Power Rankings: Cardinals jump over Tigers, Mets to take first place
The third week of our Power Rankings features a new team at No. 1. Coming off a 4–2 week that featured series victories over the Nationals and Brewers, the Cardinals jumped over the Tigers and held off the Mets for top honors, earning three of the seven first-place votes. New York slides in at runner-up, still with the best record in baseball but smarting after losing two of three Subway Series games to the Yankees over the weekend. The Dodgers dropped from second to third, the Royals jumped a spot to No. 4, and Detroit took a small tumble to fifth place.
St. Louis may be sitting pretty in the rankings, but the outlook isn't as rosy on the field, where the Cardinals must contend with the loss of Adam Wainwright to an Achilles tendon injury. Wainwright, who hurt himself taking an at-bat in Saturday's win over Milwaukee, is likely done for the year, leaving St. Louis with a gigantic hole to fill in its rotation. That starting five has been the Cardinals' greatest strength so far: The team leads the majors in rotation ERA at 2.39, but with Wainwright (1.44 ERA in 25 innings so far this year) now done, St. Louis will need to keep up that early strong start to hold off a competitive NL Central. Young arms Michael Wacha and Carlos Martinez have so far carried the Cardinals: Wacha has a 1.33 ERA through 20 1/3 innings, and Martinez has been just as good, posting a 1.35 ERA with 21 whiffs in 20 frames. Both 23-year-olds, however, will likely face innings limits down the road, leaving St. Louis with an uncertain pitching future.
Rangers trade gives Hamilton chance at getting life, career back in order
While the Cardinals try to figure out how to patch together their rotation, the Rays are seeing theirs come together beautifully. Tampa Bay ripped off five wins in six games last week to move into a tie for first place in the AL East and from 21st to 10th in this week's rankings, thanks in large part to its pitching. Rays hurlers gave up just 13 runs over 54 innings last week, and Tampa's rotation now boasts a 3.45 ERA, third-best in the AL. Chris Archer has led the way for the Rays: The righthander has a brilliant 0.84 ERA and 37 strikeouts through 32 1/3 innings and hasn't allowed an earned run in his last four starts. He hasn't been alone in his strong start, though, with fellow righty Jake Odorizzi contributing a 1.65 ERA in 27 1/3 innings over four starts. And reinforcements are coming for Tampa, with Drew Smyly off the disabled list after a bout of shoulder tendinitis and Alex Cobb now throwing bullpen sessions as he recovers from forearm tendinitis. Those two plus Archer, Odorizzi and the rehabbing Matt Moore (who is expected to return in June from Tommy John surgery) could combine to give Tampa the AL's best rotation.
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Tampa isn't the only team in Florida flying high right now. The Marlins have jumped all the way from 28th to 14th in this week's rankings, thanks to a five-game winning streak and a sweep of the division rival Nationals. It helps that Giancarlo Stanton is back to his old self: After a slow start (.239 average with 17 strikeouts through April 19), the Miami slugger hit a scalding .348/.423/.870 with three homers last week. But he's had some help, primarily from the infield trio of Dee Gordon, Martin Prado and Adeiny Hechavarria. Gordon leads the team with a .390 batting average and has already racked up eight steals; Prado has eight hits and six RBIs in his last 23 trips to the plate; and Hechavarria was a one-man wrecking crew last week, batting a cool .500 (12-for-24) with a homer and 10 RBIs. That's helped overcome some shakiness in the rotation (Miami's starting five has a collective ERA of 4.11) and gets the Marlins back into the early race in the NL East.
1. St. Louis Cardinals
PREVIOUS: 3
RECORD: points204
Low Vote: 3rd (2x)
2. New York Mets
PREVIOUS: 4
RECORD: points195
Low Vote: 7th
3. Los Angeles Dodgers
PREVIOUS: 2
RECORD: points186
Low Vote: 7th (2x)
4. Kansas City Royals
PREVIOUS: 5
RECORD: points180
Low Vote: 16th
5. Detroit Tigers
PREVIOUS: 1
RECORD: points179
Low Vote: 8th (2x)
6. Pittsburgh Pirates
PREVIOUS: 9
RECORD: points169
Low Vote: 11th
7. San Diego Padres
PREVIOUS: 6
RECORD: points166
Low Vote: 11th
8. New York Yankees
PREVIOUS: 15
RECORD: points158
Low Vote: 21st
9. Chicago Cubs
PREVIOUS: 11
RECORD: points154
Low Vote: 10th (3x)
10. Tampa Bay Rays
PREVIOUS: 21
RECORD: points149
Low Vote: 13th
11. Houston Astros
PREVIOUS: 16
RECORD: points131
Low Vote: 17th
12. Los Angeles Angels
PREVIOUS: 17
RECORD: points125
Low Vote: 16th (3x)
13. Boston Red Sox
PREVIOUS: 8
RECORD: points123
Low Vote: 20th (2x)
14. Miami Marlins
PREVIOUS: 28
RECORD: points109
Low Vote: 23rd
15. Oakland Athletics
PREVIOUS: 12
RECORD: points106
Low Vote: 26th
16. Baltimore Orioles
PREVIOUS: 7
RECORD: points103
Low Vote: 22nd
17. Toronto Blue Jays
PREVIOUS: 14
RECORD: points102
Low Vote: 19th (2x)
18. Atlanta Braves
PREVIOUS: 10
RECORD: points93
Low Vote: 26th
19. Chicago White Sox
PREVIOUS: 22
RECORD: points93
Low Vote: 22nd
20. Colorado Rockies
PREVIOUS: 18
RECORD: points87
Low Vote: 24th
21. Washington Nationals
PREVIOUS: 13
RECORD: points69
Low Vote: 27th
22. Seattle Mariners
PREVIOUS: 20
RECORD: points58
Low Vote: 28th (2x)
23. Cleveland Indians
PREVIOUS: 24
RECORD: points57
Low Vote: 28th
24. Cincinnati Reds
PREVIOUS: 23
RECORD: points56
Low Vote: 25th (4x)
25. Arizona Diamondbacks
PREVIOUS: 19
RECORD: points54
Low Vote: 29th
26. Texas Rangers
PREVIOUS: 25
RECORD: points45
Low Vote: 27th
27. San Francisco Giants
PREVIOUS: 27
RECORD: points42
Low Vote: 27th (3x)
28. Minnesota Twins
PREVIOUS: 26
RECORD: points40
Low Vote: 27th (2x)
29. Philadelphia Phillies
PREVIOUS: 29
RECORD: points13
Low Vote: 30th
30. Milwaukee Brewers
PREVIOUS: 30
RECORD: points9
Low Vote: 30th (6x)
