MLB Power Rankings Week 19: Dog Days of Summer Have Arrived

This was not the most exciting week in baseball. Sure we almost had a no-hitter, but that's an every week occurrence in 2010. Sure A-Rod finally hit 600, but all fans can think about is the impact of steroids on the total. No All-Star voting or trade rumors. No 11 consecutive hits or 17-inning games. The waiver wire deadline has provided little to teams.

The best teams are beginning to distance themselves and the bad teams (cough Cubs cough) are embarrassing themselves in the process of playing out the string. In the marathon that is the baseball season, we are bound to have a stretch like this one.

This week is shaping up to be much better. Several marquee match-ups kick-off this week. Reds vs Cardinals, White Sox vs Twins, Rangers vs. Yankees and Padres vs Giants are all on the slate.

Now the real pressure of being in a pennant race begins. Should be a great couple of days.

30. Baltimore Orioles

The O's still have the worst record in baseball, but the good news is there is nowhere to go but up.

The team ripped off a four game winning streak in new manager Buck Showalter's first week. They even swept an Angels team that still has playoff aspirations. It was the first sweep of the Angels since '03.

They also took two of three from the first place White Sox.

Think positvie O's fans.

29. Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pirates fired pitching coach Joe Kerrigan and bench coach Gary Varsho on Sunday, saying they are no longer right for the staff.

The firings came as the last-place Pirates close in on a record-extending 18th consecutive losing season.

While the Pirates' bullpen has been the team's strength most of the season, the starting pitching has regressed. G.M Neal Huntington recently was critical of changes made to top prospect Brad Lincoln's mechanics while in the majors that led to a drop in velocity and a return to the minors. Lincoln was 1-4 with a 6.57 ERA in nine games with Pittsburgh.

Going into Sunday, Pirates starters were 21-58 with a 5.38 ERA.

28. Seattle Mariners

The Mariners second half-offense has been awful. How bad has it been?

They are threatening to become the first team since the '74 Padres to score less than 200 runs in the second half the season. Ouch.

They are last in the majors in team average, RBI, home-runs, and hits. Maybe they should bring Griffey back. Or maybe they should let their pitchers hit. They have to do something drastic to get out of this slump. 

27. Arizona Diamondbacks

Chris Young led off the game with a home run and ended the game with a home run. Young is the first player in Diamondbacks history to hit a lead-off and walk-off home run in the same game as the D-Backs beat the Padres 6-5 on Saturday. The last major-league player to do that was Ian Kinsler for the Rangers on July 19, 2009.

Mark Reynolds gave himself a very nice 27th birthday present on Tuesday night, hitting a three-run homer in the fourth inning of a victory.

But then Reynolds was drilled in the helmet by a 95-mph fastball from Collin Balester and had to leave the game after hitting the dirt.

26. Cleveland Indians

The hits keep on coming for the Tribe. One of the few bright spots for the Indians has been young catcher Carlos Santana.

Watching his leg bend the wrong way on a violent play at the plate this week, it looked like Santana was headed for the worst of outcomes. He was immediately placed on the 15-day D.L.

But the first tests with trainers were encouraging and the Indians are hopeful their prized rookie has not sustained significant damage to his left knee. He is out for the season but should be ready for spring training next year.

25. Chicago Cubs

This team has quit. They have a lame-duck manager and an insanely high payroll going no where. It's comical to watch this club drop pop-ups, boot routine grounders and strikeout at alarming rates.

The pitching have been equally awful. Sunday the Reds Johnny Gomes scored four runs—on four walks. He had four walks in his previous 115 plate appearances before that. Not good.

With the pressure of the curse, and the over-paid roster...who in their right mind wants to manager this team net year?

24. Kansas City Royals

In a downbeat interview on Thursday, Zach Greinke is now casting doubt on the Royals' long-term chances of winning and whether or not he'll have any reason to stick around when his current contract expires after 2012.

"It's not real exciting to have to go through (rebuilding) again. It's been six years with me, and most people (who are Royals fans) have been through a lot more than I have. But for me, it's the third complete re-start/rebuilding phase."

"Every system has something ... The problem (with the Royals' prospects) is that it's not like as soon as they get here that it's going to be instant success. Maybe by 2014. There's no reason for me to get real excited about it, because the chance of more than one of them making a major impact by the time my contract is up is pretty slim."

Depressing words for Royals fans.

23. Washington Nationals

Stephen Strasburg threw a side session Saturday and is set to rejoin the Washington Nationals' rotation on Tuesday night against the Florida Marlins.

The right-hander was scratched minutes before his scheduled start on July 27th and was diagnosed with shoulder inflammation. He was placed on the 15-day disabled list for the first time two days later.

The 22-year-old Strasburg will be on a 90-pitch limit for his return against the Marlins, and manager Jim Riggleman has modest expectations.

"I'm not really looking for him to go out there for the seventh inning," Riggleman said before Saturday night's game at Dodger Stadium. "If we were to get six innings out of him, that would be a huge step. If he got five, that would be a good number to build on for his next one."

22. Houston Astros

The 'Stros signed first-round pick Delino DeShields Jr. with a $2.15M bonus. The 17-year-old has huge upside. DeShields was one of the best high school running backs in Georgia and plans to bring his speed to the Astros.

Maybe he can help an offense that ranks second to last in every major offensive category.

21. Florida Marlins

Dan Uggla and Hanley Ramirez hit home runs for the Marlins Saturday night. It was the fifth time this season that both of Florida's starting middle infielders went deep in the same game. Toronto and Boston (three times each) are the only other major league teams that have done that more than twice this season.

Where's the love for your ace, Marlins bullpen? Josh Johnson left a game earlier this week after eight innings with the Marlins in front 3-2, only to watch the Florida bullpen blow the lead. It was the sixth time this season that the bullpen blew a win for Johnson, the most for any major league pitcher.

Marlins left fielder Chris Coghlan will undergo left knee surgery Wednesday and may miss the rest of the season after being hurt during a victory celebration.

The '09 NL Rookie of the Year said recovery time following surgery is four to eight weeks, meaning he might be able to play the final couple of weeks of the regular season in a best-case scenario.

20. Milwaukee Brewers

Rickie Weeks led off the Brewers' first inning with an inside-the-park home run, the majors' fourth inside-the-park homer leading off the first inning since 2000.

The Brew Crew put center fielder Carlos Gomez on the 15-day disabled list with a concussion after being hit by a pitch.

Gomez was hit in the helmet by a fastball from Cubs pitcher Brian Schlitter. He walked to the dugout, but went to the hospital afterward for tests. Gomez has been a disappointment since being acquired in the off-season for shortstop J.J. Hardy. Gomez is hitting .228 with five homers and 22 RBI.

The Brewers are going to really need to upgrade their pitching in the off-season. Outside of Yovani Gallardo, the starting pitching is awful. With Prince Fielder on the block, acquiring a boat load of young pitching for him will be the No. 1 priority.   

19. New York Mets

The Mets haven't won back-to-back games since mid-June!  How is that possible for a team hovering around .500? A terrible stat that shows the lack of consistency in the Mets lineup.

The Mets released second baseman Alex Cora and demoted outfielder Jesus Feliciano to Triple-A Buffalo Saturday. To fill their roster spots, the Mets called up outfielder Fernando Martinez and infielder Ruben Tejada from Buffalo.

"We felt like we needed to change it up," general manager Omar Minaya said. "We looked internally to see what we could do to change things. We feel we're still in a pennant race and we hope they help us win some games."

Carlos Beltran has been quite underwhelming in his return. He only has one home-run in 22 games, and is hitting .195 while slugging a mere .312. He only has two hits in his last 20 ABs. Beltran is still clearly affected by wearing the brace on his surgically-repaired knee. Can't believe this guy is making over $19M this season.

18. Los Angeles Angels

Torri Hunter was been suspended four games Hunter after he was ejected for arguing a called third strike. He threw a bag of baseballs onto the field during his tantrum. Hunter was suspended and fined on Saturday.

I wonder if this has anything to do with Hunter's recent move from CF to RF. He said all the right things, but there is no doubt he wasn't happy about it. One of the greatest fielders of the 2000s, pride certainly comes into play. It will be interesting to see if this affects Hunter at the plate.

Mike Scioscia was pleased with the performance of Scott Kazmir, who allowed one unearned run in five innings in his return from the disabled list.

"We're talking about a guy that, if he pitches to his potential, will be a Cy Young candidate," Scioscia said. "This season hasn't gone as scripted, but he has never given up, and you saw that."

17. Detroit Tigers

Owner Mike Ilitch says manager Jim Leyland and general manager Dave Dombrowski will return next season.

The owner says he's "staying with Dave" and "staying with our manager."

The Tigers are 6-19 since the All-Star break. They have fallen completely off the map in the A.L. Central. The schedule only gets harder as well. The Rays, White Sox and Yankees are the next three opponents.

It's a shame that the Tigers are wasting such an amazing season from Miguel Cabrera. He is hitting .343, third best in the A.L. and he leads the league in RBI (93), slugging percentage (.636), and OPS (1.066). To this point he is my pick for AL MVP.

16. Oakland Athletics

Athletics OF Matt Watson was taken to a hospital before Sunday's game against the Texas Rangers after complaining of pain in his side and back.

The A's have moved into second place in the AL leap frogging the Angels. They have 7.5 games to make up...can they do it? The pitching will continue to be relied upon and Tervor Cahill will need to add to an already stellar season.

The 22-year-old righty has compiled a 12-4 record, with a 2.56 ERA and a 0.98 WHIP. He is yet another excellent home-grown pitcher for Billy Beane and the A's.

15. Toronto Blue Jays

Oh so close. Brandon Morrow's had a no-hitter through 8.2 innings on Sunday. He also fanned 17 Rays in the process. But he surrendered a single to Evan Longoria with just one out remaining. The 26-year old righty needed 137 pitches to finish the game. It seems as if there is a potential no-hitter once a week in '10. What gives?

Blue Jays outfielder Vernon Wells left Sunday's game against Tampa Bay with dislocated big toe on his right foot.

A three-time Gold Glove award winner, Wells was injured when he jumped against the outfield fence to catch a deep drive by Rays outfielder Ben Zobrist in the sixth, helping preserve Morrow's no-hit bid.

J.P. Arencibia had four hits and two home runs in his major league debut for the Blue Jays on Saturday afternoon. Arencibia is the second player in major-league history to have four hits and two homers in his first major league game.

14. Los Angeles Dodgers

The Dodgers manager Joe Torre believes catcher Russell Martin will miss the rest of the season because of the hip injury he suffered while trying to score from third on a sacrifice fly Tuesday night.

"It looks like it will be the rest of the year," Torre said. "Right now, I'm more concerned with having him be able to get back to full health and be able to do this again. ... Considering he is going to be on crutches for three weeks and three weeks from now is Sept. 1st, I think it's pretty safe to say he won't be back."

The Dodgers may be down but they are still not out of the race yet. Only five games back of the wild card, they play the teams in-front of them a lot through-out the rest of the season.

They have six games each against San Diego and San Francisco—the teams leading the division and wild-card races, respectively. They also have six against Philadelphia, another team ahead of them in the wild-card hunt and a four-game set against the NL Central leading Reds.

13. Colorado Rockies

One of the best players nobody is talking about? Carlos Gonzalez has had an outstanding year for the Rockies. He's batting .327 with 25 home runs and 77 RBI. The 24-year old "Cargo" leads the NL in batting and is third in RBI. One of the finalist for the last spot on the All-Star roster, he has been the Rockies MVP this season.

The struggling Aaron Cook was put on the D.L. with a sore big toe. I'm sure the Rox would ask him to play through it, but he has struggled mightily of late. He's got a 5.34 ERA and hasn't even left his team with a chance to win of late. He had a 6.48 ERA in July and had given up at least five runs in four of his last five starts.

Esmil Rogers took his place in the rotation and picked up a win in his first outing on Sunday.

12. Boston Red Sox

Jacoby Ellsbury is 0-16 since coming off the D.L. With so many other injuries, the Sox have to cross their fingers and hope he bounces back.

Manager Terry Francona said 2B Dustin Pedroia (broken left foot) ran the bases a couple of times and had "a really good day." He said Pedroia still has not run at full speed.

Adrian Beltre has been the best offensive player for the Red Sox. He's batting .336 and has 75 ribbies. So far in the month of August, he has hit .393 and slugged .821. He continues to prove why he was worth $9M.

How desperate are the Red Sox? They signed Carlos Delgado to a minor league contract this week. He hasn't played since May of '09. Following the season-ending thumb injury sustained by Kevin Youkilis, the Red Sox have been frantically searching for help at 1B.

11. St. Louis Cardinals

David Freese will be out indefinitely after suffering a setback while rehabbing his ankle injury. Freese required reconstructive surgery on the ankle. He is done for this season and, according to initial estimates, targeted for a uncertain recovery. This comes just after the Cardinals trade Ryan Ludwick to the Padres.

Huge series this week as the Cardinals will play three games in Cincinnati. The Cards are two games back and have a chance to cut into the slim lead. They will have ace Chris Carpenter, Jaime Garcia and Adam Wainwright ready for the Reds, who will counter with righthanders Mike Leake, Johnny Cueto and Bronson Arroyo.

Wainwright has been unbelivable for the Cards. He is 16-6 with a 2.07 ERA in 24 starts this season. Only one pitcher in Cardinals history had that many wins and an ERA that low through his first 24 starts of a season...guess who? Bob Gibson in 1968 (16-5, 1.04 ERA).

10. Philadelphia Phillies

Cole Hamels struck out 11 and did not walk a batter for the Phillies Saturday night, after striking out 10 without a walk in his previous start. The last Phillies pitcher to have back-to-back starts of at least 10 strikeouts without a walk was Curt Schilling in September 1996.

Placido Polanco broke up Johan Santana's no-hit bid Saturday with a single in the sixth inning. It was the third time in his career that Polanco broke up a no-hitter in the sixth inning or later.

Pedro Martinez's phone has been ringing during the last two weeks.

Several major league teams called with offers to pitch. He was flattered by the invitations but turned them all down.

"Very tempting," he said Thursday during an interview with The Associated Press, "but I have already committed to my kids for the rest of the year and going on vacations, and made plans already with the family."

9. Minnesota Twins

Great timing for the return of Orlando Hudson.

The second baseman, sidelined since July 24th by a strained right oblique muscle, is back for the Twins.

Alexi Casilla, the Twins' starter at second base in Hudson's absence, was limping in the clubhouse before the game with a sprained left ankle. He left the game Saturday night after colliding with Cleveland catcher Chris Gimenez. Casilla said he hopes to able to play in a few days.

Right-hander Anthony Slama was optioned to Triple-A Rochester to create roster room for Hudson, who has hit .285 with four homers, 27 RBI and 53 runs in 80 games.

Huge series awaits the Twins as they visit the White Sox for a three game set. Infact, they play six of the next nine games against each other. Expect the Twins to be in first place by the weekend and hold a comfortable lead in a week-and-a-half.

8. San Francisco Giants

Alex Gonzalez and Eric Hinske homered off Tim Lincecumover the weekend. That ended Lincecum's streak of 67 consecutive starts allowing no more than one home run, which had been the second-longest current streak in the major leagues, behind Ubaldo Jimenez's streak of 76 starts (since June 11, 2008).

Jonathan Sanchez struck out seven consecutive batters at one point during the Giants win over the Rockies on Tuesday, tying the longest streak for any major-league pitcher this season. Francisco Liriano (June 11) and Stephen Strasburg (June 8) also had seven straight Ks in one game.

The Giants have cooled off a bit but still are currently the team to beat for the Wild Card. But beware...the Phillies are lurking. On the other hand, a weekend series with the NL West-leading Padres could spell first place for the Giants by next week.

7. San Diego Padres

Padres right-hander Chris Young has resumed throwing and will have a bullpen session on Saturday, opening up the possibility that he will be able to pitch again this season.

Young, who had shoulder surgery in the offseason, made just one start before going on the 15-day disabled list on April 7th with a strained shoulder. He was transferred to the 60-day list on May 17th after having trouble with his velocity during a rehabilitation stint.

Manager Bud Black said the 6'10" Young has started a long-toss program and is hopeful he will be able to pitch in September.

The Padres pitching staff continues to shine. They lead the majors with a 3.30 team ERA and a 1.23 team WHIP. Dominating numbers for a team carried by their pitching and defense.

The offense has a pathetic .249 team average, good enough for 26th in baseball.

6. Cincinnati Reds

The Reds are rolling right now. They are 11-1-1 in their last 13 series. They are a season high 16 games over .500, The offense has been crushing NL pitching of late, led by MVP candidate Joey Votto. He is in the top five of every single major offensive category. A real triple crown threat that has blossomed in Cincinnati.

Overall the offense ranks No. 1 in the NL in runs, hits, average, slugging, OPS and total bases and No. 2 in home runs

A major problem earlier in the summer, the Reds bullpen has now become a strength. Rookie Logan Ondrusek's scoreless streaks stands at 21 innings. Arthur Rhodes had a scoreless streak of 30 innings earlier this year.

With the Reds and Cards facing off on Monday, Dusty Baker holds a 93-92 record against Tony LaRussa. That's a lot of games against each other!

5. Chicago White Sox

The White Sox better watch out, the Twins are coming up quick. Losing two of three to the O's is not a huge momentum boost going into a series against the team breathing down their necks.

The resurgence of Paul Konerko has been huge for the White Sox. He is batting .302 with 27 bombs and 76 RBI. Konerko has yet to show signs of slowing, but he would probably benefit from a few extra days off down the stretch.

A week where Ozzie doesn't create any controversy? What's going on, hope he is OK.

The White Sox were another team interested in Carlos Delgado. I think "losing out" to the Red Sox for his rights will be a blessing in disguise for this team.

4. Atlanta Braves

Tim Hudson has won each of his last four starts while pitching at least six innings and allowing no more than one run in any of those games. The last Braves pitcher to have four straight starts like that within one season was Greg Maddux in September 2000.

I don't see how the Braves will be able to hold of the surging Phillies. They have lost five games in the standings in the past two weeks. The offense is mediocre at best, and Martin Prado was placed on the disabled list with a broken pinky finger. Chipper Jones is struggling to stay healthy and Jason Heyward has cooled off.

The Braves have the best home record in baseball (39-15) yet the attendance has been under-whelming. Turner Field was barely two-thirds full in a weekend game against another top NL team in the Giants. Step it up, Braves fans!

3. Texas Rangers

Nolan Ryan battled and battled yet couldn't completely shake new-comer Mark Cuban in the bidding war for owner of the Rangers. Well just like his playing days, the resilient Ryan ended up picking up the win. It was a huge relief for the organization and now general manager Jon Daniels will finally have the backing to begin work on re-signing key free agents-to-be such as Vladimir Guerrero and Cliff Lee.

Over the next week the Rangers will have a great idea of how good they really are. After a mediocre 4-5 road trip through the AL West, the Rangers will now embark on their toughest stretch of the season.

The upcoming series with the Yankees, Red Sox and Rays will surely bring about a re-match sooner or later in October. Keep an eye on the Rangers this week, how good is this team?

2. Tampa Bay Rays

Can anybody explain why this team is involved in so many potential no-hitters and perfect games? Very bizarre for such a potent offense to go into deep hibernation so often against middle of the road starters.

The Rays' top pitching prospect is great in his late-season major-league debut, giving hope he could be a key contributor in a playoff run? Is this the '08 David Price?

This year it's Jeremy Hellickson, who was 12-3 with a 2.45 ERA at Triple-A Durham, and then shut down the Twins Monday night, allowing just three hits, two runs and two walks over seven innings for the win. Hellickson was sent back to the minors after the game but will be back soon, possibly in a bullpen role like the one Price filled two years ago to help the Rays reach the World Series.

The Rays put All-Star Carlos Pena on the 15 day DL and called up right handed reliever Dale Thayer. Pena leads the Rays in home runs and is second in RBI but has been struggling at the plate, batting .212.  Dan Johnson and Ben Zobrist will share playing time at 1B while Pena is gone.

1. New York Yankees

A-Rod finally got his 600 homer. The historic milestone did not impress most baseball fans. The steroid issue is a dark cloud that refuses to pass by. Cyncial is the best way to describe it. "Sure he hit 600, but how many were from the juice?"

It's a very awkward situation that Bud Selig still only half addresses. How do we celebrate the careers of players that were very good to begin with, but became great with the help of 'roids?

Sure did take awhile. He had a 0-16 slump amidst 46 homer-less ABs.

Another mile-stone was accomplished this week. Derek Jeter passed Babe Ruth as the all-time hit leader of the Yankees. It was career hit No. 2,874 for Jeter, who passed The Babe for 39th place on the all-time hits list.

A.J. Burnett was scratched from Sunday's game due to tightness in his back. Sounds as if the Yanks were just being overly cautious about it and don't expect him to miss any additional time.