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RE: MLB Power Rankings: Lots of Movement, Just Not at the Top
Astros should be #1. Yankees/Sox have better records, but Astros have a historic run differential per game and rate out as a ~110 win team. Record after 45-50 games is subject to more variance than run differential.
My top 5:
- astros
- yankees
- red sox
- braves
- cubs
Kinda don't think any other team is close to those. Maybe the Indians, think they've mostly been unlucky so far, and maybe the Phillies/Nationals, but there is generally a large gap after those teams.
Fair enough - I can't really argue with that, I have been extremely impressed with what the Astros continue to do and I thought pretty long about bumping them up to the top spot this week but ultimately kept the top 3 the same. The Yankees are still 21-4 in their last 25 games and they did take 3 of 4 from the Astros in Houston as part of that hot streak a few weeks back, so that's why they stay in the top spot for now. But honestly I can't really argue for any order you want to put the Astros, Yankees, and Red Sox in, as long as those are the top 3, because those are far and away the top 3 in baseball IMO. After those 3 though there is a pretty substantial drop-off. NL is just wide open at this point. I really like what the Phillies have been able to do thus far, and the Nationals certainly have the talent but they've been way too inconsistent. The Braves offense has been real impressive and the Indians have the potential to have a big second half again like last year, but the rest of the AL is so good I don't see them doing anything in the postseason. The Brewers have some potential if they can stay healthy, and that whole NL Central is interesting. I think Milwaukee and Chicago will be the two to distance themselves as the season goes on but we shall see. Thanks for checking out the post.
Just hopping back in to post the RPI of each team:
Given their run differential, RPI estimates the Astros should be 41-11. That's a ~128 win team! Have never seen anything like this. I think there's decent evidence their pitching staff is doctoring baseballs using pine tar (check out Trevor Bauer's tweetstorm on it with Buster Olney basically saying "who cares, it's not an enforced rule"), but regardless this is a historically good team, maybe the best of all time even.
Thanks for the great info - it is truly remarkable what the Astros have been able to do thus far. I appreciate the article as well - check out the updated power rankings, the latest edition will be out a little later today. I'm with you though, I've never seen anything like this either, it should be interesting to see how the pitching continues to perform going forward.