Major League Baseball Power Rankings: Week 8 - Part 1
The Philadelphia Phillies have finally been knocked off the first place in the Major League Baseball Power Rankings, after spending more than a few comfortable weeks in the most sought after position.
The Cleveland Indians take their place with a 29-15 record. The just recently swept away Kansas City Royals and the Cincinnati Reds while suffering two defeats at the hands of the Chicago Cubs in between. This is the first time since the season began that
the Indians have captured the Number one position.
The Philadelphia Phillies settled for the second spot with a 28-18 record after the Indians took their enviable position. Their offense and scoring in particular is still the biggest shortcoming of the team that boasts of one of the best pitching rotations
in history. Maybe the Phillies would be able to come up with more than three runs per game with the return of the five times All Star Chase Utley who hasn’t played this season due to knee complications.
The Boston Red Sox made quite a leap as they moved from last week’s sixteenth position to this week’s third one with a 25-21 record. Their humiliating start of this season is on its way to being forgotten courtesy of the efforts from Josh Beckett, Jon Lester
and Clay Buchholz who are holding the team together without the presence of two starters who have made their way to the Disabled List.
The Tampa Bay Rays slid to the fourth spot after the Red Sox captured their previous one. They have a 26-21 record. The Rays barely avoided their fifth sweep against the Florida Marlins in the fourteen trips they’ve made to Florida thanks to James Shields
and his complete games.
The St. Louis Cardinals claimed the fifth spot with a 28-20 record as they boast one of the most potent offence in baseball. Albert Pujols, arguably the best player in baseball, seems to be contributing in whatever way he can to the team before he hits the
free agent market where he might end up going to another team.
The New York Yankees remain where they were last week and it looks like the whole Jorge Posada fiasco didn’t affect their performance on the field. The Bronx Bombers are doing justice to their nickname as they lead all of baseball with the highest slugging
percentage and maximum number of home runs belted out.
The reigning World Series Champions, the San Francisco Giants slip down a few spots to land on the seventh position with a 27-19 record. The Giants have had strong performances and very recently swept away the Oakland Athletics. Tim Lincecum, pitcher par
excellence, left everyone speechless as he retired 21 batters in the second game of the series against the Athletics. Ryan Vogelsong is also pleasantly surprising everyone as he continues to excel in May with a 2.0 ERA in the duration of over 22 innings pitched.
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