Major League Baseball (Games through August 13)
1. Detroit Tigers (76-41, Last Week: No. 1)
Detroit still owns baseball’s best record, but no longer appears invincible. The Tigers have lost five straight games, including a sweep by the White Sox, you have to at least entertain the thought that their young roster has hit a wall of sorts.
2. New York Mets (71-45, LW: No. 2)
With the number of streaky clubs in Major League Baseball this year (the Dodgers come to mind first), the Mets’ consistency has to be admired. New York won 16 games each in April, May, and July and 15 in June. Since their 0-6 stretch against the Red Sox and Yankees in late June, the Mets have only lost two series. 3. New York Yankees (68-46, LW: No. 3)
Bobby Abreu and Craig Wilson have played a combined 21 games since their respective trades to the Yankees. The duo is batting .318 with 13 runs scored, three home runs, and five steals in those games.
4. Chicago White Sox (70-46, LW: No. 5)
The White Sox started looking like World Champions again this weekend, sweeping Detroit and cutting their deficit in the AL Central to 5.5 games. Chicago picked a good time to get hot. After four games against the Royals, they’ll ten straight games against the Tigers and Twins.
5. Boston Red Sox (68-48, LW: No. 4)
Chicago isn’t the only Sox team with a tough upcoming schedule; the Red Sox will host Detroit before the Yankees come to Fenway to play a five-game, four-day series that could go a long way in determining the AL East race. Boston and New York won’t play again until the middle of September.
6. Minnesota Twins (68-49, LW: No. 6)
The Twins have a monumental task ahead of them if they intend to secure a playoff spot without the services of Francisco Liriano. This organization would be smart, though, to worry about the security of something else: the future of Liriano’s powerful left arm.
7. Oakland Athletics (65-52, LW: No. 8)
Once again it’s time to play baseball in August. And continuing a long and fascinating tradition, the Oakland Athletics are – with the Dodgers – the hottest team in baseball. Oakland’s started the month 9-2 and should be able to continue rolling this week against Seattle and Kansas City.
8. St. Louis Cardinals (62-55, LW: No. 7)
If Oakland’s the hottest team in the sport, St. Louis might be the coldest. The Cardinal collapse continued this weekend, as the red birds were swept in Pittsburgh. The Cards have now lost 13 of 17 and seen their NL Central lead dwindle to just 1.5 games.
9. Los Angeles Angels (61-57, LW: No. 10)
After striking out eight over six strong innings against the Yankees Sunday, Jered Weaver became the first pitcher to win his first eight career decisions since 1997, when Livan Hernandez accomplished the feat with the Florida Marlins.
10. Los Angeles Dodgers (62-56, LW: No. 13)
It’s strange watching Greg Maddux in a Dodger uniform, but the right-hander certainly looks comfortable in Los Angeles. The 40-year-old has allowed just two runs on nine hits in 20 innings out west and batters are hitting just .141 against him since the trade. In fact, the entire Dodger team has experienced a renaissance of sorts, having won 15 of their last 16 games.
11. Cincinnati Reds (61-57, LW: No. 11)
They won a series against St. Louis last week. This week, the Reds will try to wrestle first place away from the Cardinals at new Busch Stadium. Edwin Encarnacion, Adam Dunn, and Rich Aurilia hit back-to-back-to-back homers off Brett Myers Sunday, the first time three Cincinnati players hit consecutive home runs since October of last year.
12. Toronto Blue Jays (63-55, LW: No. 12)
Troy Glaus needs just six more home runs to match his 2005 total of 37. The third baseman’s career high is 47. Glaus is also hitting at his highest average (.264) since 2000 (.284).
13. San Diego Padres (60-57, LW: No. 9)
Mike Piazza received a handful of standing ovations throughout his emotional return to Shea Stadium last week. Unfortunately for San Diego, the Mets weren’t as kind on the field, sweeping the Padres. The highlights of the week were Piazza’s two homers in the middle game of the series.
14. Texas Rangers (61-58, LW: No. 14)
In between games, Mark DeRosa should take some time to make an appearance on VH1’s Best Week Ever. DeRosa batted .433, scored 8 runs, hit four homers, and drove in 15 runs against Oakland and Seattle this week, highlighted by his two six-RBI nights.
15. Arizona Diamondbacks (59-58, LW: No. 15)
With Jeff DaVanon placed on the 15-day disabled list with a sprained left ankle, Arizona recalled Scott Hairston from Triple-A Tucson. The top prospect was 2-4 with an RBI double and walk in his one appearance with the Diamondbacks in June.
16. Houston Astros (57-60, LW: No. 16)
Jason Hirsh, one of baseball’s top pitching prospects, struggled in his major league debut Saturday, allowing four runs (three homers) and seven hits in four innings. The righty was 13-2 with a 2.10 ERA in 23 starts for the Triple-A Round Rock Express.
17. Philadelphia Phillies (56-60, LW: No. 18)
Ryan Howard is putting up ridiculous numbers. Howard’s .298/.386/.631 line, along with 41 homers and 106 RBI, may just be good enough to challenge for the NL MVP, despite the Phillies underwhelming performance so far this season.
18. Colorado Rockies (57-60, LW: No. 17)
In today’s baseball world, a world full of guilty-before-proven-innocent steroid speculations, the dip in Todd Helton’s power numbers is nothing to ignore. After connecting for 30+ long balls from 1999-2004 – including a couple 40-homer seasons – he’s hit just 32 since the start of 2005, a stretch of 876 at-bats. I’ll save you the math. That’s a difference of one homer per 15.5 at-bats to one every 27.4 trips to the plate.
19. Seattle Mariners (56-61, LW: No. 20)
Last week, Toronto was declared “done.” This week, it’s Seattle. They were never exactly as “in it” as the Blue Jays were, but the Mariners hung around in the AL West race longer than anyone had expected. That said, now nine games back of Oakland, any hopes of meaningful October baseball in Seattle are gone for this year.
20. Milwaukee Brewers (55-62, LW: No. 21)
Carlos Lee hasn’t played a game for the Brewers since July 26, yet still leads the team in home runs and RBI. Bill Hall’s 26 homers and 61 RBI are the closest thing to the 28 and 81 that Lee registered in Milwaukee.
21. San Francisco Giants (54-63, LW: No. 19)
The Giants were the latest victim in the Dodgers’ rampage of the National League and now find themselves 7.5 games back in the NL West. Barry Bonds, meanwhile, remains stuck on home run No. 15.
22. Florida Marlins (55-62, LW: No. 22)
Other players have better numbers and he’ll never be considered for an MVP award on a 55-62 Florida team, but Miguel Cabrera’s season might be just as impressive as any in 2006 considering his age and the even younger players around him.
23. Atlanta Braves (54-62, LW: No. 23)
Three of Atlanta’s next four games will be started by pitchers named Chuck James, Lance Cormier, and Kevin Barry. Not exactly Maddux, Glavine, and Smoltz.
24. Cleveland Indians (53-64, LW: No. 26)
Despite their disappointing season, the Indians look like a team capable of rebounding in the not-too-distant future. No one doubts their offensive firepower and a foursome of C.C. Sabathia, Cliff Lee, Jake Westbrook, and Jeremy Sowers isn’t too shabby itself.
25. Baltimore Orioles (51-67, LW: No. 24)
Baltimore is one of just two American League teams over .500 in one-run games despite a losing record overall. Tampa Bay is the other. Two National League clubs – Houston and Milwaukee – also fall into that category.
26. Washington Nationals (53-64, LW: No. 25)
Lenny Harris is one of those guys who just won’t go away. After collecting a record 212 pinch hits over 18 big league seasons, Harris was released by Florida at the end of spring training. He surfaced again last week when the Nationals hired him as their minor league roving infield instructor.
27. Chicago Cubs (49-68, LW: No. 28)
Juan Pierre’s batting average dropped as low as .229 in mid-May, but his .309 second-half average has brought it up to .283. The centerfielder ranks second in the NL for stolen bases (42), trailing only New York Mets phenom Jose Reyes.
28. Tampa Bay Devil Rays (47-71, LW: No. 27)
After missing nearly three weeks with shoulder problems, Scott Kazmir threw 87 – mostly effective – pitches in his return Friday night against Oakland. For now, it looks like Tampa Bay and Kazmir dodged a huge bullet.
29. Pittsburgh Pirates (45-73, LW: No. 29)
Check out the NL league leaders lately? There’s Freddy Sanchez, still on top with a .346 average. He’s also a virtual lock to hit over 50 doubles and could challenge the 59 that Todd Helton hit in 2000, the most by anyone since the 1930s. Since I know you were wondering . . ., the NL record is 64, set by Joe Medwick in 1936 with the Cardinals.
30. Kansas City Royals (41-77, LW: No. 30)
Mark Teahen might not be the only reason for hope in Kansas City, as David DeJesus is also having a solid season. The outfielder and leadoff hitter is batting .302 and getting on base at a .380 clip.
Robert recently graduated from Pennsylvania State University with a degree in journalism, along with an emphasis in sports journalism from the university's Center for Sports Journalism. Dear Old State also provided him with friends and memories that will last a lifetime. Currently home in New Jersey, Robert's working on taking life's next step, so if you have any tips, feel free to contact him.
He can be reached at robert.ziegler@atomicsportsmedia.com.
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