Beyond the Box Score Power Rankings: Week 24

by Daniel Moroz on Sep 12, 2011 2:30 PM EDT in Power Rankings

They're not quite out of it at the moment, but do you think the Rays would have liked a 5th Wild Card spot this year?

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	87	57	I'm not sure if Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia being 2nd and 3rd on the team in starter fWAR (2.5, 2.2) is good or bad.
2	Phillies	94	48	Cliff Lee has allowed a grand total of 3 earned runs in his last 55.2 IP (2 of them on one HR), with a 52-10 K/BB ratio.
3	Red Sox	85	60	Adrian Gonzalez only has 25 home runs this year - not what many expected leaving Petco - but still with a .409 wOBA.
4	Rangers	82	64	Texas' lead has dwindled to just 2.5 games, but their run differential is 90 runs better than LA's.
5	Brewers	85	62	Yuniesky Betancourt is still above replacement level, but it's going to be close at the finish (0.1 fWAR).
6	Rays	80	64	Jeremy Hellickson is posting a nice 2.96 ERA (despite a 4.30 FIP) largely on the strength of a .229 BABIP.
7	Tigers	83	62	Detroit went 49-43 while being outscored in the first half, but they're playing .642 ball after the break.
8	Cardinals	78	67	Two years and only $21 M for Chris Carpenter seems good, given he's averaging over 4.5 fWAR for '09-11.
9	Diamondbacks	85	61	Willie Bloomquist has received 340 PA for the team, and yet they hold an 8.5 game lead in the NL West. You can't explain that.
10	Angels	80	65	Dan Haren is having a quietly great season. He's even passed Jered Weaver in fWAR (up to 6.1).
11	Braves	84	62	Craig Kimbrel's record streak of appearances without allowing a run was just snapped at 38.
12	White Sox	73	71	Chris Sale (10 K/9, 3 BB/9, 50% GB%) has been like Matt Thorton #2 this year (10 K/9, 3 BB/9, 50% GB%).
13	Dodgers	72	72	Jamey Carroll is the only qualified batter in the majors without a home this year; tied a career high with 5 triples though.
14	Reds	71	74	It's only in part-time duty, but Ryan Hanigan has the best K/BB ratio in baseball for a catcher.
15	Blue Jays	73	73	Outside the AL East, no 3rd place team is above .500. The Jays are (now), and are in 4th.

16	Mets	71	74	RA Dickey as a Met in 2010 and 2011; 361.1 IP of 3.16 ERA ball (FIP ~3.78, xFIP ~3.86). Looking forward to him sitting on 199 wins.
17	Rockies	68	77	The Colorado pitching staff led the majors in fWAR for 2009-10, but is down to just 19th this year.
18	Athletics	66	79	Brandon McCarthy has improved his control enough to post the 4th best BB/9 (1.4) in baseball.
19	Giants	75	70	Tim Lincecum (3.13) is behind both Madinson Bumgarner (2.70) Matt Cain (2.87) in FIP - and he's 10th in the NL.
20	Marlins	65	79	Gaby Sanchez has built on a nice rookie season by upping his walk rate to over 11% - his fWAR's up from 2.3 to 3.0 already.
21	Indians	71	72	Matt LaPorta has been called back up to the majors, where he has yet to post an even average offensive season.
22	Royals	61	86	In the AL Central, only Chicago (6) has more pitchers with at least 2.1 fWAR than Kansas City (3).
23	Padres	62	84	Orlando Hudson is 73rd in the majors in triples this year, which is more relevant if you saw his Intentional Talk segment.
24	Nationals	66	77	For pitchers with at least 50 IP, Tyler Clippard has the highest LOB% in the majors this year at 94.4%.
25	Cubs	63	82	Starlin Castro leads the NL in hits with 186. He's only 39th (of 68 qualified batters) with a .336 OBP.
26	Mariners	61	84	This is the first season of Felix Hernandez's career in which his groundball rate is under 52%.
27	Pirates	66	79	Pittsburgh has/had 4 players with over 200 PA and below 0 fWAR this year (M. Diaz, X. Paul, P. Alvarez, L. Overbay).
28	Orioles	58	86	The O's staff has the worst FIP in the majors (4.65), and they're further from 29th place than 29th is from 23rd.
29	Astros	49	96	JA Happ is 5-15 with a 5.77 ERA, but at least his xFIP is only 4.63. He's 4th on the team in innings pitched.
30	Twins	59	86	Joe Mauer is up to 3 home runs now this year, and has his bat up to league average (100 wRC+).

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Comments

The A’s are above the Giants? Huh…

go rowand

by lincypoo i wuv u on Sep 12, 2011 10:55 PM EDT reply actions

The two teams

Are very close on many areas except record (which favors the Giants – they’re above .500 despite being outscored this year) and league (which favors the A’s).

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

by Daniel Moroz on Sep 14, 2011 6:14 AM EDT up reply actions

I’m pretty sure at this point its not possible for a NL team to top these rankings. Really not sure what else the Phillies could possibly have to do to surpass the Yankees.

by Chewy59 on Sep 13, 2011 1:39 PM EDT reply actions

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