1. St. Louis Cardinals (33-18, previous No. 1) –The Cardinals, despite injuries to starter Adam Wainwright and most recently first baseman Matt Adams, haven’t let that stop them from maintaining the best record in the game. Their plus-59 run differential is tied for the Dodgers for the best mark in the game. 2. Houston Astros (32-20, previous No. 2) –Houston is taking advantage of a poor AL West, as they now lead the division by four games. The Astros are an impressive 15-8 on the road, a major reason for their early success. Dallas Keuchel continues to dominate with his 7-1 record and 1.76 ERA, both leading the AL. 3. Minnesota Twins (30-19, previous No. 6) –No team in the league has come on stronger of late than the Twins, as they have rattled off wins in eight of their last 10 games and now are atop the AL Central standings. Closer Glen Perkins leads all of baseball with 19 saves. 4. Los Angeles Dodgers (30-20, previous No. 5) –The Dodgers’ plus-59 run differential is tied with the Cardinals for the best in the National League. They lead the Giants by 1.5 games in the NL West. Adrian Gonzalez’s .337 batting average is third in the NL. 5. San Francisco Giants (30-23, previous No. 7) –San Francisco has dropped three straight games, but they remain just 1.5 games back of the Dodgers in the NL West. The Giants have gotten balanced production up and down their lineup, but shortstop Brandon Crawford has seven homers and 34 RBIs, which leads the team. 6. Kansas City Royals (29-19, previous No. 3) –Despite their AL-leading, plus-49 run differential, the Royals have fallen out of first place in the AL Central, as they now trail the Twins by half a game. Lorenzo Cain’s 2.8 WAR is the fourth-best in the American League. 7. New York Mets (29-23, previous No. 9) –The Mets are back tied with the Nationals for first place in the NL East. Bartolo Colon has eight wins, which are tied for the most in the majors and closer Jeurys Familia’s 15 saves are tied for second in the NL. 8. Washington Nationals (28-22, previous No. 4) –The Nationals have dropped three straight games to now fall into a tie with the Mets for first in the NL East. Bryce Harper is one of the best hitters in he game as he’s in the top five in the NL in average, home runs and RBIs. He’s hitting .325 with 18 homers and 43 RBIs. 9. Detroit Tigers (28-24, previous No. 8) –It has been a tough last few weeks for the Tigers as they are on a three-game losing streak and in third place in the AL Central. Miguel Cabrera has continued his hot start to the season, as he’s still hitting at a .333 clip, third in the AL. 10. Los Angeles Angels (28-24, previous No. 13) –Los Angeles has won five straight games to move to just four games behind the Astros in the AL West. Albert Pujols and Mike Trout have each hit 13 home runs, which are tied for fourth in the American League. 11. Chicago Cubs (27-22, previous No. 10) –The Cubs have been playing much better baseball than they did earlier in the year, but still trail the Cardinals by five games in the NL Central. Anthony Rizzo has heated up at the plate, as his 2.7 WAR is fifth in the NL. 12. Pittsburgh Pirates (27-24, previous No. 15) –The Pirates have won eight of their last 10 games, but still trail the Cardinals by six games in the NL Central. They have two pitchers in the top five in ERA with A.J. Burnett fourth at 1.81 and Gerrit Cole fifth at 1.90. 13. New York Yankees (27-25, previous No. 12) –The Yankees are working their way back from a tough week two weeks ago. They sit atop the AL East standings by one game over the Rays. Mark Teixeira has hit 15 home runs and driven in 39, the second-most homers in the AL and more RBIs. 14. Atlanta Braves (26-25, previous No. 14) –Atlanta has made it a three-team race in the NL East, winning three straight games and now trail the Mets and Nationals by 2.5 games. They are getting good performances from their pitchers as Shelby Miller’s 1.48 ERA is tied for first in the NL and Jason Grilli’s 15 saves are second. 15. Texas Rangers (26-25, previous No. 16) –The return of Josh Hamilton has given life the Rangers, as they have won eight of their last 10 games. They took 3-of-4 from the Red Sox over the weekend, capped with Hamilton’s pinch-hit walkoff double Sunday. 16. Tampa Bay Rays (26-26, previous No. 11) –Even though the Rays have dropped seven of 10 games, they are just one game back in the AL East. With how poor the division is, every team has a chance to pull ahead and take control of the division. Chris Archer has a 2.12 ERA, which is fifth in the American League. 17. San Diego Padres (25-28, previous No. 20) –The Padres continue to struggle from the mound and now are 6.5 games behind the Dodgers in the NL West. Justin Upton has made a nice transition to the division as his 37 RBI are fifth in the NL. 18. Seattle Mariners (24-27, previous No. 18) –With Nelson Cruz and Felix Hernandez both having strong seasons, it’s disappointing that the Mariners are 7.5 games out of first place in the AL West. Cruz is tied with Harper for the league lead in home runs with 18. 19. Cleveland Indians (24-26, previous No. 23) –Cleveland has suddenly turned things around by winning seven of 10 games to now only trail the Twins by 6.5 games in the AL Central. Jason Kipnis paces the offense as his .340 average is second-best in the AL. 20. Chicago White Sox (23-26, previous No. 24) –The White Sox are in the basement of the AL Central and much of it has to do with their run differential of minus-42. Being seven games out, they have a chance of falling out of the division race before the summer even gets going. 21. Arizona Diamondbacks (23-27, previous No. 17) –After a productive week last week, the Diamondbacks have dropped six of their last 10 to fall seven games out of first in the NL West. Fortunately for Diamondback fans, they can watch first baseman Paul Goldschmidt hit on a daily basis. He currently has 15 homers and 43 RBIs, third and second respectively in the NL. 22. Baltimore Orioles (23-27, previous No. 22) –Baltimore has dropped three straight games to now trail the Yankees by three games in the AL East. Like can be said for the rest of the division, they still have as good of a chance as anyone to win the division. 23. Toronto Blue Jays (23-29, previous No. 21) –Even though the Blue Jays have the best run differential in the division at plus-25, record wise they are among the worst in the league. If they can get better performances from the mound, the AL East is still there for the taking. 24. Cincinnati Reds (22-27, previous No. 27) –Cincinnati has played a little better of late, winning three straight, but are still 10 games out in the NL Central, a lot of ground to be made up. 25. Colorado Rockies (22-27, previous No. 26) –Colorado has won seven of 10 games, but even with that they are still in last place in the NL West thanks to a horrid start. DJ LeMahieu continues to hit well as his .335 average is fourth in the NL. 26. Boston Red Sox (22-29, previous No. 19) –It’s been a disaster of a start to the year for the Red Sox, as they are seven games below .500 after a 1-6 road trip. They have the second to worst starters ERA in all of baseball and hitters such as Mike Napoli, Pablo Sandoval and David Ortiz aren’t performing. 27. Miami Marlins (20-32, previous No. 28) –Thanks to the Phillies, the Marlins aren’t the worst team in their division. Otherwise, they would be in last place in every division except the NL Central. 28. Oakland Athletics (20-33, previous No. 29) –Oakland has won six of their last 10 games, but they are still 12.5 games out of first in the AL West. Following losing in the play-in Wild Card game last year, this season has been a major disappointment. 29. Philadelphia Phillies (19-33, previous No. 25) –The Phillies are a disaster. They have lost seven straight and have a league-worst run differential of minus-73.
30. Milwaukee Brewers (18-34, previous No. 30) –Milwaukee has a run differential of minus-64, with only the Phillies being worse. Its 9-20 record at home is worst in the league.
MLB Power Rankings: Twins continue their unlikely ascent
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