Justin Upton powers Braves to top spot in rankings

Power has defined the first week and a half of the baseball season. Power pitching has led to a record rate of 7.61 strikeouts per team per game that, if

Joe Lemire | Apr 11, 2013

Justin Upton powers Braves to top spot in rankings /

With Justin Upton leading the way, the Braves are off to a flying start in the National League East. — With Justin Upton leading the way, the Braves are off to a flying start in the National League East :: /AP

Power has defined the first week and a half of the baseball season. Power pitching has led to a record rate of 7.61 strikeouts per team per game that, if sustained, would be the eighth straight year strikeouts have increased.

Power bats are also on the rise, with each team averaging 1.09 home runs per game, which would be the sixth-highest rate in baseball history. Six teams are scoring at least half their runs via homers, something only one team has ever done for an entire season (the 2010 Blue Jays).

It is perhaps fitting, therefore, that the top two teams in the first edition of SI.com's 2013 MLB Power Rankings -- Atlanta and Oakland -- either lead or are tied for the league lead in home runs.

And the rankings themselves are more powerful than ever. A new quantitative formula has been devised to rank teams according to season record, recent record (with a small strength of schedule component) and run differential.

NOTES: All stats are updated through Wednesday, April 10. A team's "last week" ranking refers to the offseason rankings.

Published Apr 11, 2013

JOE LEMIRE

Staff Writer, Sports Illustrated Staff writer Joe Lemire is in his seventh year at Sports Illustrated and his fourth season covering baseball full time. Lemire writes features and analysis for SI and SI.com and is responsible for the website's weekly MLB Power Rankings. He has profiled Pirates star Andrew McCutchen and Braves rookie sensation Evan Gattis for the magazine. Lemire's penchant for covering America's pastime is to be expected considering his inspirations, Tom Verducci and Peter Gammons, are among the most well-known writers in the sport. Before his current role, Lemire spent his first three years with SI oscillating between baseball, college basketball, high school football and sports business. This came on the heels of a summer internship with the magazine in 2004 and a tenure as a stringer with SI: On Campus. Born in Richmond, Va., and raised in Lowell, Mass., Lemire graduated from the University of Virginia in 2005 with a B.A. in government and a minor in economics. Before joining SI he covered high school and college sports for the Daily News-Record in Harrisonburg, Va. He earned two Virginia Press Association awards for his work, one while a student writing at University of Virginia's Cavalier Daily and one at the Daily News-Record.