Beyond the Box Score Power Rankings: Week 21

by Daniel Moroz on Aug 22, 2011 2:30 PM EDT in Power Rankings

The Tigers finally climb into the top 10, joining the other division leaders.

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	Yankees	76	48	New York leads the league in quite a few offensive categories - including stolen bases (an AL tops 123).
2	Red Sox	76	49	Daniel Bard is the only pitcher in the majors (min. 50 IP) with at least 9 K/9, less than 3 BB/9, and a GB% over 50%.
3	Phillies	81	43	Hunter Pence seems to be adjusting to playing for a good team just fine; .307/.386/.520 since coming to Philly.
4	Rangers	73	54	Ian Kinsler has tied Brandon Phillips for the second most 20-20 season by a second-baseman (3; Joe Morgan has 4).
5	Brewers	75	52	Milwaukee is 22-3 in their last 25 games, and has opened up the largest division lead in the majors (8.5 games).
6	Braves	75	52	For Jose Costanza (.360/.407/.480 in 84 PA), major league pitching has been as tough to handle as a game of Frogger.
7	Cardinals	66	60	Since the start of June, Albert Pujols has a .434 wOBA. And he's also now leading the NL in home runs, with 31.
8	Rays	68	56	Ben Zobrist is back in MVP form himself after a slightly down 2010 - he's on pace to cross the 8 fWAR line again like in '09.
9	Diamondbacks	69	57	Great bat (.299/.371/.548) and glove (+13 UZR) have made Justin Upton the NL's fWAR leader (6.2).
10	Tigers	67	58	Doug Fister has only walked 2 batters in 21.2 IP since getting traded to Detroit - though he's also hit two guys.
11	Blue Jays	64	62	Despite getting into just 39 games, back-up catcher Jose Molina is third on the team in position player fWAR (1.4).
12	Reds	61	65	MLB ERA leader Johnny Cueto (1.89) has the lowest BABIP in baseball (.225) and the 7th lowest HR/FB rate (5.8%).
13	White Sox	62	63	Mark Buehrle is on pace for his 11th straight 200+ IP season - the most for any hurler since Greg Maddux's 14 in a row ('88-'01).
14	Mets	60	65	David Wright is hitting .292/.357/.469 since coming off the DL, but it's a .285 wOBA Aug. following the .479 July.
15	Angels	68	59	Maybe with the recent call-up of Hank Conger, the Jeff Mathis (.176/.225/.254) days my finally be waning in LA.

16	Giants	67	60	San Francisco is right there with the Mariners for the worst offense in the majors (79 wRC+ and only 3.4 runs per game).
17	Rockies	59	68	His BABIP is down from .384 to .312, but Carlos Gonzalez has cut down the K's and bumped up the walks in '11.
18	Dodgers	57	68	LA has fallen into last place in the West, which I imagine will hurt Matt Kemp's MVP odds despite the 6.0 fWAR.
19	Athletics	57	69	Josh Willingham has done a nice job in the middle of the A's line-up this year (.249/.333/.484, with a team leading 127 wRC+).
20	Indians	62	60	Kosuke Fukudome doesn't really hit for average or power, so having few walk (only 3 in 21 games for Cleveland) isn't too good.
21	Padres	58	70	San Diego actually has a positive run differential despite being well under .500; 496 runs scored, 492 runs allowed.
22	Marlins	57	69	Apparently missing fewer bats (6.5 K/9) isn't the solution to getting his ERA to equal his FIP for Ricky Nolasco.
23	Nationals	60	64	Ian Desmond's strike-out rate has jumped each year he's been in the big leagues - while his wOBA has dropped (down to .270 now).
24	Royals	52	75	Sometimes it's easy to forget that Melky Cabrera (.303/.335/.472, 3.3 fWAR this year) is still only 27 years old.
25	Cubs	56	70	Their pitchers have walked more batters than any team in baseball (3.7 BB/9), even though their starters and pen aren't last individually.
26	Mariners	53	71	The glovework is still there, but Franklin Gutierrez's power is missing (just 1 HR) and his offense has fallen off overall (.237 wOBA).
27	Pirates	59	65	They went from tied for first place as recently as July 25th to 15.5 games out now. Going 6-19 will help do that.
28	Twins	55	70	Minnesota has two of the five lowest strike-out pitchers in the majors; Carl Pavano (3.9 K/9) and Nick Blackburn (4.6 K/9).
29	Orioles	47	76	Mark Reynolds has an awful -22 UZR, but amazingly he's not last in baseball when you add in the positional adjustment (Ibanez).
30	Astros	42	84	Carlos Lee leads the team in home runs, which wouldn't be so bad if he was still a 30+ HR guy. Unfortunately he only has 11.

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Comments

I guess no adjustment for league, and hitting gets too much weight...

….And that’s why the 6-over .500 STL team that plays in the worst division in baseball is ranked higher than the TBR team that’s 12 over .500 and plays in the toughest division in baseball. St. Louis is a mediocre team at best. Bad defensively, bad on the basepaths, bad relief pitching, bad starting pitching, poorly managed. I have a feeling them lapping the field in some batting categories is carrying a bit too much weight.

by themiddle54 on Aug 24, 2011 1:14 AM EDT reply actions

The Card's

Are, for example, 4th in wRC+, 12th in FIP, and 9th in xFIP (all above the Rays). FanGraphs also has the Cardinals out-baserunning the Rays (+4.7 runs to +2.3), by the way.

Orioles blogging at Camden Crazies | Follow on Twitter at @CamdenCrazies

by Daniel Moroz on Aug 25, 2011 7:51 PM EDT reply actions

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