MLB Power Rankings for August 22

This edition of the Power Rankings is created by Dalton Allison, Gus Livaditis and me. Last time out, there were only two contributors to this piece, which partially explains why there’s a lot of movement in the order from last time out. The number in parentheses is the team’s ranking in our last segment. On to the list!

T1. Los Angeles Dodgers (6) – Yoshinobu Yamamoto is preparing to    start his rehab assignment, which couldn’t come at a better time. Tyler Glasnow recently was placed on the IL, marking another pitcher of theirs to suffer an injury.  Despite the injury issues, they have continued to maintain their lead atop the NL West. (Dalton)

T1. New York Yankees (T3) – It feels like they haven’t been playing all that great lately but they’re 14-8 in their last 22 games, good for a 103-win pace.  Questions remain if the lineup is deep enough.

3. Philadelphia Phillies (T1) – The Phillies have been treading water, but thanks to inconsistent play from the Mets and injuries from to the Braves, they have managed to keep their post on top of the NL East. July was a tough month for Bryce Harper, but he has begun to come back to form. (Dalton)

4. Baltimore Orioles (T1) – In part due to injuries, the pitching is more of a question mark than you’d like to see from one of the top teams in the league. But that offense can make up for it with the ability to go deep throughout the lineup.

5. Cleveland Guardians (T3) – Best home record in the league, they need to stave off challenges from the Royals and Twins.  Head to head left: Royals 7, Twins 4. (Gus)

6. Milwaukee Brewers (7) – Rookie Jackson Chourio got off to a mediocre start but the 20 year old has been raking the last month. In his last 28 games, Chourio has a .348/.380/.583 slash line, helping to make up for the loss of Christian Yelich

7. San Diego Padres (T3) – Remaining games: Mets 4, Cardinals 4, Rays 3, Tigers 3 (with an off day in the middle of the series? Huh?), Giants 6, Astros 3, Mariners 2, White Sox 3, DBacks 3. Least strikeouts in MLB, they lead in hits by putting the ball in play and putting pressure on the other team. Even the A’s have hit more homeruns than them! (Gus)

8. Houston Astros (T9) – After losing on June 15, the Astros were 32-39. Since then, they’ve gone 36-19 and have opened up a 5-game lead on the Mariners. And the lineup will get a late-season boost with the return of Kyle Tucker, although that might not be until early September.

9. Minnesota Twins (8) – Despite Carlos Correa and Byron Buxton missing time due to injury, the Twins remain in the thick of the playoff picture. Simeon Woods-Richardson has been solid for the Twins recently, tossing a seven inning gem on August 10 against the Cleveland Guardians. (Dalton)

10. Arizona Diamondbacks (T9) – Remaining games: Mets 3, Dodgers 4, Giants 6, Padres 3, Astros 3, Brewers 7, Rangers 2, Rockies 3. They have been bludgeoning everybody lately with a relentless offense, but that is a brutal stretch awaiting them. Can they keep it up? My pick to not make it. (Gus)

11. Kansas City Royals (12) – From 8/23 – 9/11, they play nothing but teams in the playoffs as of now. If they can weather that storm, it gets pretty easy after that with only Atlanta the last weekend. (Gus)

12. Atlanta Braves (T13) – Since our last update the Braves saw the return of Michael Harris from the IL but if they thought their injury woes were over, they were sadly mistaken, as Austin Riley is expected to miss at least the next six weeks with a fractured right hand. He’s expected to miss the rest of the regular season.

13. New York Mets (11) – Following a stretch where the Mets struggled, there seems to be some light at the end of the tunnel. An exciting series victory over the Baltimore Orioles could give them the momentum needed to get ahead in the Wild Card race. (Dalton)

14. Seattle Mariners (T13) – After sweeping the Mets in the beginning of the month, the Seattle Mariners have begun to slip. Their offense, which struggled the series before the Mets but surged while they played against them, has once again started struggling as the Astros have gained a 4.5 game lead on them in the AL West. (Dalton)

15. Boston Red Sox (15) – The offense has been consistent all season, but the pitching is 18th best in ERA, 18th best in strikeouts, but 4th best in walks allowed. And now they are signing Rich Hill! Only 3.5 out of the wildcard, but They have been there all year. (Gus)

16. San Francisco Giants (22) – The Giants continue to hover around .500, mostly due to being a good home team. Even with a loss to the lowly White Sox on Wednesday, the Giants are nine games over .500 at Oracle Park. But their next six games are on the road at SEA and at MIL. Could be a rough week.

17. Cincinnati Reds (20) – The nightly show known as Elly De La Cruz continues to be a walking highlight, but that’s not enough for this team to be successful. As he joined the 60/20 club, the Reds continued to underperform. Once there is some talent added alongside him, this will be a dangerous team. (Dalton)

18. Tampa Bay Rays (19) – Mets fans are grateful to the Rays for sweeping the D’Backs last weekend and hope they can do the same to the Padres when they play them at the end of the month.

19. St. Louis Cardinals (17) – The Cardinals have slipped, dropping eight of their last ten. In a down season for Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt, rookie Masyn Wynn has been a bright spot. (Dalton)

20. Detroit Tigers (21) – Playing out the string, a season with so much promise has shown an offense that is in the bottom third of every offensive statistical category. (Gus)

21. Chicago Cubs (23) – Shota Imanaga continues to show his prowess as a frontline starter for the Cubs. Most recently, he gave up just one run in 5 innings of work. The only issue was that the Cubs provided him zero support, encapsulating a season where they have been a bottom 10 offense. (Dalton)

22. Pittsburgh Pirates (16) – At the trading deadline, the Pirates were 55-52. Since then, they’ve gone 4-15 and fallen into last place in the NL Central. The pitching has been nothing special and only Joey Bart and Oneil Cruz are producing at the plate.

23. Texas Rangers (18) – Jacob DeGrom is coming back! Kumar Rocker has a 0.60 ERA in AA after four starts. And not wanting to give Adolis Garcia a long term deal sure looks good right now. Seager is their only standout offensive player with a .854 OPS. The rest are sevens and sixes. (Gus)

24. Toronto Blue Jays (T25) – The Toronto Blue Jays are disappointing. The bones are there for them to be competitive, as the top half of their lineup produces consistently. However, the bottom half of their lineup has shown cracks the entire season, leading them to be last in a very competitive division. (Dalton)

25. Washington Nationals (24) – The seventh overall position in next year’s draft, their remaining schedule could put them in the top four: pretty brutal. (Gus)

26. Oakland A’s (T25) – The A’s have been playing better this month, with a 9-8 record in August. They’ve been getting better results from their starters, as Joey Estes, JP Sears and Osvaldo Bido have a combined 2.12 ERA over their last 10 games and 63.2 IP.

27. Miami Marlins (28) – Since the trade deadline, the Marlins have given up a bunch of runs in the late innings, with their good relievers sent off to other clubs. Wednesday was just the latest example, as they allowed seven runs in the last three innings, which turned a 6-3 lead into a 10-8 loss to the D’Backs.

28. Los Angeles Angels (27) – They just signed Johnny Cuetto. For what? Isn’t there a kid that you want to see for next year? (Gus)

29. Colorado Rockies (29) – The race for the NL West has been heating up, but things in Colorado have remained ice cold. Ryan McMahon continues to produce for them however, providing incredible defense and an OPS+ of 103. (Dalton)

30. Chicago White Sox (30) – They are 3-8 under the new manager. They were 28-91 under the old one. Improvement! Can’t believe they didn’t sell Crochet. Since the beginning of July, Crochet’s innings per start: 4.0, 2.0, 4.0, 3.0, 4.0, 2.1, 4.0, 4.0. A 6.75 post all-star game ERA, they missed the boat. (Gus)