MLB Power Rankings: The Mets just keep winning series; White Sox, Phillies struggling

Louren
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Quick: What MLB team has won every single series it has played in this season? 

No, it isn’t the Dodgers. They lost their season-opening series in Colorado. Those Rockies are actually close, but they split a home series against the Cubs. The Blue Jays are close as well, but they’ve also had a four-game split. Add the Cardinals to the list, as they split four in Milwaukee. 

The Giants might’ve been a good guess, but they just lost three of four to the answer. 

Meet the Mets, greet the Mets and all that noise, because we have our winner. 

A mantra often heard in the baseball world, and rightfully so, is “just keep winning series.” Getting caught up in individual game results in a 162-game grind is a fool’s errand. Anyone who understands the game knows the most important thing is to simply put a notch in the W column a majority of the time for most of the regular season. 

In fact, most agree that the mantra is more something like “split on the road, win series at home.” The Mets have that one beat so far. 

The Mets started by taking three of four in D.C. They were only a few outs from taking all four games, but, again, astute observers knew that getting three of four on the road to start the season was a great start. They followed it up by taking two of three in Philadelphia. 

The Mets finally got home to Citi Field, where they won two of three from the Diamondbacks. And then the series that should have turned heads. They took three of four from the Giants, who are now 10-2 when they play anyone other than the Mets. 

The Mets then hit the road and didn’t suffer a letdown by taking two of three in Arizona. 

Just keep winning series, right? The Mets are 5-0 in that department. And they are hot on the heels of the best team in baseball in The Official Power Rankings. 

Biggest Movers

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1


Dodgers

After a two-homer game on Sunday, Cody Bellinger is hitting .273 with a .582 slugging percentage. He was probably the biggest question mark on the offense coming into the year. 12-5

2


Mets

Five different pitchers have made multiple starts. Chris Bassitt’s 3.00 ERA is the worst of the bunch. Yes, Jacob deGrom is still hurt, too. 1 14-6

3


Giants

Again, they are 10-2 when they don’t play the Mets and that was a road series. Don’t pay attention to those other fraudulent rankers that have these Giants way too low. 1 13-5

4


Blue Jays

The Jays had three in Boston and then three in Houston without an off-day in between. They went 4-2 and the two losses were each by one run. That’s a great week. And you know what’s funny? They are playing at a 101-pace and still don’t feel like they’ve been totally locked in as a group. 12-6

5


Cardinals

As noted, the Cardinals are 2-2 against the Brewers. That’s the only .500-plus team they’ve played. It’s an incredibly young season and all — I mean, I *do* have them ranked fifth — but I’m pointing this out because they get the Mets at home to start this coming week. There’s your series to watch. 2 10-7

6


Mariners

That’s an 8-2 homestand and no one in baseball is hotter than Ty France. 4 11-6

7


Padres

Good news: The Padres are 8-3 when they don’t play the Dodgers or Giants. Bad news: They are 2-4 when they do and they have to play those two teams a lot in a season. There’s time to turn it around, of course. 4 11-7

8


Yankees

They’ve won five of six and now get the Orioles and Royals for three games each. Time to finish the month strong? 6 11-6

9


Rays

Shane McClanahan (2.45 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 31 K, 5 BB in 22 IP) might be a solid pick for AL Cy Young, but will he get the necessary workload? He only had 123 1/3 innings pitched in 2021. 3 9-8

10


Rockies

They surely know it by now (the long-tenured Rockies like Charlie Blackmon, German Marquez and Kyle Freeland are surely tired of talking about it), but how they fare on the road will determine if this is a contending team or not. They’re 4-1 away from Coors so far. 7 10-7

11


Brewers

They’ve won six of seven and the upcoming schedule should be relatively soft. 2 11-7

12


Angels

It’s all small samples, but if you just lop off the first three games of the season, Jo Adell is hitting .300 with a .600 slugging in 40 at-bats. He’s still striking out, but he crushes the ball. 3 11-7

13


Astros

Prior to their 11-for-38 outburst on Sunday, the Astros were last in the AL with a .203 team batting average. They ranked low in pretty much anything but home runs. That’s bound to turn. Perhaps it already started. 7 8-9

14


Twins

Byron Buxton MVP season: Back on! 9 9-8

15


Red Sox

Good stuff: Michael Wacha has a 1.88 ERA and 0.91 WHIP through three turns in the rotation. Bad stuff: Nick Pivetta has a 10.03 ERA and 2.14 WHIP through three turns in the rotation. 7-11

16


Marlins

The Sandy Alcantara/Pablo Lopez 1-2 punch is legit, but what’s with Trevor Rogers? 3 8-8

17


Braves

Dare this be the long-awaited Kyle Wright breakout? It’s only three starts, but the numbers and eye test are both on point. 9 8-10

18


Guardians

Jose Ramirez has 20 RBI through 15 games. For those interested, the club record is 165 (Manny Ramirez, 1999), so breaking that record is a pretty tall order. 7-10

19


White Sox

Look, it’s still very early and the White Sox remain the team with the best chance to win the AL Central … but good lord, what a brutal week. 14 7-10

20


Athletics

The best bet is a bad streak is already underway, having lost a home series to the Rangers. So, no, I’m still not buying them. 1 9-9

21


Phillies

Not much to like right now, so we’ll sing the praises of Kyle Schwarber for his tirade in the direction of home-plate umpire Angel Hernandez on Sunday night. Great job, Kyle. 1 8-10

22


Tigers

I still remember Miguel Cabrera coming up as a phenom when I was in my 20s. He won the Triple Crown in my second season at CBS. Now he has gotten to 3,000 hits while I’m a grizzled Power Rankings veteran. So many baseball fans have similar arcs of growth with generational players like Cabrera. It’s been such a pleasure, Miggy, and will continue to be! 6-10

23


Pirates

The Pirates are 1-5 against teams over .500, but 7-3 otherwise. From an expected contender, that could be a red flag. For a team that situated itself like the Pirates, that’s pleasantly-surprising competence! 1 8-9

24


Cubs

They’ve lost five of six, though in a hilarious coincidence, that one win was 21-0. Hopefully you don’t try to draw any conclusions from their run differential for a while. 8 7-10

25


Orioles

The Orioles have won five of their last 10. It’s not good, per se, but it’s certainly progress. 2 6-11

26


Royals

Here’s a positive: It’s only been five outings, but it looks like Amir Garrett might be fixed. 6-10

27


Rangers

Marcus Semien: .183/.250/.250. Corey Seager: .241/.286/.310. It’s early. They’ll come around. 1 6-11

28


Diamondbacks

Simple peripherals (FIP, xFIP, etc.) don’t love him, mostly due to the high walks and relatively low strikeouts, but Madison Bumgarner has a 1.00 ERA through four starts. He had a 5.07 ERA combined in his first two years with the Diamondbacks. 2 7-11

29


Nationals

I’m completely and utterly embarrassed for Alcides Escobar. This is regarding his temper tantrum at the Giants for continuing to try during a professional baseball game, though I suppose we could loop in his batting line, too. 4 6-13

30


Reds

At least the 10-game losing streak is over. Will it be the longest of the season? 1 3-14

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