We are halfway through the 2021 season and once again we see a shake up in the Top 10 Power Rankings at the seasons midway point.
This weeks Power Rankings sees one team return to the top while last week’s number one team slips just a little. We also see one team jump into the rankings as they take over their division lead. Nothing major in terms of changes, just a lot of shuffling. Without further delay, here is your Top 10 Power Ranking for the week.
1. San Francisco Giants: Though not having a winning week, the Giants returned to the top spot this week. They were the first team to 50 wins this year and they still sit atop the NL West by a hair. Brandon Crawford has warmed up at the plate and leads the team in HR’s.
2. Boston Red Sox: The Red Sox had a perfect 7-0 week and gained a firm grip on the AL East. They have also catapulted themselves to the top of the AL standings behind two strong outings from Nathan Eovaldi where he gave up 1 run in his last 14 ⅔ innings.
3. Los Angeles Dodgers: Here sits another team with a perfect week by going 6-0. Sweeping two games from the Giants helped tighten the race in the NL West. Max Muncy lead the offense this weeks as he flexed his muscles for 4HR and 9RBI. The perfect week also propelled the Dodgers to an MLB leading ERA.
4. Houston Astros: After the huge jump in the rankings last week, the Astros cooled off a lot. Cooled off so much they ended up losing three straight to the lowly Baltimore Orioles. Despite the rough week for the team, Framber Valdez has been a steadying force for the rotation since returning from injury. In his two starts this week he went 1-1 in 13 innings and had 12K.
5. Chicago White Sox: They go 4-2 on the week despite the weather doing it best to ruin their week. Their pitching has faltered quite a bit as their team ERA for the week was over 5.0. But, Tim Anderson is still doing everything he can to keep the offense in games.
6. San Diego Padres: They won their two series against the Diamondbacks and Reds respectively. Despite having the second best ERA in the NL and holding a top 10 hitting squad, Fernando Tatis Jr.and Jake Cronenworth just can’t get this team over the hump in the brutal NL West standings. On the bump, Yu Darvish and Joe Musgrove continue striking guys out more often than not.
7. Oakland Athletics: The A’s may be cooling off a bit as the Astros finally caught up to them in the AL West. But, they stayed just warm enough to stay in the top 10 for another week. The strength of this team has been their pitching with Chris Bassit and Sean Manaea headlining a squad leading the AL in complete games and is 3rd in shutouts. They need to improve their next to worst AL hitting when away from RingCentral Coliseum.
8. Tampa Bay Rays: The Rays have returned to earth this week. They no longer sit atop the AL East and are in peril of dropping out of our Power Rankings. They started the week returning home and took 2 of 3 from the Angels. But, they had to go on the road where they seemingly can’t win anymore. Yes, Wander Franco finally arrived and started with a bang and cooled off. This week he has settled down some and had a three game hit streak to end the week.
9. Milwaukee Brewers: The Brew Crew is the 3rd team in the top 10 to have a perfect week. A sweep of the Rockies and Cubs and a series opening win against the Pirates took their win streak to 9. Their offense has come to life during this streak (led by Jackie Bradley Jr.and Kolten Wong) but is still the worst hitting team in the NL.
10. New York Mets: Barely squeaking into the Power Rankings this week is the Mets. Being average is keeping the Mets atop the NL East. And, average is keeping things just right until guys start coming back from injury. Jacob deGrom saw his ERA rise to 0.95 after giving up 5 earned runs this week.
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