2016 Week 9 MLB Power Rankings
— -- It's the same story at the top of the rankings, as the Chicago Cubs remain the only No. 1 team we've had this season -- nine weeks and counting.
Two of the biggest movers this week come from the A.L. West and the state of Texas, with the Texas Rangers (up from No. 8 to No. 5) and the Houston Astros (up from No. 24 to No. 18) both making moves up the rankings. Both teams swept division rivals for the week, with the Rangers taking over first after winning three straight over the Seattle Mariners, and the Astros taking three in a row from the Oakland A's.
Headed in the other direction? The Philadelphia Phillies, who have lost eight of 10 games and dropped from No. 19 to No. 22.
This week's voters are Jim Bowden of ESPN Insider, Eric Karabell of ESPN Fantasy, Tim Kurkjian of ESPN, David Schoenfield of the SweetSpot Blog Network/ESPN.com and Jayson Stark of ESPN.com. Most of the team comments come courtesy of the SweetSpot Blog Network.
Past rankings: Week 8 | Week 7 | Week 6 | Week 5 | Week 4 | Week 3 | Week 2 | Week 1 | Preseason
1. Chicago Cubs
Record: 39-16
Week 8 ranking: No. 1
Jake Arrieta saw his winning streak of 20 straight decisions end on Sunday, falling four short of the MLB record. Despite dropping both games that Arrieta started, the Cubs went 5-2 on the week. -- Joe Aiello ( @VFTB), View from the Bleachers
2. San Francisco Giants
Record: 35-24
Week 8 ranking: No. 3
News of Hunter Pence's torn hamstring is cause for dismay. The veteran outfielder will likely miss two months and Bruce Bochy will need to get creative in filling the hole left by Pence's absence. -- Jeff Wiser ( @OutfieldGrass24), Inside the 'Zona
3. Boston Red Sox
Record: 33-24
Week 8 ranking: No. 2
Before this season, knuckleballer Steven Wright had pitched 823 innings combined in the high minors and MLB. It looks like something has clicked for Wright, who got his chance to prove himself a rotation mainstay this season. He held the Orioles and Blue Jays without a homer in 14 combined innings last week, and now has a 2.29 ERA on the season. -- Ryan P. Morrison ( @ryanpmorrison), Inside the 'Zona
4. Washington Nationals
Record: 34-23
Week 8 ranking: No. 5
Daniel Murphy just keeps hitting. The Nats second baseman went 9-for-25 on the week, with three homers, seven runs scored and seven RBIs. Not surprisingly, the two games the Nats lost, Murphy went 0-for-4. -- ESPN.com
5. Texas Rangers
Record: 34-22
Week 8 ranking: No. 8
Jurickson Profar, thought to be a one-week call-up while Rougned Odor served his seven-game suspension, remains on the active roster for now. And why not? With Profar leading off, the Rangers offense has scorched into first place in the AL West. -- Brandon Land ( @onestrikeaway), One Strike Away
6. New York Mets
Record: 31-24
Week 8 ranking: No. 6
A week ago, Matt Harvey had an ERA over six and seemed on the verge of a minor league demotion. However, in his last two starts he's allowed one run on six hits and one walk in 14 innings, lowering his ERA below five, and seems back to to his dominant self. -- Joe Janish ( @metstoday ), MetsToday.com
7. Seattle Mariners
Record: 31-25
Week 8 ranking: No. 7
The Mariners pulled off the largest comeback in franchise history Thursday, coming from 10 runs down to stun the Padres. They couldn't carry the momentum into the weekend though, as they dropped three straight to the Rangers. The team is looking to get CF Leonys Martin and SS Ketel Marte back this week from the DL. -- Jeff Wiser ( @OutfieldGrass24), Inside the 'Zona
8. Baltimore Orioles
Record: 32-23
Week 8 ranking: No. 10
After treading water to begin the season, the Orioles' rotation is starting to crack. O's starters have the third worst ERA in the American League, along with the third worst strikeout rate and fourth worst walk rate (before Sunday). An on-the-mend Yovani Gallardo could return soon and help, but there isn't much immediate help in the O's farm system. -- Matt Kremnitzer ( @mattkremnitzer), Camden Depot
9. Pittsburgh Pirates
Record: 30-26
Week 8 ranking: No. 4
With many of the staples of the lineup in a bit of a skid, spare parts Matt Joyce and David Freese have helped to prop up the lineup in recent days. Their rotation equivalent may be Jon Niese, who sports a 2.64 ERA with just eight walks in his last five starts. -- Ryan P. Morrison ( @ryanpmorrison), Inside the 'Zona
10. Cleveland Indians
Record: 31-24
Week 8 ranking: No. 9
The Indians' home stand got off to a rough start as they lost four of six to the Orioles and Rangers, and lost Marlon Byrd to a season, and likely career-ending, PED suspension. It ended on a high note though; after an amazing come-from-behind victory in the series opener against the Royals last Thursday, the Indians went on to a four-game sweep of their division rivals. --Stephanie Liscio (@stephanieliscio), It's Pronounced Lajaway
11. Kansas City Royals
Record: 30-26
Week 8 ranking: No. 11
After winning six straight games, the Royals crashed to end the week, dropping four straight games to the division rival Indians. The sweep dropped K.C. behind Cleveland in the A.L. Central. The Royals scored just six runs in the four-game series, and only scored two runs in the final three games. -- ESPN.com
12. Toronto Blue Jays
Record: 31-27
Week 8 ranking: No. 15
Toronto is 6-10 in one-run games this season after winning one on Sunday. This continues last year's performance in such games, when they went 15-28. Marcus Stroman has surrendered at least six runs in three of his past four starts, and his ERA has jumped from 3.54 on May 11 to 4.82 following a loss on Saturday. -- Diane Firstman ( @dianagram), Value Over Replacement Grit
13. St. Louis Cardinals
Record: 30-27
Week 8 ranking: No. 14
The Cardinals took two of three from the Giants over the weekend, finishing the week on a positive note. The numbers continue to say the Cardinals should be better than their record. A few more weeks like last week and all of a sudden St. Louis will be seven or eight games over .500. -- ESPN.com
14. Los Angeles Dodgers
Record: 31-27
Week 8 ranking: No. 12
Julio Urias will make a third start on Tuesday against the Rockies in what will be his Dodger Stadium debut. Hyun-Jin Ryu has been playing catch at a distance of 90-120 feet, but has no timetable to return. -- Diane Firstman ( @dianagram), Value Over Replacement Grit
15. Miami Marlins
Record: 30-27
Week 8 ranking: No. 17
Setup man David Phelps had allowed just two runs in his last 11 2/3 innings over 11 games with 17 strikeouts and only two walks, before a rare bad appearance Saturday. Giancarlo Stanton's last 15 games through Saturday: 6-56 (.107), 28 strikeouts in 56 at-bats. -- Diane Firstman ( @dianagram), Value Over Replacement Grit
16. Chicago White Sox
Record: 29-28
Week 8 ranking: No. 13
Having lost 19 of their last 29 games entering Sunday, the White Sox finally called for reinforcements and completed a deal with the Padres, acquiring James Shields to bolster the rotation. He'll take the spot of either Mat Latos or Miguel Gonzalez as Chicago tries to stay in the AL Central race. -- Jeff Wiser ( @OutfieldGrass24), Inside the 'Zona
17. Detroit Tigers
Record: 28-28
Week 8 ranking: No. 16
On April 24, Miguel Cabrera was ice cold with a .598 OPS. Since then, he's been on fire, bringing his seasonal OPS up to .921. He is currently riding a seven-game hitting streak. -- Richard Bergstrom ( @rbergstromjr), Rockies Zingers
18. Houston Astros
Record: 28-30
Week 8 ranking: No. 24
The Astros are inching back toward .500 after winning six of seven games last week and 11 of their last 13. The Astros are still seven games behind the division-leading Rangers, but at least they're creeping back into the race. -- ESPN.com
19. New York Yankees
Record: 26-30
Week 8 ranking: No. 18
The Yankees had a rough week on the road losing five out of seven games and dropping series to AL East division rivals Toronto and Baltimore. And they lost in myriad ways. If it wasn't bad pitching, it was lack of offense. As they say, it's getting late early for the Bronx Bombers. -- Stacey Gotsulias ( @StaceGots), It's About the Money
20. Oakland Athletics
Record: 25-32
Week 8 ranking: No. 26
The A's continue to be one of the more up-and-down teams in baseball. Over their last 11 games, they've lost three straight, won five straight and lost three straight. There was some good news over the weekend as Sonny Gray returned from the DL and pitched five strong innings (1 ER, 5 Ks) in the A's loss to the Astros. - - ESPN.com
21. Los Angeles Angels
Record: 26-30
Week 8 ranking: No. 22
Albert Pujols, who put the Angels up 5-4 with a two-run homer on Sunday, has seen his average rise from under .200 in the middle of May to .238. -- ESPN.com
22. Philadelphia Phillies
Record: 28-29
Week 8 ranking: No. 19
The Phillies pitching has scuffled a bit lately. Their K/9 rate has dropped and they've given up the third most home runs in the National League. They're also tied for the league lead in balks, which has nothing to do with the first two sentences but can be used for this week's water cooler trivia session. -- Richard Bergstrom ( @rbergstromjr), Rockies Zingers
23. Tampa Bay Rays
Record: 25-30
Week 8 ranking: No. 20
When the Rays made the push this offseason to load up on bat-first players with iffy gloves like Corey Dickerson, Steve Pearce, Brad Miller and Logan Morrison, most fans were happy to have more offense. However, this idea was predicated on having Logan Forsythe and Kevin Kiermaier around to patch the defensive holes. With the loss of those players to injury, the shaky gloves are being exposed making. -- Jason Hanselman, The Process Report
24. Colorado Rockies
Record: 25-31
Week 8 ranking: No. 21
Before Sunday's win, the Rockies had been 0 for June. Like years past, the hitting and pitching don't ever seem to be successful at the same time. One example of that was against the Reds, when the Rockies hit a franchise-record seven homers in a win on Tuesday but still finished the four-game series with the same number of dingers as the Reds (12), and dropped three of four. -- Richard Bergstrom ( @rbergstromjr), Rockies Zingers
25. Milwaukee Brewers
Record: 26-31
Week 8 ranking: No. 25
Jonathan Villar's stock continues to rise. Over the weekend, he became the fourth shortstop in Brewers history to hit a homer in three consecutive games. Through June 4, his OBP has risen to .410, along with his MLB-leading 20 stolen bases. -- Gabe Stoltz ( @Stoltzy3), Disciples of Uecker
26. Arizona Diamondbacks
Record: 25-34
Week 8 ranking: No. 23
Jake Lamb smashed his 10th home run of the season on Saturday, and with one of the majors' best hard-hit rates and an increased walk rate, Lamb's 2016 is starting to look a lot like Paul Goldschmidt's 2013. The question now may be whether the team can sign Lamb and his .359 OBP and .538 SLG to a Goldschmidt-style contract. -- Ryan P. Morrison ( @ryanpmorrison), Inside the 'Zona
27. San Diego Padres
Record: 23-35
Week 8 ranking: No. 27
James Shields was finally dealt, but it seems quite unlikely that San Diego's best starter, southpaw Drew Pomeranz, will be moved. As of Saturday, Pomeranz ranked eighth among qualified starters in both ERA (2.22) and strikeouts per nine innings (10.66), and he's making a mere $1.35 million this season. -- Diane Firstman ( @dianagram), Value Over Replacement Grit
28. Cincinnati Reds
Record: 21-36
Week 8 ranking: No. 30
After bottoming out with an 11-game losing streak, the resurgent Reds had won four in a row, and six of eight before losing Sunday. Even better, Joey Votto is finally back to being Joey Votto. In the last week and a half, Votto has hit .306/.375/.750 with four home runs (through Saturday). -- Chad Dotson ( @dotsonc), Redleg Nation
29. Minnesota Twins
Record: 16-40
Week 8 ranking: No. 29
On Sunday, the Twins were tagged with their 40th loss of the season. They continue to hammer home their inferiority. Over the past week they dropped six of seven games against the American League's other last-place teams (Oakland and Tampa Bay). -- Nick Nelson ( @NickNelsonMN ), TwinsDaily
30. Atlanta Braves
Record: 16-40
Week 7 ranking: No. 28
The Braves will turn their attention to the future this week, as they have five picks among the first 80 in the 2016 MLB draft. Meanwhile, the team on the field is doing its best to ensure that the organization has plenty of early picks in next year's draft. -- Martin Gandy ( @gondeee), Chop County
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