MLB Team Power Rankings Update: Not Much Love for the Orioles
Teams Ranked 20th to 11th
A lot of moving around is going on here -- except for the Colorado Rockies, who are locking down 16th place for the third consecutive week. There's nothing wrong with being consistent, that's for sure.
| Rank | Team | nERD | Record | Playoff Odds | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | Miami Marlins | -0.28 | 15-28 | 3.4% | -6 |
| 19 | Seattle Mariners | -0.15 | 20-25 | 16.5% | -7 |
| 18 | Atlanta Braves | -0.06 | 19-23 | 10.7% | +4 |
| 17 | Chicago White Sox | -0.03 | 20-23 | 7.0% | +3 |
| 16 | Colorado Rockies | -0.01 | 29-17 | 53.4% | 0 |
| 15 | Los Angeles Angels | 0.02 | 24-23 | 13.9% | +2 |
| 13 | Chicago Cubs | 0.06 | 22-21 | 71.8% | +5 |
| 13 | Milwaukee Brewers | 0.06 | 25-19 | 18.8% | +2 |
| 12 | Boston Red Sox | 0.33 | 22-21 | 62.6% | -3 |
| 11 | Minnesota Twins | 0.46 | 23-18 | 22.1% | +2 |
Biggest Rise: Chicago Cubs
Just last week, we wondered what the heck is going on with the Chicago Cubs, and here they are, making a substantial jump just a week later. Sure, the record didn't make a huge improvement (they were 18-19 when we last checked in), but their nERD has jumped from -0.19 to the 0.06 you see above during that same time.
The starting pitching continues to be meh compared to last year's performance, but the offense sure has come alive. As mentioned earlier, their team wRC+ of 144 has been the best in baseball over the past week, along with pacing the league in wOBA (.398), ISO (.261) and fWAR (2.1).
Struggling teams could always use a bit of a jolt to help get them going, and that's what top prospect Ian Happ has provided. While the entire offense is starting to click more than before, Happ hasn't looked like a rookie at all. In his first 33 big-league plate appearances, he's slashing .357/.455/.786 with 2 homers, 5 RBI and 8 runs scored.
That's led to an eye-popping 214 wRC+ and .506 wOBA, along with forcing the organization to make room for him in the majors.
Biggest Drop: Seattle Mariners
The Seattle Mariners' quest to end MLB's longest playoff drought (they last played October baseball in 2001) hasn't gone smoothly.
They got off to a slow start, but then reached as high as 10th in our power rankings a couple weeks ago. Now, they're hanging on by a thread to remain in the top 20. And during that time, Seattle's playoff odds have dropped from 36.0% to just 16.5%. Having the Houston Astros run out to a 30-15 start doesn't make things easier, either.
What's worse is that nothing is working right now for the Mariners. Their team wRC+ of 58 over the past week is better than only the Padres and Phillies, and while the 0.3 fWAR from their starting rotation is the eighth-highest mark during that same time, a collective 5.63 ERA hasn't helped them win many ballgames.
A lot of that damage was done by Chris Heston and Yovani Gallardo, who combined for just 6 2/3 innings of work this week while posting an ERA around 20.00. That's probably not going to work. They could really use Felix Hernandez and -- more importantly -- James Paxton back in the rotation to help stabilize things a bit.
