MLB Power Rankings Week 26: Rounding Third and Heading Home
The final week of the 2010 regular season has arrived and the Rangers and Twins have already popped the champagne.
The Rangers success can be attributed to finally having solid starting pitching. Nolan Ryan really does make whatever he touches turn into gold.
The Phillies have clinched at least a Wild Card position, while the Yanks and Rays are battling for the AL East crown. The loser gets the Wild Card.
Thinking back to April most experts wouldn't expect the upstart Reds to be one game away from clinching their first playoff birth since 1995.
The Braves, Giants and Padres are fighting for two spots. The Giants effectively ended the Rockies' season by winning two-of-three against the Rox over the weekend.
How big is the Giants and Padres season ending series now?
Buckle up, it's crunch time.
30. Pittsburgh Pirates
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The Pirates lost their 100th game of the year and will finish last in the NL Central for the fourth straight year.
Ironically, the Pirates are a respectable 40-41 at home. It's that 15-59 road record that has sunk the ship.
29. Seattle Mariners
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The Mariners offense has been awful this year. They have a grand total of 491 runs scored. That's 70 less than the next lowest team. They aren't even close to being respectable.
Congrats to Ichiro for another year of collecting 200 hits. He has done it every year since entering the league in 2001.
28. Kansas City Royals
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From Elias: Zack Greinke lost his 14th game of the season last week. Greinke is the first defending Cy Young Award winner to lose as many as 14 games in a season since Doug Drabek went 15-14 for the 1991 Pirates.
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27. Baltimore Orioles
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The O's season was over a long time ago. But that does not mean they haven't shown progress. Fans should be encouraged by their young teams performance under new manager Buck Showalter.
They have gone 29-20 under is tutelage.
26. Cleveland Indians
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From Elias: Josh Tomlin hurled a complete game four-hitter to lead the Indians to a 7-3 victory over the Royals. Tomlin is the second Indians rookie to pitch a complete game this season (Mitch Talbot on April 16th vs. the White Sox).
The Indians have had two different rookies pitch a complete game in a season only once in the last 15 years (2003: Billy Traber and Jason Davis).
25. Arizona Diamondbacks
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The D-Backs played spoiler this week as they swept away the Rockies playoff hopes. This young club has plenty of players trying to make the team next year.
Daniel Hudson allowed two runs in 8.2 innings to beat the Dodgers. Hudson is 7-1 with a 1.69 ERA since making his Diamondbacks debut on August 1st. That's the third-lowest ERA in the National League during that time, behind Roy Oswalt (1.40) and Carlos Zambrano (1.65).
The D-Backs broke the '01 Brewers single season strikeout record with the 1,403 K on the season this week. Congrats?
24. Washington Nationals
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It's been another typical season for Adam Dunn. He has 37 homers, 101 RBI and a .264 average. He has even cut down on his strikeouts, whiffing only 189 times.
Dunn will be looking for a huge payday in the offseason. What team will give it to him?
23. Chicago Cubs
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The big question still remains...who will coach the Cubbies in '11?
Bob Brenly withdrew his name from consideration earlier this week. Eric Wedge has already interviewed for the job. What about Joe Girardi? Or Ryne Sandberg?
My money is on Wedge.
22. Milwaukee Brewers
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Be ready for Prince Fielder trade rumors all winter long Brewer fans. Cross your fingers they can acquire a stud starting pitcher in the deal.
21. Los Angeles Angels
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The Angels were swept over the weekend in Chicago and have now lost seven in a row to the White Sox. They have also lost six in a row to the O's.
Just another couple of reasons the Halos are having a dreadful season.
20. Hoston Astros
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Hitting coach Jeff Bagwell was offered of a new contract by the 'Stros, but he will keep his family in mind when making a decision, which will come within a week of the season finale.
"I really have enjoyed it, and I'm happy that those guys are coming back," Bagwell told reporters. "I'm just going to have to sit down with my family."
19. Los Angeles Dodgers
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In his first 33 games Jonathan Broxton went 3-0 with a .83 ERA and converted 16 of 18 saves.
Since then he has gone 2-6 with a 7.36 ERA and has blown five of his 11 save oppertunities.
18. New York Mets
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Is it guaranteed that manger Jerry Manuel will not be on the bench next year? No way a team with a top-five payroll keeps a guy that's team barely hovered around .500.
It's not his fault that somebody captured Carlos Beltran and replaced him with a .257 crappy, slower version.
17. Oakland Athletics
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The A's have a nice core of pitchers to build around for the future. Dallas Braden, Trevor Cahill, and Geo Gonzalez form a solid threesome in a rotation that ranks third in baseball with a 3.55 team ERA.
If only the A's could combine their pitching with the Brewers offense. Would make quite the team. Too bad.
16. Florida Marlins
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From Elias: Mike Stanton, who made his major-league debut on June 8, hit his 21st home run of the season in the Marlins' 4-0 win at Milwaukee.
No player had hit as many homers as Stanton in a season when making his big-league debut in June or later since Kevin Maas slammed 21 home runs for the Yankees in 1990 after playing his first game in the majors on June 29 of that year.
Stanton is a stud in the making.
15. Detroit Tigers
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Rick Porcello is 5-0 with a 2.98 ERA in six starts since August 24th.
Miguel Cabrera hit his 38th home run of the season on Sunday. Does a MVP award come next?
14. Toronto Blue Jays
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2010 will be remembered as the year of the longball for the Blue Jays. They lead the majors with 241 homers. Jose Bautista is the major league leader with 52.
The Jays hit 34th homers against Baltimore, the most they've ever hit against a particular opponent in one season, breaking the old franchise mark of 33 home runs against Tampa Bay in 2002.
13. St. Louis Cardinals
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The Cubs have Chris Carpenter's number. They have beaten him three times since the All-Star break.
The Cardinals have to be conisdered one of the biggest disapointments of the year. They have two top of the line aces in Carpenter and Adam Wainwright, and have two offensive studs in Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday.
What happened? Tony LaRussa's cranky old man syndrome must of infected the clubhouse. This team needs a new manager next year.
12. Colorado Rockies
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The Giants complaints about juiced baseballs has forced the Rockies staff to give umpires the baseball after being taken out of the humidor. The Giants accused the Rockies of not using those balls when the home team was on offense. They are the only team to make the accusation.
From Elias: Troy Tulowitzki crushed a two-run homer in the fifth inning, drove in another two runs with a double in the eighth inning and then capped the night with a walkoff-RBI double in the Rockies' 10-inning win over the Giants on Saturday.
Tulowitzki has 15 homers and 40 RBI this month. The only other major leaguer to equal or exceed Tulowitzki's totals in both home runs and RBI during September in any season was Babe Ruth, who did it in 1927 (17 HR, 43 RBI).
Tulowitzki is the first to reach those numbers in any calendar month since Sammy Sosa in June 1998 (20 HR, 40 RBI).
It was another impressive September run for the Rox. But once their two studs (Tulo and Carlos Gonzalez) hit a bit of a cold streak, the team unraveled. The core of this team has a lot of promise though with Ubaldo Jimmenz, Tulo and Gonzo.
11. Chicago White Sox
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Despite a season of controversies, Chicago White Sox general manager Ken Williams wants Ozzie Guillen to return as manager.
Williams also said this week that if the Raiders GM job would ever become avaliable, he would love to take it. Kind of a weird thing for a baseball GM to say during the season.
10. Boston Red Sox
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The Boston Red Sox have signed Felipe Lopez, four days after the infielder was released by the St. Louis Cardinals.
The Mike Lowell era is coming to a close in Boston. He was cemented in Red Sox history with his '07 World Series MVP.
But the outstanding performances are becoming a distant memory. He has hit .224 this season, while only being able to muster four homers and 22 RBI.
Tough way to go out. Boston fans should make sure they stand up and cheer for Lowell in his final days as a member of the Red Sox.
9. San Diego Padres
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Miguel Tejada has been a great pickup for the 26th ranked offense. He has hit .277 and collected 31 ribbies in 50 games as a Padre. The veteran presence has been very helpful for San Diego.
The Padres are neck-in-neck with the Giants for NL West suprmecy. They held a 6.5 games lead in the end of August and some-how weathered a 10-game losing streak. At one point they were 27 games over .500. Now they are playing for their lives over the final week and their destiny will most likly be decided in the last series of the year against the Giants.
8. Texas Rangers
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What is the deal with the man above? Josh Hamilton is expected back later this week after sitting out almost a month with sore ribs. Will this be a nagging injury that affects Hamilton's play?
Congrats to Michael Young and the Rangers for clicnhing the AL West for the first time in 11 years. Young has been a Ranger for 10 years and will heading to the playoffs for the first time in his career.
"I lost my voice from the celebration, but it was fun," Young said.
"In the back of everybody's mind, we're still focused on the big prize."
7. Cincinnati Reds
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The Reds contiue to sleepwalk in September. Yet the magic number to clinch the NL Central for the first time since 1995 is down to one.
Dusty Baker needs to find that fine line between simply resting his tired players and trying to keep winning. The Reds need to keep up with the other contenders to ensure a first-round matchup against the red-hot Phillies doesn't ensue.
Aroldis Chapman was clocked at 105 MPH on Friday. He is now ownsn the record for the fastest pitch ever recorded in major league history. He will be a big part of the Reds postseason run, stay tuned.
6. Atlanta Braves
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Bobby Cox won his 2,500 game this week. The legendary manager has had quite the sending off this season. His farewell tour isn't over yet, the Braves may have lucked out by playing the Phillies in the final three games. By then Philly will have clinched the best record in the NL and will have nothing to play for. They may not even see the two Roys.
With the Pads and Giants playing each other in the final three games, the Braves could sneak in and steal the Wild Card spot with a strong week. Win it for Bobby, boys.
5. San Francisco Giants
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Matt Cain has been spectacular for the Giants of late. In his last seven starts, Cain is 4-0 with a 2.45 ERA and the Giants have won all seven of his starts.
He had a no-hitter into the eighth inning Saturday against the Rockies.
It's time for the Giants to finish off the Padres. They play the D-Backs for three games in San Fran before the Padres come to town.
The club with the second best team ERA (3.42) has got to be feeling pretty confident going into the last week. Not sure too many people predicted that a month ago.
4. Minnesota Twins
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The Twins have clinched the AL Central divison and have been resting lots of key players. They may have been swept by the Tigers over the weekend, but it's nothing to worry about.
Will the Twinkies make a run for the best record in the AL? Having home field advantage at Target Field would be a huge luxury for the Twins.
The team with a .277 team batting average (best in baseball) looks like a very tough out for either the Yanks or Rays.
3. Philadelphia Phillies
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Wow watch out for the Phillies. They had an 11-game winning streak snapped. A three-game sweep of the Braves all but ended any questions of who will win the NL East. The Phillies are very dangerous right now, and could ride this momentum all the way to a third consecutive World Series appearance.
Looks like Roy Halladay has all but locked up the NL Cy Young. He is 20-10 with a 2.53 ERA and 213 strikeouts. He leads the NL in wins, innings pitched, complete games and is second in strikeouts.
He's about to get his first taste of the postseason. Watch out, National League.
2. New York Yankees
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What's the deal? The Yankees lost four in a row last week and have lost 13 of 20.
The Yankees are only 37-31 since the All-Star break, they were 56-32 before it.
Former Tampa Bay Bucs and Indianapolis Colts' coach Tony Dungy showed up to give the Yankees a pregame speech on Saturday. It seemed about right since Dungy is famous for resting his starters late in season to get ready for the playoffs. Manager Joe Girardi is taking a page from him.
Robinson Cano might be the Yankees team MVP this seaspn. He has hit .317 and knocked in 104 RBI and smacked 28 long balls.
1. Tampa Bay Rays
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The four game split with the Yanks was big for the Rays. They now are in control of their own destiny in the AL East with the last-place O's on deck.
Manager Joe Maddon has used reliever Dan Wheeler more often recently in an effort to get him back on track.
The veteran reliever has responded well.
Wheeler retired the two batters he faced Sunday against the Mariners and has pitched 2.1 scoreless innings over the past two days.
He has given up one hit over his past four appearances, bouncing back nicely from a rough stretch when he picked up losses in consecutive outings, allowing winning solo homers in each.
Going into the postseason, the Rays are the team to beat in the American League.
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