MLB

MLB Power Rankings Update: The Dodgers Are Ridiculous

The Dodgers now have a 96 percent chance of making the playoffs, per our algorithm. Can anyone stop them?

Here at numberFire, we like math. We're not about subjectivity. So when we calculate our power rankings, it's not based on what our eyes are telling us or what our feelings say. It's based on straight up math.

For baseball, we use our nERD metric to show how good a team actually is performing. nERD, for those of you who are unaware, tells us how many runs a team should win by against a league-average opponent on a neutral field. A nERD of 1.00, for instance, means that team would be an ordinary one by a run. If that team was facing a squad with a nERD of -0.5, we'd expect them to win by 1.5 runs.

Take a look at how things are shaping up around Major League Baseball, sorted by nERD.

TeamPlayoffsChampsDivisionnERD
1Los Angeles Dodgers96.00%20.20%79.70%1.36
2Houston Astros70.40%5.50%50.50%0.83
3Oakland Athletics18.20%2.40%7.30%0.76
4St. Louis Cardinals97.50%14.10%83.90%0.71
5Tampa Bay Rays66.90%9.00%51.80%0.71
6Kansas City Royals58.80%5.00%37.20%0.66
7Toronto Blue Jays27.80%2.80%14.70%0.55
8San Francisco Giants67.60%5.50%18.40%0.54
9Cleveland Indians41.90%4.50%22.30%0.36
10Detroit Tigers47.10%3.90%27.50%0.33
11New York Mets45.80%2.20%30.50%0.32
12New York Yankees37.30%2.20%21.60%0.22
13Chicago Cubs27.40%1.10%2.80%0.15
14Los Angeles Angels54.80%5.60%32.30%0.15
15Pittsburgh Pirates63.50%4.00%13.10%0.12
16Baltimore Orioles15.60%1.70%8.00%-0.02
17Cincinnati Reds4.00%0.20%0.20%-0.06
18Washington Nationals72.40%6.40%62.20%-0.13
19Seattle Mariners16.00%1.30%5.70%-0.2
20Texas Rangers10.10%0.60%4.20%-0.28
21Arizona Diamondbacks0.80%0.00%0.00%-0.4
22Miami Marlins1.40%0.00%0.90%-0.52
23San Diego Padres12.40%0.50%1.80%-0.55
24Boston Red Sox8.20%0.50%3.90%-0.63
25Atlanta Braves10.60%0.40%6.50%-0.69
26Minnesota Twins25.90%0.70%12.50%-0.84
27Colorado Rockies0.50%0.00%0.00%-1.03
28Milwaukee Brewers0.00%0.00%0.00%-1.43
29Chicago White Sox1.20%0.00%0.50%-1.49
30Philadelphia Phillies0.00%0.00%0.00%-1.56