Thanks to the Tampa Bay Rays storming out of the gates with a historic 13-0 start, along with their continued excellence thereafter, the number one spot in these power rankings hasn't been contested this season. Some (like me) would argue it's even gotten a bit boring, relatively speaking of course, as this season as a whole has been very exciting.
Now, though, I believe the top spot is in question.
The Rays have lost five of their last eight and just split a home series with the lowly Royals. Go back a few weeks and here's how their last several series have gone:
- Split with the historically bad A's
- Lost two of three to the still-underachieving Padres
- Split with a great Orioles team
- Split with a possibly historically bad Royals team
Eh.
Given that the Official Power Rankings are a snapshot in time, I definitely don't think the Rays should be an automatic number one right now in looking at those last four series. We also need to consider that they've lost Jeffrey Springs for the season and it's possible Drew Rasmussen is also done. Those were two key components in the rotation early this season for the juggernaut Rays.
Of course, if I'm going to demote them, there has to be a team worthy of the ascension to the lofty perch of number one.
The Rangers looked like a challenger for the top spot at a few points this season, but they've gone 7-10 in their last 17 and that included a head-to-head series loss against the Rays.
The Orioles have been up here all season, but they are 4 1/2 games behind the Rays, only have a plus-26 run differential (the Rays' is plus-150) and have gone 5-5 in their last 10.
Usual suspects like the Astros, Dodgers and Yankees just aren't up to snuff this season. Fun, upstart contenders like the Diamondbacks, Marlins and Reds certainly aren't good enough to be labeled the best team in baseball.
I guess the Rays have earned the right to hold onto this thing.
Oh wait, there is one more. In fact ...
Biggest Movers
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As things stand right now, the Braves are tied with the Rays in the loss column, have a triple-digit run differential (plus-107) and have won 17 of their last 20 games. I'd absolutely pick the Braves over the Rays if they squared off in a seven-game series right now and that's long been my tiebreaker if I felt like two teams were incredibly difficult to rank. The Braves just went into Cincy and took two of three against the hottest team in baseball and while they are without two frontline starters in Max Fried and Kyle Wright, they'll get those guys back down the stretch. This is the best team in baseball and a great pick for those looking to place a futures bet on the 2023 World Series champion. | 1 | 50-27 |
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Tyler Glasnow should be the one who mitigates the loss of Springs and I suppose the outing Sunday was a good step forward with Glasnow striking out 12. Still, it was against the Royals and he only lasted five innings. Overall, he has a 4.45 ERA and 1.32 WHIP. If things click and he becomes the Glasnow of old, the Rays look a lot more like that 13-0 squad. | 1 | 54-27 |
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The good news for the Rangers as they go through this lull is that no one else in their division seems to be in a rush to push for first place. | -- | 47-30 |
| 4 |
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Infielder Jordan Westburg is the latest high-upside bat headed to Baltimore. He'll debut Monday against the Reds in a matchup that would've been terrible not too long ago. Now it's must-watch TV for baseball fans. | -- | 47-29 |
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In their last three series, the Giants went 8-2 against the Dodgers, Padres and Diamondbacks. How's that for a statement stretch in June? Also, if we lopped off their 6-13 start (which we can't do in the standings but I can absolutely do if I want to here) and started with everyone there at 0-0, the Giants would have the best record in baseball. | 4 | 44-34 |
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Corbin Carroll continues to play like an MVP while Lourdes Gurriel, Christian Walker and Geraldo Perdomo will have All-Star cases. How about Ketel Marte, though? Remember, he finished fourth in NL MVP voting in 2019. He is absolutely on fire right now. He's scored 27 runs and has driven home 20 in 21 games this month. He's hitting .333 with six homers in June. | 1 | 47-32 |
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Excellent bounce-back week after the Giants humiliated them last week. Now the Dodgers can really feast before the All-Star break. They play three in Colorado and three in Kansas City before coming home to face the Pirates and Angels, the latter of which is only a two-game series. They very likely won't win out, but I also wouldn't be totally shocked if they did. We've seen them rip off absurd stretches of winning plenty of times before. | 3 | 43-34 |
| 8 |
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Power rankings trivia time! Stump your friends who don't read these (and then shame them for not reading). George Springer hit his 55th career leadoff homer on Sunday. He's second all-time and one of four players with at least 50 leadoff homers. Can you name the other three with 50-plus leadoff homers? The answer is in the A's comment. | 4 | 43-36 |
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Rookie sensation Eury Perez has now made nine starts in the majors -- after skipping Triple-A entirely -- and is 5-1 with a 1.34 ERA and 0.98 WHIP. | 2 | 45-34 |
| 10 |
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No, I'm still not changing my AL West prediction. The Astros will win it. | 1 | 42-36 |
| 11 |
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Harrison Bader is back and the Yankees had a 4-2 week against two playoff hopefuls, but I can't shake this being one of the worst on-base teams in baseball and the possibility that Aaron Judge misses most of the rest of the season. | 3 | 43-35 |
| 12 |
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They won 12 in a row and then battled their asses off in two one-run losses to the best team in baseball. If I ranked the teams by how fun they are to watch right now, the Reds would be sitting at the top. I especially love seeing Great American Ball Park rocking the way it was all weekend. Awesome. | 4 | 41-37 |
| 13 |
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Ranger Suárez has long had ace upside and we might be seeing the leap into ace territory right now. He started the season injured and wasn't good in his first three starts. In his five starts since then, however, he has a 1.38 ERA. It's a stretch of starts where he's faced the Dodgers, Diamondbacks and Braves, too. | 5 | 40-37 |
| 14 |
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That run differential is going to be misleading for a bit now, thanks to that 25-1 win in Colorado. The Angels outscored the Rockies 32-12 in a three-game series and lost two of the three games. | 8 | 42-37 |
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Bill Parcells was the Patriots coach when he coined the simple and astute phrase, "you are what your record says you are." Sticking in New England with these Red Sox, they haven't been able to separate themselves much from .500 for over a month. They are only one game over .500 after a 3-4 trip against two AL Central teams. Lots of things about this team say they are mediocre, especially the record. We've got to believe Bill and call this team mediocre. | 2 | 40-39 |
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OK, so the Twins have won four of five and are back over .500 while holding first place. That's good! Now, let me look at the upcoming schedule and---- UH OH. The Twins head to Atlanta and then Baltimore this week. I guess the Central leader will be sub-.500 next week at this time! | 2 | 40-39 |
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In 2021, Corbin Burnes had a 2.43 ERA and 0.94 WHIP. Through 23 starts last season, Burnes had a 2.39 ERA and 0.92 WHIP. In his 25 starts since then, Burnes has a 4.17 ERA and 1.15 WHIP. | 2 | 40-37 |
| 18 |
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The Cubs have gone 11-3 since I bashed them pretty strongly here on CBS Sports. A lot of things are going very well and they are only three games out of first. | 2 | 37-39 |
| 19 |
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They got within two games twice this past week -- and subsequently lost -- and the Guardians still haven't been at .500 since they were 13-13. They haven't been over since 10-9. And yet, they could very well be in first place before we flip the calendar to July. | 2 | 37-40 |
| 20 |
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The season-altering 14-game winning streak last season started with the Mariners' 80th game. They've played 76 games this season. The Nats are in town for a three-game series starting Monday. Now is as good a time as any, right? | 3 | 37-39 |
| 21 |
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It's still too early to declare them finished or anything, especially with this much talent. Those two straight walk-off losses to the Giants felt like they could possibly be back-breakers for the season, though. It just looked like everything was going right and then they lost three of four that series before dropping two of three at home to the Nats. Something is broken. | 6 | 37-41 |
| 22 |
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Lefty Tyler Holton was a ninth-round pick in 2018. He worked his way up to the majors last season and appeared in 10 games with the Diamondbacks. The Tigers selected him off waivers in February. He's now sporting a 2.03 ERA and 0.95 WHIP in 40 innings. Nice little story. | 1 | 33-43 |
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I suppose if you wanted to be optimistic you could point out the Cardinals have won five of seven and still are only 8 1/2 games out of first after all this poor play. Of course, those last seven games were against sub-.500 teams and they now get 10 straight games against teams with winning records. | 1 | 32-45 |
| 24 |
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How many times can we use the "rock bottom" phrasing around one team? It should only be once, if we're gonna get pedantic about what "rock bottom" actually means. And yet, the Mets keep getting lower. Buck Showalter is not the only reason the Mets have disappointed in a major way this season, but he's one of the problems. He's also the easiest one to fix. There's no reason to keep him on as manager right now. Not a good reason, at least. | 1 | 35-42 |
| 25 |
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Jake Burger is hitting .222 with a .540 slugging percentage. He has 17 homers and 72 strikeouts in 198 at-bats. Oh man, I really love where this is headed. Rob Deer, baby! | 1 | 34-45 |
| 26 |
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Two weeks ago, the Pirates were in first place. They've since lost 12 of 13. They've scored 15 runs in their last nine games combined. | 4 | 35-42 |
| 27 |
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Nice "revenge" game from former Padre MacKenzie Gore on Sunday, striking out nine against his former team. There's certainly been enough good from him and Josiah Gray to believe they are part of the foundation of a future rotation. | 1 | 30-47 |
| 28 |
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The Rockies have never had a 100-loss season. Just a game shy of the halfway point, they are on pace to lose 99. | 1 | 31-49 |
| 29 |
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The Royals date back to 1969. Their worst team ever was the 106-loss squad in 2005. They are on pace to lose 116 right now. | 1 | 22-56 |
| 30 |
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Back on schedule here after the incredibly dumb departure. Since the seven-game winning streak, the A's have gone 1-10. They are now on pace to go 41-121. MORE IMPORTANTLY: The trivia answer, from the Blue Jays comment above, has, obviously, Rickey Henderson (mostly of A's fame!) at the top with 81 career leadoff homers. Springer is second with 55, Alfonso Soriano follows with 54 and Craig Biggio is fourth all-time with 53. | 1 | 20-60 |
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June 26, 2023 at 07:13PM
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MLB Power Rankings: Braves knock Rays out of No. 1 spot, Giants move into top five - CBS Sports
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