Inside the Astros

Houston Astros Take Surprising Dip in MLB Power Rankings

The Houston Astros took a slight dive in this week's edition of Sports Illustrated's weekly MLB power rankings on Inside the Phillies.

Jack Vita

Houston Astros Take Surprising Dip in MLB Power Rankings
Houston Astros Take Surprising Dip in MLB Power Rankings /
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Despite winning four of seven games over the past week, the Houston Astros were surpassed by one team in this week's edition of Sports Illustrated's weekly MLB power rankings on Inside the Phillies.

The Astros (74-58) dropped from no. 6 to no. 7, making room for the surging Milwaukee Brewers (73-57) to move in front of them. The Brewers enter the new week on an eight-game win streak, having swept the Texas Rangers, Minnesota Twins and San Diego Padres. The Brew Crew has not lost a game in nearly two weeks, and now has a higher win percentage than the Astros do.

Houston dropping is simply a product of another team playing better than it is, right now. The Astros enter a new week one game back of the AL West division-leading Seattle Mariners. The Astros will open a three-game series in Boston Monday. Dusty Baker's club will have Thursday off, before returning home to host the New York Yankees at the Juice Box. If the Astros take care of the Red Sox and the Bronx Bombers, they could take the division lead and see a bump in next week's power rankings.

Here's a look at the full top-10 of the power rankings:

10) Toronto Blue Jays (71-60; +55 DIFF, 38-42 vs. >.500, LAST WEEK: no. 9 [down 1])

9) Arizona Diamondbacks (69-62; -3 DIFF, 31-41 vs. >.500, LAST WEEK: no. 12 [up 3])

8) Philadelphia Phillies (72-58; +68 DIFF, 39-37 vs. >.500, LAST WEEK: no. 10 [up 2])

7) Houston Astros (74-58; +88 DIFF, 32-38 vs. >.500, LAST WEEK: no. 6 [down 1])

6) Milwaukee Brewers (73-57; +19 DIFF, 37-36 vs. >.500, LAST WEEK: no. 7 [up 1])

5) Seattle Mariners (74-56; +102 DIFF, 32-33 vs. >.500, LAST WEEK: no. 5 [no movement])

4) Tampa Bay Rays (80-52; +174 DIFF, 36-32 vs. >.500, LAST WEEK: no. 4 [no movement])

3) Baltimore Orioles (81-49; +86 DIFF, 42-31 vs. >.500, LAST WEEK: no. 3 [no movement])

2) Los Angeles Dodgers (80-49; +152 DIFF, 38-30 vs. >.500, LAST WEEK: no. 2 [no movement])

1) Atlanta Braves (84-45; +219 DIFF, 44-27 vs. >.500, LAST WEEK: no. 1 [no movement])

Here's a look at the full, 30-team power rankings.

For more from Jack Vita, follow him on Twitter @JackVitaShow, and subscribe to his podcast, the Jack Vita Show, available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, Facebook, Amazon, iHeartRadio, and wherever podcasts are found.

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Jack Vita
JACK VITA

Jack Vita is a writer and contributor to Sports Illustrated's Inside the Astros, and host of the Jack Vita Show, a popular sports podcast available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and wherever podcasts are found. Jack is a 2017 graduate of Valparaiso University, in northwest Indiana. Since completing his degree, Jack has created his own independent sports media outlet (JackVita.com) and podcast (the Jack Vita Show). He has featured prominent guests from the worlds of sports and entertainment including Brian Urlacher, Scot Pollard, Bob Nightengale, Dan O'Dowd, and Survivor icons Stephenie LaGrossa Kendrick, Cirie Fields, Danni Boatwright and "the Dragon Slayer", Coach Benjamin Wade. While studying at Valparaiso, Jack was the school newspaper's beat writer for the Valpo Crusaders men's basketball team, which won three straight Horizon League championships from 2015-2017. Traveling to cover the team, Jack had a front row seat to one of the nation's best mid-major teams, headlined by future NBA Draft pick Alec Peters and coached by NCAA Tournament hero Bryce Drew. Jack hosted a weekly sports radio show and provided play-by-play and color commentary services for ESPN 3 and the university's student radio station, WVUR-FM, 95.1 The Source, covering Valparaiso men's soccer, women's basketball, softball and volleyball. Jack also covered these sports, in addition to men's and women's tennis, baseball and women's soccer for the school newspaper, The Torch. While he was in college, Jack interned for and co-hosted Jewell On Sports, a sports radio program on AM 1050 WLIP in Kenosha, Wisconsin. There, he interviewed various pro athletes such as Ahman Green, Javon Walker and Javier Arenas, in addition to talking sports with the late, great Brad Jewell. Jack also interned for 22nd Century Media, a now defunct newspaper corporation that provided news to the North Shore of Chicago. With 22nd Century Media, Jack wrote post-game recaps, feature stories about local athletes, reviews of local restaurants and compiled the newspaper's "Pet of the Week" and "Athlete of the Week" sections, while providing copy-editing services. Before attending Valparaiso, Jack enrolled at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin, where he studied for two years before transferring. He is a high school graduate of New Trier Township High School in Winnetka, Illinois. You can follow Jack on Twitter @JackVitaShow, subscribe to his podcast, the Jack Vita Show, wherever podcasts are found, and reach him via email at jack@jackvita.com.

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