MLB Power Rankings : Week 13 ~ Daily Shootout

By: Justin Millar

Power Rankings
Current		Team	Previous
	1	Texas Rangers	N/A
	The best team in baseball has won 8 of its last 10 games, and has just 1 starting position player with an OPS+ below 100.
	2	New York Yankees	N/A
	Andy Pettite continues to impress this season. He has a 3.29 ERA and 52 strikeouts in 54.2 innings so far this season.
	3	Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim	N/A
	Since starting off 6-14, the Angels have gone 34-19. The addition of Ernesto Frieri has helped greatly as he has struck out 26 in just 20.2 innings without allowing a run. Despite spending the first 20 games of the season in the minors, Mike Trout now leads the American League in WAR. He is on pace to post the highest single season WAR total by a rookie position player since Dick Allen in 1964
	4	Washington Nationals	N/A
	Bryce Harper leads all Nationals position players in wins above replacement so far this season.
	5	Cincinatti Reds	N/A
	Joey Votto, who leads baseball in OPS+ and WAR among other categories, is possibly the best player on the planet right now. While Votto has taken over the offense, Johnny Cueto has been leading the rotation. His 187 ERA+ ranks 4th in the National League.
	6	Los Angeles Dodgers	N/A
	The Dodgers who once held a commanding lead in the NL West, have lost 7 of their last 10 games and are just 3 games ahead of the Giants in second place. The loss of Matt Kemp and an offense that ranks 20th in baseball in runs scored have been their downfall. The offense will have to pick it up if they want to win games, but I think LA may have finally come back to reality.
	7	Tampa Bay Rays	N/A
	The delayed return of Evan Longoria has definitely hurt the Rays, but they're still just 3.5 games back in the AL East. Matt Joyce has replaced Longoria as the team's catalyst for now, as he is hitting .279/.387/.512.
	8	San Francisco Giants	N/A
	Bruce Bochy spent most of the first part of the season playing Brandon Belt sporadically, when he probably should have been the starting 1st baseman. In his past 14 games since earning the starting job, Belt has hit .348 with 4 home runs, 12 RBIs, and 8 walks.
	9	St. Louis Cardinals	N/A
	Despite having the 2nd best run differential in baseball, the Cardinals are just 3 games over .500. Adam Wainwright has finally started to return to form. In his past 3 starts, he has pitched 21 innings, striking out 21, while allowing just 5 runs.
	10	Boston Red Sox	N/A
	The Red Sox, winners of 8 of their last 10, seem to have found a nice little groove. The Red Sox don't have a single starting pitcher with an ERA below 4.00, so pitching will be the key if they want to reach the postseason.
	11	Chicago White Sox	N/A
	This weekend, the White Sox acquired Kevin Youkilis in a trade with the Red Sox. The trade is a huge upgrade for the White Sox who have had their 3rd basemen combine to hit .167/.244/.221 with just 1 home run this season
	12	Baltimore Orioles	N/A
	In Jason Hammel's last 2 starts, he has combined to pitch 17 innings, striking out 18, allowing just 6 hits and no earned runs.
	13	New York Mets	N/A
	While RA Dickey has been dominating the majors with his knuckleball, Johan Santana has quietly been having an all star caliber season of his own. He is striking out a batter per inning and his ERA sits at exactly 3.00. He has won 4 of his last 5 starts and has allowed more than 4 runs just once this season.
	14	Pittsburgh Pirates	N/A
	The Pirates offense has been pretty much dormant all season, but since June 16th, they have scored 45 runs in just 8 games. The offense has been sparked by Pedro Alvarez who has hit .444 with 5 home runs and 10 RBIs during the streak.
	15	Atlanta Braves	N/A
	After missing part of last season, Tommy Hanson leads the majors with 15 starts this season and he appears to be back to his pre-injury form.
	16	Toronto Blue Jays	N/A
	The Blue Jays are the only team in the majors with 2 players that have hit 20 or more home runs so far this season in Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion.
	17	Cleveland Indians	N/A
	The Indians are only a half game back from the White Sox for first place in the AL Central, despite having a negative run differential. While the offense has been strong, it is important to note that the Indians rank 28th in the majors in ERA and don't have a single player in their starting rotation with an ERA+ above 96.
	18	Arizona Diamondbacks	N/A
	The D-backs are 6-4 in their last 10 games and have finally gotten above .500 for the first time since May 4th. They have outscored their opponents by 28 runs since June 14th and are slowly creeping up on the 1st place Dodgers.
	19	Detroit Tigers	N/A
	The Tigers have suffered through injuries and rotation problems that have really set them back so far this season. Their offense is extremely potent, but they may have the worst defensive team in all of baseball. According to Baseball Reference WAR, the Tigers defense has cost them over 3 wins so far this season.
	20	Philadelphia Phillies	N/A
	The Defending NL East champs currently sit 8.5 games out of first place in the NL East. The veteran laden team has really struggled this season. One exception being Carlos Ruiz, who is enjoying a nice breakout season as he leads all catchers in wins above replacement.
	21	Oakland Athletics	N/A
	Oakland has been on a bit of a run lately, going 7-3 in their last 10 games. Brandon McCarthy and rookie Jarrod Parker have been leading the rotation, while Josh Reddick is enjoying a career year offensively.
	22	Milwaukee Brewers	N/A
	Ryan Braun is on pace to match his monstrous 2011 campaign. He is projected to hit .319/.399/.612 with 45 home runs and 29 steals. Zack Grienke is also on pace for a CY Young caliber season as he has been worth nearly 3 wins already this season.
	23	Kansas City Royals	N/A
	Disappointing seasons from both Eric Hosmer and Jeff Francoeur, as well as injuries to the pitching staff, have really hampered this team. Despite their poor play this season, they are just 6 games back in an underwhelming AL Central, so a 2nd half surge could potentially push them into October.
	24	Seattle Mariners	N/A
	The Mariners have just 2 position players with an OPS+ of 100 or better in Michael Saunders and Kyle Seager. Felix Hernandez is the only starting pitcher with an ERA+ above 100. The Mariners have a bright future on the horizon, but time will tell if some of their current young big leaguers can make the necessary adjustments to be a part of the Mariners long term plan.
	25	Miami Marlins	N/A
	Heath Bell started the year by allowing 15 runs in his first 14 appearances, blowing 4 saves. Since then, he has allowed just 3 runs in 14.2 innings, converting all 10 of his save opportunities. The Marlins are 20-3 in games he has pitched in since the start of May.
	26	Houston Astros	N/A
	According to Elias, Dallas Keuchel is the first player to throw a complete game in his 1st or 2nd career start since Clay Buchholz threw a complete game no-hitter in his 2nd career start on 9/1/2007.
	27	Colorado Rockies	N/A
	The Rockies have the worst ERA in the majors this season, and a 4 man rotation of fly ball pitchers in Coors field is probably the worst idea since the invention of saves.
	28	Minnesota Twins	N/A
	Since starting off 18-32, the Twins have essentially been playing .500 baseball since the start of June. They were fueled by Trevor Plouffe who hit 9 home runs in the first 12 games of June, but since then, Plouffe has hit just 1 in his last 8 games.
	29	Chicago Cubs	N/A
	In their last 3 games alone, the Cubs have been outscored 23-6. The good news is that Alfonso Soriano is quietly enjoying somewhat of a comeback year. He is on pace to post his highest WAR since 2008.
	30	San Diego Padres	N/A
	Chase Headley is playing great, but that's pretty much the only positive for this struggling team. They rank last in the majors in runs scored and have been outscored by their opponents 40-24 in their last 8 games. The Padres have won just 4 series all year, and two of those were against the Rockies and Mariners.