As we near the conclusion of the NBA and NFL playoffs, baseball will soon become America’s most watched sport for the remainder of the summer.
Let’s take a look at the landscape of the MLB two months into the season. As always, the number in parenthesis next to the team name is where that club was ranked in the previous edition.
1. St. Louis Cardinals (1) – The model of consistency holds the top spot for consecutive rankings, the first team to do so on ATC this season.
2. Los Angeles Dodgers (4)
3. New York Yankees (11) – It’s still too early to tell with regards to playoff hopes, but for the time being the Yankees are disproving the popular opinion that the team is too old to make any noise in 2015.
4. New York Mets (9)
5. Kansas City Royals (6) – Kansas City is back atop the AL Central, but the division is one of the most competitive in baseball and that doesn’t appear to be changing any time soon.
6. Houston Astros (3)
7. Tampa Bay Bays (15)
8. Pittsburgh Pirates (14)
9. Toronto Blue Jays (24) – The Blue Jays made the biggest jump from the previous rankings, moving up 15 positions thanks to an 11-game winning streak, which ties the club record.
10. Chicago Cubs (10)
11. San Francisco Giants (7)
12. Minnesota Twins (2) – The Twins have bounced around the Power Rankings this season, suggesting that no one really knows just how good this team is yet. Check back in August for more information.
13. Texas Rangers (12)
14. Washington Nationals (5) – It has already been a rollercoaster season for the Nationals, but injuries and egos will likely prevent stability from occurring for any long stretch in the District in 2015.
15. Detroit Tigers (13)
16. Los Angeles Angels (8)
17. Baltimore Orioles (20) – Not wanting to be outpaced, Baltimore, like its AL East counterparts New York and Toronto, is one of the hottest teams in baseball over the past two weeks.
18. San Diego Padres (21)
19. Atlanta Braves (16)
20. Cleveland Indians (19) – Once the NBA finals are over, fans in Cleveland will return to the park and realize that their team is just mediocre.
21. Cincinnati Reds (22)
22. Arizona Diamondbacks (17)
23. Chicago White Sox (23)
24. Miami Marlins (27)
25. Seattle Mariners (18) – Expectations for this team may have been too high, but Seattle is struggling even by normal standards.
26. Colorado Rockies (25)
27. Oakland Athletics (28)
28. Boston Red Sox (26) – The Red Sox are No. 29 in the league in ERA and No. 22 in runs scored, which is as good a way of any to explain why the team is last in the AL East currently.
29. Milwaukee Brewers (30)
30. Philadelphia Phillies (29)
– K. Becks
