Major League Baseball Power Rankings: Week 14 – Part 2
6. The Tampa Bay Rays improve one place to take the sixth spot in the power rankings for week 14. The Rays have had an inconsistent season where they have seen highs of the Number one spot and the lows till the 27th spot.
The past few games have been fruitful for the Rays and their win-loss record is now at a decent 49-39 for the season. Ben Zobrist and Evan Longoria have been their stars and they would want the two to continue for the Rays to enter the top five.
The Rays are hard pressed by the Cleveland Indians for the sixth spot in the rankings who have staged a theatrical improvement.
7. The Cleveland Indians have jumped five places from the 12th spot to capture the seventh spot in the MLB weekly power rankings. The Indians have won six of their last ten games and this has been a major boost for the bull-pen.
Their feat can be gauged from the fact that they are currently at the top of the American League Central Division. This improvement has come largely due to the efforts of Asdrubal Cabrera who has scored more than 50 runs and RBIs this season with the highest
batting average for the Indians.
The pitchers have shifted gears with Josh Tomlin, Chris Perez and Justin Masterson teaming to tear down the best of the batting line-ups.
The season still has plenty left in it for the Indians to jump further up.
8. The Los Angeles Angels are right behind the Cleveland Indians on the eighth spot. They have also hopped five places from 13 to gain the eighth rank. Angels are now just three places away from their season-high ranking of five. With this pace, that does
not seem a distant possibility.
Their improvement comes as a result of their performance in the last 14 games. The Angels registered 11 wins of the 14 games helped by Vernon Wells’ superb hitting.
Los Angeles Angels now share the first position in the AL Western Division with the Texas Rangers.
9. St. Louis Cardinals have recorded the most exponential growth in rankings this week. They have improved six places from the 15th position to the ninth, largely owing to the sudden positivity in the bull-pen.
With a win-loss record of 47-43 and Albert Pujols returning from the disabled list earlier than expected, the Cardinals are now aiming to quickly improve on their season-high third spot in the power rankings.
Further to their advantage, Chris Carpenter has returned to form at the mound just at the right time. He has registered three wins in as many starts at an ERA of 0.75. With this sort of momentum, the Cardinals are posing a serious threat to the top teams.
10. The Milwaukee Brewers have lost four positions to land at the tenth spot from their previous sixth position. Their dreadful performance in the last ten games (4-6) has been the primary reason for this nosedive.
The Brewers have been decent playing at home but road games just do not seem to be their thing this season. In their last two series on the road, their record was 1-5 which is way below their standard given that they lead the National League Central Division.
They need a quick resurgence of form to eradicate this lean patch and get back to winning ways.
Continued in Part 3
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