Serious Baseball: Power Rankings
by Frank Bundy
June 28, 2006
Welcome to another edition of Serious Baseball Power Rankings.
For the second consecutive week the Detroit Tigers reign supreme in the
number one slot.
Also, for the second straight week, the Minnesota Twins are the team moved up
the most, climbing eight spots to number nine.
The team the fell the furthest was the Arizona Diamondbacks (2-8 in Last 10
games), down seven slots to number 21.
Make sure to notice the bottom of these rankings where the Kansas City Royals
aren't ranked last, or even second last; they are ranked number 28! That's
right Chicago Cub and Pittsburgh Pirate fans, your favorite team is that
bad. Sorry to break it to you.
Before I go on I want to discuss the Los Angeles Angels. You'll notice
they are up six spots this week, even though they only went 5-5 in their last
ten games, and are six games under .500 for the season. The main reason
for this is that their Pythagorean Record, found over at Baseball
Prospectus.com (BP), has them at two games above .500
with a 39-37 record.
A team's Pythagorean Record is calculated by taking into account each teams
runs scored and runs against totals based on their batting statistics; actual
runs scored and runs against numbers are not used.
Doing this removes all luck from the equation. Then, on top of that, they
adjust each of those totals for the quality of pitching and hitting each team
has faced. Essentially, what this does is adjust for strength of schedule,
but in a much more complicated, yet accurate way. To find out more about
each team's Pythagorean Record see the Current
Adjusted Standings over at BP, scroll to the bottom, read what's there
and follow the links.
Anyhow, without further ado:
| Rank |
Last Week
(+/-) |
Team |
Record
(Last 10) |
Comment |
| 1 |
1
(-) |
 |
52-25
(9-1) |
I'd like to introduce you to the "quiet guy" in
the Tigers lineup: Marcus Thames. How many of you know that he has a
1.039 OPS and 15 HR's this season? |
| 2 |
3
(+1) |
 |
49-26
(9-1) |
Here's another "quiet guy" that I bet you don't
know about: Jermaine Dye. How many of you know that he has a 1.005
OPS and 20 HR's this season? |
| 3 |
4
(+1) |
 |
45-28
(9-1) |
After years of not being able to hit left handed pitchers
well (.647 career OPS against them), Trot Nixon seems to have finally
solved this problem. This season, while not great, the .779 OPS he
has against southpaws (56 AB's) is much better than anybody expected. |
| 4 |
5
(+1) |
 |
43-31
(6-4) |
Jaret Wright has made eleven starts this season and hasn't
gone beyond the sixth inning in any of them. |
| 5 |
2
(-3) |
 |
47-28
(5-5) |
After hitting 27 home runs all last season, David Wright
already has 18 this season. |
| 6 |
9
(+3) |
 |
41-34
(5-5) |
After opponents only managed a .211 batting average against
him in May, Casey Janssen suddenly became much more "hittable"
in June. In the month opposing batters have an astronomical .350
batting average against the right-hander. |
| 7 |
8
(+1) |
 |
41-34
(7-3) |
The A's offense can't seem to start or finish games on the
right foot. By inning, their team OPS does not jump higher than the
.684 mark in the first, seventh, eighth, and ninth inning. In all
other innings they OPS never drops below .779. |
| 8 |
7
(-1) |
 |
40-36
(5-5) |
Vicente Padilla leads all of baseball in hit batters (60)
since 2002. |
| 9 |
17
(+8) |
 |
40-35
(9-1) |
Talk about being "on fire." This month
Justin Morneau has a 1.160 OPS to go along with nine HR's and 25 RBI. |
| 10 |
6
(-4) |
 |
42-33
(3-7) |
It's been a wonderful June for Jaun Encarnacion. In the
month he has posted a .383 batting average to go along with a .988 OPS in 81 AB. |
| 11 |
11
(-) |
 |
40-36
(4-6) |
It is a sad thought that Bill Mueller's latest knee problems
may cause him to call it a career. Let's all hope that isn't the
case. He has been nothing less than a class act his entire
career. |
| 12 |
10
(-2) |
 |
41-35
(4-6) |
What a find Brandon Phillips has been for the Reds this
season. After acquiring him for a player to be named later or cash
from the Cleveland Indians on April 8th, he has batted .313/.357/.465 with 7
HR and 14 SB's as the Reds starting second baseman. |
| 13 |
12
(-1) |
 |
39-36
(5-5) |
San Diego likes to play during the day. In games when
the sun is out they are 17-10. |
| 14 |
13
(-1) |
 |
38-38
(4-6) |
Since May 1st OF Matt Holliday is batting .404/.455/.683
with 11 HR, 30 RBI, and 4 SB's. |
| 15 |
21
(+6) |
 |
38-39
(7-3) |
June will be the first winning month for the Mariners since
2003. |
| 16 |
15
(-1) |
 |
38-39
(6-4) |
This past weekend the Brewers went two consecutive games
without hitting a HR for the first time all season. |
| 17 |
23
(+6) |
 |
35-41
(5-5) |
In his last eight starts SP Kelvim Escobar is 0-7 with a 4.67 ERA
(52 IP). |
| 18 |
19
(+1) |
 |
37-38
(4-6) |
Noah Lowry definitely enjoys pitching at home in the
pitcher-friendly confines of AT&T Park. Although the sample size
isn't large, at home he has a 3.57 ERA in 40 IP, while on the road he has a
6.00 ERA in 15 IP. |
| 19 |
20
(-1) |
 |
34-41
(3-7) |
It's hasn't been a good month for 3B Aaron Boone. In
77 June AB's he is hitting .208/.218/.312 with only 1 HR. |
| 20 |
16
(-4) |
 |
38-39
(3-7) |
The Astros are sure to be happy with the return of Roger
Clemens as he should definitely help them improve upon their starting pitchers'
ERA of 4.65 (9th in the NL). |
| 21 |
14
(-7) |
 |
37-39
(2-8) |
After posting a .620 OPS in April, and a .640 OPS in May, 2B
Orlando Hudson has posted a .967 mark in that category in June. |
| 22 |
24
(+2) |
 |
35-42
(5-5) |
Taking a gamble on
ex-Cub Corey Patterson has worked out in the Orioles favor so far this
season (acquired this past off season for two minor leaguers). In 228 AB's he is batting .289/.333/.443 with 8
HR and an excellent SB/CS ratio of 29/4 (89%). |
| 23 |
22
(-1) |
 |
33-40
(7-3) |
Pitching complete games hasn't been a good thing for
Dontrelle Willis this season. When he has done so his record is
0-2. |
| 24 |
18
(-6) |
 |
35-40
(2-8) |
Among all players in history in their second year, Ryan Howard reached 25
HR's the fastest by accomplishing the feat in only 71 games this
season. |
| 25 |
27
(+2) |
 |
33-44
(6-4) |
Try and forget that he's on a Devil Rays team that can't win
a game for him (4-8 W-L record) and suddenly you see that Mark Hendrickson having a pretty good season for the Devil Rays
with a 3.81 ERA in 89.7 IP. |
| 26 |
25
(-1) |
 |
33-44
(3-7) |
After walking only 17 batters all of last season Chad
Cordero has already issued 14 free passes in 2006. |
| 27 |
26
(-1) |
 |
32-45
(2-8) |
The Braves were recently swept in three consecutive series (Florida Marlins, Boston Red Sox, and Toronto Blue
Jays). This
is a very rare occurrence in Atlanta as the last time that had happened to
them was in 1977. |
| 28 |
30
(+2) |
 |
24-50
(7-3) |
After not winning a single game in all of April and May,
Mark Redman is 5-0 in five June starts with a 3.74 ERA. |
| 29 |
28
(-1) |
 |
28-47
(2-8) |
Juan Pierre is turning out to be an absolutely horrible
acquisition for the Cubs in 2006. Despite 24 stolen bases, the
center fielder is only batting .248/.294/.313 in 310 AB's. |
| 30 |
29
(-1) |
 |
26-51
(0-10) |
Swept by the Royals? It's getting bad out in
Pittsburgh. At least they have a really nice ballpark! |
Thank you for reading. If you have any questions, comments, concerns, or
suggestions, please do not hesitate to email me at frnkbndy@yahoo.com.
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