Padres Continue to Rise in National MLB Power Rankings

The Padres had a solid week to kick off June.

Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

The San Diego Padres are rising in the rankings.

The Padres have now risen to No. 12 in Newsweek's national MLB power rankings. Last week they ranked No. 13. The Padres did rank No. 12 two weeks ago, and have ranked as high as No. 11 this season, back in the middle of April.

The Padres ticked back up to No. 12 after an impressive week in which they won both of their series. The Padres defeated the Miami Marlins 2-1, but more impressively outlasted the Kansas City Royals 2-1. San Diego came near its first sweep of the season against the 36-25 Royals, but lost on a walkoff home run to Kansas City. Still, the Padres held their ground for all but one inning against one of the better teams in MLB.

San Diego is in danger of dropping in the power rankings next week. Since their strong efforts against the Royals, they have lost two straight games to the floundering Los Angeles Angels. If the Padres are swept by the Angels or struggle during their four-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks, who could pass the Padres in the National League West during this week's series, they likely will slip a few spots back. Right now the Padres are .500 with a 32-32 record, and they likely cannot rise in the rankings without getting another winning streak going.

Of course, it doesn't help the Padres that they've lost their projected top two starters in Joe Musgrove and Yu Darvish, who were both placed on the injured list over the weekend. The Padres have since called up Adam Mazur, who was solid during his debut, but the team was ultimately hurt by reliever Yuki Matsui being unable to hold his ground against the Angels. Getting their pitching woes under control will be key for San Diego over the next few weeks.