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BtB Power Rankings

There are a lot of ways to do power rankings. You can just go by current records - the "standings method". There are complicated formulas you can use to try to figure out the try talent level of each team. You can pro-rate using pre-season projections. We're just going with the simple runs scored and runs allowed (through Saturday's games) - Pythagorean records - with some manual adjustments where they seem appropriate*.

* Team A being ranked above Team B does not mean Team A will necessarily finish with a better record than Team B. But it does mean I hate Team B, and am biased against them.

Rank Team Wins Losses RS RA Pythag W Pythag L
1 Rangers 7 1 55 26 6 2
2 White Sox 5 3 56 46 5 3
3 Yankees 5 3 50 43 5 3
4 Phillies 6 2 56 33 6 2
5 Giants 4 4 36 26 5 3
6 Reds 6 2 53 34 6 2
7 Blue Jays 5 3 43 27 6 2
8 Rockies 5 2 35 22 5 2
9 Braves 4 5 32 32 5 5
10 Brewers 4 5 32 38 4 5
11 Tigers 3 5 38 45 3 5
12 Red Sox 1 7 29 53 2 6
13 Athletics 3 5 24 27 4 4
14 Dodgers 5 3 26 31 3 5
15 Orioles 6 2 35 29 5 3
16 Angels 4 4 36 33 4 4
17 Marlins 5 3 36 36 4 4
18 Cubs 4 4 33 36 4 4
19 Indians 6 2 46 33 5 3
20 Cardinals 2 6 21 33 2 6
21 Twins 3 5 21 36 2 6
22 Royals 5 3 40 40 4 4
23 Rays 1 7 19 38 2 6
24 Padres 3 4 25 25 4 4
25 Mets 4 4 41 44 4 4
26 Diamondbacks 3 4 34 31 4 3
27 Nationals 3 5 29 39 3 5
28 Pirates 5 4 32 35 4 5
29 Mariners 2 6 25 41 2 6
30 Astros 1 7 28 54 2 6


Comments:

  • The Rangers seem to pretty clearly be the best team in the early going.
  • The Red Sox and Rays have gotten off to pretty horrendous starts, but both are still good teams that have suffered from some poor luck (Tampa Bay offense is posting a .195 BABIP, and Boston isn't that much better at .252). The Sox pitching should pick up from their MLB worst 7.09 ERA and 7.04 FIP, eventually.
  • The Blue Jays have been very impressive, with one of the better pitching staffs around so far (2.78 ERA, 2.85 FIP, 3.15 xFIP). They're not on pace to hit 400 home runs though, which is a bit of a disappointment after 2010.
  • Howie Kendrick (MLB leading 0.9 fWAR) has led an Angels offense that is hitting well but hasn't been putting a ton of runs on the board (relative to their .297/.352/.477 line). They may have worked out some bullpen issues as well, with Jordan Walden replacing Fernando Rodney in the 9th inning.
  • Several Royals are mashing (Billy Butler especially at .414/.528/.690), which has made up for the lack of pitching. If they continue to score runs, that should help tide fans over until all those top prospects start arriving in Kansas City.
  • The Orioles have largely relied on a .243 BABIP against to help out their run prevention unit - which has still been solid. The offense, not so much. Both should regress towards league average going forward.
  • The Nationals have had some trouble scoring runs despite a major league best 12.2% walk rate. Matt Stairs has pinch-hit in five games. He's 0-2 with 3 walks.
  • The Twins haven't hit (.206 average off of a .249 BABIP), gotten on base (6.7% walk rate), or hit for power (12 extra-base hits). They're actually pretty lucky to be 3-5 (thanks to a 4.30 ERA vs. a 5.28 FIP), but a line-up with Mauer and Morneau should hit sooner or later.
  • In Cleveland, Cabreras Asdrubal and Orlando have combined for 3 home runs. That doesn't sound like much, but they only had 7 between them in almost 1,000 plate appearances last year.