With two weeks of Major League Baseball in the books to evaluate, here's the week two power rankings.
#10: Tampa Bay Rays (7-6)
The Rays are sitting just above .500 after having to deal with some injuries to starting pitching. Alex Cobb recently joined Jeremy Hellickson and Matt Moore on the disabled list. The Rays will have depend on some young starters to get quality innings.
#9: Detroit Tigers (6-4)
The Tigers are sitting on top of the AL Central even with the slow start by Miguel Cabrera. The Tigers have a rotation that won't require them to score many runs to keep the division lead, and they could easily get hot when Cabrera's slump ends.
#8: New York Yankees (7-6)
The Yankees' free agent signings are quickly paying off, as Carlos Beltran and Jacoby Ellsbury are playing good baseball. The Yankees are coming off a series-win against their bitter rival, the Boston Red Sox. If the Yankees can get everybody healthy, they will certainly make a splash in the AL East this season.
#7: Washington Nationals (7-5)
The Nationals come into this week hanging their heads after getting swept on the road in Atlanta. With all of the injuries that this team has had to deal with, the Nationals are still playing quite well. One bright spot for this team has been the bat of infielder Anthony Rendon, who's hitting .347 as I write this.
#6: San Francisco Giants (8-5)
The Giants are playing very good baseball right now behind two players that a lot of people have never heard about. These players are first baseman Brandon Belt and center fielder Angel Pagan. Both have been ruthless at the plate this season. Free agent acquisition Tim Hudson has also proven to be extremely effective, and the Giants will try to pace themselves with the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West.
#5: St. Louis Cardinals (7-5)
The Cardinals are having some issues on offense, but that's mostly been hidden by some great starting pitching. Allen Craig has started off the season very slow, and the Cardinals will begin trying to figure that issue out quickly. The Cardinals make a great case for having the best pitching in the MLB.
#4: Oakland Athletics (8-4)
Sonny Gray has been phenomenal for the A's so far, having a 0.92 ERA. The A's have quickly set the pace for the AL West and shouldn't have much difficulty winning the division this year unless the Mariners start producing runs consistently.
#3: Atlanta Braves (8-4)
In my MLB Predictions, I predicted Freddie Freeman to win the NL MVP this season. He's been nothing short of amazing so far, hitting for a .442 average with 4 home runs. It's tough to argue there's a better hitter in the game than Freeman at this point. If the Braves can figure out Dan Uggla and B.J. Upton's offensive woes, they could have the most explosive lineup in all of baseball.
#2: Milwaukee Brewers (10-2)
The Brewers have had the hottest start to the 2014 season. Milwaukee has one of the most underrated starting rotations in baseball, and Kyle Lohse has exceeded expectations by starting his season throwing very tough. The offense has a lot of names that produce that aren't widely known. I don't think this is anything more than a hot start, and the Brewers should begin to taper off soon.
#1: Los Angeles Dodgers (9-4)
The Dodgers have had a good start to the 2014 season. It's crazy to think that they've been this good with Clayton Kershaw on the disabled list. People don't give Adrian Gonzalez enough credit, and he's had a great start to this season. The Dodgers have championship intentions and have made a good first step.
Did I leave somebody out, or do you disagree? Let me know on twitter @griffaldo.
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