Beyond the Box Score Power Rankings: Week 17

by Daniel Moroz on Jul 25, 2011 2:30 PM EDT in Power Rankings

No AL Central teams in the top 15 now. Who know who'll pull that one out at the end?

Just as a reminder: some of the things that go into these rankings include runs scored and allowed, run distributions, wOBA, wRC, FIP, xFIP, DRS, UZR, etc., Base Runs, BABIP and HR/FB% adjustments, and our guts.

Rank	Team	Wins	Losses	Comments
1	Red Sox	61	37	Seems like Andrew Miller hasn't quite solved his control problems; 6.4 BB/9 (to just 4.7 K/9) since his call-up.
2	Yankees	58	40	Since coming back from the DL, Derek Jeter is hitting .318/.384/.455 (with a .392 BABIP) - up to a .313 wOBA on the season.
3	Phillies	63	36	Domonic Brown has shown some nice plate discipline as a rookie this year (11.9% walk rate, 15.5% K rate).
4	Rangers	58	43	Despite only getting into 59 games, Mike Napoli is already at 2.2 fWAR thanks to 13 home runs in 209 PA.
5	Cardinals	53	47	Yadier Molina's going to mess up his consistency; between 6-8 HR per year from '05-'10, and 7 already this season.
6	Braves	59	42	The contract doesn't like amazing, but Derek Lowe is on pace for his third straight 2.6+ fWAR year as a Brave.
7	Giants	58	43	Madison Bumgarner has upped his strike-out rate to 7.9 K/9 this year, and he's 5th in the NL in fWAR at 3.9.
8	Brewers	54	48	After a solid 2010 campaign (3.4 fWAR), Casey McGehee has fallen off a cliff this year (only 5 HR, -0.7 fWAR).
9	Mets	50	50	Over the last month, Jonathon Niese has a 4.7 K/BB ratio and a 2.52 xFIP (5th best in the majors over that span).
10	Blue Jays	50	51	Since being recalled from Triple-A, Travis Snider is hitting .292 with a .514 SLG. Also, 23 K's to 1 BB in 17 games.
11	Angels	54	47	In their last 15 total games, Dan Haren, Jered Weaver, and Ervin Santana have walked a combined 81/18 K to BB ratio.
12	Diamondbacks	54	47	David Hernandez has done a nice job as closer since JJ Putz got hurt; 0.00 ERA, 0.94 FIP, 1.92 xFIP and 7 for 7 on saves.
13	Rays	52	47	3.17 ERA aside, Jeremy Hellickson hasn't been quite as great as some expected going into the season (4.29 FIP).
14	Reds	49	51	Dontrelle Willis is back in the majors, and getting a bunch of groundballs (57.1% GB rate) - plus a sub 7 walk rate (4.2 BB/9).
15	Rockies	48	53	Derek Jeter fWAR through age 26 season - 24.3. Troy Tulowitzki is on pace for ~25 fWAR through 2011, his age 26 season.

16	Tigers	53	47	Miguel Cabrera has been the AL's second best hitter this year (.417 wOBA) with his .312/.430/.553 line.
17	White Sox	48	51	Over the past month, Juan Pierre is second on the team in slugging percentage (.456), thanks to a .367 BA.
18	Indians	51	47	Josh Tomlin is a flyball pitcher who doesn't miss bats, but he's had success by never walking anyone (ML best 1.07 BB/9).
19	Dodgers	44	56	They're only 9-12 over the last month, but LA starters have - by far - the major's top strike-out rate (8.5 K/9) in that time.
20	Nationals	49	51	All five of the team's top starters have an xFIP between 3.60 (Jordan Zimmermann) and 4.09 (John Lannan).
21	Marlins	48	53	Javier Vazquez has been great over the last month; 2.87 ERA, 2.82 FIP, 3.07 xFIP, and a K/BB ratio of 7.
22	Pirates	51	47	No Pirates' pitcher has lost more games in the last month than Tim Wood's 2, and he only has 1.1 IP.
23	Athletics	44	56	If the A's trade Josh Willingham, their top remaining hitter with at least 200 PA will be Coco Crisp (.270/.319/.389, .318 wOBA).
24	Royals	42	58	If I'm KC, I'm trying to cash in on Melky Cabrera's .295/.332/.454 season if a team wants to give up something for him.
25	Padres	44	57	Alberto Gonzalez had a .301 wOBA in 2008, and things have only gotten worse since then; .284, .258, and now .227 this year.
26	Mariners	43	57	Brendan Ryan has 2 home runs and is batting .264. He easily leads the team in position player fWAR at 2.2.
27	Twins	47	53	Scott Baker missed a couple weeks and Glen Perkins is a reliever; they're 1-2 in pitcher fWAR for MIN over the last month.
28	Cubs	41	60	Kosuke Fukudome has one of the major's top walk rates at 13.6%, but poor defense and little power has him at just 0.1 fWAR.
29	Orioles	40	57	Felix Pie once had some promise and still has some tools, but he's been one of the worst player in baseball in '11 (-1.7 fWAR).
30	Astros	33	67	5'6" Jose Altuve was called up last week, and has one single (and that's it) in each game he's played.

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Comments

Why do teams hate giving Napoli playing time? Even if you’re iffy on his defense at catcher, he hits well enough for first base or DH. He should be playing every day, or just about.

Glad Dontrelle is doing at least a passable job in his few starts this year. It doesn’t really look good for him — that K/BB ratio is better but still not adequate — but it looks better than it did before. Hopefully he keeps it up and establishes himself as some sort of big league regular. If he doesn’t, though, he’ll still have a strong early career to be proud of.

by Rujasu on Jul 25, 2011 3:29 PM EDT reply actions