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After a brilliant start to the season, the Mets haveseemingly forgotten how to win. |
After a brilliant start to the season, the Mets have seemingly forgotten how to win.
Memorial Day is one of baseball's traditional measuring points and we don't like what we see from the locals lately. Both the Mets and Yankees are sputtering and tumbling in our Daily News MLB Power Rankings.The recent poor play also has us wondering if New York's baseball season is going to end before October. Yikes!
The Yankees have lost six in a row and 10 of 11. The six consecutive losses is the longest single-season losing streak since 2011. Yes, the team made the playoffs that year. No, it doesn't look good this year, at least so far.
The Mets, meanwhile, changed the aerodynamics of the Pittsburgh area over the weekend - that breeze wasn't coming off the Monongahela, Allegheny or Ohio Rivers, it was from all those Met hitters swinging and missing in that Whiff-A-Thon of a series. They have the second-worst on-base percentage (.286) and have scored the second-fewest runs (65) in baseball this month. Ugh.
The Royals, who many thought would fade after their World Series run last October (who, us?), have moved into our top spot, just in time for a visit to the Bronx. We've also seen some surges into mediocrity from some of the perennial bottom-dwellers, making our rankings seem a bit crowded and making us wonder again:
What will we see by the next traditional yardstick - July 4?
To the numbers!
1. Kansas City Royals (28-15, last week No. 4): Their run differential of plus-65 is tops in baseball, which is part of the reason they're here. Plus, they just took a series from the team one spot down.
2. St. Louis Cardinals (28-16, last week No. 1): You might have forgotten about Michael Wacha, but we didn't. He's 7-0 with a 1.87 ERA. Nifty.
3. Houston Astros (29-16, last week No. 3): As soon as we figure out who some of these Astros are, we're going to start touting them. Promise.
4. Los Angeles Dodgers (26-17, last week No. 2): They already have Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke. How is it fair that they've come up with Mike Bolsinger, too?
5. Washington Nationals (26-18, last week No. 8): Bryce Harper has an OPS of 1.198. We get him. You get everybody else. We win.
6. Minnesota Twins (25-18, last week No. 9): Yeah, we're not sure what's happening here, either. But they keep playing well.
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| Completely lifeless of late, the Yankees are putting their own players to sleep. |
8. Chicago Cubs (24-19, last week No. 11): Let's rename Wrigley Field Bryant Park, shall we?
9. San Francisco Giants (25-20, last week No. 12): Madison Bumgarner sparkles in the post-season, makes commercials, homers off Clayton Kershaw. What's next, leaping a tall building in a single bound?
10. Tampa Bay Rays (24-21, last week No. 10): Yeah, we're not sure what's happening here, either. But they keep playing well.
11. New York Mets (24-21, last week No. 7): They're losing contender credibility rapidly. They simply must beat up on the Phillies at the beginning of this week.
12. Atlanta Braves (22-21, last week No. 17): Reliever Jason Grilli must be a headline writer's dream. How about "Grilli Cheese: Jason's Fastball Buries Mets" or "Braves Fire Up Grilli for Saves"?
13. Los Angeles Angels (22-22, last week No. 13): Halos have scored three or fewer runs in 24 of 44 games, only two behind the Mets. That's how you know it's serious.
14. New York Yankees (22-22, last week No. 6): Could the dignitaries in the folding chairs honoring Bernie Williams have suited up and beaten the real Yankees Sunday night? Maybe.
15. Pittsburgh Pirates (21-22, last week No. 16): A.J. Burnett is your Major League ERA leader, people. He's at 1.37.
16. Arizona Diamondbacks (21-22, last week No. 25): Paul Goldschmidt. Say it again: Paul Goldschmidt. He's got a 1.072 OPS.
17. Texas Rangers (21-23, last week No. 24): Guess who leads the majors in runs this month? The Rangers! Helps that they just pummeled Yankee pitching at the Stadium.
18. Boston Red Sox (21-23, last week No. 20): Accentuate the Positive Department: Maligned Red Sox rotation has nine quality starts in last 11 games after having only eight in the previous 26. Progress!
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| The Royals are sitting pretty in first place in this week's power rankings. |
20. Cleveland Indians (20-23, last week No. 27): Corey Kluber leads the majors in strikeouts with 83 in 69.2 innings. Pretty good.
21. Seattle Mariners (20-23, last week No. 19): Robinson Cano stat check: .247 average, .290 on-base, .333 slugging, one homer, 11 RBI. Helps explain why Mariners are down here.
22. Chicago White Sox (19-22, last week No. 14): Just when we thought they were up to something, they go 2-5 on a homestand. Tsk.
23. Baltimore Orioles (19-22, last week No. 21): Read up on Jimmy Paredes - he's having a terrific year.
24. Toronto Blue Jays (20-26, last week No. 22): They're getting Jose Reyes back, which makes them more watchable.
25. Cincinnati Reds (18-25, last week No. 18): Manager Bryan Price has certainly had an interesting season, hasn't he?
26. Philadelphia Phillies (19-27, last week No. 26): Aaron Harang is what we like to call a nifty pickup: 1.93 ERA, 1.03 WHIP in 10 starts.
27. Miami Marlins (18-27, last week No. 23): "Phelpsie" is 2-1 with a 3.21 ERA in South Beach. Nice work, David Phelps.
28. Colorado Rockies (17-25, last week No. 28): They are tied for 16th in runs. Isn't Coors Field supposed to inflate offensive numbers? Or - yikes - has it inflated the Rox's stats?
29. Oakland A's (16-30, last week No. 29): The X-rays on Sonny Gray's ankle were negative. That could've been a nightmare.
30. Milwaukee Brewers (16-29, last week No. 30): Whatever you think of batting average as a statistic, .227 is not good. In fact, Brewers' mark is the worst in baseball.
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