MLB

MLB Power Rankings, 9/29

/ Rich Wilkins / 5 Comments

The season is over. We know who is going to the playoffs. We know who is not. Now, it’s time for the best tournament in sports. Nothing beats October baseball. Especially in Philadelphia, but I’m biased there. Here’s the last regular season/first postseason power rankings. Here was last week’s.

  1. The Milwaukee Brewers
  2. The Philadelphia Phillies
  3. The Toronto Blue Jays
  4. The Los Angeles Dodgers
  5. The New York Yankees
  6. The Seattle Mariners
  7. The Cleveland Guardians
  8. The Chicago Cubs
  9. The Boston Red Sox
  10. The San Diego Padres
  11. The Detroit Tigers
  12. The Cincinnati Reds
  13. The Houston Astros
  14. The New York Mets
  15. The Kansas City Royals
  16. The Texas Rangers
  17. The San Francisco Giants
  18. The Arizona Diamondbacks
  19. The Miami Marlins
  20. The St. Louis Cardinals
  21. The Tampa Bay Rays
  22. The Oakland Athletics
  23. The Atlanta Braves
  24. The Baltimore Orioles
  25. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
  26. The Pittsburgh Pirates
  27. The Minnesota Twins
  28. The Washington Nationals
  29. The Chicago White Sox
  30. The Colorado Rockies

Obviously for teams 13-30, this is the end of the line. I’ll continue to rank them for the remainder of the postseason, but in the order you see now. None of that will change again until free agency. They are in record order, because after 162 games, you are who you are. 17 teams won 81 games or more this year. Two teams lost over 100 games. No one reached 100 wins this year.

Now, on to the playoffs.

9/22 MLB Power Rankings

/ Rich Wilkins / 6 Comments

Well it’s the final week. All hell has broken lose. The Reds begin this week in the playoffs. So do the Guardians. I guess we’re in an Ohio State of Mind. Meanwhile, the Astros could miss. Things are insane. Here’s my last regular season rankings. Here’s last week’s for reference.

  1. The Milwaukee Brewers
  2. The Philadelphia Phillies
  3. The Toronto Blue Jays
  4. The Los Angeles Dodgers
  5. The Chicago Cubs
  6. The New York Yankees
  7. The Seattle Mariners
  8. The Boston Red Sox
  9. The San Diego Padres
  10. The Detroit Tigers
  11. The Cleveland Guardians
  12. The Houston Astros
  13. The Cincinnati Reds
  14. The New York Mets
  15. The Arizona Diamondbacks
  16. The Texas Rangers
  17. The Kansas City Royals
  18. The San Francisco Giants
  19. The Miami Marlins
  20. The St. Louis Cardinals
  21. The Tampa Bay Rays
  22. The Oakland Athletics
  23. The Baltimore Orioles
  24. The Atlanta Braves
  25. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
  26. The Minnesota Twins
  27. The Pittsburgh Pirates
  28. The Washington Nationals
  29. The Chicago White Sox
  30. The Colorado Rockies

For the record, #’s 1-20 are alive.

Steps 1 & 2 Down- Red October Secured, the NL East Defended

/ Rich Wilkins / Leave a comment
Screenshot

On Sunday night, long after their game with the Royals had ended in disappointment, the Phillies clinched a spot in the postseason thanks to other teams losing. This marked the fourth straight season the Phillies had reached Red October, a streak that probably makes the the third best era in Phillies baseball history. The 1976-83 Phillies Group secured five division titles, two National League pennants, and the 1980 World Series. The 2007-2011 Phillies won five consecutive division titles, two National League pennants, and the 2008 World Series. This group now has four consecutive playoff appearances, two National League East titles, and an NL Pennant. Clearly, there’s just one thing left for them to do. They’ll get their chance…

Of course, they still had to win that second division title, and in the early hours of Tuesday on the East Coast they did that by beating the Dodgers 6-5 in extra innings. This feels a lot different than last year. On the one hand, last year was their first division title as a group, and felt like something they needed to do. This year felt like a simple statement. On the other hand, last year they limped into it. This year they roared.

This team faced a lot of challenges. Obviously the loss of Wheeler hurts. Aaron Nola, their longtime #2 starter, missed most of this season. Their game three starter for a couple of these playoff runs, Ranger Suarez, started a month late. Their two offseason bullpen signings both tanked, and their opening day closer got suspended half a season for PED’s. Their franchise player missed significant time in season. Their starting shortstop and third baseman are hurt now. Their left fielder most of the year struggled, their right fielder most of the season went cold in the second half, and it took them months to figure out center field. This was not a bloodless pathway back to October. This team took a lot of shots.

Yet, here we are, 90 wins, a repeat as division champs, a fourth straight trip to the playoffs, and a really good shot at a bye or home field. And, it didn’t even feel like they were amazing doing it. Again, sports are about winning, not being pretty. The Phillies showed that to the world, again. Say whatever you want about Rob Thomson, he’s getting the job done. Now he has a few more steps to take.

MLB Power Rankings, 9/15

/ Rich Wilkins / 6 Comments

The Brewers and Phillies not only have the best records in baseball, they’re the first teams to clinch playoff berths. As this week goes, other teams are going to join them. As they do, these rankings will get easier and easier to do. At some point, your record is who you are.

But, none of that will matter in two weeks. Records will mean nothing. If you’re in, and you’re playing well, you’ll keep winning. Right now will matter more than who you are. But not quite yet.

As for how to read this… The top two can start thinking October. The next four are going to make it, so don’t stress. From seven to eleven control their own destiny, and all could possibly even still win their divisions. From 12-20 I basically ranked them from some combination of record and proximity to the playoffs, as all have a shot right now, but look like something between a long shot and just not really wanting to win. After that it’s all teams that are heading to the Cancun Series in two weeks. Some have some talent, some really don’t right now.

  1. The Milwaukee Brewers
  2. The Philadelphia Phillies
  3. The Toronto Blue Jays
  4. The Detroit Tigers
  5. The Chicago Cubs
  6. The Los Angeles Dodgers
  7. The New York Yankees
  8. The San Diego Padres
  9. The Boston Red Sox
  10. The Seattle Mariners
  11. The Houston Astros
  12. The Texas Rangers
  13. The Cleveland Guardians
  14. The New York Mets
  15. The San Francisco Giants
  16. The Arizona Diamondbacks
  17. The Cincinnati Reds
  18. The Kansas City Royals
  19. The St. Louis Cardinals
  20. The Tampa Bay Rays
  21. The Oakland Athletics
  22. The Miami Marlins
  23. The Baltimore Orioles
  24. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
  25. The Atlanta Braves
  26. The Minnesota Twins
  27. The Pittsburgh Pirates
  28. The Washington Nationals
  29. The Chicago White Sox
  30. The Colorado Rockies

Happy Sunday to Queens #LetsGoMets

/ Rich Wilkins / Leave a comment

31-48 over their last 79 games. I’m looking forward to the Phillies clinching the division over these guys. May they miss the playoffs too. I hope somewhere, anywhere, Jose Reyes and Doc Gooden are having a terrible day. If they have to get in, fine. Bring them to Philly and let’s beat their busted ass again.

MLB Power Rankings, 9/8

/ Rich Wilkins / 5 Comments

Week One. Week Two. Week Three. Week Four.

We are now under 20 games to go for most teams. The NL Playoff picture looks almost done- the Mets lead the Reds and Giants by 4, and the Diamondbacks and Cardinals by 4.5 games with 19 left. The real drama at this point is whether the Dodgers will hold off the Padres in the NL West race. Even the home field and bye races aren’t super closer, with Milwaukee leading Philadelphia by 5.5, and Philadelphia leading Los Angeles by 4 games. The NL Cy Young should be a wrap for Paul Scenes, while the MVP really will come down to Schwarber and Ohtani, I think. The National League intrigue is minimal.

The AL picture is a freak show, where anyone .500ish is still alive, with Seattle leading Texas by 1.5, Kansas City by 2, Cleveland by 2.5, and Tampa Bay by 4 for the last spot. New York and Boston would currently meet in the Wild Card Round, but both are in range of catching Toronto, who actually has the best record still. Seattle is clinging to life in the Wild Card race, but also is only 2.5 games back to win the AL West. Things are pretty wild in the AL at this point, with 2/3 of the league still in this thing.

With that in mind, here we go with this week’s power rankings. Teams currently in the playoffs make up 1-12. From there, I’m pretty much ranking your chances to sneak in out to about 20. From 20 to 30, I’m rating if you’re worth watching right now.

  1. The Milwaukee Brewers
  2. The Philadelphia Phillies
  3. The Toronto Blue Jays
  4. The Detroit Tigers
  5. The New York Yankees
  6. The Chicago Cubs
  7. The Boston Red Sox
  8. The Houston Astros
  9. The Los Angeles Dodgers
  10. The San Diego Padres
  11. The New York Mets
  12. The Seattle Mariners
  13. The Texas Rangers
  14. The Kansas City Royals
  15. The Cleveland Guardians
  16. The San Francisco Giants
  17. The Cincinnati Reds
  18. The Tampa Bay Rays
  19. The Arizona Diamondbacks
  20. The St. Louis Cardinals
  21. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
  22. The Oakland Athletics
  23. The Baltimore Orioles
  24. The Miami Marlins
  25. The Minnesota Twins
  26. The Atlanta Braves
  27. The Pittsburgh Pirates
  28. The Washington Nationals
  29. The Chicago White Sox
  30. The Colorado Rockies

Updated Labor Day Week MLB Power Rankings

/ Rich Wilkins / 6 Comments

New week, new rankings. Here was week one. Then here is week two. Here’s last week’s. Away we go with this week’s.

  1. The Milwaukee Brewers
  2. The Philadelphia Phillies
  3. The Toronto Blue Jays
  4. The Detroit Tigers
  5. The Chicago Cubs
  6. The Boston Red Sox
  7. The Los Angeles Dodgers
  8. The New York Yankees
  9. The Houston Astros
  10. The San Diego Padres
  11. The New York Mets
  12. The Seattle Mariners
  13. The Texas Rangers
  14. The Cincinnati Reds
  15. The Kansas City Royals
  16. The San Francisco Giants
  17. The Cleveland Guardians
  18. The St. Louis Cardinals
  19. The Arizona Diamondbacks
  20. The Tampa Bay Rays
  21. The Miami Marlins
  22. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
  23. The Oakland Athletics
  24. The Baltimore Orioles
  25. The Atlanta Braves
  26. The Minnesota Twins
  27. The Washington Nationals
  28. The Pittsburgh Pirates
  29. The Chicago White Sox
  30. The Colorado Rockies

Ok, I’ll give you a little more commentary this week. I wanted to move virtually every top 12 team down at a different point in this past week. The reality though is we’ve played five months, and teams kind of are who they are now. The top five teams all have 80 or more wins with 23 or 24 games to go. They should all be 90 plus win teams. Everyone from six to twelve is a playoff team right now with 73 or more wins. Then from 13th back to like 20th, there’s somewhere between a chance and an insane hope of still getting in. After that, I’m almost ranking them based on the vibes. Is this team interesting to watch at least, since they aren’t good. The team trending hardest in the wrong direction is Atlanta. That’s all for now.

MLB Power Rankings, 8/25

/ Rich Wilkins / 7 Comments

Here’s last week’s rankings. Here’s our first rankings. Here’s our updated power rankings for this week.

  1. The Milwaukee Brewers
  2. The Philadelphia Phillies
  3. The Toronto Blue Jays
  4. The Los Angeles Dodgers
  5. The San Diego Padres
  6. The Detroit Tigers
  7. The Houston Astros
  8. The Seattle Mariners
  9. The Boston Red Sox
  10. The Chicago Cubs
  11. The New York Yankees
  12. The New York Mets
  13. The Cincinnati Reds
  14. The Cleveland Guardians
  15. The Texas Rangers
  16. The San Francisco Giants
  17. The St. Louis Cardinals
  18. The Kansas City Royals
  19. The Miami Marlins
  20. The Arizona Diamondbacks
  21. The Tampa Bay Rays
  22. The Atlanta Braves
  23. The Oakland Athletics
  24. The Baltimore Orioles
  25. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
  26. The Washington Nationals
  27. The Minnesota Twins
  28. The Chicago White Sox
  29. The Pittsburgh Pirates
  30. The Colorado Rockies

Not any major changes. Big week for the Mets. They could shoot up if they win the series with the Phillies, or fall back fast.

MLB Power Rankings, 8/18

/ Rich Wilkins / 8 Comments

Here’s last week’s list. Here’s this week’s list:

  1. The Milwaukee Brewers
  2. The Los Angeles Dodgers
  3. The Philadelphia Phillies
  4. The Toronto Blue Jays
  5. The Houston Astros
  6. The San Diego Padres
  7. The Seattle Mariners
  8. The Detroit Tigers
  9. The Boston Red Sox
  10. The Chicago Cubs
  11. The Cleveland Guardians
  12. The New York Mets
  13. The Cincinnati Reds
  14. The New York Yankees
  15. The Texas Rangers
  16. The Miami Marlins
  17. The San Francisco Giants
  18. The St. Louis Cardinals
  19. The Atlanta Braves
  20. The Kansas City Royals
  21. The Arizona Diamondbacks
  22. The Tampa Bay Rays
  23. The Oakland Athletics
  24. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
  25. The Baltimore Orioles
  26. The Minnesota Twins
  27. The Chicago White Sox
  28. The Washington Nationals
  29. The Pittsburgh Pirates
  30. The Colorado Rockies

Only superficial changes this week. Nothing major.