Now that we are two weeks into the 2013 MLB season, it’s time for my first installment of my 2013 MLB Power Rankings.
There have been some surprises early on and some teams have disappointed coming out of the gates.
Where does your favorite team rank?
Let’s not waste any time and find out.
30. Miami Marlins (2-11): The Marlins offense is worse than expected and that says a lot. Through 13 games they have MLB worst marks in runs scored (23), batting average (.203), on-base percentage (.274) and slugging percentage (.262).
29. San Diego Padres (3-10): The Padres problems stem from their pitching, who have a 5.06 ERA (29th) and 1.62 WHIP (30th) through 13 games. In addition, the league is hitting .286 against them.
28. Houston Astros (4-9): The Astros have been a bit better than expected, mostly thanks to Bud Norris, who has been terrific, going 2-1 with a 1.96 ERA and 1.09 WHIP.
27. Milwaukee Brewers (3-8): Injuries have held the Brewers back early on as they are without Corey Hart and Aramis Ramirez in the middle of their order.
26. Chicago Cubs (4-8): The Cubs pitching has been better than expected, but it’s not amounting to wins. Jeff Samardzija has a 2.75 ERA and 27 strikeouts in 19.2 innings, though he’s off to a 1-2 start. Carlos Villanueva (0.64 ERA, 14 IP) and Travis Wood (1.46 ERA, 12.1 IP) have been surprises as well.
25. Chicago White Sox (5-8): Jake Peavy (3.93 ERA) is the only White Sox starter with an ERA under four as they have lost 5-of-6 recently to the Nationals and Indians.
24. Minnesota Twins (5-7): Former Pirate Kevin Correia (3.14 ERA) has been the Twins only solid starter, considering the rotation as a whole has put up a 6.32 ERA. Correia is a guy the Pirates will end up missing.
23. Cleveland Indians (5-6): The Tribe revamped their lineup in the offseason, but are still among the lowest scoring teams in baseball, having scored just 46 runs in 11 games.
22. Tampa Rays (4-8): Tampa has lost three straight, thanks to a struggling offense that has seen them score only 35 runs (29th) while hitting only .205 (29th) as a team, despite the solid starts from Ben Zobrist and Evan Longoria.
21. Seattle Mariners (6-8): Michael Morse has led a good start to the Seattle offense, but the pitching has allowed 12 more runs than the Mariners have score. They have had good performances from Joe Saunders (2.08 ERA), Hisashi Iwakuma (2.18 ERA) and Felix Hernandez (3.05 ERA), but the rest of the pitching staff has disappointed.
20. Pittsburgh Pirates (6-7): The Pirates looked like they had turned things around after a slow start, winning 5-of-6 before James McDonald was lit up Monday night. Starling Marte (.370) and Garrett Jones (.316) are off to hot starts with the bats, but Pedro Alvarez has been brutal (.073).
19. Philadelphia Phillies (6-7): The Phillies horrible pitching amounted to a slow start, but both Roy Halladay and Cole Hamels are coming off strong outings and Cliff Lee has been great.
18. Los Angeles Angels (4-9): The Angels should be a heck of a lot lower on this list, but you can’t ignore the talent on this team. The problem has been the pitching staff. Jared Weaver is on the DL and the Angels have a minus-25 run differential.
17. Toronto Blue Jays (6-7): Is it too early to say all of the Blue Jays moves have backfired? Jose Reyes is on the DL, but the bigger problem has been the pitching acquisitions as R.A. Dickey (1-2, 5.82 ERA), Josh Johnson (0-1, 11.05 ERA) and Mark Buehrle (1-0, 7.31 ERA) have all struggled.
16. Baltimore Orioles (6-6): The O’s starters (3-4, 4.76 ERA) have done their part to help wipe away a great start from Chris Davis (6 HR, 19 RBI, .366 BA).
15. Cincinnati Reds (6-7): After starting out the season with impressive series wins over the Nats and Angels, the Reds have gone 2-5 since, including being swept by the Pirates. Now they have to get by without Johnny Cueto, who is on the DL.
14. New York Yankees (6-5): Many wondered where the Yankees offense would come from, but a bunch of castoffs have carried the heavy lifting. Vernon Wells (1.053 OPS, 3 HR), Travis Hafner (.986 OPS, 3 HR) and Lyle Overbay (.710 OPS, 1 HR) are all providing far more offense than anyone would have thought at this point.
13. New York Mets (7-4): The Mets have the highest-scoring offense in the NL (69 runs in 11 games) and a vastly improved pitching staff. Matt Harvey is 3-0 to start the season, and he’s allowed just six hits over 22 innings of work while striking out 25. In addition, John Buck has provided some power (6 HR, 19 RBI).
12. Kansas City Royals (7-5): It hasn’t been a great start for the Royals, but their starting pitching has been pretty good. Ervin Santana (1-1, 2.45 ERA), James Shields (1-2, 3.43 ERA) and Jeremy Guthrie (2-0, 3.55 ERA) have led the way, without them the Royals would be much worse off.
11. Los Angeles Dodgers (7-6): The Dodgers have lost two straight and the loss of Zach Greinke is going to hurt in the long run. Offensively, you have to wonder when Matt Kemp (.196, 0 HR, 4 RBI) is going to pick things up?
10. Boston Red Sox (8-4): The Red Sox offense hasn’t been great, but the pitching staff hasn’t had the same issues, with Clay Buchholz (3-0, 0.41 ERA, 23 K, 22 IP) and Jon Lester (2-0, 1.42 ERA) pitching like aces. Their 1.99 ERA for their starters leads all of baseball. The return of David Ortiz should help out the Boston offense.
9. Arizona Diamondbacks (8-4): The Diamondbacks made a lot of moves in the offseason and are getting contributions from everyone at the moment. The strength of the team right now though could be their bullpen, whose 2.25 ERA is good for second in the NL.
8. Colorado Rockies (8-4): Sure six of the Rockies eight wins have been against the Padres, but they have hit an MLB-high 21 home runs so far and are getting great production from the likes of Dexter Fowler, Wilin Rosario, Troy Tulowitzki, Carlos Gonzalez and Michael Cuddyer. Pitching could hold this team back in the long run, but Jhoulys Chacin has been great, going 2-0 with a 1.96 ERA through his first three starts.
7. Detroit Tigers (7-5): Prince Fielder (.429 BA, 4 HR, 19 RBI) is looking like an MVP candidate early on and the Tigers as a whole lead all of baseball with a .307 average. They also have pitching as Anibal Sanchez (2-0, 1.42 ERA), Justin Verlander (2-1, 1.96 ERA) and Doug Fister (2-0, 2.77 ERA) have all been outstanding. Can they fix the bullpen problems though?
6. Washington Nationals (8-5): Bryce Harper (.320 BA, 5 HR, 10 RBI) is off to a hot start, but the rest of their offense is off to rather slow starts. After being swept by the Braves, the Nats have taken an early back seat to their division rivals.
5. St. Louis Cardinals (8-5): The Cards have a plus-31 run differential, second in baseball to only the Braves, but the story to their success has been their starting rotation, which has a 2.13 ERA, third in all of baseball. The bullpen has been a different story though as they have posted a 5.92 ERA, which is the worst mark in the game.
4. Texas Rangers (8-5): The Rangers lost a lot in the offseason, but newcomers Lance Berkman (.389 BA, 1.111 OPS) and A.J. Pierzynski (.342 BA, .918 OPS) have carried the team’s offense. However it has been the pitching that has been the biggest bright spot. Even with Matt Harrison’s struggles, the Rangers have the fourth best ERA in the majors at 2.92.
3. Oakland A’s (10-4): Despite the struggles of Jarrod Parker (11.2 IP, 23 H, 14 R), the rest of the A’s pitching has been pretty solid. But the A’s offense leads the majors with 85 runs scored through 14 games.
2. San Francisco Giants (9-4): If you look at the stats, the Giants rank in the middle of the pack in both pitching and hitting, but the defending champs always find different ways to win.
1. Atlanta Braves (11-1): The Braves outstanding start has them on a nine-game winning streak. While the offense has been nice, especially the starts of Justin Upton, who is hitting .348/.415/.891 with seven home runs and 11 RBI, and Evan Gattis, who has four home runs and 10 RBI with a .324 average, the story of this team is pitching. The Braves lead all of baseball with a 1.82 ERA, 1.01 WHIP and a .200 batting average against.
Photo Credit: Associated Press
