411mania.com: Sports - The MLB Rizz Rankings 5.05.08: Week Four

2008 Power Rankings: Week 2

Rank (LW)

Team

Record

L10

Comment

1 (1)

Arizona
Diamondbacks

21-10

6-4

2nd Week at Number 1
Arizona continues to have one of the best pitching staffs in the league. Brandon Webb leads the league with seven wins and the team only got their 10th loss of the season this Sunday against the New York Mets.

Games This Week: May 5-8: vs. Philadelphia;
May 9-11: at Chicago Cubs

2 (6)

Boston
Red Sox

20-13

5-5

Boston got their revenge on the Rays this past weekend and with it, they get their spot in 2nd place back.

Games This Week: May 5-8: at Detroit;
May 9-11: at Minnesota

3 (5)

St. Louis
Cardinals

20-12

6-4

One of the most surprising teams in the majors so far, the Cardinals are hot off of their series win over their rival Chicago Cubs.

Games This Week: May 5-8: at Colorado;
May 9-11: at Milwaukee

4 (3)

Los Angeles
Angels

20-13

6-4

Los Angeles was able to come out with a series split with the Oakland A's and now have a pretty easy week ahead of them.

Games This Week: May 5-7: at Kansas City;
May 9-11: at Tampa Bay

5 (2)

Chicago
Cubs

18-13

4-6

The Cubbies have scored more runs than any other team in the league, but their series loss to the Cardinals will drop them a little bit this week. It will be interesting to see how they do against the D'Backs this weekend.

Games This Week: May 5-7: at Cincinnati;
May 9-11: vs. Arizona

6 (9)

Philadelphia
Phillies

18-14

7-3

Philadelphia is leading the toughest division in the league, and Pat Burrell has finally started to step up his game. However, the Phillies need Ryan Howard to get out of this early season slump soon, or the bullpen will continue to battle in one run games against inferior teams. Now the bullpen may be one of the best in the league at the moment, but a rough spring will make it a very long September for the Phillies bullpen.

Games This Week: May 5-8: at Arizona;
May 9-11: at San Francisco

7 (4)

Oakland
Athletics

19-14

5-5

I said that if the A's won the series against the Angels, then I would move them up, well they didn't and some of the top tier teams enjoyed a solid week as well.

Games This Week: May 5-7: vs. Baltimore;
May 9-11: at Texas

8 (10)

New York
Mets

16-13

6-4

The Mets seem to get on a role only to get pounded. Luckily they win a few games in between the poundings and still find themselves in the mix in the East. However, if the Mets continue to take days off after the All-Star break then making the playoffs will be a tough task.

Games This Week: May 5-7: at LA Dodgers;
May 9-11: vs. Cincinnati

9 (17)

Los Angeles
Dodgers

17-14

8-2

Where were these Dodgers at the beginning of the season?

Games This Week: May 5-7: vs. NY Mets;
May 9-11: vs. Houston

10 (13)

New York
Yankees

17-16

5-5

So much for the young arms of the New York Yankees. Phillip Hughes is out till June, while Ian Kennedy was sent back to the minors. Luckily, both pitchers have a long season to make up for their rough starts to the 2008 season.

Games This Week: May 6-8: vs. Cleveland;
May 9-11: at Detroit

11 (7)

Milwaukee
Brewers

16-15

3-7

The Brewers have went from one of the best teams in the league to one of the most struggling. Add in an upcoming week with series against the Marlins and Cardinals and Milwaukee will be put to the test.

Games This Week: May 6-8: at Florida;
May 9-11: vs. St. Louis

12 (12)

Florida
Marlins

17-14

4-6

Florida might not be at the top of the NL East anymore, but their start still impresses me. It will only be a matter of time until we find out whether their youth allows them to stay healthy later in the season, or if the lack of experience will cost the team.

Games This Week: May 6-8: vs. Milwaukee;
May 9-11: at Washington

13 (8)

Tampa Bay
Rays

16-15

6-4

Well the Rays are suffering the same fate that the Blue Jays did a few weeks ago. They swept the Red Sox and then were put in their place the following weekend against the same team.

Games This Week: May 6-8: at Toronto;
May 9-11: vs. LA Angels

14 (15)

Cleveland
Indians

14-17

5-5

Cleveland continues to throw away their opportunity to run away with a division where the Tigers are a mess. It is only a matter of time before we find out whether or not that will cost them in the long run or not.

Games This Week: May 6-8: at NY Yankees;
May 9-11: vs. Toronto

15 (14)

Baltimore
Orioles

16-15

4-6

Baltimore continues to drop down the AL East as well as my rankings.

Games This Week: May 5-7: at Oakland;
May 8-11: at Kansas City

16 (18)

Toronto
Blue Jays

15-17

5-5

Is Toronto on a yo-yo or what, they make a great run to start the year, then fall off the face of the planet, and now they have won four in a row, and have a chance to have another solid week this week.

Games This Week: May 5: vs. Chicago White Sox;
May 6-8: vs. Tampa Bay;
May 9-11: at Cleveland

17 (19)

Atlanta
Braves

15-15

5-5

The Braves are 0-9 in one run games this season, that means they could just as easily be 24-6 as they are 15-15. If they can learn how to win the close games, then they can make a run at the division.

Games This Week: May 6-8: vs. San Diego;
May 9-11: at Pittsburgh

18 (27)

Minnesota
Twins

16-14

6-4

The hottest team last week in the American League, the Twins find themselves in the division lead, unfortunately they lead the worst division in baseball.

Games This Week: May 6-8: at Chicago White Sox;
May 9-11: vs. Boston

19 (16)

Detroit
Tigers

14-18

5-5

Detroit seemed to be on the right track with a sweep of the Yankees in Yankee Stadium, but they then went and got swept by the Minnesota Twins. They now get the Red Sox and Yankees in the same week, their success depends on their bats.

Games This Week: May 5-8: vs. Boston;
May 9-11: vs. NY Yankees

20 (11)

Chicago
White Sox

18-12

4-6

The White Sox take the largest drop this week as they have gone from the division lead and blundered it with a five game losing streak that could continue as they finish their series against the Blue Jays before hosting the red hot Twins.

Games This Week: May 5: at Toronto;
May 6-8: vs. Minnesota;
May 9-11: at Seattle

21 (21)

Houston
Astros

16-16

6-4

Games This Week: May 6-8: vs. Washington;
May 9-11: at LA Dodgers

22 (25)

San Francisco
Giants

14-18

5-5

The Giants just finished a three game series against the Phillies in which each of the three games were one by just one run. That series along with the final two against the Rockies makes it five straight one run games for the Giants. San Francisco is 2-3 in those games.

Games This Week: May 6-8: at Pittsburgh;
May 9-11: vs. Philadelphia

23 (28)

Kansas City
Royals

14-16

5-5

For a team that has only scored 107 runs this season, the Royals have a pretty good record. Too bad that won't hold up though.

Games This Week: May 5-8: vs. LA Angels;
May 8-11: vs. Baltimore

24 (30)

Washington
Nationals

14-18

8-2

Washington finally seems to have some footing underneath them, now their success the rest of the season depends on how well they can keep that footing.

Games This Week: May 6-8: at Houston;
May 9-11: vs. Florida

25 (29)

Texas
Rangers

13-19

6-4

Games This Week: May 5-9: at Seattle;
May 9-11: vs. Oakland

26 (22)

Colorado
Rockies

12-19

3-7

Colorado has only won 12 games this season, and six of them have been by only one run.

Games This Week: May 5-8: vs. St. Louis;
May 9-11: at San Diego

27 (20)

Seattle
Mariners

13-19

2-8

Losers of five straight, the Mariners are not the team many experts thought they were.

Games This Week: May 5-8: vs. Texas;
May 9-11: vs. Chicago White Sox

28 (23)

San Diego
Padres

12-20

3-7

I keep waiting for the Padres to snap out of it, but they just won't do it. It doesn't help that the team is only batting .230 (worst in the league) while only scoring 108 runs in their first 32 games (28th in the league).

Games This Week: May 6-8: at Atlanta;
May 9-11: vs. Colorado

29 (24)

Cincinnati
Reds

12-20

3-7

Cincinnati has lost five in a row, and will spend the rest of the season battling the Pirates for the worst team in the NL Central, as well as the bottom feeders of my rankings.

Games This Week: May 5-7: vs. Chicago Cubs;
May 9-11: at NY Mets

30 (26)

Pittsburgh
Pirates

12-19

3-7

The Pirates need pitching and fast. Pittsburgh has a terrible 5.28 ERA (worst in the league) while opposing teams are batting .289 against them (tied for worst in the league).

Games This Week: May 6-8: vs. San Francisco;
May 9-11: vs. Atlanta

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