MLB Power Rankings

30. Colorado Rockies- Two star hitters in Tulowitzki and Gonzalez but other than that there is no positivity on this team.

29. Texas Rangers- Depleted roster on pitching and on hitting. Don’t expect anything different for the rest of the season.

28. Arizona Diamondbacks- This team has no upside especially with their best player, Paul Goldschmidt, likely out for the year.

27. Houston Astros- A building team who is quietly improving their pitching and hitting but still haven’t gotten out of the 20-30 range.

26. Chicago Cubs- Cubs remain a bottom tier team, don’t expect anything different for the remainder of the season.

25. Boston Red Sox- The Red Sox lost stud pitcher, Jon Lester, but gaining the bat of Cespedes is huge for this teams future.

24. Philadelphia Phillies- Has many missing pieces to this roster and needs to start rebuilding.

23. Minnesota Twins- The Twins remain a struggling team with no upside.

22. San Diego Padres- New GM A.J. Preller looks to improve this club.

21. New York Mets- The Mets remain the inferior team in the bronx, but hope to build momentum towards the finish of this season.

20. Chicago White Sox- The better of the two teams in Chicago but continue to struggle. They have an established ace in their rotation to build off of.

19. Cleveland Indians- I think the Indians are paying more attention to Johnny Football and Lebron James than they are to their own team.

18. Miami Marlins- A dark horse team who could sneak up on the Braves and the Nationals and try to steal a wild card position. Hitting is improving rapidly.

17. Tampa Bay Rays- Were on a roll when David Price was still in the rotation. Now that they dealt him they should stay at a steady sub par record.

16. Cincinnati Reds- Their hitting is hurting this teams chances of seeing the playoffs. Team roster overall has tons potential though.

15. Atlanta Braves- Coming off a major slump the Braves look to regain possession of the NL East. A very streaky team that will be fighting for playoff contention.

14. Toronto Blue Jays- This club has all the necessary pieces to be a top team, small streaky slumps have gotten the best of them this season.

13. New York Yankees- Should be a top ten team if healthy. Their rotation has been depleted especially with the playing of stud rookie pitcher, Masahiro Tanaka, on the DL.

12. Seattle Mariners- Talented team who sometimes show signs of improvement, but continuously fails to give their pitchers any help, which is the reason for numerous losses.

11. Kansas City Royals- A very quiet but talented team, who have been playing good baseball recently.

10. Washington Nationals- Playing very steady baseball, and must maintain first place in the NL East to ensure their spot in the playoffs.

9. Pittsburgh Pirates- The Pirates have had a very steady, successful season and look to ride into the playoffs smoothly.

8. Milwaukee Brewers- Currently in the midst of a tough stretch facing the Dodgers, but if they can take at least half of those match ups they should remain in the top 10 of the power rankings.

7. St. Louis Cardinals- The Cardinals are playing good baseball and need to finish the season strong to win the NL Central and ensure their position in the playoffs.

6. Detroit Tigers- A very powerful hitting and pitching team especially with the addition of David Price. Should once again make a deep run in the playoffs.

5. San Francisco Giants- Their ace, Bumgarner, has been pitching brilliantly as of lately, but the hitting is holding them back.

4. Baltimore Orioles- The Orioles are riding a hot streak right now and they are sitting pretty atop the AL East standings

3. Los Angeles Dodgers- The Dodgers have a very complete ball club. Kershaw is pitching better than ever and the hitting is lineup is performing as expected.

2. Los Angeles Angels- The Angels are hitting exceptionally well and are playing very smart baseball.  Even with an exceptional record they still remain 2nd in their division.

1. Oakland Athletics- The A’s are the best team in baseball, it has been clear for awhile now. They must continue this though so they can maintain the top spot in the AL West division.

Clayton Kershaw Throws No-Hitter vs the Rockies!

 

2-Time National League Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw finally did what everyone knew he was capable of. Pitching a no-hitter for Kershaw came at ease throwing only 107 pitches and striking out 15 batters. He struck out more than half the batters he faced, fanning 15 of the total 28 batters. There was only one thing that stood in the way of him and a perfect game, Hanley Ramirez. In the 7th inning a bloop ground ball was hit to the star shortstop and the play should have been a routine out. Ramirez fielded the ball and tossed over to the first baseman and the throw was way out of Adrian Gonzalez’s reach, ultimately this play ended Kershaw’s perfect game bid. Aside from the disruption of the perfect game and the no-no by Kershaw, it was a very successful game by the Dodgers. They beat the Colorado Rockies 8-0, which is a big surprise considering how dominant the Rockies hitting has been this season. Congratulations to Mr. Kershaw on his first career no-hitter and I think it is safe to say that this will not be his only no-hitter.

AL All-Star Standings

MLB Power Rankings

We have finished up the first whole week of baseball in June, which means it’s time to rank each MLB team and how good they are so far.

30. Tampa Bay Rays- The Rays are sitting 15 games below five-hundred and are 14 games back from first place. They currently have the worst record in baseball. Their hitting is the main problem. The team together is batting just .245 and their slugging percentage is only .370. The Rays desperately need to improve the hitting game.

29. Philadelphia Phillies- The Phillies need to begin the process of rebuilding. Chase Utley is showing signs of life in this ball club but other than that the Phillies need to rebuild their offense. Once Cliff Lee comes off the DL, the Phillies win percentage is sure to go up a little bit.

28. Chicago Cubs- Everybody knows the Cubs are terrible and have been for sometime now. This ranking should come as no surprise to anyone. The bottom line is, they need to score runs. Their hitting has struggled, but that can quickly change with some team chemistry and bringing up talented young guys from the minors.

27. Arizona Diamondbacks- The Diamondbacks need better pitching. If the pitching could produce a lower ERA the Diamondbacks would be winning much more often. The hitting places 11th in the league in runs scored and 7th in the league in batting average. Better than average hitting numbers. If the pitching could step up then they would definitely be winning much more.

26. Houston Astros- It’s the same old same old with the Astros, nothing really knew. They have been making good draft picks and have some talented guys in the minors. Until those guys start to get called up, the Astros will remain one of the worst teams in baseball.

25. San Diego Padres- The Padres are last in the MLB in runs, team batting average, and on base percentage. The Padres will rmain towards the bottom of the NL West until their offense can come alive.

24. Cincinnati Reds- The Reds have been good the past few years. This year they are very average. The power hitting that they had is now struggling this season. Jay Bruce was not producing what he usually does and neither was Brandon Phillips. The team chemistry is off and that is what’s holding them back.

23. New York Mets- The Mets have now lost 5 straight and after showing some signs that they could compete in the NL East they are right back to where they usually are, 4th place.

22. Minnesota Twins- The Twins are one of the most average teams in baseball. They are sitting two games under five-hundred and currently in last place in the AL Central.

21. Chicago White Sox- The White Sox need better pitching. The only good thing about their pitching is Chris Sale. They will never be above five-hundred if the pitchers can’t hold a lead.

20. Pittsburgh Pirates- The Pirates are sitting 4th in the NL Central and are 6-4 in their last ten games. They are proving that maybe last year’s regular season success was just a fluke.

19. Boston Red Sox- It’s hard putting the defending world champions this far back in the list, but the Sox just aren’t playing well at all right now. They are sitting on a 5 game losing streak. Something like this to occur for the reigning World Series champions is unheard of.

18. Kansas City Royals- The Royals are a very mediocre team right now. They are 6-4 in the last ten games and their home and away records are identical.

17. Texas Rangers- The Rangers hitting could be good with Prince Fielder. But Prince Fielder has struggled this season, along with the rest of the team.

16. Colorado Rockies- The Rockies are a much better team than their records says. Their pitching has struggled but their batting is outstanding.

15. Cleveland Indians- The Indians are an average team with an average record and average hitting. Everything about the Indians is average. Surprisingly though, they are 2nd in the AL Central.

14. New York Yankees- The Yankees are currently one game above 500 coming off of a below average week. Their best pitcher is Tanaka and then their rotation drops off quite a bit.

13. Baltimore Orioles- Sitting pretty at 2nd place in the AL East. The Orioles are a very well rounded ball club.

12. Seattle Mariners- King Felix is one of the best pitchers in all of baseball. The Mariners are coming off of a two game sweep of the Braves and have greatly improved their hitting.

11. Miami Marlins- The Marlins started off very well. Their ace Jose Fernandez was pitching unbelievably until he was injured and is now out for the season. That doesn’t mean the Marlins will stop producing big games though. They are much improved from last year.

10. Los Angeles Dodgers- It is very confusing why the Dodgers aren’t even 5 games above five-hundred. They have so many good players yet cant put together team wins. The potential is real with this team. If they can gain some team chemistry look for them to be a top 5 team.

9. Washington Nationals- The Nationals hitting is struggling and that is mostly the reason they haven’t won more games. This is a young team with much potential also.

8. St. Louis Cardinals- The Cardinals are a much better team than their 33-31 record. They are only 4-6 in their last ten games which caused them to fall to number 8 on the list.

7. Atlanta Braves- The Braves have struggled with hitting at times, but they seem to be out of their funk. The starting rotation is still going strong lead by one of the national leagues best pitchers, Julio Teheran.

6. Los Angeles Angels- The Angels have much potential all around. Their hitting is good with Mike Trout and Albert Pujols but their pitching needs to improve if this team wants to go far in the playoffs.

5. Detroit Tigers- The hitting for this team is set and their pitching is not bad either. Their team chemistry needs work because the Tigers definitely have the ability to go far in the playoffs.

4. Milwaukee Brewers- The Brewers started the season off hot, but have slightly cooled down since. They still have a comfy lead on the NL Central leading by 5 games.

3. Toronto Blue Jays- The Blue Jays are definitely the most improved team by far this year. Their bats have come alive and their record shows it.

2. Oakland Athletics- The Athletics team is 16th in batting average but they get hits when they count. They are holding a comfortable lead in the AL West, winning by 5 games.

1. San Francisco Giants- The Giants are clearly the best team in baseball. They were the first team in the MLB to reach 40 wins. According to ESPN, the Giants have a 97% chance of making the playoffs. They have a 9.5 game lead in their division which is the biggest lead in all of baseball. The Giants are so well rounded in hitting and pitching and that is why they are number 1 on this list.

-Cota