Inside The Phillies

2023 MLB Power Rankings Week 20: Philadelphia Phillies Take a Stark Dive

The Philadelphia Phillies dropped slightly in this week's MLB power rankings on Inside the Phillies.

Jack Vita

2023 MLB Power Rankings Week 20: Philadelphia Phillies Take a Stark Dive
2023 MLB Power Rankings Week 20: Philadelphia Phillies Take a Stark Dive /
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This week's edition of our weekly MLB power rankings saw the Philadelphia Phillies drop slightly. The Fightin' Phils remain in the top-10, but fell one spot from last week's rankings.

This week's power rankings also saw the Atlanta Braves reclaim the throne, returning to our top spot, with the Los Angeles Dodgers peaking at the highest ranking they've seen all season.

Here's a look at our power rankings for Week 20 of the 2023 Major League Baseball season:

1) Atlanta Braves (75-42; +193 DIFF, 40-25 vs. >.500, LAST WEEK: no. 2 [up 1]) — 33 games above .500, the Braves remain the class of the National League, but the race is closer now than it has been in months.

2) Los Angeles Dodgers (71-46; +136 DIFF, 32-30 vs. >.500, LAST WEEK: no. 5 [up 3]) — The Dodgers are quickly closing the gap on the Braves. Since replenishing their roster at the trade deadline, the Dodgers have lost only one game over the past two weeks, without a single day off. Los Angeles capitalized on a light schedule, winning 12 of 13.

3) Texas Rangers (70-48; +181 DIFF, 35-29 vs. >.500, LAST WEEK: no. 4 [up 1]) — Speaking of hot teams, the Rangers have caught fire in the aftermath of the trade deadline. Texas has lost only two games over the past two weeks, winning ten of 12.

4) Houston Astros (68-51; +86 DIFF, 30-34 vs. >.500, LAST WEEK: no. 6 [up 2]) — The Astros leap in front of last week's no. 1 team, the Baltimore Orioles, after picking up a critical road series win at Camden Yards last week.

5) Baltimore Orioles (73-45; +65 DIFF, 47-36 vs. >.500, LAST WEEK: no. 1 [down 4]) — The top-5 is beginning to tighten up. Baltimore went 3-3 over the past week, and found itself dropping four spots! The O's could reclaim the top spot next week. They simply dropped as a result of how well the other teams are playing.

6) Tampa Bay Rays (71-49; +139 DIFF, 40-35 vs. >.500, LAST WEEK: no. 3 [down 3) — Like the O's, the Rays played .500 ball last week and took a tumble. Unlike the O's, the Rays played .500 ball against significantly inferior opponents, even dropping a home series to the lowly Cardinals.

7) Seattle Mariners (63-54; +58 DIFF, 31-37 vs. >.500, LAST WEEK: no. 9 [up 2]) — The Seattle Mariners are — in the words of legendary SportsCenter anchor Dan Patrick — en fuego. On July 19, 23 year-old outfielder Jarred Kelenic broke his foot, kicking a water cooler. The club fell to 47-48 that day. In the time since, the M's have gone 16-6, improving their record to 63-54. Entering play Monday, Seattle is just 1.5 games back of the third and final Wild Card spot in the American League.

8) Milwaukee Brewers (65-54; +6 DIFF, 32-33 vs. >.500, LAST WEEK: no. 14 [up 6]) — Seems all it took was a Cubs hot stretch to wake the Brewers up. Milwaukee rolled through the Rockies and White Sox this past week, winning five of six. They will open a critical road trip Tuesday, with a series in Los Angeles against the Dodgers, before traveling to Arlington to take on the Rangers over the weekend.

9) Philadelphia Phillies (65-54; +33 DIFF, 37-37 vs. >.500, LAST WEEK: no. 8 [down 1]) — The Phillies may have dropped a weekend series to the Twins at home over the weekend, but I couldn't put Minnesota above Philly. Not after the Twins lost three of four to the Tigers earlier in the week. Phils remain in the top-10.

10) Chicago Cubs (61-57; +64 DIFF, 31-37 vs. >.500, LAST WEEK: no. 11 [up 1]) — For the first time all season, the Cubs are a top-10 team! Despite losing a series to a decaying Mets team, the Cubs salvaged the week by taking two of three from the Blue Jays in Toronto, which looks to be the toughest series they will play for a little while. David Ross' club will now play 12 games against the White Sox, Royals, Tigers and Pirates.

11) Toronto Blue Jays (66-54; +59 DIFF, 37-42 vs. >.500, LAST WEEK: no. 7 [down 4]) — An unimpressive week from the Blue Jays drops them out of the top-10, and has them now just 1.5 games up on the Mariners for the third and final Wild Card in the American League.

12) Boston Red Sox (62-56; +29 DIFF, 38-33 vs. >.500, LAST WEEK: no. 16 [up 4]) — The Red Sox capitalized on a light schedule, going 5-2 against the Royals and Tigers, at home, and moved up four spots.

13) Miami Marlins (62-57; -40 DIFF, 30-37 vs. >.500, LAST WEEK: no. 17 [up 4]) — A resurgent week from the Marlins came at the right time. Miami entered last week with a 5-16 record in the season's second half. The club handled Reds in the Cincinnati, then took two of three from the Yankees, at home. If the season ended Sunday, the Marlins would be in the playoffs. Miami has not made a postseason berth in a full, 162-game season since 2003, the last time they won the World Series.

14) San Francisco Giants (63-55; +18 DIFF, 35-29 vs. >.500, LAST WEEK: no. 10 [down 4]) — The Giants have cooled off over the last ten days, going 2-6 in their last eight games. The A's swept a two-game set from them a week ago.

15) Minnesota Twins (62-58; +39 DIFF, 31-34 vs. >.500, LAST WEEK: no. 12 [down 3]) — The Twins salvaged the week by picking up a series victory over the Phillies in Philadelphia, but looked bad against the Tigers, losing three of four to their divisional foe. Lucky for Minnesota, Cleveland has done seemingly everything it can to lose games and not make a charge for the division. The Twins enter the new week up 4.5 games.

16) Cincinnati Reds (62-58; -22 DIFF, 35-37 vs. >.500, LAST WEEK: no. 15 [down 1]) — Not long ago, the Reds appeared to be the team to beat in the NL Central. Cincy has since cooled off, and continues to struggle. Since the All-Star break, David Bell's club is 12-19.

17) New York Yankees (60-58; +1 DIFF, 38-40 vs. >.500, LAST WEEK: no. 13 [down 4]) — The Yankees are now 5 games back of the third and final AL Wild Card, and have not won a series since July 21-23, when they took down the mighty Royals. That is their only series win since the All-Star break. The Bronx Bombers have an 11-16 record in the season's second half.

18) Los Angeles Angels (59-60; -4 DIFF, 34-44 vs. >.500, LAST WEEK: no. 18 [no movement) — The Angels snapped a seven-game losing streak early in the week and picked up a series win over the Giants. Then they were outscored 23-8 in Houston. This club REALLY needs Mike Trout back, pronto.  

19) Arizona Diamondbacks (59-59; -22 DIFF, 26-40 vs. >.500, LAST WEEK: no. 20 [up 1]) — It took Arizona 12 days to pick up its first win of August, Saturday. The Diamondbacks snapped a nine-game losing streak and collected a much-needed series victory, over the Padres.

20) Cleveland Guardians (57-62; 0 DIFF, 28-35 vs. >.500, LAST WEEK: no. 21 [up 1]) — The Guardians continue to disappoint me. They somehow found a way to fall even further behind in the AL Central standings, in a week that the division-leading Twins lost three of four to the Tigers.  

21) San Diego Padres (56-62; +57 DIFF, 35-43 vs. >.500. LAST WEEK: no. 19 [down 2]) — You wonder if the Padres regret not selling at the trade deadline, when they had the chance. We're midway through August and the club continues to underperform and yet... they're still only 5.5 games back of a playoff spot!

22) Washington Nationals (53-66; -89 DIFF, 29-42 vs. >.500, LAST WEEK: no. 23 [up 1]) — With the Mets' 2023 season spiraling out of relevancy, the Nationals are close to climbing out of the basement of the NL East. They only trail the Mets by a half-game. This past week, the Nats went 4-3, sweeping the A's at home.

23) Pittsburgh Pirates (53-65; -84 DIFF, 28-49 vs. >.500, LAST WEEK: no. 22 [down 1]) — The Pirates held their own against the Braves, splitting a four-game series at PNC Park, before falling to the Reds over the weekend.

24) St. Louis Cardinals (52-66; -28 DIFF, 35-45 vs. >.500, LAST WEEK: no. 25 [up 1]) — The Cardinals took down the Rays in St. Pete this past week, before splitting two games with the Royals.

25) Detroit Tigers (53-65; -100 DIFF, 27-43 vs. >.500, LAST WEEK: no. 24 [down 1]) — The Tigers are an unremarkable club, but can we talk about Javy Baez for a second here? Baez went down swinging on this breaking ball, that went through the opposite batter's box!

I've heard some say that they think Baez's struggles in Detroit (.221/.262/.582) are a product of him playing for a bad team, and checking out mentally. I don't buy it. Baez has had a problem chasing breaking balls off the plate, since his break-out 2018 season in which he led the National League in RBI. It was only a matter of time that he would get exposed, and opposing pitchers would figure out that there was no need to throw him anything over the plate. If a hitter has shown that he will virtually swing at everything, why show him anything good? Baez has an OPS+ of 60 this season. With every passing day, the Cubs are looking wiser and wiser for not spending big and rich on him, Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, Willson Contreras and Kyle Schwarber.

26) New York Mets (53-65; -56 DIFF, 32-42 vs. >.500, LAST WEEK: no. 26 [no movement]) — The Mets only lead the Nationals by a half-game for fourth place in the NL East, in a year where many predicted they would win their first division title since 2015. The Mets may be in the tank, but we'll give them some points for cooling off a surging Cubs team with a series win at Citi Field this past week.

27) Chicago White Sox (47-72; -95 DIFF, 24-49 vs. >.500, LAST WEEK: no. 29 [up 2]) — Just as we have a definitive top-6 teams at the top of Major League Baseball, we also have a definitive bottom-4 teams. The White Sox, Rockies, Royals and A's have set themselves apart from the rest, as truly terrible teams this year.

28) Colorado Rockies (45-73; -180 DIFF, 21-47 vs. >.500, LAST WEEK: no. 28 [no movement]) — I will give three bright spots for the Rockies, in the midst of this disastrous season. A) Elias Diaz was named MVP of the All-Star Game last month. B) Ryan McMahon is quietly establishing himself as one of the game's best third basemen. C) Nolan Jones might be a star in the making.

29) Kansas City Royals (38-81; -160 DIFF, 17-50 vs. >.500, LAST WEEK: no. 27 [down 2]) — Just as we always do, let's check and see what records the Royals and A's are on pace for. Kansas City is on pace to finish a franchise-worst 52-110.

30) Oakland Athletics (33-85; -284 DIFF, 20-64 vs. >.500, LAST WEEK: no. 30 [no movement]) — The A's are on track to finish 2023 at 45-117, two games better than the 2003 Tigers, who hold the worst record in baseball history, for a 162-game season.

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 Phillies, 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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