Here are my power rankings. To read my latest about the Orioles, click here.
1. Los Angeles Dodgers (88-38, No. 1 last week): The Dodgers won a franchise-high 106 regular-season games last year. They are on pace for 113 wins this year. They grabbed the top spot in my power rankings four weeks ago, and it doesn’t look like they intend to give it up.
2. New York Mets (82-47, No. 2): Buck Showalter’s club is just 7-7 in the past two weeks, but much of that came against the Braves, Phillies and Yankees, and they just took three of four against the Rockies this past weekend. This week they get a dose of both, with the Dodgers and Nationals coming to Citi Field for three games apiece.
3. Houston Astros (82-47, No. 3): All systems are go … and then Justin Verlander is pulled after three innings of shutout ball against the Orioles because of some right calf soreness. Astros fans will be on edge pending the imaging coming up on Aug. 29.
4. Atlanta Braves (79-50, No. 4): The Braves have been downright relentless. In fact, they were 2-3 in Week 6 of the season. Since then, they have only had one losing week (Week 18, 2-5). Atlanta’s record since the start of Week 7 is 63-31.
5. New York Yankees (78-50, No. 5): The week started off in promising fashion with four straight wins… and then they dropped two in a row to the Athletics, the worst team in the American League. I’m not sure they have the horses to come back and grab the AL’s best record away from the Astros. That said, Aaron Judge keeps on rolling to the AL MVP and a mega-deal.
6. Philadelphia Phillies (72-56, No. 8): With a 23-10 head of steam, some top-flight starting pitching, the return of Bryce Harper and the next six games coming against the Diamondbacks and Giants, the Phillies could really poke their nose into the group of upper-echelon teams.
7. St. Louis Cardinals (74-54, No. 6): With the Reds and Cubs on the dance card this week, the Cardinals should be able to expand their already expanding lead against the Brewers in the NL Central.
8. Tampa Bay Rays (70-57, No. 13): The Rays have had back-to-back 5-2 weeks. Just when we counted them out, they dusted themselves off and got back in the race.
9. Seattle Mariners (70-58, No. 7): They gave lefty Robbie Ray a ton of dough to come to the Pacific Northwest to defend his 2021 AL Cy Young Award. It took him a while to really get in a groove, but check out his August numbers: 26 innings, 2.08 ERA, 16 hits, 11 walks and 34 strikeouts. His WHIP is 1.03 and opponents are batting just .178 against him.
10. Cleveland Guardians (67-59, No. 9): The Guardians have a tough week ahead in hosting the pesky Orioles and Mariners, while the Twins play two fading Sox teams. The starting pitching is doing very well, but the offense can be streaky.
11. Toronto Blue Jays (68-58, No. 11)
12. Baltimore Orioles (67-60, No. 14)
13. San Diego Padres (70-59, No. 10)
14. Minnesota Twins (65-61, No. 14)
15. Milwaukee Brewers (67-59, No. 15)
16. Chicago White Sox (63-65, No. 16)
17. Texas Rangers (58-69, No. 23)
18. San Francisco Giants (61-65, No. 17)
19. Boston Red Sox (62-66, No. 18)
20. Arizona Diamondbacks (59-67, No. 19)
21. Miami Marlins (55-72, No. 21)
22. Chicago Cubs (55-73, No. 25)
23. Colorado Rockies (55-74, No. 20)
24. Los Angeles Angels (55-73, No. 23)
25. Cincinnati Reds (50-76, No. 26)
26. Kansas City Royals (52-77, No. 24)
27. Detroit Tigers (50-78, No. 28)
28. Pittsburgh Pirates (48-79, No. 27)
29. Oakland Athletics (48-81, No. 29)
30. Washington Nationals (43-85, No. 30)