Week: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6
1. Arizona Diamondbacks (21-10)
Previous Ranking: 1
Even with Eric Byrnes and Chris Young struggling to hit the ball, the Diamondbacks offense is still on of the best in the league. Conor Jackson deserves a lot of that credit as he's hitting .343/.421/.590 with 5 home runs and a team leading 25 RBI (7th in National League). Meanwhile, Brandon Webb is looking for his 2nd Cy Young award as he's started out 7-0 with an era of just 2.45. Prospect Max Scherzer will make his major league debut this week against the Phillies. 2. Chicago Cubs (18-13)
Previous Ranking: 2
Kerry Wood is having trouble closing out ballgames and it's leaving some Cub fans questioning whether or not Carlos Marmol (1.29 era in 21 IP) should take over that role. The main reason the Cubs have the best offense in the National League is because of the performance of their rookies. Both Geovanny Soto and Kosuke Fukudome are off to outstanding starts. Soto leads all NL Rookies in Home Runs, RBI and doubles while Fukudome leads them in average, hits, walks and runs.3. Los Angeles Angels (20-13)
Previous Ranking: 3
The Angels are winning a lot of games, but it's not because of their bullpen. The Halos bullpen is 2-4 with an era of 4.94 on the season so far, which ranks 13th in the American League. In the series against Oakland this past week, the bullpen gave up 17 runs in 3 games (Saunders pitcher a complete game on Tuesday). The only thing making up for the poor bullpen performance is the continued dominance by Joe Saunders (6-0, 2.61 era) and Ervin Santana (5.0, 2.48 era).4. St. Louis Cardinals (20-12)
Previous Ranking: 4
Mark Mulder is on his way back, but do the Cardinals really want him? In his three rehab starts so far in the minor leagues, Mulder has allowed 12 runs in 19.2 IP. The Cardinals starters are currently second in the National League in era and Mulder hasn't been an effective big league starter since 2005. Combine the two and it should be obvious what the Cardinals should do. 5. Boston Red Sox (20-13)
Previous Ranking: 6
The Red Sox may be MLB's streakiest team. After lossing 5 games in a row at the end of last week, the Red Sox have since won five of their last six games facing the Blue Jays and Rays. Part of the reason for the turnaround? Jon Lester is 1-0 with a 0.64 era in his last two starts. Even with David Ortiz struggling to start the season, the Red Sox offense has been the best in the American League to this point. The team needs better performances from the pen if they want to be more consistent.6. Oakland Athletics (19-14)
Previous Ranking: 5
The A's are going to have to face some tough roster decisions when Rich Harden and Keith Foulke come back from the DL this week. Greg Smith--6 IP, 10 K's, 1 ER in his last start has been pitching lights out in the A's rotation since being called up. Travis Buck is also expected to come off the DL later this week, but could be demoted to AAA Sacramento with Emil Brown and Jack Cust leading the team in offense.7. New York Mets (16-13)
Previous Ranking: 7
The Mets starting pitching has been the teams one bright spot that is keeping them in ballgames. Outside of Billy Wagner and Pedro Feliciano, the bullpen has been horrible and players like Carlos Beltran, Luis Castillo, and Carlos Delgado are all struggling to hit the ball. Moises Alou's return from the disabled list couldn't have come at any better of time as the team needs his bat in the lineup right now.8. Philadelphia Phillies (18-14)
Previous Ranking: 10
The Phillies bullpen has been solid so far this season and it's amazing how much a change of scenery can help certain players (i.e. Brad Lidge, J.C. Romero). However, the starting pitching has been just mediocre. Cole Hamels is the only pitcher with an era under 4.50. Chase Utley and Pat Burrell are both making up for the lack of production from Ryan Howard and the injury to Jimmy Rollins. If Howard can turn it around, there's no telling what this offense could do.9. New York Yankees (17-16)
Previous Ranking: 12
We all know what the Yankees are capable of and we all know they haven't lived up to expectations so far. Despite having both Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada on the DL and despite the terrible starts to the season by Robinson Cano, Phil Hughes, and Ian Kennedy, the team is still 17-16 and keeping pace with the division leaders. Once they start getting healthy and getting better production from the back end of the rotation, this team can take off.10. Milwaukee Brewers (16-15)
Previous Ranking: 8
It was a rough week for the Brewers as the Cubs put 19 runs on the board against them early in the week, Yovanni Gallardo tore his ACL and is out the season, and the team got swept by the Astros. With Gallardo gone for the year, the team is going to have a difficult time keeping up with the Cubs and Cardinals in the central division. Not to mention, things only get more difficult as Eric Gagne keeps blowing saves.11. Los Angeles Dodgers (17-14)
Previous Ranking: 24
The Dodgers were on fire this week winning 5 of their 6 games played. The teams winning streak put them back into 2nd place in the National League West and only 3.5 games back of the division leading Diamondbacks. It seems as if Joe Torre has finally learned just how good of a player Matt Kemp can be. Kemp hit .407 this past week with 11 RBI. With Kemp, Juan Pierre, and Andre Ethierall hitting above .300, it's going to be hard to keep penciling in Andruw Jones in centerfield.12. Florida Marlins (17-14)
Previous Ranking: 11
The Marlins still have Some of the NL's worst starting pitching, but it isn't because of Mark Hendrickson (5-1, 3.79 era) or Scott Olsen (3-1, 2.70 era). The teams bullpen is 6-4 with a 3.13 era thus far which is keeping them in close ballgames. Dan Uggla is starting to hit the ball very well and has 4 home runs in the past week along with 8 RBI. 13. Atlanta Braves (15-15)
Previous Ranking: 17
The Braves have a ton of pitchers on the disabled list, but are continuing to hang tough. Even at 15-15, the team is still only 2 games back in the division. John Smoltz has said he will be returning to the Braves as a reliever, but it's difficult to see if it will make the team better. Meanwhile, Mark Kotsay is surprising a lot of people (including myself) with his strong bat at the plate.14. Toronto Blue Jays (15-17)
Previous Ranking: 19
Even though the team still sits in last place in the American League East, the Blue Jays are ranked better than both the Orioles and Rays because their strong starting pitching is still keeping them in ballgames. After losing two of three in Boston last week, the Jays responded with a strong effort to sweep the White Sox. Since returning from the disabled list, B.J. Ryan is 4 for 4 in save opportunities and has yet to give up a run this season.15. Minnesota Twins (16-14)
Previous Ranking: 20
With a five game winning streak by the Twins and a five game losing streak by the White Sox, the Twins have found themselves in first place in the American League Central division. Joe Mauer seems to have regained his stroke and is now leading the team with a .333 batting average. However, who knows how long the Twins can keep this up. The teams 63 walks is worst in the American League by a huge margin.16. Baltimore Orioles (16-15)
Previous Ranking: 13
It was a rough week for the Orioles after they lost two