Major League Baseball Power Rankings Week 18: An Overview – Part 2
Texas Rangers slipped one place to Number five this week. The Rangers are a strong batting unit and have a decent pitching outfit.
Derek Holland has been in sublime form for the Rangers, having on all of his previous three starts. His win-loss record now stands at 10-4.
Rangers have enjoyed a decent start to the second half of the season with a 10-7 record thus far. The drop in their ranking can be attributed to a tied series with the Minnesota Twins followed by a series loss to the Toronto Blue Jays at home.
American League West division leaders Texas will now take on Detroit Tigers who are leaders in AL Central.
Atlanta Braves have an average bull-pen but their team work has been their strength. The Braves slipped out of the top five this week citing three losses in their previous five encounters.
Their win-loss record for the season, nonetheless, is exceptional at 63-47 but it is their hard luck that they are placed in the same division as Philadelphia Phillies who have dominated the National League East division and MLB with a win-loss record of
69-39.
The Braves, even after such hard work, find themselves seven games behind the Phillies. With the leaders’ spot out of sight, Atlanta would want to assure itself of a playoffs spot.
Los Angeles Angels hold on to their seventh spot for the second week running. They have had a mixed second half so far with eight losses in 17 outings.
The Angels lost four of their first five games after the All-Star break but then came back strong with a couple of three-game winning streaks. However, they have now lost two of their previous three games and would want a good series with the Minnesota Twins
and Seattle Mariners before they face the New York Yankees.
Milwaukee Brewers showed improvement this week and are now on a seven-game winning streak. Six of those wins were against the 29th and 30th placed Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros but at this level, that does not really matter. What
does matter is that the Brewers gave away just 10 runs in those six games, two of which were shut-outs.
The Brewers have an outright chance to further improve their standings in MLB with a three-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals (the Brewers have won the first game) followed by a three-game series with the Astros on the road and then another three-game
series with the Cardinals.
If Milwaukee does manage to elevate its winning streak, they are well set for a place in the top five sooner than later. Home has been their strength (40-14) and they would look to capitalise on that.
St. Louis Cardinals slipped one place to the ninth spot this week after an ordinary performance in the past few games. They are placed second behind the Brewers in the NL Central and need to improve their home record further to give the division leaders
a tough time.
Unlike the Brewers, the Cardinals have been decent on the road. They have a bright chance of ousting the Brewers when both teams play at the Busch Stadium next week. Kyle Lohse and Jaime Garcia will be the key for the Cardinals in their upcoming games.
Continued in Part 3
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