My 2015 MLB Power Rankings Week 14

Believe it or not we have reached the All-Star Break. For most players this is a time to step away from the game for a few days and relax. Go on a trip. Spend time with the family. Whatever it is they want to do. Others will take part in All-Star game festivities in San Diego. If there’s a place you have to go for work you can’t do much better than San Diego. I’ve never been there but I’m guessing it’s pretty swell. Anyway, with the lack of actual games this week I won’t be doing a power rankings on the 18^th. So take this one in and enjoy the break next week.

*Note ~ All stats and records are through Sunday’s games. Due to my taking the 4^th off last week, all previous rankings will reflect my last blog from two weeks prior.

1. San Francisco Giants (57-33) ~ In the last game before the All-Star break officially began Madison Bumgarner flirted with a no-hitter. The Giants ace lost it with one out in the eighth but did stay in to complete the one-hitter while striking out a career-high tying 14. Bumgarner is 10-4 with a pristine 1.94 ERA and 0.96 WHIP. (Previous Ranking 3)

2. Chicago Cubs (53-35) ~ When Jason Heyward signed an eight-year $184 million deal with the Cubs many expected him to reach his power potential. Well, after half a season in Wrigley, Heyward has hit just four home runs. He hasn’t hit more than 15 since 2012 and perhaps the power he showed early on in his career was more of a tease than anything else. (PR 1)

3. Washington Nationals (56-34) ~ Daniel Murphy broke out in last year’s postseason with the New York Mets and hasn’t stopped hitting. The second baseman leads all of baseball with a .348 batting average and 117 hits. Of those, 17 have left the yard which is already a new career-high. (PR 5)

4. Texas Rangers (54-36) ~ Yu Darvish had a solid outing in his second rehab start and could be close to rejoining the Rangers. His return would be a welcome boost to a pitching staff that has been getting lit up recently having given up at least five runs in eight of their last nine games. (PR 2)

5. Baltimore Orioles (51-36) ~ Zach Britton has had himself one hell of a first half. The O’s closer is a perfect 27-for-27 on the season and has allowed just three earned runs in 37 2/3 innings which comes out to a 0.72 ERA. Couple that with his 0.82 WHIP and 43:10 K:BB ratio and Britton looks to be among the elite relievers in the game. (PR 4)

6. Boston Red Sox (49-38) ~ Craig Kimbrel will be out three-to-six weeks due to knee surgery so the Sox made a trade with Arizona to acquire Brad Ziegler who has served as the D’Backs closer. Ziegler is 18-for-20 in save chances this year to go along with a 2.75 ERA. He threw a scoreless inning Sunday with two strikeouts in his Boston debut. (PR 7)

7. Toronto Blue Jays (51-40) ~ Toronto is firing on all cylinders having won eight of nine coming into the break. Even better news is that Jose Bautista is out of his walking boot and hitting off a tee. The slugging outfielder hasn’t played since June 16^th due to turf toe. (PR 9)

8. Cleveland Indians (52-36) ~ The pitching staff gets all the credit for Cleveland’s success this year but the offense has been just fine. Cleveland is eighth in the league with 436 runs scored and shortstop Francisco Lindor looks like a stud in his first full season. (PR 6)

9. Los Angeles Dodgers (51-40) ~ With Zach Grienke out of town and seemingly half of the Dodgers pitchers on the disabled list everyone wondered who would be able to step up in the rotation alongside perennial Cy Young candidate Clayton Kershaw (who is now also on the DL). It seems like we have our answer in Kenta Maeda. The rookie set a career-high with 13 strikeouts in his last start and has a shiny 2.95 ERA in his first half season in the majors. Signed to a modest eight-year $25 million deal it looks like the Dodgers struck gold with Maeda. (PR 8)

10. New York Mets (47-41) ~ Matt Harvey has elected surgery for this thoracic outlet syndrome and that is that for his season. He finishes 2016 with a 4-10 record and 4.86 ERA which are nowhere near what Harvey, the Mets or their fans could have expected. Did stretching himself out past an innings limit last year come back to bite him? Who knows but here’s hoping that one of the promising young arms in baseball is able to recover fully and contribute going forward. (PR 10)

11. Miami Marlins (47-41) ~ We all know Giancarlo has power. Serious power. That power will be on display tonight during the Home Run Derby. A derby in which he is the favorite to win. No Marlin has ever won the Derby and I wouldn’t bet against Stanton. (PR 11)

12. Houston Astros (48-41) ~ Jose Altuve has cemented himself as one of the best all-around players in baseball. Now he needs the contract to prove it. He’s taken a step towards getting that as well as the second baseman recently hired Scott Boras as his agent. I’m sure the next contract he signs will make his current four-year $12 million deal look like pennies. (PR 14)

13. St. Louis Cardinals (46-42) ~ Matt Carpenter has a strained oblique which has landed him on the DL. Obliques are tricky and he could miss several weeks. St. Louis always seems to be able to fill a position from within when a player goes down but I don’t think they have anyone who can duplicate Carpenters slash line of .298/.420/.568. (PR 12)

14. Pittsburgh Pirates (46-43) ~ The Buccos made up some ground by going 8-2 in their last 10 while the Cubs went 2-8 over their last 10. That said, Pittsburgh is still 7 ½ back in the NL Central but they are back within striking distance. I mean, they do have cannons, don’t they? I feel like a cannon can cover seven and a half games. (PR 17)

15. Seattle Mariners (45-44) ~ Last season Robinson Cano had a rough first half and ended the year with 21 homers. This season, he has matched that home run total at the All-Star break. Needless to say, it looks like the shine has returned to Cano’s star. (PR 15)

16. Detroit Tigers (46-43) ~ We know the Mets will lose The Dark Knight for the rest of the season but Detroit got better news on one of their own. Jordan Zimmermann’s tests came back negative for thoracic outlet syndrome, however, the righty will remain on the disabled list with a right neck sprain. (PR 16)

17. Kansas City Royals (45-43) ~ Lorenzo Cain is nearly ready to come back from the DL. Rumor has it that K.C. is interested in trading for Oakland’s Josh Reddick. After a less than ideal first half of the year, could things be looking up for the champs? (PR 13)

18. Chicago White Sox (45-43) ~ After giving up 21 earned runs over his first 8 2/3 innings in a White Sox uniform, things couldn’t go anywhere but up for James Shields, right? Right. Since then he has allowed just eight earned runs in his last 25 1/3 innings for a very solid 2.84 ERA. If he can continue that pace Chicago might not be out of it yet. (PR 19)

19. New York Yankees (44-44) ~ Nick Swisher has opted out of his contract with the AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees which saddens me on two levels. One, we won’t see the bro-iest bro of all back in the bigs this year. Two, I won’t get to see him play in basically my backyard the rest of the summer. It truly is a sad, sad day. (PR 18)

20. Colorado Rockies (40-48) ~ Carlos Gonzalez has gone on the record that he would like to be traded away from Colorado. His value may never be higher than it is now as the outfielder has returned to his all-star form (.318/.367/.557) after two subpar for CarGo seasons. (PR 20)

21. Milwaukee Brewers (38-49) ~ Adam Lind was shipped off to Boston and that should be just the beginning of the exodus of players from Milwaukee. Expect Chris Carter and his 22 home runs to be on the move. Superstars Jonathan Lucroy and Ryan Bruan might be near the end of their Brewer days as well. (PR 22)

22. Arizona Diamondbacks (38-52) ~ The season wasn’t supposed to turn out like this. After an offseason that brought in Zack Greinke and Shelby Miller the D’Backs were supposed to contend. Currently 19 games back in the NL West, they’ve already shipped out their closer and may move more pieces before all is said and done. (PR 21)

23. Philadelphia Phillies (42-48) ~ Maikel Franco is providing his own fireworks in July. The third baseman has hit safely in each of his team’s ten games this month registering multi-hit games in six of them. Oh, he’s also homered five times and driven in 11 while raising his batting average 22 points. I’m sure he’s one of the few players who isn’t excited for the break in the action. (PR 27)

24. Oakland Athletics (38-51) ~ Rich Hill has been an anomaly in Oakland. After missing a month on the disabled list Hill has allowed just three earned runs in two starts (12 innings) while racking up 16 strikeouts along the way. If he isn’t moved by the deadline, with Billy Beane in that front office, my head will explode. (PR 26)

25. Los Angeles Angels (37-52) ~ C.J. Cron, who has driven in 17 runs in his last eight games, has a fractured hand and will miss four-to-six weeks. Just when something starts to go right for the Halos it goes horribly, horribly wrong. (PR 25)

26. San Diego Padres (38-51) ~ They get to host this year’s All-Star game, Home Run Derby and all the hoopla that goes along with it. That means a packed Petco park and the fans will get to see some of the best in the business, which goes without saying that it should be a marked improvement than what they typically see with their home club night in and night out. (PR 24)

27. Tampa Bay Rays (34-54) ~ Roughly one month ago the Rays were 31-32 and in the mix in a tough division. Since then the team has cratered picking up the win just three times in their last 25 games. That would be bad even if this were the Devil Rays. That said, they are now 20 games under .500, 17 ½ back in the AL East and will assuredly be sellers as the deadline approaches. (PR 23)

28. Minnesota Twins (32-56) ~ Somehow, someway, the Twins who own the worst record in the AL, have beaten the Rangers, owners of the best record in the AL, in five of the last seven matchups over the past two weeks. Baseball is a funny game and that is why we watch it. Well, one of the reasons at least. (PR 30)

29. Cincinnati Reds (32-57) ~ As a team the Reds have a 5.46 ERA and 1.54 WHIP which are the worst in all of baseball. Mark Riggins, the pitching coach, was canned a week ago but this seems to be more a lack of talent than a lack of coaching. You can’t fire the players though. (PR 28)

30. Atlanta Braves (31-58) ~ Halfway through the season and the Braves have the worst record in the bigs. At least they are living up to their preseason expectations. (PR 29)

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