Monday, May 31st -

Last week, we saw another perfect game, this one thrown by Phillies ace Roy Halladay. Three no-hitters before Memorial Day; is it just a coincidence or a sign of the emergence of a new phase of baseball? As we (very slowly) get further away from the steroid era, perhaps the pitchers are starting to catch up with the hitters. Meanwhile, starting pitching continues to carry the top teams in baseball, including surprising division leaders San Diego and Cincinnati. Let’s take a look at the movers in this week’s power rankings.

This Power Rankings takes into account season performance thus far, but also accounts for expected future performance and reasons for past performance (such as a major injury, etc). Therefore, current team records won’t always correspond with a team’s spot in the rankings. Like always, debate is encouraged. Here is the Week 9 MLB Power Rankings, with Last Week’s Rank in parentheses:

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1. (1) Tampa Bay Rays, 34-17 - The Rays are in their first funk of the year, but stay atop the rankings without a doubt. Tampa Bay has lost 5 of 7, thanks to a slumping offense. Getting swept at home by the Red Sox was more of a statement by Boston than Tampa, but the Rays did not want to give Boston that kind of momentum. The rotation is still the best in baseball, but there are a few holes in this lineup that are troubling. Jason Bartlett: .231, BJ Upton: .216, and worst of all, Carlos Pena: .177.

2. (4) Minnesota Twins, 30-20 - A sweep of the Texas Rangers was big for Minnesota, who now have a nice cushion atop the division. The Twins continue to be carried by MVP candidates Morneau and Mauer. They also have been playing some unreal defense. Minnesota has committed 12 errors on the year, which is 8 less than any other team. The big question mark for this team at the beginning of the season has seemed to be answered: Jon Rauch is a very formidable closer.

3. (3) New York Yankees, 30-20 - A 13-11 loss to the Indians was troubling, especially because of Joba Chamberlain’s awful performance that has fans wondering if he’s losing some of his dominance in the pen. Still, the Yanks went 4-2 last week, and if they take care of the Indians on Monday, New York will have the 2nd best record in baseball with a very favorable stretch of the schedule upcoming. Curtis Granderson is back in the lineup, and Jorge Posada is on his way. The Yankees might be able to make a nice run in the coming weeks.

4. (5) St. Louis Cardinals, 29-22 - The Cards are back in second place in the division, but Albert Pujols’ 3-home run slugfest on Sunday is just what the team needed. A return to form for King Albert should take St. Louis back to the top of the NL Central.

5. (2) Philadelphia Phillies, 28-21 - Roy Halladay’s perfect game against the Marlins was much less of a headline story than Dallas Braden’s earlier in the year, for 2 reasons. First of all, Halladay’s seemed easy, as if everyone could see it coming. Nobody was shocked that the most consistent pitcher in baseball with the best command was able to get it done. However, the other reason is because the Phillies’ inability to score runs is the bigger story. They have been shut out in 5 of their last 8 games. They did NOT score a RUN in a 3-game sweep by the Mets. And in Halladay’s perfect game? They won 1-0, off an unearned run. The lineup needs to get it together.

6. (8) Cincinnati Reds, 30-21 - The Reds are back in first place. They lead the NL in runs scored, but it’s the pitching performances that have put this team over the top. Mike Leake would be the runaway NL Rookie of the Year if it weren’t for a guy named Jason Heyward on the Braves. Leake is 4-0 with a 2.45 ERA, 1.25 WHIP and 45 K’s to 25 BB’s. Scott Rolen’s 11 home runs have been huge for this team that likely was not expecting that kind of pop from the veteran.

7. (7) Toronto Blue Jays, 30-22 - Toronto is officially the least favorable matchup for opponent pitching. This team is hitting home runs at a record pace. Jose Bautista leads the majors with 16 home runs, and Vernon Wells leads baseball in total bases. Just wait until Aaron Hill and Adam Lind start to heat up. The rotation is far from overpowering, but they have been consistent. Toronto’s 30 quality starts from their starting pitchers ranks 2nd in the AL.

8. (11) San Diego Padres, 30-20 - The Padres continue to play good baseball and stay at the top of the NL West. I’m slowly but surely becoming a believer, as they crack the top-10 of my rankings for the first time all season. It’s certainly later than they would like, but it takes awhile to build respect for a team coming off a 75-win season that was expected to be a last-place team. But the young pitching for this team has been outstanding, and they might be looking to add hitting at the trade deadline, instead of trading away Adrian Gonzalez.

9. (10) Boston Red Sox, 29-23 - The Red Sox are hot. They swept the Rays on the road and gained some major ground on the division, though they still sit in 4th place. Pitching and defense is not at all the identity of this team, like most thought it would be. The Sox have scored the 3rd most runs in baseball, and are 22nd in the league in team ERA.

10. (9) Los Angeles Dodgers, 28-22 - Andre Ethier is set to return this week, which is great news for an already streaking team. The Dodgers have scored the 4th most runs in the NL, even without him for 2 weeks. Meanwhile, Jonathan Broxton has been dominant again. 2-0, 13 saves, 33 K’s, 3 BB’s, 1.21 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, simply dominant. It’s time to give it up for him as the best closer in baseball.

11. (13) San Francisco Giants, 27-22 - A 5-1 week for the Giants has them back in good shape. Pablo Sandoval has gotten his season back on track and now leads the team in batting average. The problem is, he’s hitting .293, which means nobody on the team is above .300. Afterthought Juan Uribe leads the team with 7 HR and 29 RBI, and Aubrey Huff is the team leader with a .848 OPS.

12. (6) Detroit Tigers, 26-23 - The Tigers are in the biggest slump of their season, thanks to a wildly inconsistent rotation. Max Scherzer was in Triple-A last week, but came up and threw a 6-inning gem on Sunday, in which he struck out a ridiculous 14 batters. Also, MVP front-runner Miguel Cabrera cannot get any help from his friends in the lineup. The Tigers LOST on Saturday when Cabrera hit 3 home runs in the game.

13. (18) Atlanta Braves, 28-22 - There is no possible way to downplay the significance of Jason Heyward. The 20-year old is selling tickets, building hype, and producing big-time results for the Braves. Heyward has the 4th highest OPS in ALL of baseball. It doesn’t get much better than that. He very well may be deserving of an All-Star spot this season. The Braves have the best home record in baseball, at 15-6. Their struggles on the road continue, but a 12-18 mark is not as bad as it once was.

14. (12) Texas Rangers, 26-24 - The Rangers did not look good in a 3-game sweep at the hands of the Twins. Nelson Cruz is back on the DL. His tremendous year is making less of an impact with all the time he has missed. The Rangers have stolen the 3rd most bases in the AL, but have been caught stealing more than any team in baseball. Texas also is 10th in the AL in extra base hits, a stat that they have dominated in the past few years. Still, they are just a half-game out of first place.

15. (15) Colorado Rockies, 26-24 - Carlos Gonzalez is developing into a very nice leadoff hitter. He has a .842 OPS, and leads the team in RBI and runs, tied with Troy Tulowitzki. However, he must improve on his 40:8 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Ubaldo Jimenez is continuing his torrid pace, but needs to keep it up to hold off Roy Halladay in the Cy Young race. It should be an epic race for that award this season.

16. (16) Oakland Athletics, 27-24 - The A’s are now in first place, thanks to the poor play of the Rangers last week. Dallas Braden is 0-3 since his perfect game, but they got back young ace Brett Anderson from the DL, and he had a nice start in his return. Oakland will need him to be great if they want to hold the division lead, as they continue to struggle to score runs.

17. (14) Florida Marlins, 25-26 - The Marlins got perfect-game’d by Roy Halladay, but only held the Phillies to 1 run in the game. The next day, they won 1-0. Quietly, Anibal Sanchez is having a fine season as a starter. He’s 5-2 with a 2.89 ERA. Josh Johnson has been fantastic in his last 4 starts, and he’s now looking like a Cy Young candidate (5-2, 2.19 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 69 K’s, outstanding). And, Leo Nunez is doing a great job in the closer role (1.30 ERA, 0.83 WHIP, 10 saves). The inconstant lineup is the problem with this team.

18. (20) New York Mets, 26-25 - How about the return of R.A. Dickey! Who? The journeyman knuckleballer is 2-0 with a 2.84 ERA since joining the rotation. In fact, the starting pitching has been holding its own of late. They held the Phillies scoreless in a 3-game sweep, and went a total of 35 innings without giving up a run. The lineup needs to be more productive, as Jason Bay leads the team with just a .381 OBP. No player is hitting above .300, and Rod Barajas is the home runs leader.

19. (17) Washington Nationals, 25-26 - One more start in Triple-A, and Stephen Strasburg is in the bigs. They need him in this struggling rotation. The Nationals also lead the majors with 42 errors, and are not helping their pitchers out. Christian Guzman is batting .327, but has just 11 extra base hits in 165 at bats. Ryan Zimmerman, though, is really starting to mash. After a slow start, he’s back above .300 with a .988 OPS and 11 home runs. He’s an All-Star.

20. (19) Chicago Cubs, 24-27 - Alfonso Soriano leads the team in batting, runs, RBI, home runs, and OPS. But Derrek Lee is strugging, and Aramis Ramirez is nowhere to be found. Ramirez is batting .162 in 162 at-bats, and his .496 OPS is simply awful. Not sure what his issue is, but literally any player in the bigs could be more productive than that. Starlin Castro has been a nice story as their new 20-year-old everyday shortstop. He’s hitting .310 and shown some flash in the field.

21. (21) Los Angeles Angels, 25-27 - The good news? The Angels went 4-2 last week including back-to-back walk-off wins. The bad news? They lost their best player in the process. Kendry Morales broke his leg while celebrating his walk-off grand slam at home plate. People are making a big deal out of the physical celebrations in baseball after walk-offs, but this type of thing takes place in every sport. I doubt that 1 freak injury is going to change the celebration culture, but many people think it should.

22. (24) Chicago White Sox, 22-28 - Alex Rios has revived his promising career on his new team. Rios is batting .312 with a .958 OPS and has 16 stolen bases. Add Juan Pierre’s 19 stolen bases, and you can see how this team leads baseball in that category. Unfortunately, no other player in the lineup is hitting above .270 after Rios.

23. (23) Seattle Mariners, 19-30 - It’s the same old story for the Mariners. They have a top-5 team ERA, but are last in the AL in runs scored, home runs, and OPS. Mike Sweeney leads this team in home runs. Franklin Gutierrez’s 24 RBI’s is a team-high. However, you can’t blame Ichiro. The man continues to perform every single day. He’s batting .342 with 13 stolen bases. His lacking production in runs scored (23) and RBI (10) are more a sign of his awful teammates.

24. (26) Milwaukee Brewers, 21-29 - They’ve won 5 of their last 7. Ryan Braun does his thing everyday, and Casey McGehee is having a great year (41 RBI’s, .301). The problem in the lineup is Prince Fielder’s lacking production. 19 RBI’s in 51 games is unacceptable for him. Also, although Corey Hart has 13 home runs, he has just 6 doubles and is hitting .260. And, of course, the pitching remains a mess.

25. (25) Kansas City Royals, 21-30 - They split a 4-game set against the Red Sox last week, and are playing better under Ned Yost. Billy Butler and Jose Guillen are doing their job in the middle of the lineup. In fact, the lineup as a whole is more productive of late, and they have the 3rd highest batting average in baseball. The problem is the awful pitching staff. Zach Greinke’s 3.39 ERA and 54 strikeouts are a far cry from last season’s Cy Young numbers. Luke Hochevar leads the team in wins, but has a 4.95 ERA.

26. (22) Arizona Diamondbacks, 20-31 - The Diamondbacks went 0-6 last week while getting swept by the Giants and Rockies. That’s how you lose ground on your division in a hurry. Ian Kennedy is the only starter with an ERA under 4.50. Dan Haren has 76 strikeouts but has a 5.35 ERA and is not getting it done.

27. (27) Pittsburgh Pirates, 20-31 - The Pirates scored 17 runs last week in 7 games, while going 1-6. Andrew McCutchen leads the team in pretty much every stat, except RBI. He has 14 RBI’s despite hitting 6 home runs with a .313 average in 195 at-bats. Yeah, his teammates are not helping him out. Garrett Jones had 4 home runs in the first week of the season, but has just 2 in the last 8 weeks.

28. (28) Cleveland Indians, 18-30 - The Indians exploded for 7 runs against the Yankee bullpen to win a game 13-11. Other than that, there have been no signs of life from this team. At least Austin Kearns has revived his career, batting .302 in the 4-hole. Luis Valbuena is hitting .134 in 34 games.

29. (30) Houston Astros, 17-33 - The Astros are last in baseball in runs, home runs, average, and OPS. The team OPS is now at .606, which is historically bad. If a player in a starting lineup has that OPS, they are considered a major black hole. When an entire team has that number? This team is an opposing pitcher’s dream. Roy Oswalt has every right to demand a trade. The productive veteran has had a quality start in all 10 of his starts and has a 2.35 ERA, yet he is 3-6.

30. (29) Baltimore Orioles, 15-36 - The Orioles are awful and Dave Trembley needs to be fired. Injuries are adding insult to inferiority, and soon this team is going to start being discussed as one of the all-time worst in AL history, in terms of their record. They have way more ability than that, and they need a spark.

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BIGGEST RISERS -
Atlanta Braves (Currently 13th, up 5 from last week)

BIGGEST FALLERS -
Detroit Tigers (Currently 12th, down 6 from last week)
Arizona Diamondbacks (26th, down 4)

Disagree with any of these rankings? Drop a comment and let me know. Be on the lookout for a new update every Monday.