ESPN Power Ranking: 5/2/08

phils phanatic · 05-03-2008, 08:07 AM

Quote:

An American League team has managed to wedge its way between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Chicago Cubs at the top of the MLB Power Rankings, but it's not one of the usual suspects. The D-backs and Cubs, ranked 1-2 for three consecutive weeks, have been separated by the surprising Oakland A's, who moved up three spots to No. 2 for the week. The A's, expected to be closer to the AL West cellar in 2008, are No. 1 in the AL in ERA, No. 2 in the AL in runs scored and third in the majors in run differential. But they're not the only AL team turning heads in the top 10. The Tampa Bay Rays, who have won eight of their past nine, ascended 10 spots to No. 6. The biggest climbers of the week, however, were the Los Angeles Dodgers, who parlayed their six-game winning streak into a move from No. 22 to No. 10.

2008 Power Rankings: May 2
	RK	LW RANK	TEAM	REC	COMMENT
	1	1	Diamondbacks	20-8	Max Scherzer was lights-out in his big league debut. But he faces Chase Utley and the Phillies in his first start Monday.
	2	5	Athletics	18-12	Relievers Santiago Casilla and Andrew Brown have combined to pitch 30 1/3 scoreless innings, giving up 15 hits and nine walks to go with 30 K's.
	3	2	Cubs	17-11	Imagine if Ronny Cedeno (.378/.462/.578) were playing this well in an Orioles uniform. Good thing the Brian Roberts deal was never consummated.
	4	6	Cardinals	18-11	Mark Mulder, take your time. Cardinals starters still lead the NL in ERA at 3.30.
	5	3	Angels	18-12	How much better is Ervin Santana in '08? So far, he's 3-0 with a 3.72 ERA on the road. Last year's road numbers: 1-10, 8.38.
	6	16	Rays	16-12	Troy Percival has allowed no runs and only two hits and one walk in 10 appearances.
	7	10	Phillies	16-13	Brad Lidge (7-for-7 in save opportunities along with a 0.00 ERA) is flourishing as the last line of defense for the Phils.
	8	7	White Sox	14-12	Middle infielders Orlando Cabrera and Juan Uribe are batting a combined .197.
	9	4	Red Sox	17-13	Count on Manny Ramirez (496 career homers) catching fire soon and joining the 500 home run club in the process.
	10	22	Dodgers	15-13	During the Dodgers' six-game winning streak, Matt Kemp is hitting .407 (11-for-27) with 11 RBIs.
	11	9	Brewers	16-12	Ryan Braun is coming around. The 2007 NL Rookie of the Year has seven hits and seven RBIs in his past 13 at-bats.
	12	19	Indians	14-15	Five starts, five wins and a sub-1.00 ERA. Cliff Lee's turnaround has been remarkable.
	13	8	Mets	14-12	Carlos Delgado is batting just .182 with one home run in 55 at-bats against right-handed pitching.
	14	20	Tigers	14-15	Armando Galarraga (2-0, 1.50) has given the Tigers' rotation a big lift. Opponents are batting just .113 against the 26-year-old right-hander.
	15	11	Braves	12-15	With John Smoltz's health again in question, we could be witnessing the end of his career coming quickly.
	16	13	Marlins	15-13	Hanley Ramirez hit more home runs this April (eight) than he did in April and May combined last season (seven).
	17	14	Orioles	15-13	Daniel Cabrera walked more batters in his last start (seven) than he did in his previous three starts combined (five).
	18	17	Astros	13-16	It's probably not a good thing when your closer leads the team in wins.
	19	15	Mariners	13-16	The Mariners' decision to sign Kenji Johjima to a contract extension isn't looking so good at the moment.
	20	12	Yankees	14-16	While Phil Hughes still is very young (21 years old), he's quickly developing a reputation as an injury-prone pitcher.
	21	23	Twins	13-14	Delmon Young's slugging percentage is about even with his on-base percentage. He is homerless in 102 at-bats.
	22	18	Blue Jays	12-17	A.J. Burnett is 2-0 with a 1.32 ERA in two starts against the Red Sox and Yankees, and 1-1 with a 6.35 ERA in four other starts.
	23	25	Giants	13-16	Fred Lewis leads the majors with a .384 batting average and 1.081 OPS from the leadoff spot.
	24	26	Reds	12-17	Johnny Cueto has come back to earth, but Edinson Volquez still is cruising, having allowed just four earned runs in five starts.
	25	24	Royals	12-16	They were outscored by 29 runs and had a seven-game losing streak, yet they finished the month of April just 2.5 games out of first place.
	26	30	Nationals	12-17	Rookie left-hander John Lannan has allowed two or fewer runs in four of his five starts.
	27	28	Pirates	11-17	Matt Morris is gone, but he won't soon be forgotten. As an added insult, the Bucs still owe him almost 10 million bucks.
	28	21	Rockies	11-17	Without the injured Troy Tulowitzki at shortstop, the onus falls on Clint Barmes, who hasn't hit better than .220 since 2005.
	29	29	Rangers	11-18	Josh Hamilton has been one of the Rangers' few bright spots, leading the majors with 32 RBIs.
	30	27	Padres	11-18	Khalil Greene, who hit 27 homers in 2007, still is looking for his first in 2008 and has a .279 slugging percentage.

ESPN - MLB Power Rankings - Major League Baseball

slagonia · 05-03-2008, 11:03 PM

Yankees at 20? They're over .500 after a ridiculous schedual to start the year. I'm fine with where we are.

TyPenn613 · 05-04-2008, 12:03 AM

This is from a couple days ago, note the Yankees being 14-16, 2 games below .500. Even still, they are only at .500 right now, and fourth in the division.

slagonia · 05-04-2008, 08:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TyPenn613

This is from a couple days ago, note the Yankees being 14-16, 2 games below .500. Even still, they are only at .500 right now, and fourth in the division.

Yeah, but if I remember right, fourth is only a game out. Does this mean that if we pick that one game up, we'll suddenly be propelled into the top-10?

Power Rankings aren't suppose to be representations of what has happened, otherwise it would just be in order of record. It's suppose to be a projection of power for the rest of the season. Do they really think the Yankees will be in the bottom third of teams this year?

Oh, wait, it's ESPN. I'm surprised they're not ranked thirty. Note the one-game-better Sox all the way up in the upper third.

phils phanatic · 05-04-2008, 09:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by slagonia

Power Rankings aren't suppose to be representations of what has happened, otherwise it would just be in order of record. It's suppose to be a projection of power for the rest of the season. Do they really think the Yankees will be in the bottom third of teams this year?

the red sox had 17 wins when this came out and 3 games up on the yankees right now.top that off with the struggles of the yankees pitching,the dl trips by a-rod posada and phil hughes along with jeter missing a handful of games along with the fact that as of right now the yankees are closer to last place in the division than first and that's why the sox are 11 spots ahead.

TyPenn613 · 05-05-2008, 01:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by slagonia

Yeah, but if I remember right, fourth is only a game out. Does this mean that if we pick that one game up, we'll suddenly be propelled into the top-10?

Power Rankings aren't suppose to be representations of what has happened, otherwise it would just be in order of record. It's suppose to be a projection of power for the rest of the season. Do they really think the Yankees will be in the bottom third of teams this year?

Oh, wait, it's ESPN. I'm surprised they're not ranked thirty. Note the one-game-better Sox all the way up in the upper third.

Power Rankings aren't based on what has happened? They certainly are. Power Rankings don't predict final records, they project how a team will fair in the near future. When this came out, the Yankees were 14-16, 3 games out of first, and 4th in the division. 3 games out of first isn't much, but consider the Padres are 9.5 games out at the time, and that is the difference from 1st to 30th.

The Yankees had lost their three previous games, and 6 of their last 10. With the players out of the lineup like Jeter, Posada, etc. not to mention the sketchy pitching by starters, and pitchers just not being able to remain healthy, why should the Yankees be so much higher?

The Marlins were 0.5 games out and yet they were not in the top half. Why? They were faltering as of late, especially that week and were dropping, much like the Yankees.

As for the ESPN biased, I know they favor the Red Sox over other sports teams, but don't like they don't do the Yankees favors over the years because many seasons the Yankees swam atop these rankings just because ESPN drooled over the AL East.

05-04-2008, 12:03 AM	#3 (permalink)
TyPenn613 Administrator Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 4,901 Points: 9290.00	This is from a couple days ago, note the Yankees being 14-16, 2 games below .500. Even still, they are only at .500 right now, and fourth in the division. __________________

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05-03-2008, 11:03 PM	#2 (permalink)
slagonia All Star Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 635 Points: 2840.50	Yankees at 20? They're over .500 after a ridiculous schedual to start the year. I'm fine with where we are.