by James Kunkle, August 9, 2019
https://tomahawktake.com/2019/09/09/september-9th-power-rankings-the-clock-is-ticking
Let’s see where the Atlanta Braves and the rest of the Major League’s stack up in our weekly Power Rankings
30. Detroit Tigers
The Tigers are once again at the bottom, and realistically they will probably stay here for the rest of the year. They are already at 100 losses.
29. Baltimore Orioles
So you have lost 5 in a row, and you are 3 losses away from being at the 100 mark as well. Guess what, the Dodgers come to town for a three-game series starting Tuesday. Yeah, Baltimore will probably have 100 losses by the time Thursday gets here.
28. Miami Marlins
Through all of the bad this year, a good sign was Sandy Alcantara threw his second shutout of the year on Sunday. The young Rookie should be a good building block for the future.
27. Seattle Mariners
The Mariners just got smashed by the Astros. That in itself is not too bad, but they gave up 41 runs in 4 games including 21 on Sunday.
26. Toronto Blue Jays
Surely Toronto is enjoying watching its young players, but going 3-16 over the teams last 19 has surely made fans almost stop watching the games. The offseason is just around the corner.
25. Kansas City Royals
The Royals had a good week and unlike the other bottom-feeding teams in the Majors, they seem to be playing good baseball here at the end and not throwing in the towel. Hopefully they have thrown in the towel by the time Atlanta gets into town in a few weeks though.
24. Colorado Rockies
Since that makeup win against the Braves, the Rockies have only won 1 game since. The lone bright spot though has probably been Tim Melville. He has pitched pretty well since being called up by the Rockies.
23. Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pirates abysmal play in the second half hasn’t helped, but Josh Bell has continued to rake, and is now one of the better hitters in the entire National League.
22. Chicago White Sox
Now that Tim Anderson has enough plate appearances to qualify for the AL batting title, he is right in the race. Surprisingly, he has only walked 11 times on the season though.
21. Los Angeles Angels
Another sub 500 year seems to be on the horizon. The question is will that be enough for voters to not vote for Mike Trout as the AL MVP? He should still be the pick.
20. San Francisco Giants
The Giants did all they could to help out the Braves over the weekend in catching up with the Dodgers for best record in the NL. They were able to defeat them two out of three. The race to .500 for the Giants begins again with an upcoming series against the Pirates
19. Cincinnati Reds
The Reds are still positive for their run differential for the season. For a team that is 10 games under 500, that in itself is pretty surprising.
18. San Diego Padres
For all the hate the Padres got last year when they signed Eric Hosmer to a big deal, he has actually played pretty well and has stabilized their first base position. I keep saying it, but add a couple of pitchers to this team and watch out.
17. Texas Rangers
While the Rangers are all but eliminated from the playoff picture, they can still be a huge factor. They still have games against the Rays, Astros, and Athletics left on the schedule.
16. New York Mets
The Mets need to get on another big winning streak if they want to keep their playoff hopes alive. They start a huge series with the Diamondbacks on Monday evening. The loser of that series may be out of the race.
15. Boston Red Sox
Say what you want, but the firing of your president of baseball ops less than a year after a World Series win is a big deal. It seems something was done or the higher-ups simply couldn’t get along. Look for big names to be connected to the opening.
14. Philadelphia Phillies
The Phillies start a big series with the Braves Monday night. Aaron Nola is scheduled to be the pitcher starting the series and for once I’m glad of that. The Braves need to be facing big-time pitchers right now to prepare for the playoffs.
13. Chicago Cubs
The Cubs have problems and more problems right now. They still sit at the second wild card spot at the moment but have the Diamondbacks, Brewers, Phillies, and Mets all right behind them. They also have an injured Kris Bryant at the moment.
12. Milwaukee Brewers
The Brew Crew may be getting hot at the right moment as they just took three in a row against the Cubs. The better news is they now get the Marlins. They might be the favorites for the second NL Wild Card spot at the moment.
11. Arizona Diamondbacks
The Diamondbacks blew a game Sunday which would have been their 12th win over the teams last 13 games. They still sit right at the heels of the Cubs and have prevented the Dodgers from clinching the NL West extremely early.
10. Cleveland Indians
The Indians need a good hot streak to catch the Twins. The same can be said for the Wild Card Race. I’m just not sure the team can do it still with all of the injuries the team has amounted throughout the season. It now looks like Corey Kluber will not be back this season.
9. Oakland Athletics
Good times to be an Athletics fan right now. They would be in the playoffs if they started today and they are now calling up top prospect Jesus Luzardo who will join the pitching staff that has already called up AJ Puk.
8. Washington Nationals
The Nationals need to shift gears now and defend the teams wild card spot. They have the talent and gap to probably make it, but the teams’ schedule is also tough as they play the Twins and Braves this week.
7. St. Louis Cardinals
The Cardinals are maybe one good week away from wrapping up the NL Central. If they gain any ground this week, that may be all she wrote. A very good possibility they are the team the Braves match up with as well.
6. Tampa Bay Rays
The Rays have gone 10-1 over the teams last 11 games and are trying to put an exclamation point on their postseason standing. The question now is will Blake Snell come back healthy?
5. Minnesota Twins
The Twins continue to mash and that includes breakout catcher Mitch Garver, but they took a hit over the weekend as they found out Michael Pineda, who might have been their #3 going into October will be suspended for the next 60 games.
4. Los Angeles Dodgers
The Braves were closing right in on the back bumper of the Dodgers for best record, but looking at the remaining schedule for the Dodgers, it’s probably going to be tough for the Braves to close it out.
3. Atlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves remain at #3 this week ahead of the Dodgers. As we all know, the Atlanta Braves almost had a perfect week but we lost Sunday to the Nationals. Still, it was a great week, and while it’s not over, they are starting to engrave our name on the (not real) trophy.
2. New York Yankees
We all know the rotation has been the only weak spot, if you wanna call it that, but the Yankees might be getting a boost in that category as well before the playoffs. They may have enough time to build up Luis Severino before the playoffs start?
1. Houston Astros
The Astros are going ahead and getting a jump on the playoffs, as they are already imploring a 4 man rotation. Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole, Zack Grienke, and Wade Miley is simply as good as it gets in this day of age.
So that is our rankings for this week.
Ali H. Johnston, MBA in Real Estate
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