Power Rankings: Week 9
Week:
| 2012 Power Rankings: Week 9 | |||||
| RANK | TEAM / RECORD | TRENDING | COMMENTS | ||
| 1 | -- Last Week: 1 | Chris Capuano's amazing season rolls on. He's 7-1 with a 2.14 ERA in 10 starts. -- ESPN.com | |||
| 2 | 1 Last Week: 3 | Mitch Moreland (.301 AVG/.360 OBP/.566 SLG, 8 HRs) is quietly churning out huge numbers from the bottom of the Rangers' lineup. -- Joey Matschulat: Baseball Time in Arlington | |||
| 3 | 1 Last Week: 2 | By losing two of three to the Red Sox and Royals, the Orioles dropped consecutive series for the first time this season. -- ESPN.com | |||
| 4 | 1 Last Week: 5 | Fernando Rodney is 16-for-17 in save opportunities, and he has a .170 batting average against. -- ESPN.com | |||
| 5 | 2 Last Week: 7 | Gio Gonzalez leads the majors in strikeouts (79). And he's riding a five-game winning streak, during which time he's compiled a 2.25 ERA. -- ESPN.com | |||
| 6 | 3 Last Week: 9 | Ubaldo Jimenez has had a rough go of it of late as he's compiled an 8.85 ERA over his last four starts. -- ESPN.com | |||
| 7 | 6 Last Week: 13 | Aroldis Chapman has allowed only seven hits in 26 innings pitched, and he's yet to allow an earned run in 21 appearances. -- ESPN.com | |||
| 8 | 2 Last Week: 6 | The Cardinals surrendered the NL Central lead to the Reds, but Adam Wainwright returned to form and the offense returned to the long ball -- including Matt Adams' first -- to beat Roy Halladay and the Phillies on Sunday. -- Matt Philip: Fungoes | |||
| 9 | 1 Last Week: 10 | The Yankees are in the middle of a stretch where they don't play any teams over .500 for 12 games and have taken advantage of it so far by winning five games in a row. Rafael Soriano has solidified the back-end of their bullpen, lowering his ERA to 2.08 after his fifth save on Sunday. -- Rob Abruzzese: Bronx Baseball Daily | |||
| 10 | 1 Last Week: 11 | Giancarlo Stanton went 7-for-13 this past weekend as the Marlins took two out of three from the Giants. -- Dave Gershman: Marlins Daily | |||
| 11 | 7 Last Week: 4 | A series of unfortunate (and unusual) injuries to the lineup, combined with very inconsistent starting pitching has the Braves looking for answers. The lineup should heal and be OK eventually. The pitching is more of an open question with no easy solution. -- Franklin Rabon: Capitol Avenue Club | |||
| 12 | 4 Last Week: 8 | After winning five of six, the streaky Blue Jays have now dropped five in a row -- including an emasculating 14-3 defeat to Texas on Friday. This team will have to right the ship in a hurry: Toronto plays host to AL East rivals Baltimore and Boston in consecutive series this week. -- Callum Hughson: Mop-Up Duty | |||
| 13 | 4 Last Week: 17 | The White Sox are the hottest team in the majors (9-1, scoring 76 runs in those 10 games). They torched the Indians for 35 runs in a three-game sweep, moving to within a half-game of first place in the AL Central. Paul Konerko is 23 for his last 35 and leads the majors in batting at .399. -- Diane Firstman: Value Over Replacement Grit | |||
| 14 | 1 Last Week: 15 | R.A. Dickey has pitched especially well over his last five starts as he's compiled a 1.84 ERA over that stretch. -- ESPN.com | |||
| 15 | 1 Last Week: 14 | The Phillies have dealt with injuries to their two best hitters in Chase Utley and Ryan Howard, and now they are waiting on a report on the status of ace Roy Halladay. Doc left Sunday afternoon's start after two innings, adding another question mark to a season full of them. -- Bill Baer: Crashburn Alley | |||
| 16 | 4 Last Week: 12 | In the latest chapter of the "What's Wrong with Tim Lincecum?" saga, the embattled ace suffered through another loss in Miami -- his fifth straight -- while allowing a season-high six runs. The word is a blister on Lincecum's throwing hand is to blame for his poor year. -- Chris Martinez: Bay City Ball | |||
| 17 | 1 Last Week: 16 | Daniel Bard's ERA is high (4.69), but he's allowed only three home runs in 48 innings pitched. -- ESPN.com | |||
| 18 | -- Last Week: 18 | With his 3-for-4 performance on Sunday in Minnesota, Quintin Berry became the first Tiger since 1918 to hit safely in his first five games. He also has three walks and three steals to complement his excellent center field defense. -- Josh Worn: Walkoff Woodward | |||
| 19 | 1 Last Week: 20 | Jerome Williams has pitched well of late in that he has a 3.10 ERA over his last three starts. -- ESPN.com | |||
| 20 | 3 Last Week: 23 | J.A. Happ has put up impressive numbers over his last three starts (1.47 ERA). -- ESPN.com | |||
| 21 | 2 Last Week: 19 | Coco Crisp has 29 straight successful stolen bases dating back to last season. -- ESPN.com | |||
| 22 | 1 Last Week: 21 | Erik Bedard has given up only four home runs -- all solo shots -- in 10 starts this season. -- ESPN.com | |||
| 23 | 1 Last Week: 22 | The Diamondbacks had a 3-3 week, despite allowing 33 runs. Pin the lackluster record on the D-backs' rotation, as they are 14th in the NL with 4.40 ERA. -- Diane Firstman: Value Over Replacement Grit | |||
| 24 | 1 Last Week: 25 | Hector Noesi has compiled a 2.82 ERA over his last three starts, but he has nothing to show for it (0-2 with a no-decision). -- ESPN.com | |||
| 25 | 1 Last Week: 26 | Jonathan Lucroy, the fourth-leading hitter in the National League, is tearing it up in the month of May (.388 batting average and a 1.068 OPS). -- ESPN.com | |||
| 26 | 2 Last Week: 24 | Billy Butler hit his 11th home run of the season Sunday. He's on pace to hit 39 homers this season, which would best the Royals' season mark set by Steve Balboni, who hit 36 homers in 1985. -- Craig Brown: Royals Authority | |||
| 27 | -- Last Week: 27 | Jamie Moyer has allowed five home runs in his past two starts, and during that stretch has compiled a 13.51 ERA. -- ESPN.com | |||
| 28 | 2 Last Week: 30 | The Padres scored no runs in the last 26 innings against the Mets, losing the last three games to end a 1-6 week. Josh Hamilton has out-homered the Padres 20-18. Now, the Padres head to Wrigley Field to face a Cubs team on 12-game losing schneid. -- Diane Firstman: Value Over Replacement Grit | |||
| 29 | -- Last Week: 29 | The Twins have the worst run differential by a long shot (minus-80) in the majors. -- ESPN.com | |||
| 30 | 2 Last Week: 28 | A 12-game losing streak brings back memories of 1997, when the Cubs began the season with a 14-game losing streak. On a positive note, there were some great beer specials at the Wrigleyville bars to help break the streak. -- Joe Aiello: View from the Bleachers | |||