JAKE ROBINSON BASEBALL POWER RANKINGS May 31- June 7

1. Philadelphia Phillies 36-24 (Last week rank:1): Jimmy Rollins did not play on Sunday after fouling a ball off his knee Saturday against the Pirates. The inconsistent offense can not afford to lose him for an extended period of time. Cliff Lee has struggled all year, but looked sharp against the Dodgers on Monday. The Phils have the best stolen base percentage in baseball, 41 for 49 with a success rate of 83%.

2. St. Louis Cardinals 36-25 (4): Albert Pujols looks to be turning it around from his dismal start. The first basemen clobbered back to back walk off home runs on Saturday and Sunday versus the Cubs. Pitcher Chris Carpenter has looked better even though it hasn't showed up in his stats. Kyle McClellan is expected back in the rotation on June 15. Lance Berkman has been nursing a sprained right wrist and received a cortisone shot on Saturday.

3. New York Yankees 33-24 (7): Derek Jeter is now 14 hits away from 3,000, and hasn't struck out in the his last 52 at-bats. Manager Joe Girardi has shuffled his rotation for the upcoming series against the Boston Red Sox, that begins on Tuesday. He will give Bartolo Colon an extra day of rest and go with Freddy Garcia, A.J Burnett and C.C Sabbathia, in the showdown for first place in the American League East.

4. Cleveland Indians 33-24 (2): The Tribe continues to struggle and plummet in the power rankings and American League Central. They were victims of back to back shutouts at the hands of the Texas Rangers over the weekend. They have lost five in a row, Seven straight at home and 8 of their last 13. Asdrubel Cabrera continues to hit, but Shin Soo-Choo has been abysmal and has been dropped from the third spot in the order to the sixth.

5. Boston Red Sox 33-26 (5): Carl Crawford has been torrid for the last two and a half weeks. In the past 19 games he has batted .333 and scored 19 runs. On Saturday He and Crawford went yard in the same game. for the first time all year. Jon Lester has had seven days of rest and will square off against the Yanks on Tuesday. Will somebody please tell Jonathan Papelbon to calm down.

6. Texas Rangers 34-27 (10): The Rangers are healthier than they have been all year, and are getting hot. They have won 16 of their last 24 games, with 6 of those games being shutout victories. The Rangers sport a 2.79 ERA on the road. Pitcher Matt Harrison, is having Kidney Stone problems and may miss his start on Saturday. Nelson Cruz has homered in every game that teammate Josh Hamilton has homered in.

7. San Francisco Giants 33-26 (9): Ryan Vogelsong has been tremendous filling in for injured Barry Zito. In his last 6 starts he is 3-0 with 0.69 ERA. Tim Lincecum is 5 strikeouts away from becoming the eighth pitcher to have 1,000 strikeouts in his first five seasons. Pablo Sandoval has begun his rehab at AAA Fresno and should be back soon from his broken wrist. Aubrey Huff maybe getting hot after his three home run performance against the Cards on Thursday. General Manager Brian Sabean needs to stop acting like a baby. We get it, You lost your star catcher, now get over it. THERE IS NO CRYING IN BASEBALL!!

8. Arizona Diamondbacks 33-27 (8): The Snakes remain hot. If southpaw Joe Saunders is available in your fantasy league you may want to claim him. He has now won his last three starts and his ERA has dropped to 4.32 with a WHIP of 1.44. J.J Putz has been a shutdown closer with 17 saves under his belt. Micah Owings has been on a tear as the set-up man.

9. Milwaukee Brewers 34-26 (13): The hottest team in baseball is now 7 games over .500, for the first time since July 1, 2009. Prince Fielder's 206 career home runs move him behind Robin Yount, Geoff Jenkins, and Gorman Thomas for most bombs in franchise history. The Brewers need a strong draft after cleaning out the farm system for Zack Grienke and Shawn Marcum.

10. Florida Marlins 31-27 (3): The Fish have struggled, going 2-6 since May 26th. Hanley Ramirez makes his first career trip to the D.L with back inflammation. He is currently batting .210 with 4 home runs and 17 runs batted in. Emilio Bonafacio has made 37 starts at 6 different positions. Gabby Sanchez, Logan Morrison and Greg Dobbs continue to pace the inconsistent offensive attack. Josh Johnson is now throwing on a flat ground, and should resume mound duties shortly after experiencing shoulder inflammation.

11. Atlanta Braves 32-28 (6): Outfielders Nate McClouth and Jason Heyward are set to return from the disabled list on Tuesday. Catcher Brian McCann is now the leading vote getter in the National League all-star race. Pitcher Tommie Hanson has allowed 2 earned runs or fewer in 7 of his past 8 starts. Rookie Craig Kimbrel's 17 saves are the most for a National League rookie before the all-star break since Dodger closer Yhency Brazoban's 15 in 2008. The major league record is 26 in the first half of the 2006 season by Jonathan Papelbon.

12. Tampa Bay Rays 31-29 (11): The Rays have scuffled as of late, losing 11 of their last 16 games. Evan Longoria is day to day with tightness in his obliques. The Rays have some of the best scouts in basball, and have 12 of the first 89 picks in the draft, including 10 of the first 60. They have 3 first round picks, 2 second round picks and 7 compensation picks.

13. Detroit Tigers 32-27 (16): Magglio Ordonez will return on Tuesday from his ankle injuries. After starting 6-0, Max Scherzer has been win less since May 9th. Don Kelly will take over at third for the foreseeable future, while Brandon Inge is out with mononucleosis. Jhonny Peralta and Miguel Cabrera continue to pace the offense, and could surely use Magglio's stick.

14. Cincinnati Reds 31-30 (14): Arnoldis Chapman pitched a rehab game on Sunday and should be back very soon. Edinson Volquez is being called up trom AAA louisville after being demoted a couple of weeks ago. His problem has been getting through the first inning, where his ERA sits at 18.00. From then on his ERA drops to 3.51. Scott Rolen will miss a few games with strep throat, and SS Edgar Renteria is struggling with a bad back.

15. Seattle Mariners 31-29 (20): The M's are the only team that have started the same five starters all year, and all their ERA's are under 4.00. They Lead the American League in one run victories with 13, and have won their last five series. They are the only team in baseball with a six man bullpen lead by David Pauley who has a 0.81 ERA in 33 innings. He has not allowed a run in his last 16 innings. Brandon League leads the A.L with 16 saves. Needless to say the pitching has brought this team back from the ashes.

16. Los Angeles Angels 30-32 (12): The Halos are batting .230 with runners in scoring position and .120 with bases loaded. Tori Hunter leads the league with 16 grounds into double plays, and is on pace to break Jim Rice's record of 36 in 1984. Mark Trumbo leads all rookies with 11 home runs. Joel Piniero has lost 3 straight games and has gone 5 straight starts without a win. Dan Haren will return from the D.L and start against the Rays on Tuesday.

17. Toronto Blue Jays 30-30 (15): After going 28 consecutive starts without a win Jo-Jo Reyes is on a roll. In the past week he has beat the Tribe and the O's. The Jays have beaten the Orioles in 16 of their last 20 meetings, outscoring them 104-60, and out homering them 37-10. Adam Lind, upon his return from the D.L homered twice against O's pitching on Sunday.

18. Pittsburgh Pirates 28-30 (19): Last week Andrew McCutchen batted .390 with 8 RBI. Niel Walker hit 2 home runs, and 6 RBI. Walker's 39 RBI is first among all N.L second basemen. The Bucs took 2 of 3 in the Phils crib and are 22-12 lifetime at First Citizens Bank Stadium. The Pirates selected U.C.L.A flame throwing pitcher Gerritt Cole with the first pick of the draft. The Pirates have selected Jeff King (86), Kris Benson (96), and Bryan Bullington (02) with number one picks. Hopefully this pick works out better than those did.

19. Chicago White Sox 29-33 (21): Paul Konerko continues to mash, even after having a procedure to dislodge bone fragments in his left wrist. Jake Peavy is hurt again.... what a shock. He has strained his groin and may miss his next start. Robin Ventura has been hired as a special advisor to Buddy Bell, who is the director of player development

20. New York Mets 28-31 (25): Jose Reyes has been one of the hottest hitters in baseball. Since May 1st he has batted .365 with 11 stolen bases, 8 triples and 23 runs. Jason Bay has been the anti Reyes. Since his Met tenure began he has batted .247, .336 OBP, 8HR, and 57 RBI in 132 games. David Wright will be on the D.L for three more weeks with a lower back stress fracture. Carlos Beltran is day to day after fouling a ball off his shin on Sunday against the Braves.

21. Colorado Rockies 27-31 (18): Troy Tulowitzki leads N.L shortstops in votes in the all-star race. If he is voted in he would become the first Rockie voted in since Todd Helton in 2008. Ubaldo Jimmenez got his first win vs. the Dodgers on Wednesday night. Dexter Fowler may go on 15 game D.L with a lower abdominal strain.

22. Los Angeles Dodgers 28-33 (24): Three players have been activated from the D.L. SS Juan Uribe, OF Marcus Thames and P Blake Hawksworth, and they have called up top prospect SS Dee Gordon. To make room they designated OF Jay Gibbons, SS Juan Castro and optioned Ivan DeJesus Jr. and John Ely to AAA Alberquerque. Pitchers Jonathan Broxton and Hong Chih Quo are very close to returning.

23. Baltimore Orioles 27-31 (22): Matt Wieters is batting .600 with runners in scoring position. Sunday's crowd of 10.556 at Camden Yards was the smallest of the season Nick Markakis continues to struggle at the plate. Brian Roberts leads the team with 6 stolen bases, even though he has only appeared in 37 games. Luke Scott continues to nurse a sore shoulder and has resorted to cortisone shots. The O's selected Dylan Bundy with the 4th pick of the draft, who will join his brother Bobby, whom they drafted in the eighth round of the 2008 draft. Even after drafting Matt Hobgood a couple of years ago they still continue to draft high school pitchers. When will they learn how to draft? Anthony Rendon was still on the board, and they have a dire need of a hitting third basemen. This franchise is a joke.

24. Oakland A's 27-34 (17): Kevin Kouzmanhoff and Andy Laroche have been optioned to AAA Sacramento. 3B Andy Rosales has been brought up. He was hitting .271 with 7 HR and 31 RBI on the farm. Brett Anderson has returned to Oakland to have his left elbow examined. The Athletics are mired in a 7 game losing streak and have lost 14 of their last 19 games.

25. San Diego Padres 27-33 (28): Chase Headley has a 15 game hitting streak with a .345 AVG.,7 doubles, 5 RBI and a .410 OBP in that span. Chris Denorfia has batted .328 (21 for 64) since being move to the lead off spot The Friars have 58 overall picks in the draft with 2 picks in the first 25 selections.

26. Kansas City Royals 26-34 (26): Bruce Chen and Kyle Davies will pitch both ends of a doubleheader in a minor league assignment on Wednesday. Chen has been sidelined since May 6th and he still leads the team with a 4-1 record. A week after Joakim Soria was demoted from the closer position, Aaron Crowe is still looking for a save opportunity. The Royals selected local high school star Bubba Starling in the first round of the draft.

27. Washington Nationals 26-33 (27): After Adam Laroche went on the D.L Michael Morse was moved to first base. In his last 27 games he has batted .378 ( 31-82) with 7 HR and 21 RBI. Ryan Zimmerman is close to returning from the D.L and is rehabbing at class A Potomac. The Nats select Anthony Rendon with their first pick in the draft.

28. Chicago Cubs 23-35 (25): This team is a mess. They are currently in the middle of a 7 game losing streak. Carlos Zambrano threw closer Carlos Marmol under the bus after he gave up a Pujols walk off home run on Sunday. They have too many overpaid pieces that can't be moved because of their salaries.Somewhere Lou Pinella is laughing.

29. Houston Astros 23-37 (29): 3B Chris Johnson has batted .293 in last 15 games, raising his average to .225. Wandy Rodriguez will pitch at AA Corpus Christi on Wednesday, before returning to the Stros rotation. Clint Barmes has been moved to the number two spot in the lineup.

30. Minnesota Twins 22-37 (30): Help is on the horizon. Francisco Liriano will return to the rotation on Tuesday to face the Indians. SS Tsyoshi Nishiokais also set to return and C Joe Maur is about two weeks away. Jim Thome is 7 home runs away from 600. The Twinkies have won 5 games in a row.