MLB Power Rankings Week 9

1.) Philadelphia Phillies (33-20)

-Even after a humiliating loss on Sunday to the Mets, this is still the best team in baseball right now. Cole Hamels got his first ever W vs. the Mets on Saturday and the entire pitching staff has been great, except for Vance Worley. This is the best team in baseball right now

2.)  Boston Red Sox (30-23)-The Red Sox are now officially on a hot streak. After a series win against the Tigers and winning the 3 game series vs. the ML leading Cleveland Indians they are firing on all cylinders. The offense has been destroying pitchers and Jon Lester just picked up hi 7th win this week. The Red Sox are the team to beat in the A.L

3.) St. Louis Cardinals (31-22)
-Jaime Garcia was blown out of the water on Saturday giving up 11 runs to the Rockies. Fortunately the rest of the pitching staff is starting to piece it together, and Matt Holliday should be ready to play on Monday. They have won 8 of their last 10 games, and are starting to heat up.
4.) Cleveland Indians (31-19)
-All the momentum this team had after a come back win against the Red Sox on Monday was drained out after losing the next two games, and then losing the next series vs. the Rays. Josh Tomlin and Mike Talbot fell back to earth, and the offense couldn't hit. If they continue to play like this, they will drop rapidly.
5.) Florida Marlins (30-21)-The Marlins went into San Francisco and swept the red hot Giants, then went down to Los Angeles and beat the Dodgers in a 3 game series, all without staff ace Josh Johnson. Ricky Nolasco and Anibal Sanchez have been dealing, and the marlins have gave them the run support they needed to win. Now with Josh Johnson coming back this team could be even better, especially if Hanley Ramirez starts hitting again.
6.) Tampa Bay Rays (28-24)
-The Rays are coming off a series win over the Cleveland Indians, and two of those game pitching a Shutout. David Price is dealing and James Shields is hot, meanwhile Evan Longoria is starting to wake up at the plate. This team could start getting hot.
7.) New York Yankees (28-23)
-After narrowly avoiding being swept by the Mariners, the Yankees really need to find their place again. Fortunately for them the standings aren't very strong early in the year with every team within a few games reach. C.C Sabathia has had his struggles throughout the season having one great outing followed by a bad one
8.) Arizona Diamondbacks (29-24)
-The Diamondbacks have to be one of the biggest surprises in baseball. Expected to finish dead last and now because of the Giants injury woes that have a chance to be in 1st by Monday. Daniel Hudson has turned things around and J.J Putz has been a shutdown closer, who they can turn to in the 9th. Can they continue to stay hot?

9.)  Atlanta Braves (30-24)
-I had the Braves a little bit lower last week, but they are showing me they should be higher on the list. After beating the Reds and their high powered offense they get the bump on my list. Tommy Hanson was shaky his last start out, but is still an amazing pitcher. Brandon Beachy will be back in 3 weeks and Tim Hudson will also be back very soon. Meanwhile Jonny Venters has been lights out in the set up role
10.) San Francisco Giants (28-24)-After a hot start in May, the Giants game crashing down, after Scott Cousins knockout blow to Buster Posey at the plate on Wednesday. Now that Posey is out for the year the Giants lose another source of offense, which leaves them with very little to help their pitchers.
11.) Texas Rangers (28-25)
 -The Rangers have won 4 of their last 6 games with Josh Hamilton and Nelson Cruz back. Since coming off the DL Cruz already has 3 HR's since coming off the DL and has helped carry the Rangers offense. The Rangers may start winning games now, but will have to watch out for the Mariners,Angels, and A's who are right behind them.
12.) Milwaukee Brewers: (29-24)
-The Brewers have won 8 of their last 10 games, Ryan Braun is playing like an MVP and Yovanni Gallardo is looking like the new Cy Young. After knocking off the struggling Giants the Brewers will get ready for the tired Reds to come to town, and give them another chance to pick up some wins.
13.) Seattle Mariners (26-26)
-The Mariners are the hottest team in the A.L right now winning 9 of their last 10 games. Felix Hernandez and Michael Pineda have been spectacular shutting opponents down and helping their team win games.
14.) Cincinnati Reds (27-26)
-The Reds Joey Votto only has 6 Home Runs on the year and only hit 1 in the month of May. While his power swing is struggling Jay Bruce has been the true MVP of the National League with 15 HR's, a 2.80 BA and 39 RBI's. Unfortunately the rest of the Reds offense has not been hitting and their pitching has done poorly leading to the team going 2-8 in their last 10 games. The best thing for the Reds will be a rest day which will finally come after a 20 day road trip
15.) Los Angeles Angels (24-24)
- The Angels are surprisingly only a game out of 1st place in the AL West. Their ace Jered Weaver has turned things around, and Dan Haren seems to be pitching nicely as well. They took advantage of a injury plagued and ugly Twins team to pick up a series win, and they have won 6 out of their last 10. They could start to reclaim the AL West
16.) Toronto Blue Jays (27-26)
-Jose Bautista is the story for this team already 20 HR's and the month of May is not even over. he is also hitting .351 on the season. Rookie Kyle Drabek has had extreme command issues but still manages to get the occasional win. Unfortunately for this team they are in the same division as the Red Sox, Yankees and Rays making a trip to the top impossible.
17.) Oakland Athletics (27-27)
-The A's have been led by their dynamic pitching all year adn that continues to be the story for them. The team is coming off a 3 game sweep of the Orioles to give them a 4 game winning streak. Trevor Cahill and Gio Gonzalez have been Aces while the rest of the rotation has struggled with injuries. The real test will start Monday when they take on the Yankees in New York.
18.) Detroit Tigers (25-26):
-The Tigers struggled to find their pitching in Boston and had issues scoring any runs before that. They have dropped 7 of their last 10 games, and are blowing their chance to reclaim first place. They are fortunate in that the Indians are cooling off, but they need to take advantage of it and win some ball games if they want to be in contention.
19.)  Colorado Rockies (25-27)
- Remember in April when the Rockies had the best record in baseball. Well now they have crashed down to earth and are 3 games back in the weakest division in the National League. Tulo and Cargo have not hit, and the rotation has had issues getting wins. They may not stay in the top 20 for long.
20.)  Pittsburgh Pirates  (24-27)
-The Pirates have slowly showed signs that they can vreep uo on the .500 mark. Paul Maholm threw a CG Shutout vs. the Cubs and Joel Hanrahan has continued to be solid. Meanwhile Pedro Alvarez is progressing well in rehab and could help this offense soon.
21.) New York Mets (24-28)
-The Mets continue to lose while the team owner continues to cause controversy. Meanwhile on the field David Wright and Ike Davis are still out, Jose Reyes is playing as trade bait, and the rotation has struggled. It can only be a matter of time before this team really has a meltdown.
22.) Baltimore Orioles (24-28)
-One of the two favorites two win ROY, Zach Britton has looked like a veteran so far this year. Brian Matsuz is slowly making his way back to the Majors, and they have some nice prospects developing as well. It s a young team for the future, but you wou;d still like to see more.
23.) Kansas City Royals (23-29)
- The Royals recent struggles have continued as they have now lost 7 of their last 10, and the teams performance continues to slide. The lone bright spot has been rookie Eric Hosmer who is making a case for ROY
24.) Los Angeles Dodgers (24-30)
-Clayton Kershaw had his best outing of the year on Sunday pitching a CG Shutout allowing only 2 hits and striking out 10, and getting 2 hits. If only the rest of the Dodgers could play like him, imagine how much better they could be
25.) Chicago Cubs (23-28)
- The Cubs managed to go .500 this week which considering their recent struggles, is not to bad. But they still will remember being shutout by the Pirates at home.
26.) Chicago White Sox (24-31)
-Gordon Beckham was drilled in the face by a baseball, and is now on the mend. While he was not hitting very well it is still a disappointing loss during the week, but he will be back this week. Meanwhile the team continues to lose games after being swept by Toronto.
27.) San Diego Padres (22-31) 
The Padres were able to take the series vs. the Nationals and give them a .500 record for the week. Heath Bell has been stellar in the 9th, but  Mike Adams gave up a walk off home run to Michael Morse. This road trip may get the Padres off to a good start.
28.) Washington Nationals (22-30)
-The Nationals continue to lose games and Drew Storen has struggled as of late giving up 5 ER, in his last 3 appearances. He will eventually bounce back, and they will get Ryan Zimmerman back soon so there is some hope.
29.) Houston Astros (19-34)
The hottest pitcher the Astros had (Wandy Rodriguez) is now on the DL. That leaves them with very little pitching wise. Hunter Pence has lost his power stroke. He will find it eventually, but until then this team does not have alot of offense.
30.) Minnesota Twins (17-34)
-The Twins have twice as many losses as they do wins. Even without Joe Mauer that is inexcusable. Justin Morneau has not been hitting and they have the worst bullpen in the league. They are destined to lose more then 100 games this year.