MLB Power Rankings: Week 13
12 - Houston Astros (42-36)
The Astros are navigating some injuries to some key players. Despite their recent struggles, they still sit just a half a game back of the wild card picture. Houston is a very good pitching team and you can’t count the champs out until they’re mathematically eliminated, which isn’t happening any time soon.
11 - Los Angeles Angels (42-37)
What a wild week for the Angels. They outscored their opponents 32-16 and yet only won one game. Of course that was skewed by their insane 25-1 blow out in Denver but it’s still a crazy stat. The Halos are just on the outside looking in for a postseason spot but they are very competitive in the race as we enter the second half of the season.
10 - Miami Marlins (45-34)
The Marlins are the definition of that scene from The Emperor’s New Groove when Kuzco and and Pacha are racing Yzma and Kronk back to the palace and it looks like Kuzco and Pacha are gonna blow past them, yet when they arrive they find that Yzma and Kronk beat them there. Then Kuzco is like, “how did you beat us!?”, and Kronk pulls down a map of their path that shows clearly they should have lost and says, “honestly, i have no idea. By all accounts it doesn’t make any sense”. That’s the Marlins.
9 - New York Yankees (43-35)
Yankees had a good week, winning both series against the Mariners and Rangers at home. They showed some signs they can win without Aaron Judge, who unfortunately may be out for a significant amount of time with a toe injury.
8 - Toronto Blue Jays (43-34)
The Blue Jays also got a couple of series wins last week against the Marlins and A’s. Toronto will have a good test this week when they host the Giants. George Springer set a career milestone, moving into second all-time in leadoff home runs in MLB history.
7 - San Francisco Giants (44-34)
The Giants had a 10-game winning streak snapped last week but ended up winning both series against the Padres and Diamondbacks. Their recent dominance against division opponents has put them in a great position in the postseason race. They will be a problem in the NL West.
6 - Los Angeles Dodgers (43-34)
The Dodgers had a nice bounce-back week, only losing on Sunday to the Astros. Their bullpen finally looked back to being a reliable force to close games, which was highlighted with a combined shutout win against Shohei Ohtani and the Angels. Julio Urias’s return looks to be close as he made a rehab start in the minors last week.
5 - Arizona Diamondbacks (47-32)
Arizona lost a big series against the Giants and saw their division lead shrink entering this week. The Giants and Dodgers are right on their tail but to the DBack’s credit they have held onto first place for several weeks now. I think their lack of pitching depth will catch up to them at some point.
4 - Baltimore Orioles (47-29)
Baltimore failed to gain any significant ground on the Rays last week. They’ve been consistent in the top 5 in the power ranking for weeks but can’t seem to break through to the next level. They have a challenging home stand this week as they take on the Reds and Twins.
3 - Texas Rangers (47-30)
Texas went 3-3 on the road trip last week in Chicago and New York. They continue to play great all-around baseball, ranking in the top 5 in hitting and pitching and have a 5.5 game lead in the AL West entering the week.
2 - Atlanta Braves (50-27)
The Braves just keep rolling. They went into a rocking crowd in Cincinnati against a team that won 12 in a row and took the series. Matt Olson and Ronald Acuna Jr are one of the best 1-2 offensive punches in the game and Spencer Strider and Bruce Elder highlight one of the best rotations in the league.
1 - Tampa Bay Rays (54-27)
The Rays' reign at the top of the power rankings continue. There was some good and bad last week for the Rays as Tyler Glasnow is looking more and more like his former self after returning from Tommy John surgery but their ace Shane McClanahan went down with a back injury. Hopefully it doesn’t keep him out long but Tampa’s division lead is still strong at 4.5 games entering the week.