan of this happening to baseball’s hit king. Granted I wasn’t alive for any that happened with Rose (both as a player and a manager), but I think his playing career deserves THAT credit. Let’s get to the Power Rankings…

Power Rankings

The Bottom:

30) Minnesota Twins (24-51): Even
29) Atlanta Braves (26-49): Even
28) Cincinnati Reds (29-47): Even
27) Tampa Bay Rays (31-43): Down 6 
26) Philadelphia Phillies (32-45): Even
25) LA Angels of Anaheim (32-44): Down 2    
24) Oakland Athletics (32-43): Up 3 
23) San Diego Padres (33-44): Up 2
22) Milwaukee Brewers (34-41): Up 2   
21) Colorado Rockies (36-39): Down 1

The Middle:

20) Arizona Diamondbacks (36-42): Up 2
19) Pittsburgh Pirates (37-40): Down 1 
18) Detroit Tigers (38-38): Down 2
17) Chicago White Sox (38-38): Down 2
16) New York Yankees (37-37): Up 1
15) Seattle Mariners (38-38): Down 4
14) Houston Astros (39-37): Up 5
13) New York Mets (40-34): Up 1 
12) Miami Marlins (41-35): Even
11) St. Louis Cardinals (39-35): Up 2

The Top:

10) Kansas City Royals (39-35): Down 2 
9) Toronto Blue Jays (41-36): Even
8) LA Dodgers (42-36): Up 2
7) Boston Red Sox (41-34): Down 1 
6) Washington Nationals (44-32): Down 2 
5) Baltimore Orioles (45-30): Even
4) Cleveland Indians (44-30): Up 3
3) Texas Rangers (49-27): Even 
2) San Francisco Giants (49-28): Even
1) Chicago Cubs (48-26): Even

Combining everything into a quick summary this week. The top 14 teams are all very good baseball teams but the thing about 2016, much more so in the American League, is that any team can swoop and into the league’s elite: see the Houston Astros’ meteoric rise. The Rangers and Giants are actually very close to catching the Cubs after the Cubbies were swept by St. Louis last week.

All Star Votes:

Last vote before the vote closes!

Phillies Update:

The offense is scoring runs! I wouldn’t have thought that was possible on the road. A 2-4 week is probably what I would have thought of as a result from traveling to Minnesota and San Francisco but not in the way the Phillies did it. The were hitting the ball well and actually took one from the Giants at AT&T Park–really wasn’t expecting that. Somehow Ryan Howard showed up while Freddy Galvis and Cesar Hernandez have been collecting hits left and right! Anyway, we’re starting to see the one-run games go against the Phils which is to be expected. Vince Velesquez did return earlier tonight against the D-Backs as the teams play a three-game set in Arizona this week. The Phillies will return home this weekend to face off with the defending champion Kansas City Royals.

Disagree with the Rankings? How about my All Star votes? Let me know in the comments

(cover photo via)