MLB Rankings - All Star Break
Through the first half of the season, two teams floated amongst the bottom three spots in our MLB Power Rankings: the Baltimore Orioles and Pittsburgh Pirates. Congratulation, Astros fans. Your team went 6-0 *against* the Pirates and you're no longer considered one of the two worst teams in the league.
Nevertheless, it prompted us to probe deeper and perhaps provide a prediction on what team will end the season at the bottom of the pack.
Pittsburgh Pirates (30-58)
- Preseason/current ranking: #29 / #29
- Weeks at the bottom of rankings: 1
- Winning records against three teams (Cubs, Indians, Phillies)
- Rank MLB Last in: Runs Scored, Hits, AVG, Complete Games
Baltimore Orioles (29-59)
- Preseason ranking: #20 / #30
- Weeks at the bottom of rankings: 9
- Winning records against two teams (Rangers and Nationals)
- Rank MLB Last in: no major category
After a deeper dive, our powers-that-be (um, me) feel that the Baltimore Orioles have been wronged by our panel of experts. Sure, the Orioles have a slightly-worse record than the Pirates, but their Pythagorean record (compiled by a bunch of math geeks, which states what their record *should* have been) is 30-58, which is right on pace.
The Pirates' Pythagorean record is 24-64, which essentially says their worse than meets the eye and they got relatively "lucky" in the first half of the season. Imagine: a team that went 30-58 and ranks last in four major hitting/pitching categories got "lucky". Ha.
| RANK | TEAM | PREV | REC | COMMENTS |
| 1 |
|
1 | (56-32) | On fire, even after losing to the Mariners in their last game before the All-Star break |
| 2 |
|
3 | (54-34) | 2 games out, and 8-2 in their last 10. The Rays are fighting back |
| 3 |
|
5 | (52-36) | Is it just me, or does it feel like the entire Braves starting lineup made the All-Star team? |
| 4 |
|
2 | (51-37) | Bit, bruised, and broken, the team is struggling more against the injury bug than anything |
| 5 |
|
4 | (50-38) | Big pick-up of Cliff Lee will make the Rangers rotation much better once he settles in.....swept by the O's before the break is not great. |
| 6 |
|
6 | (51-37) | Tony Gwynn Jr. is once again having an outstanding defensive season. |
| 7 |
|
10 | (48-38) | Short stint at first, sporadic play shows the Tigers still need work. |
| 8 |
|
15 | (49-39) | A great weekend series against the Padres has catapulted the Rockies into the driver's seat in the NL West. |
| 9 |
|
16 | (49-38) | White Sox scrapped their way to the top, and they don't look like they're slowing down anytime soon. |
| 10 |
|
8 | (47-41) | The Cardinals bullpen absolutely imploded against the Rockies last week in Colorado. Thankfully, a trip to Houston and subsequent series win against the Astros only has them 1.0 GB of the Reds in the NL Central. |
| 11 |
|
11 | (49-39) | Matt Kemp is on pace for another 25-25 (HR-SB) year. |
| 12 |
|
14 | (47-40) | Phils need to keep hitting... to almost lose a Halladay shutout to a perfecto from a rookie is ridiculous for this team. |
| 13 |
|
12 | (48-40) | Lost a lot of ground to the Braves during their weekend series. |
| 14 |
|
7 | (49-41) | The Reds had a legitimate shot to win 50 games before the All-Star break for the first time since 1994, but got swept by the Phillies this weekend. |
| 15 |
|
9 | (46-42) | How long will the downward spiral last? Hopefully not too long with the Tigers AND White Sox sharing the rent. |
| 16 |
|
17 | (47-41) | Cain's strikeouts (6.53 K/9) are way down this season but Posey is on a hot streak going into the All-Star break |
| 17 |
|
13 | (47-44) | Kenny Morales' absence is starting to make the team look flat, but the team says it will fight so nothing is over yet. |
| 18 |
|
18 | (44-45) | 4-6 in their last 10... 12.5 games out of first in the AL East. All you can ask is they don't mail it in. |
| 19 |
|
19 | (43-46) | Maybe they are going to encourage A-rod to run over Dallas Braden's mound again to spark this ball-club. |
| 20 |
|
20 | (42-46) | Mike Stanton has more homers in July (3) than he did in all of June (2). Starting to make good on all that hype. |
| 21 |
|
24 | (39-50) | This analyst believes the biggest All- |
| 22 |
|
22 | (40-49) | Nothing like heading into the All Star break with a sweep of the Pirates. Unfortunately, the Brewers are still 8.5 games out of the NL Central lead. |
| 23 |
|
21 | (39-50) | The Cubs have scored three runs or fewer in 12 of their past 14 games. |
| 24 |
|
23 | (39-49) | They keep fighting, but they have peaked. |
| 25 |
|
25 | (35-53) | Trading Cliff Lee means the Mariners are throwing in the towel and looking towards 2011. Very disappointing for Seattle fans. |
| 26 |
|
28 | (36-53) | Astros SS Geoff Blum felt his elbow pop while putting on a shirt. We're not sure how that relates to this week's Power Rankings, but given that the Astros are 17 games under .500, it seemed fitting. |
| 27 |
|
27 | (34-54) | No more trade bait, and nothing but youth to play freely for the rest of season. Time to see what the kids are made of. |
| 28 |
|
26 | (34-55) | The D-Backs have plenty of good young talent. Despite a mediocre record, this team could be alright in the near future. |
| 29 |
|
29 | (30-58) | The Pirates head into the All Star break after getting swept by the Brewers *and* Astros. This is after taking 3-of-4 from the Phillies. No clue. |
| 30 |
|
30 | (29-59) | Sweeping the Rangers doesn't help move them out of the cellar. |
