MLB Power Rankings: Hamilton Falls, Braun Rises Among Position Players

Since the All-Star break, we’ve seen Josh Hamilton stumble while two Angels, Mark Trumbo and Mike Trout, continue their impressive plays.

Two NL Central stars, Andrew McCutchen and Ryan Braun, have started the second half off well while Joey Votto appears to be cooling off as the temperature rises in July.

With the A’s rising in the AL West, it will be vital to the Rangers and Angels that their superstars continue to produce at a high level.

Anaheim is still five games back of Texas but both are 4-6 in their last 10 games, and the A’s (who are eight games back) are 9-1.

That race, especially with the new wild card rules, is definitely worth watching.

The Brewers seemed all but out of it in the NL.

Ace Zack Greinke was the subject of trade rumors as the team continued to play sub-.500 ball. But Braun has been unstoppable, and the Pirates (despite McCutchen’s production) and St. Louis (despite being the defending champs) look vulnerable.

What’s even more baffling is that Votto hasn’t come out of the gates too well entering the second half of the season, and the Reds are leading that division.

Whatever happens, the NL Central and AL West races are going to be entertaining to watch this season.

Tom Schreier writes for TheFanManifesto.com.

Follow him on Twitter @tschreier3.

20. Austin Jackson, Tigers

Last week: 16

Stats: 17 doubles, 5 triples, 10 home runs, 39 RBI, .322/.405/.533

Jackson’s strength recently has been his place discipline.

He has drawn five walks since the All-Star Break.

19. Josh Reddick, Athletics

Last week: N/A

Stats: 15 doubles, 4 triples, 20 home runs, 43 RBI, .268/.346/.521

Reddick went 3-for-5 in Game 2 against the Twins, but was also outperformed by teammates Yoenis Cespedes and Chris Carter in the series.

His 20 homers and .325 batting average this month should not go overlooked, however.

18. Joey Votto, Reds

Last week: 5

Stats: 36 doubles, no triples, 14 home runs, 49 RBI, .342/.485/.604

Votto has put up great numbers this season but has cooled off a bit in July.

He struggled in his first two games back against St. Louis, going 0-for-4 in back-to-back games before his 2-for-3 night on Saturday.

17. Josh Hamilton, Rangers

Last week: 1

Stats: 15 doubles, 1 triple, 27 home runs, 76 RBI, .301/380/.635

Hamilton’s stats dropped a bit this week when the Rangers faced the Mariners.

He went 0-for-3 in the last two games of the series and is now batting .152 in July.

One bad month or is this a bad trend?

16. Adam Jones, Orioles

Last week: N/A

Stats: 20 doubles, 2 triples, 20 home runs, 45 RBI, .293/.337/.530

Jones was not having a great month before the All-Star break, but he’s been red-hot after it.

He went 3-for-6 against Detroit and was productive as the Twins blew out his team on Monday when he went 3-for-4 with a double.

15. Joe Mauer, Twins

Last week: 14

Stats: 18 doubles, 1 triple, 6 home runs, 43 RBI, .340/.404/.480

Despite his team’s poor performance, Mauer continues to hit for average and even found some power.

He homered in Game 1 versus Baltimore.

14. Melky Cabrera, Giants

Last week: 13

Stats: 18 doubles, 7 triples, 8 home runs, 45 RBI, .353/.391/.514

Cabrera has kept his average up, hitting .371 in July; but at the midway point, it looks unlikely he’ll have another month like he did in May.

To be fair, that was a pretty impressive month.

13. Josh Willingham, Twins

Last week: N/A

Stats: 21 doubles, 1 triple, 22 home runs, 65 RBI, .271/.384/.562

Three home runs in three nights against the A’s…

Willingham certainly got the best of his former team.

12. Carlos Gonzalez, Rockies

Last week: 4

Stats: 21 doubles, 5 triples, 17 home runs, 60 RBI, .331/.389/.578

Gonzales went off in the Rockies’ first game since the All-Star break when he went 5-for-3 with a double against the Phillies. He is currently on a four-game hit streak.

11. Jose Bautista, Blue Jays

Last week: 9

Stats: 14 doubles, 0 triples, 27 home runs, 65 RBI, .244/.360/.534

In his final two games against Cleveland, Bautista hit back-to-back doubles and drew two walks after a tough Game 1 where he went 0-for-4.

10. Edwin Encarnacion, Blue Jays

Last week: 18

Stats: 16 doubles, 0 triples, 25 home runs, 62 RBI, .296/.386/.965

Two doubles, two home runs and a $27 million extension?

Not a bad week.

9. Carlos Ruiz, Phillies

Last week: 7

Stats: 24 doubles, no triples, 14 home runs, 50 RBI, .353/.413/.596

The catcher is putting together a fine season.

He has a double in three of his last four games and is batting .326 in the month of July.

8. Curtis Granderson, Yankees

Last week: 17

Stats: 10 doubles, 3 triples, 25 home runs, 52 RBI, .251/.354/.518

Granderson already has two home runs and a triple to his name after the All-Star break.

7. Mike Trout, Angels

Last week: 15

Stats: 19 doubles, 3 triples, 12 home runs, 42 RBI, .348/.403/.569

Okay, I was a little tough on Trout last week. Maybe it was because he’s so young.

This man deserves some love, though.

He put up four triples against the Yankees and is batting .409 and slugging .795 this month.

In short, he’s good.

6. Miguel Cabrera, Tigers

Last week: N/A

Stats: 28 doubles, 0 triples, 20 home runs, 74 RBI, .327/.387/.585

A major blunder on my behalf, Cabrera was omitted from this list last week.

Hard to overlook a guy with 20 homers, two of which came against Baltimore this week.

The Detroit slugger had three straight multiple-hit games going before being shut down by the Angels on Monday.

5. David Ortiz, Red Sox

Last week: 3

Stats: 25 doubles, no triples, 23 home runs, 58 RBI, .316/.414/.609

Ortiz is red-hot.

He’s riding a nine-game hit streak and is batting .395 and slugging .579 in July.

Big Papi is also being diligent at the plate. He’s drawn a walk in nine of his last ten games.

4. Robinson Cano

Last week: 10

Stats: 27 doubles, 1 triple, 21 home runs, 55 RBI, .321/.382/.587

Think Papi’s hot?

Just take a look at Cano:

He’s on a 19-game hit streak dating back to June 24 and is batting .404 this month.

His plate discipline hasn’t been stellar, though. The Yankee has four walks and nine strikeouts.

3. Mark Trumbo, Angles

Last week: 8

Stats: 15 doubles, 3 triples, 25 home runs, 62 RBI, .309/.361/.625

Three home runs since the All-Star break?

Yeah. That’s pretty solid.

2. Ryan Braun, Brewers

Last week: 6

Stats: 15 doubles, 2 triples, 26 home runs, 65 RBI, .312/.397/.614

Braun terrorized the Houston Astros before the All-Star break, had a great All-Star Game and continued his momentum into the regular season.

It's safe to say he had a good game back.

He went 4-for-4 with two jacks against Pittsburgh.

1. Andrew McCutchen, Pirates

Last week: 2

Stats: 17 doubles, 5 triples, 21 home runs, 64 RBI, .372/.424/.649

McCutchen had an outstanding Game 3 against Milwaukee’s Yovani Gallardo last week, going 3-for-4 with a home run and is batting .533 and slugging 1.000 in the month of July.