Brand New 2007 MLB Power Rankings
Top 10 Major League Baseball Teams In Week 4 of the 2007 Season
The MLB Power Rankings change day-to-day in the early part of the MLB season. So far, most of the preseason favorites have struggled with injuries and poor fielding.
Here are the current in-season MLB Power Rankings for the 2007 baseball season. Right now, the Top 10 MLB Teams are:
1. Boston Red Sox (12-6, First Place AL East). Big Papi (a.k.a. David Ortiz) is already putting up big MLB and fantasy numbers: 6 HR and 17 RBI in his first 16 games. J.D. Drew has also come through big, hitting .346 with a homer and 7 RBI thus far. If he stays healthy, and if Beckett and Dice-K continue their early season dominance, they have a great shot to unseat the Yankees as AL East champions.
2. Los Angeles Dodgers (13-6, First Place AL West). Brad Penny is an early-season Cy Young Award candidate, with a 3-0 record, a 1.37 ERA and nine strikeouts. Also pitching well are starters Mark Hendrickson (1-0; 1.62 ERA, 13 Ks) and Randy Wolf (3-1, 3.38, 25 Ks). The Dodgers also have a triple threat in the bullpen: Takashi Saito (6 Saves, 1.04 ERA), Jonathan Broxton (9 appearances, 0.00 ERA) and Joe Beimel (1-0, 1.00 ERA). Pencil them in as NL West champions.
3. The New York Mets (11-6, Second Place NL East). The Mets are the third best team in baseball. Right now, that is. With their deadly lineup and their surprise pitching, the Metropolitans could vault into the top spot on any day. The biggest surprise has been their starting rotation: Tom Glavine is 3-1 with a 2.70 ERA. John Maine has been even better at 2-0 with an ERA of 1.92 and 17 strikeous in 18 innings. Oliver Perez, Mike Pelfrey and El Duque have all been solid enough to keep this Mets' electric offense in games. Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran both made the Top Ten Fantasy Hitter list , and Wright and Delgado are hitting well.
4. Atlanta Braves (12-7, First Place NL East). There were two serious concerns about Atlanta's pitching this spring: John Smoltz was getting old and Mike Hampton was out for the season with a torn elbow. It hasn't mattered. Smoltz has been top-notch, going 2-1 with a 3.12 ERA. Tim Hudson has been even better, going 3-0 with a 0.62 ERA and 19Ks). Also, after three straight injury-plagued seasons, Chipper Jones is healthy and playing well (.304, 5 HR, 10 RBI).
5. Minnesota Twins (11-8, First Place AL Central). Ramon Ortiz, who is 3-0 with a 2.05 ERA and a .083 WHIP, has been a great follow-up to Johan Santana (himself 3-1 with 32 Ks) in the Twins' rotation. While the rest of the starting rotation has struggled, the Twins have gotten enough hitting from Joe Mauer (.386 BA), Justin Morneau (.313, 4 HR, 13 RBI), Michael Cuddyer (.324, 2 HR, 15 RBI) and Torii Hunter (.298, 2 HR, 13 RBI) to land them at the top of the AL Central for the day. However, the Twins and Detroit will be vying for that spot all season long.
6. San Diego Padres (11-8, Second Place NL West). Great pitching, but still not as good as the Dodgers.
7. Milwaukee Brewers (12-7, 1st Place NL Central). This team has been an early season surprise, taking the lead in the very mediocre National League Central. Although staff ace Ben Sheets is having a bit of a slow sart, both Chris Capuano and Jeff Suppan are pitching very well, and the the offense is led by the young and talented trio of Prince Fielder, Bill Hall and J.J. Hardy.
8. Detroit Tigers (11-8, 2nd Place AL Central). Many predicted this team would not get back to the World Series because of a lack of hitting. It's still very early, but the Tigers' offense seems to be about as potent as the Walt "No-Neck" Williams Yankee teams. The Tigers are still hitting just .234 as a unit. The Tigers' pitching has been awesome so far, but without Rogers they will need Mike Maroth to step up his game and become a good number 4.
9. San Francisco Giants (9-8, 3rd Place NL West). This team will rise and fall with the two Barrys: Bonds and Zito.
10. Houston Astros (9-8, 2nd Place NL Central). The Astros have gotten good starting pitching from Roy Oswalt, Chris Sampson and Jason Jennings. (Imagine if they had Roger Clemens in the mix?) On the offensive side, Carlos Lee has hit well early, but the team needs Berkman and Biggio to get it in gear if they want to win the Clemens sweepstakes.
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Keep your eyes peeled for MLB Power Rankings every single week of the 2007 MLB Season.
