Major League Baseball Power Rankings, May 1, 2017

For an explanation of how the SD Score is calculated, see below. Teams will take big jumps forwards and backwards in the first month as the stat ‘sample size’ is small.

1 – Washington Nationals (17-8); SD Score +2.23, Ranking Last Week – 1

Opponents – at Rockies (3-1), vs Mets (1-2)

The Nationals are just a scary team for opponents and they dropped 23 on the Mets yesterday. 23.

2 – New York Yankees (15-8); SD Score +2.77 Ranking Last Week – 4

Opponents – at Red Sox (2-0), vs Orioles (2-1)

The Yankees beat their biggest competition in the AL East this week and are tied for the division lead. They’ll have a chance to have sole possession of the lead if they can beat up on Toronto this week.

3 – Houston Astros (16-9); SD Score +1.63 , Ranking Last Week – 2

Opponents – at Indians (1-2), vs A’s (2-1)

Houston is a really good team, but they need to get better in one-run games as they went 0-3 in those games this week.

4 – Cleveland Indians (14-10); SD Score +1.01, Ranking Last Week – 7

Opponents – vs Astros (2-1), vs Mariners (2-1)

Cleveland beat two good clubs this week, especially the Astros. The Indians are looking like they have hit their stride.

5 – Colorado Rockies (16-10); SD Score -0.67, Ranking Last Week – 5

Opponents – vs Nationals (1-3), at Diamondbacks (2-1)

The Rockies weren’t able to win the Nationals series, but they were able to hold off Arizona and maintain their hold on the NL West.

6 – Arizona Diamondbacks (16-11); SD Score +1.45, Ranking Last Week – 6

Opponents – vs Padres (3-1), vs Rockies (1-2)

I think Arizona is petitioning the MLB front office to play San Diego every week.

7 – Baltimore Orioles (15-8); SD Score +0.24, Ranking Last Week – 3

Opponents – vs Rays (2-1), at Yankees (1-2)

The Orioles weren’t able to hold off the Yankees, but are still tied for the AL East lead.

8 – Chicago Cubs (13-11) SD Score +1.05, Ranking Last Week – 8

Opponents – at Pirates (2-1), at Red Sox (1-2)

The Cubs continued their ways of staying above defeat just enough to lead the division. They have an interesting series with the Phillies this week.

9 – Chicago White Sox (13-10); SD Score +1.34, Ranking Last Week – 19

Opponents – vs Royals (3-0), at Tigers (2-1)

The White Sox rebounded this week, but need to keep it going. 

10 – Los Angeles Dodgers (14-12) SD Score +1.41, Ranking Last Week – 12

Opponents – at Giants (2-2), vs Phillies (3-0)

Los Angeles has been playing very well as of late and their lineup has been stellar.

11 – Boston Red Sox (13-11); SD Score +0.34, Ranking Last Week – 10

Opponents – vs Yankees (0-2), vs Cubs (2-1)

Again Boston didn’t bring their A game against an AL East opponent, but are still very much in the mix for the AL East title.

12 – Minnesota Twins (12-11); SD Score +0.46, Ranking Last Week – 16

Opponents – at Rangers (2-1), at Royals (2-0)

Minnesota definitely looked better this week and got above .500.

13 – Philadelphia Phillies (11-12); SD Score +0.50, Ranking Last Week – 15

Opponents – vs Marlins (2-0), at Dodgers (0-3)

The Phillies have been a little up and down, but they are competing well in the NL East.

14 – Miami Marlins (11-12); SD Score +0.18, Ranking Last Week – 9

Opponents – at Phillies (0-2), vs Pirates (1-2)

The Marlins had a definite sub-par week, but looks to get things back on track against the Rays.

15 – Texas Rangers (11-14) SD Score +0.48, Ranking Last Week – 13

Opponents – vs Twins (1-2), vs Angels (1-2)

Not the best week for the Rangers as they were unable to get back to .500 and lost some ground.

16 – Tampa Bay Rays (12-14); SD Score +0.10, Ranking Last Week – 14

Opponents – at Orioles (1-2), at Blue Jays (1-2)

The Rays weren’t able to play well in this week’s division games and it cost them.

17 – Milwaukee Brewers (13-13); SD Score -0.05, Ranking Last Week – 22

Opponents – vs Reds (3-0), vs Braves (1-2)

The Brewers’ offense has been very good, but the same can’t be said about the pitching. Eric Thames is back in the lineup after an injury scare and is still lighting it up.

18 – St. Louis Cardinals (12-12) SD Score -0.31, Ranking Last Week – 20

Opponents – vs Blue Jays (2-1), vs Reds (1-1)

The Cardinals are .500 but they’ve won 9 of their last 12.

19 – Detroit Tigers (12-12); SD Score -1.31, Ranking Last Week – 17

Opponents – vs Mariners (1-2), vs White Sox (1-2)

The Tigers are still sliding as they need to get back on track quickly.

20 – Los Angeles Angels (14-13); SD Score -0.60, Ranking Last Week – 26

Opponents – vs A’s (3-0), at Rangers (2-1)

The Angels have been more consistent as they have now won 7 of their last 9 games.

21 – Cincinnati Reds (11-13); SD Score -0.34, Ranking Last Week – 11

Opponents – at Brewers (0-3), at Cardinals (1-1)

Cincinnati continues to struggle in divisional games and has lost 8 of the last 10 games.

22 – Atlanta Braves (10-13); SD Score -0.12, Ranking Last Week – 27

Opponents – at Mets (2-0), at Brewers (2-1)

The Braves have played surprisingly better, winning four of their last five and scoring 39 runs in that span.

23 – Pittsburgh Pirates (11-13); SD Score -1.08, Ranking Last Week – 25

Opponents – at Cubs (1-2), vs Marlins (2-1)

After a difficult series with the Cubs, the Pirates are playing better and again hovering around .500.

24– Seattle Mariners (11-15); SD Score -0.44, Ranking Last Week – 21

Opponents – at Tigers (2-1), at Indians (1-2)

Seattle continues to hover around .500 each week, but they had a tough schedule this week.

25 – Oakland A’s (11-14); SD Score -1.54, Ranking Last Week – 18

Opponents – at Angels (0-3), at Astros (1-2)

The A’s have lost six of the last seven games and are not doing well in the AL West.

26 – New York Mets (10-14); SD Score -1.73, Ranking Last Week – 23

Opponents – vs Braves (0-2), at Nationals (2-1)

New York has slipped into last place, but it’s still early. They fared well against the Nationals, so that’s a positive.

27 – San Diego Padres (11-16); SD Score -2.15, Ranking Last Week – 28

Opponents – at Diamondbacks (1-3), at Giants (2-1)

The Padres are playing a little better than originally advertised and Wil Myers is hitting well.

28 – Toronto Blue Jays (8-17); SD Score -1.13, Ranking Last Week – 30

Opponents – at Cardinals (1-2), vs Rays (2-1)

The Blue Jays need a winning streak or they will be in last for a long time.

29 – San Francisco Giants (9-17); SD Score -1.98, Ranking Last Week – 29

Opponents – vs Dodgers (2-2), vs Padres (1-2)

The Giants don’t have consistency anywhere and Bumgarner is out until at least July.

30 – Kansas City Royals (7-16); SD Score -1.75, Ranking Last Week – 24

Opponents – at White Sox (0-3), vs Twins (0-2)

The Royals have not been able to get on track. They have lost 10 of their last 11 games, including 9 in a row.

SD Score explanation:

Run production is one of the best measures of how a team is performing and how dominant or bad they are.

The formula takes each team’s runs scored and runs allowed totals and how many standard deviations from the league average they are.

Example: 1927 Yankees

The 27 Yankees score 975 runs (1927 AL average was 762 and SD of team runs for the AL was about 115). Take the difference from the league average (975-762=213) and divide by the SD (115), the 1927 Yankees were 1.85 SD above the league average in runs scored.

They allowed 599 runs (the SD in runs allowed for the 1927 AL was about 88.5), which was 163 runs less than the league average. 163/88.5 gives us a 1.84 SD above the league average in runs allowed.

Add 1.85 and 1.84 to get a final SD Score of +3.69 for the 1927 Yankees, which is amazing.

(SD ranking explanation found in “Baseball Dynasties: The Greatest Teams of All Time” by Rob Neyer and Eddie Epstein)