MLB Power Rankings

This is the hardest one yet, a lot of teams have been playing well and with the way I do the power rankings it’s not on potential or overall record, it’s on what you do that week with a mixture of your overall record. There is a reason Boston wasn't in my top 10 very often so far.

1.) Philadelphia Phillies - 15-6

The Phillies offense has been struggling lately but they are on a 5 game winning streak and with Cliff Lee going tonight, then Oswalt, then Hamels, this could easily turn into an 8 game win streak. Cole Hamels since his performance vs. Atlanta has given up 2 runs in 22 innings to bring his ERA to an awesome 2.92.

2.) Florida Marlins - 13-7

I had a hard time believing the Marlins were good and didn't put them in my rankings last week because of my doubts; I couldn't leave them out now. They have won 8 of their last 10 including beating the Phillies once, and Colorado 2 times.

3.) Boston Red Sox - 10-11

Yes they are 10-11, but they have won 5 in a row and are one of the hottest teams in the league right now winning 8 of their last 10. They started 0-6, and have since gone 10-5. They are still a very talented team and we all knew they were capable of this type of performance. The Red Sox starting pitchers are locked in: They have an 0.88 ERA over the past nine games.

4.) New York Yankees - 12-6

The Yankees have been playing really well winning 7 of 10 but Mariano Rivera is starting to show his age possibly blowing 2 straight saves. This offense is still terrifying....but the pitching staff is still terrifying to the Yankees.

5.) Colorado Rockies - 14-7

The Rockies were the best team in the league record-wise last week but they have gone 5-5 over their past 10 and are starting to slow down big time. They are still the best team in the West in my opinion but not the league or NL.

6.) Cleveland Indians - 13-8

The Indians have been floundering lately with 3 straight losses and a 5-5 record over their past 10.

7.) Texas Rangers - 14-7

The Rangers have won 3 in a row but are still only 5-5 in their last 10, the loss of Josh Hamilton is the reason they are this low. If Hamilton wasn't injured they would be around 3-5 in the rankings. Now with the injury to Neftali Feliz, Arthur Rhodes (41 years old) is being forced into the closer role.

8.) Tampa Bay Rays - 11-11

The Rays have won 7 of their last 10 and are now in second place in the AL East. They started off 1-8 and have gone 10-3 since then which is very impressive.

9.) St. Louis Cardinals - 12-10

They have won 7 of their last 10 as well, but that pitching staff w/o Adam Wainwright is still not striking fear in people. Jaime Garcia and Chris Carpenter are great but Wainwright is the glue that holds it all together. Pujols is starting to get hot so I could see this team winning the Central with Cincinnati starting to struggle.

10.) LA Dodgers - 12-10

They have won 6 of 10, and are coming off beating Atlanta in 3 of 4. Matt Kemp is looking like the comeback player of the year right now as he is just tearing the cover off the ball. Kemp is currently hitting .402 with 5 homeruns and 18 RBI's, including 2 game winning homeruns since April 16th. Andre Ethier is on a 21 game hitting streak as well.

NBA Playoff Recap

WESTERN CONFERENCE
Grizzlies @ Spurs: Manu Ginobili returned for game 2 and so did the Spurs winning ways to tie the series at 1 a piece.

Nuggets @ Thunder: Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook continue to dominate giving the Thunder a 2-0 lead.

Trailblazers @ Mavericks: Mavericks were able to win the first two games but the Trailblazers protected home-court last night in a win.

Hornets @ Lakers: The Lakers won game 2 despite Kobe only having 11 points.

EASTERN CONFERENCE
Pacers @ Bulls: The Bulls continue to be to much to handle for the Pacers as MVP-Favorite Derrick Rose continues to score at will.


Hawks @ Magic: The Magic were able to even the series at 1 a piece with another dominant performance from Dwight Howard.


Knicks @ Celtics: The Knicks have kept it close both games but just haven't been able to close out the Celtics yet. The Celtics have hit game winners in both games to take a 2-0 lead.


76ers @ Heat: The Heat have let the sixers stay close in two games and blew them out in game 2. The Sixers are just to young and the Heat have to much talent to not sweep this series. They are currently up 3-0 with a different high scorer in each game.

NBA Recap

Indiana Pacers @ Chicago Bulls
Game 1 - Bulls 104 - Pacers 99

Derrick Rose led the way with 39 points, proving more and more why he should be the MVP this season.

Game 2: 4/18 9:30 pm
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Philadelphia 76ers @ Miami Heat
Game 1 - Heat 97 - 76ers 89

The Heat started slow but were able to take control when switching to a zone defense. The Big Three lead the way with 63 points.

Game 2: 4/18 7:00 pm
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Atlanta Hawks @ Orlando Magic
Game 1 - Hawks 103 - Magic 93

Dwight Howard went off all game with a amazing 46 points but it wasn't enough as the Hawks offense was just to much for the Magic. Joe Johnson and Jamal Crawford led the way with 48 points.

Game 2: 4/19 7:30 pm
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New York Knicks @ Boston Celtics
Game 1 - Celtics 87 - Knicks 85

The Knicks controlled this game the entire half but the second half Amare Stoudamire and Carmelo Anthony disappeared on offense and defense. Ray Allen hit the game winning 3 with just seconds remaining to seal the win.

Game 2: 4/19 7:00 pm
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Memphis Grizzlies @ San Antonio Spurs
Game 1 - Grizzlies 101 - Spurs 98

The Spurs missed Manu Ginobili big time this game. Richard Jefferson had a chance to tie with a wide open 3 from the top of the key but bricked it. The Grizzlies pulled the upset with the help of the strong play from Zach Randolph (25 points, 14 rebounds).

Game 2: 4/20 8:30 pm
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New Orleans Hornets @ Los Angeles Lakers
Game 1 - Hornets 109 - Lakers 101

The Lakers got CP3'd as some people would say. Chris Paul dominated this game from start to finish. 33 Points, 14 Assists, 7 Rebounds, absolutely amazing performance from Paul to lead the upset. Kobe Bryant scored 34 but it wasn't enough.

Game 2: 4/20 10:30 pm
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Portland Trailblazers @ Dallas Mavericks
Game 1 - Mavericks 89 - Trailblazers 81

Dirk Nowitzki scored 18 of his 28 in the final period to lead the comeback for the Mavericks. Jason Kidd also had a great game draining 6 three pointers and having a season high 24 points.

Game 2: 4/19 9:30 pm

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Denver Nuggets @ Oklahoma City Thunder
Game 1 - Thunder 107 - Nuggets 103

Kevin Durant showed in this game why he is now the deadliest man on earth in terms of scoring a basketball. 41 points and 9 rebounds for the scoring champion. Russell Westbrook teaming with Durant scored 31 points to lead the Thunder to victory.

Game 2: 4/20 8:00 pm

MLB Power Rankings Week 3

The Top Ten:

1.) Colorado Rockies 12-3

They went 6-1 this week and have the best record in baseball. Tulowitzki looks like the best SS in baseball currently and is absolutely killing the ball.

2.) Philadelphia Phillies 10-4

They have won 4 of their last 6 and have yet to lose a series. Cole Hamels has come back strong in two straight starts since his bad start against NY.

3.) New York Yankees 9-5

They have won 4 of their last 5 and continue to hit the ball well. Alex Rodriguez is hitting .385 and Mark Teixeria has 5 homers already this season.

4.) Cleveland Indians 11-4

They have won 11 of their last 13 games and have been the most surprising team so far this season. Travis Hafner has come back from a down year to be a real spark plug in the offense. Justin Masterson has a 1.33 ERA currently.

5.) Texas Rangers 10-5


They have been playing well but they just lost last seasons MVP Josh Hamilton to a broken arm, that injury lowered them this week and could have lowered them further.

6.) Cincinnati Reds 9-6

They have shown holes in their pitching, but this offense looks to be legendary again this year. Joey Votto is currently hovering around .450 batting average and looks to repeat as MVP.

7.) Los Angeles Angels 10-5

They went 6-1 this week and Dan Haren and Jered Weaver have combined for a amazing 1.23 ERA.

8.) Kansas City Royals 10-5

The Royals have opened the season by winning three series and splitting the other two, great improvement from last year. They just took 3 of 4 from the Mariners and look pretty strong currently. 

9.) Washington Nationals 8-7

The Nationals went 5-2 this week and have the best pitching staff in the league currently (2.45 ERA). Is this the year they finally crawl out of the dungeon in the NL East as I predicted?? I think so.

10.) San Francisco Giants 8-7

Brian Wilson returned last week and was hit hard in 2 straight appearances. Since then he has 4 saves in 4 chances and has yet to allow a run, big boost to this team. As a big piece returned, Barry Zito sustained an injury that could really hurt this team's starting rotation.

Close Calls:
1.) Florida Marlins 8-6
2.) St. Louis Cardinals 8-8
3.) Oakland Athletics 8-8

Does A 7-3 Start Guarantee Success?

I read this article at The Zo Zone
It was written by Todd Zoleki.

I am posting this article cause I thought this was a good measure of how early success or failure (Albert Pujols) does not mean season long success or failure. Here is the article:


The Phillies won 7 of their first 10 games this season.

Does their hot start mean anything about their future?

It doesn’t guarantee them anything, but it certainly doesn’t hurt, either. ACTA Sports’ Stat of the Week looked at the first 10 games of the season for every team since 2002.

Of the 41 teams that won 7 or more of their first 10 games, 19 (46 percent) won 90 or more games and 17 (41 percent) made the postseason.

Of the 39 teams that won 3 or fewer of their first 10 games, just 1 (3 percent) won 90 or more games and just 3 (8 percent) made the postseason. One of those three teams? The 2007 Phillies, who started the season 2-8. The 2002 Angels started the season 3-7, but won 99 games and the World Series. The 2006 Padres also accomplished the feat.

What's Wrong With Pujols??

Albert Pujols is having his least productive start of his career at the worst time he could possibly have it currently. Pujols is a free agent after the next season and is searching for a contract in upwards of 150 million dollars. I have compared his first 11 games this season to what he has done his first 11 games of his past seasons, here is the stats:

Albert Pujols First 11 Games Per Year
Year	At Bats	Hits	Runs	HR'S	RBI's	BB	K'S	AVG.
2011	45	9	3	1	4	4	5	0.200
2010	44	16	9	5	15	8	9	0.364
2009	41	14	12	4	13	9	1	0.341
2008	37	14	7	3	8	10	4	0.378
2007	43	8	7	3	7	5	6	0.186
2006	37	11	11	5	12	12	5	0.297
2005	44	11	8	3	5	5	3	0.250
2004	41	12	12	4	11	10	1	0.293
2003	40	12	11	2	7	7	5	0.300
2002	43	13	9	1	11	9	5	0.302
2001	38	15	7	4	12	4	6	0.395

As you can see not only is this his second worst season in terms of hits in the first 11 games, it’s his worst season in terms of HR's, RBI's, and BB's. Last year he got off to one of his hottest starts of his career with 5 homeruns in his first 11 games. If you try to see which season this one is most similar to, it would have to be 2007 when he started off hitting only .186, but he had 2 more HR's and 3 more RBI's. That year he finished the season with .327, 32 HR's, 103 RBI's. It was his worst season in terms of HR's and RBI's in his entire career. 

If we take the above stats from 11 games and multiply them by his typical games played (155.8 per season average) we can get an estimated total of what he is currently on pace for this season.

Albert Pujols Estimated Season Totals
Year	At Bats	Hits	Runs	HR'S	RBI's	BB	K'S	AVG.
2011	637	127	42	14	57	57	71	0.200

I can tell you right away there is a 0% chance that Albert Pujols hits less than 25 HR's this year, hits in less than 100 runs, and hits under .275. This is a guy who has averaged .330 for his entire career, and also averaged 40.8 HR's a season with 123 RBI's.

    Albert Pujols Yearly Stats

Year	HR	RBI
2010	42	118
2009	47	135
2008	37	116
2007	32	103
2006	49	137
2005	41	117
2004	46	123
2003	43	124
2002	34	127
2001	37	130
AVG	40.8	123

Pujols has plenty of time, approximately 145 games to make up for his lack of hits, HR's, and RBI's, but can he do it while the pressure builds on his contract status and on his injury-riddled team?

I personally don't think he will put up MVP numbers again this year, but I also don't think it’s all on him. He has a lineup that gives him zero protection; teams have no reason to even pitch to him with the current lineup. Matt Holliday is a good hitter, but nowhere near Pujols. I think you will see Pujols raise his average to above .300 and finish around .310-.320 at the end of the year but instead of 40+ homeruns, I think we will see a total of around 30-35, and 105-110 RBI's. As said earlier I think this season will almost mirror his 2007 season identically at the end of the year.

If there is one thing baseball has taught us over the years its the "law of averages". The law of averages states that a player will always be what he has always been. For example, you sometimes see people at the all-star breaking destroying there previous stats, but at the end of the year there stats come back to earth and finish around where they always have. A good example of this would be Ubaldo Jimenez last season:

First Half: 15-1, 2.20 ERA
Second Half: 4-7, 3.80 ERA
Best Previous Season: 15-12, 3.47 ERA

That is just one example, these happen almost every year where players get off to hot/cold starts and end up right where they always do. Mark Teixeria is another player that comes to mind, he always starts slow and every season analysts question if he is declining, and he always ends the season around the same numbers (excluding last year).

The Poll is closed!

The Poll is closed and according to my fans the team that will represent the National League in the World Series is the Philadelphia Phillies!

The Results were as follows:

Philadelphia Phillies (80%)

San Francisco Giants (20%)

I have started a poll that will run until next week on who will represent the AL in the World Series, vote now!

MLB Power Rankings Week 2

THE TOP TEN:

1. Texas Rangers - 8-1

The Rangers are not only scoring runs at an amazing rate; they are pitching extremely well surprisingly. There run differential of 58-26 leads the league currently.

2. Philadelphia Phillies - 7-2

The pitching has yet to round in to form with stinkers from Cliff Lee this week, Cole Hamels last week, and Joe Blanton last week. The pitching should improve and the bats have been hot all year averaging 6.5 runs a game.

3. Cleveland Indians - 7-2

They lost their first two games and have since won 7 in a row, they are pitching well and Travis Hafner has reestablished himself as a power hitter.

4. Colorado Rockies - 6-2

The bats are heating up with Tulo killing the ball since changing his walkup music to Justin Bieber, and Carlos Gonzalez coming back strong. Not only the bats but the pitching has improved since Ulbaldo Jimenez hit the DL.

5. Cincinnati Reds - 6-3

The bats are still tops in the NL with 64 runs already scored. The pitching has been subpar which is why they are lower than Colorado right now. Volquez, Wood, and Leake currently are posting ERA's of 5.82, 5.25, and 6.75 respectively. If they want to reach the playoffs and go deep they will need them to improve big time.

6. Baltimore Orioles - 6-3

The Orioles continue to play awesome ball since Buck Showalter took over, they lost 2 of 3 to Texas but did deliver Texas their only loss so far. Jeremy Guthrie and Zach Britton are a combined 3-1, 0.65 ERA so far. Buck seems to have this team understanding who they are and knowing what needs to be done to win; I'm very impressed with his performance so far.

7. New York Yankees - 5-4

They just lost 2 of 3 to their biggest rival and Derek Jeter looks old....like really old. Of the 29 balls Jeter has put into play this season, 23 have been grounders. He is hitting a measly .206 and evidenced by the Red Sox series cannot catch up to a fastball. Teams are starting to notice he is starting a ground-ball epidemic and have pitched him like it. On Sunday the Red Sox threw him nothing but fastballs and he couldn't hit any of them. Another problem is Phil Hughes who can't hit above 90 on the gun and has been pounded in 2 straight starts. This team looks to be in big trouble, the only thing they have going for them is a star-studded offense.

8. Chicago White Sox - 6-3

The White Sox have proved they can score, big time, already scoring 63 runs for 2nd overall in the league. Also 3rd in batting average they look to be an offense that should stay hot all season long. The pitching should improve with Mark Buehrle currently stinking up the joint: 11 IP 7 ER.

9. Toronto Blue Jays - 5-4

The Blue Jays are currently the 6th best offense in the league and have probably the best bullpen in the league currently. With the Yankees showing flaws, the Red Sox problems, the Blue Jays could possibly have a chance at a division title if they can play tough all season. With Kyle Drabek looking like a future stud, and the overall pitching stats standing at 5th overall they seem to have a good chance at having a good year.

10. Milwaukee Brewers - 5-5

I understand there are teams with better records but the Brewers are starting to get hot and look like the team I expected them to be entering the season. Prince Fielder is 11-for-18 with two home runs and 11 RBIs in his last four games. They have won 5 of their last 6 and are looking to move on up these rankings next week.

CLOSE CALLS (Teams considered for positions 9 and 10):

1. Los Angeles Dodgers - 5-4
2. Kansas City Royals - 6-3
3. Florida Marlins - 5-4

NBA Playoffs Getting Clearer

Well in both conferences at least 6 teams have clinched a playoff spot. In the East it looks like this: 

Eastern Conference

Team		GB
1.	y-Chicago	--
2.	y-Boston	3.0
3.	y-Miami	3.0
4.	x-Orlando	8.5
5.	x-Atlanta	13.5
6.	x-Philadelphia	17.5
7.	x-New York	18.0
8.	Indiana	22.5
9.	Charlotte	25.0
10.	Milwaukee	26.0

It looks like the Bulls will have home-court throughout the playoffs now. It is only a 3 game lead over Boston and Miami but I think that should stick with only 5 games remaining for all three teams. The injury to Shaq will have a big impact on the Celtics in the playoffs; he was the one big presence they had besides Jermaine O Neal. Miami seems to be really coming together the past few weeks winning 8 of their last 10, but Chicago has been the hottest team in the East since the All-Star Break. Those are the only 3 teams to clinch their division so far. 

In the West it looks like this:

Western Conference

Team		GB
1.	y-San Antonio	--
2.	y-LA Lakers	3.5
3.	x-Dallas	5.5
4.	x-Oklahoma City	7.5
5.	x-Denver	11.5
6.	x-Portland	14.0
7.	New Orleans	14.5
8.	Memphis	15.0
9.	Houston	18.0
10.	Phoenix	21.5

  

San Antonio has been limping to the finish line with a 4-6 record their past 10, and injuries killing their team but the Lakers loss last night might guarantee home-court throughout for the Spurs. The Lakers have been red-hot since the all-star break with only 3 losses (2 straight though). In my opinion the Lakers are the most talented team in the entire league and are likely to repeat again. Dallas has been the 3rd best team in the West all season but due to the injuries to the Spurs I would rank them as the second best team now. Third best would be the surprise Nuggets who since the Carmelo trade have been on absolute fire, including beating the Lakers this week. They are 15-4 since trading the star, and look like one of the best teams in not only the West the entire league.