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. |