MLB Power Rankings: Red Sox crack top 10, Astros ascend
By Ben Verlander
FOX Sports MLB Analyst
It was a wild week in Major League Baseball in which we saw the two best teams in the American League square off in the Bronx.
What resulted was the best series of the year thus far and could wind up being the best series of the season when all is said and done. Ultimately, the Astros and Yankees split an intense series in which Houston no-hit the Yankees for the first time since 2003.
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Ben Verlander gives us his MLB Power Rankings after Week 12 of the season, and the Yankees, Padres and Mets lead this week's list.
The Cardinals' offense has scored the third-most runs in the National League this season, with Tommy Edman leading MLB in WAR. This pitching staff has some questions, and with Jack Flaherty not looking like himself and suffering another injury, they might need to find the answers to those questions elsewhere at the trade deadline. But for now, their offense is keeping them in the thick of things.
The Brewers have really impressed the past few weeks. Their team is built around the rotation's Big 3 of Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff and Freddy Peralta. The last two of those have been out for a month, but Milwaukee has found a way to win a lot of ballgames without them. Woodruff is coming back this week, which will certainly help as the Brewers try to separate themselves from the Cardinals in the division.
The Blue Jays have been struggling of late. I still believe in this team and its talent — but at some point, the Jays need to get going. Still, if the season ended today, they would be in the playoffs along with three other AL East teams, and nobody wants to face this offense. Despite not firing on all cylinders, the Blue Jays' offense ranks fourth in MLB in batting average and third in OPS.
The Red Sox are back in the top 10! They've won seven straight games entering this week and are 19-4 in the month of June.
The Braves rank second in baseball in slugging percentage and have hit more home runs than every other team in the National League. They've also struck out more batters than anyone else in the league. That’s a pretty good recipe for success, and in the month of June, there hasn’t been a team much better than the Braves.
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Atlanta takes a 5-3 lead in the bottom of the eighth when Marcell Ozuna goes yard.
Last week, it appeared that the Padres were going to be missing Manny Machado for a while after he suffered a gruesome injury. After some unexpected good news, it turns out the injury wasn’t as bad as it appears, and Machado should be back sometime this week.
Even without Fernando Tatis Jr. and Machado, the Padres are still hanging with the Dodgers in the NL West, and that alone is impressive. The starting pitching has thrown nine shutouts this season — fourth in MLB — and that's what is keeping this team going in the right direction.
The Mets get leapfrogged this week by the Astros, who swept New York on the road. Other than that series this past week, the Mets have looked good and continue to lead the NL East by five games. Against divisional foes this season, the Mets are an incredible 24-9.
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This week on "buy or sell," Ben considers whether the New York Mets are still World Series contenders.
The Dodgers are very good and sit atop the talented NL West, but I have my concerns about this team. The bullpen is struggling to close games with Craig Kimbrel on the mound, and Daniel Hudson, who had been arguably their best arm in the bullpen, is now done for the season due to a torn ACL. The bullpen could be an issue L.A. addresses at the trade deadline, but in the meantime, the offense is doing more than enough to win ballgames.
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Will Smith blasts a game-tying home run against the Braves.
The Astros showed this past week just how good they are. They swept the Mets in Houston and then went on the road and split a series with the Yankees while dominating in every facet of the game.
The Astros' great pitching no-hit the Yankees on Saturday and took a no-hitter deep into the game Sunday. They held the Yankees hitless for 16.1 consecutive innings, the longest hitless streak for a team since 1961.
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Ben Verlander dives into why Houston vs. New York might've been a preview of this year's AL Championship Series.
The Yanks are still holding down that top spot, even after a series in which they didn’t deserve a split. This is still the best team in baseball, and frankly, it hasn’t been very close for much of the season.
The Yankees are on pace to win 117 games and have gotten off to the third-best 73-game start since 1930. The Astros gave them a good fight, but it’s not time to knock the Yankees out of the top spot just yet.
Here’s to another exciting week of Major League Baseball!
Ben Verlander is an MLB Analyst for FOX Sports and the host of the "Flippin' Bats" podcast. Born and raised in Richmond, Virginia, Verlander was an All-American at Old Dominion University before he joined his brother, Justin, in Detroit as a 14th-round pick of the Tigers in 2013. He spent five years in the Tigers organization. Follow him on Twitter @BenVerlander.