1.(↑1) Tampa Bay Rays (32-12)
The Rays are an impressive 19-5 on the road, and have won 8 of their last 10. The most impressive thing about the Rays this year however, is their pitching.
This week they scored a ridiculous 140 points while only falling out of the top four in strikeouts. They have a 2.87 team ERA and a 1.17 team WHIP—mix that with the fact that they lead the league in stolen bases (51) and they have to be the favorites to win it all right now.
2.(↓1) New York Yankees (26-18)
The Yankees fell just one spot this week but they have some concerns that Yankee fans shouldn’t be thrilled about.
With all the money spent in their pitching over the last few years their bullpen is a disaster and pretty much responsible for a majority of their losses over the last ten games (4-6).
With that said they are still the Yankees and will make a move (I am sure) to fix these issues. They put up 240 total points this week.
3. (↑1) Texas Rangers (25-20)
The Rangers are one of the surprise teams this season and Vladimir Guerrero has to be one of the pleasant surprises this year for fantasy players. Vlad has a stat-line of .339/10/37 and he has also contributed four steals thus far.
The Rangers are only 7-11 on the road so this leads me to believe they will have some issues going forward and will bounce up and down this list.
4.(↓1) Toronto Blue Jays (26-20)
I asked if the Blue Jays are really this good, they responded with a resounding YES! The Blue Jays point total keeps growing just as their winning percentage does the same.
The Jays lead the league in homeruns (76) and RBIs (236) and are second in saves and strikeouts. This team is for real and now that Edwin Encarnacion has come back hot (five homeruns in his last three games) they have another threat in the lineup.
5.(↑2) Cincinnati Reds (25-19)
The Reds have broken the 200 point total for the first time this year (206) and in turn crack the top five.
They don’t lead the league in any one category but scored in the bottom 10 in just one (ERA). Cincinnati is tied for first in the NL Central with St. Louis and have a pretty easy schedule this week with Pittsburgh and Houston on-deck.
6.(↔) Philadelphia Phillies (26-17)
The Phillies scored over 100 in both batting (101) and pitching (102). They don’t lead the league in any categories, and Roy Halladay got shilacked by Boston yesterday for seven runs.
I wouldn’t panic yet for Philly fans but they need to work some kinks out if they want to win the NL again.
7.(↓2) Minnesota Twins (26-18)
Minnesota is just 4-6 over their last 10 and now has Detroit trailing just one game behind them for the division lead.
The Twins are slowly dropping down this list and if I were to guess they probably belong towards the lower half of the top 10. They have Morneau and Mauer to bolster the middle of the lineup but they need some more support.
8.(↑5) St. Louis Cardinals (26-19)
The Cardinals pitching is carrying the lineup right now by scoring the fourth most pitching points this week (120). As I said with Cincinnati, St. Louis is tied for first place and as you can see with the rankings, they have some serious competition.
9.(↑2) San Diego Padres (26-18)
The Padres are second in steals, ERA, and WHIP and still they couldn’t crack 200 points (187).
I for one, truly believe this pitching staff is over achieving—although I do like some of their young talent. Their offense scored in the bottom 10 in all categories except steals for just 59 points.
Their .591 winning percentage will be dropping quick.
10.(↓1) Los Angeles Dodgers (25-19)
L.A. is 8-2 over their last 10 and now just sit one game back of the Padres. The NL West is one of the more competitive divisions in the MLB, but I think the Dodgers will take it over sooner rather than later.
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