MLB Power Rankings After Two Months: Can Anyone Overtake the Dodgers?

MLB Power Rankings After Two Months: Can Anyone Overtake the Dodgers?

MLB Power Rankings: Bottom Tier

30. Cincinnati Reds

29. Kansas City Royals

28. Detroit Tigers

27. Washington Nationals

26. Miami Marlins

25. Oakland Athletics

24. Baltimore Orioles

23. Pittsburgh Pirates

22. Chicago Cubs

21. Philadelphia Phillies

Even with the fewest wins in MLB entering Wednesday, the Kansas City Royals get the enviable position of 29th because they have some interesting pieces starting to emerge on their roster. Andrew Benintendi has all of a sudden turned into George Brett and is batting .337 on the year. Bobby Witt, Jr. slugged .534 in May after slugging .311 in April. And Brady Singer has struck out 20 batters while allowing only three runs in his last three starts (19.2 innings). They aren't close to a title this year, but you can see a window for them opening in the next 2 to 3 seasons.

The Chicago Cubs World Series window closed when the team sell-off was complete this past offseason. And while they may not have the mega-elite prospect pieces the Royals do, there are also some real signs of life for the Cubs. The Marcus Stroman signing has been an excellent addition, but giving real playing time to Ian Happ, Christopher Morel, and Patrick Wisdom has kept the Cubs respectable this year. It also prevents fossilized players like Jonathan Villar, Jason Heyward, and Andrelton Simmons from playing every day for no reason at all.

Clinging to third place in their division after going 3-7 in their last 10 games is not where the Phillies expected to be after two months of the season. Considering their huge free-agent offensive acquisitions, this was supposed to be a team that could beat you with their bats (Harper, Schwarber, Castellanos, Realmuto, Segura) and with their pitching (Wheeler, Nola, Suarez, Eflin). But now Jean Segura is out 10-12 weeks, the bullpen still is a massive work in progress, and Harper can't play the outfield thanks to a UCL injury. The Phillies should consider themselves lucky that the Braves have struggled and they still find themselves in the hunt for a Wild Card spot at 21-29.

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MLB Power Rankings: Middle Tier

20. Seattle Mariners

19. Colorado Rockies

18. Texas Rangers

17. Boston Red Sox

16. Arizona Diamondbacks

15. Cleveland Guardians

14. Atlanta Braves

13. Chicago White Sox

12. Los Angeles Angels

11. Tampa Bay Rays

With their high-powered offense, I am sure the Boston Red Sox were not expecting to be fourth in their division, under .500, and looking up at four teams in front of them in the Wild Card race. But it's mainly on the pitching for putting them in this predicament. In May, the Boston pitching staff ranked 23rd in ERA with a 4.44 number, and they ranked 16th in strikeout rate. Trevor Story, JD Martinez, and Rafael Devers are absolutely mashing right now, but they are working against a pitching staff that allowed the third-most homers in the last month (1.40 per game).

Right now, the two major free agent signings for the Rangers this offseason look like total duds. Both Corey Seager and Marcus Semien are really struggling, with Semien standing out as an especially bad first two months of his seven-year deal. Considering the Astros' surge and the state of the A.L. East, it seems likely the playoffs are already out of the picture for 2022. It is a shame that they are likely to waste the career year for Martin Perez who leads the majors in ERA (1.42) and is seventh in WHIP. Hopefully going into 2023, Perez can reclaim some of this year's magic and the Rangers can surround him with some competent pitching help.

The defending champion Braves are now already 11 games out of their division behind the New York Mets, and while it's not impossible they make that up and take the division, it is looking more and more likely they will need to make the playoffs via the Wild Card. With the Padres, Giants, and Cardinals lurking, that will be no easy task. Even with an All-Star caliber lineup, they have struggled, ranking 19th in team batting average and 20th in team on-base percentage. That should all normalize and help the Braves get back over .500 (23-27 entering June), but is it already too late to make a playoff push?

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MLB Power Rankings: Top Tier

10. San Francisco Giants

9. Toronto Blue Jays

8. St. Louis Cardinals

7. Minnesota Twins

6. San Diego Padres

5. Milwaukee Brewers

4. Houston Astros

3. New York Mets

2. New York Yankees

1. Los Angeles Dodgers

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Despite being five games behind the Minnesota Twins (+4000) in the standings, the White Sox (+2000) have much shorter odds to win the World Series. Why the disrespect for the Twins, who have jumped out to a hot start and look like the team to beat in the division? Most prognosticators seem to center the argument around health, as in the White Sox will surely get healthy and go on a run soon. Will they? This is the second year in a row that the White Sox have had multiple core pieces suffer serious injuries. Luis Robert, Yoan Moncada, Eloy Jimenez, Lance Lynn, and now Tim Anderson have all spent significant time on the injured list this year. At some point, there has to be some blame placed on the training and conditioning staff. I'm not convinced this White Sox team will pass the Twins and Minnesota could cruise into the playoffs

Only the Blue Jays and Mets have won more games than the Houston Astros over the last 10 games (7-3). They have already opened up a 5.5-game lead in the division just as the Angels are starting to struggle with their pitching. And even though the offense is producing at a league-average rate, it's the Astros' pitching that is carrying the day for their 33-18 record. Houston's starters have the second-best ERA in the American League, and their relievers have the best ERA in the league. How are they doing it? Their strikeout rate is just 19th in the majors while their groundball rate is only 25th. The answer is they are the best team at preventing big innings because they allow so few home runs. At just 0.80 homers allowed per nine innings, they rank second in the majors.

Unless something wild or unexpected happens, the Dodgers will be odds-on favorites to win the World Series wire-to-wire this season. Even with injuries and inconsistency in their pitching staff, the Dodgers have a lineup that would compare with many All-Star game lineups. Mookie Betts (.922 slugging %) and Trea Turner (.615 slugging %) are hitting the cover off the ball the last two weeks, leading the Dodgers to a massive +116 run differential through two months. An offense like that can cover a multitude of sins from a pitching staff, but the Dodgers still have one of the best in the National League.

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