Energy Rankings: Who’s the most effective within the AL?

There wasn’t any motion this week within the prime 5, with the Dodgers holding on to the highest spot — though not as firmly as final week — with three of the 5 first-place votes. The opposite two went to the Astros, with the Yankees, Twins and Braves rounding out the highest 5.

Elsewhere within the prime 10, the Nationals continued to surge, climbing as much as No. 6. Washington has primarily locked up one of many two wild-card spots within the Nationwide League — can it make up any floor on Atlanta within the race for the NL East title?

For Week 22, our panel of voters was composed of Bradford Doolittle, Christina Kahrl, Eric Karabell, Tim Kurkjian and David Schoenfield.

Los Angeles Dodgers
2019 report: 89-50
Week 21 rating: 1

The well-oiled Dodgers machine hit a few bumps this week. Max Muncy will miss two weeks with a small fracture in his proper wrist. It may have been worse as a extra extreme fracture may have meant lacking eight weeks. The one concern is whether or not his energy will likely be affected when he returns. Hyun-Jin Ryu allowed seven runs for the second consecutive begin and has now allowed 18 runs in 14⅔ innings over his previous three begins. — David Schoenfield

ICYMI: Olney: Will Smith has earned Dodgers’ belief

Houston Astros
2019 report: 89-49
Week 21 rating: 2

The brand new model of second baseman Jose Altuve just isn’t fairly as helpful as he was once, however he stays among the many greatest at his place. Altuve blasted his 25th dwelling run Thursday to succeed in a profession greatest, although a few of his different numbers look totally different from what we have seen prior to now. Altuve has three batting titles to his credit score, however is combating to remain above .300 this season. He additionally averaged 37 stolen bases from 2012 to 2017, topping 30 every season, however seemingly is not going to method 30 over the previous two years mixed due to knee and hamstring woes. Nonetheless, Altuve ought to boast an OPS higher than .900 and he stays actually good. — Eric Karabell

ICYMI: How the Astros maintain getting higher and higher

New York Yankees
2019 report: 90-48
Week 21 rating: Three

The Yankees closed the week with two dramatic walk-off wins over the A’s: DJ LeMahieu hit a house run within the 11th inning on Saturday, then Brett Gardner and Mike Ford went back-to-back off Liam Hendriks on Sunday for a wild 5-Four win (the Yankees additionally scored three within the eighth). LeMahieu’s dwelling run was the Yankees’ 74th of August, a serious league report for one month. The outdated mark was 58 (the Twins additionally broke the outdated mark with 59). — Schoenfield

ICYMI: Regulation: Yankees prospect Clarke Schmidt is on the rise

Minnesota Twins
2019 report: 84-52
Week 21 rating: Four

Excellent news! One other hitter has stepped up because the Twins purpose to tie the mark of final season’s Yankees with 12 gamers reaching double digits in dwelling runs. Outfielder Jake Cave has delivered a pair of multihomer efforts prior to now 10 days and, regardless of restricted taking part in time this season, may get there as he fills in for injured people like Byron Buxton. Cave hit 13 dwelling runs final season, one in every of seven Twins to succeed in double digits. Eleven are already there this 12 months! Cave, a longtime minor leaguer who confirmed little energy till reaching Triple-A, won’t even make the playoff roster, however he may assist the staff make historical past. — Karabell

ICYMI: Are the Twins the most effective dwelling run staff ever?

Atlanta Braves
2019 report: 84-54
Week 21 rating: 5

So, who has been the Braves’ MVP? Getting into Sunday, Ronald Acuna Jr. had a minimal lead over Josh Donaldson in WAR (Four.9 to Four.Eight) with Freddie Freeman at Four.Zero. Freeman, nonetheless, leads in RBIs and was simply two runs behind Acuna. Freeman had a small edge over Acuna in win chance added (5.04 to Four.39) as he has hit .353/.439/.694 in high-leverage conditions, with seven dwelling runs and 36 RBIs in 98 PAs. And remember Mike Soroka: He really leads the Braves with 5.2 WAR. — Schoenfield

ICYMI: The Braves cannot be counted out come playoff time

Washington Nationals
2019 report: 77-58
Week 21 rating: Eight

The Nationals went 20-7 in August and outscored their opponents by 70 runs to strengthen their grip on a wild-card spot. Stephen Strasburg fanned 14 in eight scoreless innings on Saturday. His recreation rating of 92 registered because the second better of his profession. The Nats accomplished a sweep of the Marlins on Sunday, and since beginning the season 19-31, they’re 58-27 — the most effective report within the majors since Could 24. — Schoenfield

ICYMI: Nats nearer Doolittle makes rehab look

Oakland Athletics
2019 report: 78-58
Week 21 rating: 6

Over the previous 20 years — 20 totally different A’s groups with virtually 400 totally different A’s gamers and 4 totally different A’s managers — Oakland has been beneath .500 in April and Could however has received 56 p.c of its video games in August. Darndest factor. This 12 months’s A’s went 17-9. — Sam Miller

ICYMI: Is Matt Chapman the important thing to the A’s stretch run?

Tampa Bay Rays
2019 report: 80-58
Week 21 rating: 7

We’re nonetheless a few weeks away from the Rays hopefully starting to welcome again injured starters Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow and Yonny Chirinos to the fold. Glasnow is probably going slotted for a aid function, however the injury-battered Rays can use high quality innings regardless of the place they arrive from. Tampa Bay has used 14 starters total, although that features opener appearances. Snell, Chirinos and Charlie Morton are the one Rays pitchers to have thrown as many as 100 innings this season. Nobody else has reached 60, so it has been fairly a jigsaw puzzle for supervisor Kevin Money and his workers to piece collectively. Getting a number of the injured hurlers again will definitely assist, however within the meantime, the mix-and-match mission continues on the similar time the Rays are combating to maintain tempo with Cleveland and Oakland within the AL wild-card race. — Bradford Doolittle

ICYMI: Morton’s Houston homecoming about excess of Astros

Cleveland Indians
2019 report: 79-58
Week 21 rating: 9

Partly as a result of they not often play good groups, partly as a result of they have been horrible after they have, the Indians have the second-fewest wins in baseball this 12 months towards .500-plus groups, forward of solely the Tigers. — Miller

ICYMI: How Indians’ deadline deal for Puig, Reyes is understanding

St. Louis Cardinals
2019 report: 76-60
Week 21 rating: 10

The Cardinals have been scorching sizzling of late, their 17-5 report since Aug. 9 the most effective in baseball, granting them a three-game lead within the Nationwide League Central. Yadier Molina and Dakota Hudson have been the standouts lately, as Molina is a .344/.417/.594 hitter with 4 dwelling runs and 12 RBIs in 18 video games since his return from a thumb damage, whereas Hudson has received 4 consecutive begins whereas permitting solely 4 runs mixed in them. — Tristan H. Cockcroft

ICYMI: How did the Cardinals take over the NL Central race?

Chicago Cubs
2019 report: 73-63
Week 21 rating: 11

The Cubs welcomed Ben Zobrist again into the fold over the weekend. Along with the increase in morale his return offers the clubhouse, Zobrist presents one other attainable resolution for a second-base place that has been a hodgepodge of underachievement this season. Chicago ranks simply 26th in bWAR on the place and that determine has been fairly regular all through the marketing campaign. The principle offenders have been Addison Russell (.696 OPS in 157 plate appearances on the place by means of Saturday) and Daniel Descalso (.612 in 150). David Bote and Robel Garcia have each hit properly sufficient whereas taking part in the keystone, however Chicago likes Bote in a utility function and Garcia has struggled with the glove. Ian Happ has hit very properly as a second baseman however has struggled when beginning elsewhere. Zobrist did not precisely gentle it up throughout his rehab stint at Triple-A Iowa, so Joe Maddon could find yourself taking part in the new hand down the stretch. — Doolittle

ICYMI: Cubs elevate personal postseason hopes, sink Mets’ with sweep

Boston Purple Sox
2019 report: 74-63
Week 21 rating: 12

One of many massive questions for Boston this offseason is whether or not J.D. Martinez will choose out of his contract, which has three years and $62.5 million remaining if he sticks round. Whereas his poor protection and the tepid free-agent market of late would recommend he stick with the Sox (he has one other opt-out after 2020), his sizzling hitting the previous six weeks could lead him to check the waters. Since July 20, Martinez is both first or second in baseball in common (.399), OPS (1.254), dwelling runs (15), RBIs (42) and wRC (45). — Steve Richards

ICYMI: Can Devers stick with it after breakout 2019 season?

New York Mets
2019 report: 69-67
Week 21 rating: 13

Proper-hander Noah Syndergaard comes off the worst outing of his profession, as he allowed six first-inning runs to the Cubs — at dwelling — then gave up two-run homers within the second and third innings. With 9 of the 10 runs charged to Syndergaard earned, his ERA ballooned to Four.14, its highest mark since July. Syndergaard has not completed a season with an ERA worse than Three.24, however he ought to get again on monitor towards the Nationals and Phillies this week. In any case, previous to the Cubs recreation, Syndergaard boasted a 1.82 ERA because the All-Star break. He will get a cross for an aberrant outing. — Karabell

ICYMI: Mets’ playoff bid takes hit after back-to-back dwelling sweeps

Arizona Diamondbacks
2019 report: 70-67
Week 21 rating: 16

Ketel Marte has earned loads of recognition for his breakout season — and rightfully so — however how about teammate Eduardo Escobar? The versatile 30-year-old entered September already having established profession highs with 32 dwelling runs, 109 RBIs (earlier excessive: 84), 10 triples, 285 whole bases and 84 runs scored. Having signed a three-year, $21 million contract final offseason, Escobar is trying like one in every of baseball’s greatest bargains. — Richards

ICYMI: Diamondbacks finish report streak of being common

Philadelphia Phillies
2019 report: 70-65
Week 21 rating: 14

Proper-hander Vince Velasquez enters September with a Four.86 ERA, 1.32 WHIP and 9.6 Okay/9, every quantity just about in step with his profession efficiency, however the staff actually wants extra. There may be ace Aaron Nola, soft-tossing Jason Vargas after which a scarcity of rotation depth that the staff can reliably belief. Velasquez has reached 5 innings and permitted not more than three earned runs in all however one in every of his previous seven begins, which counts as dependable amongst this crew. With a street ERA greater than a run worse than his dwelling model, Velasquez should step up together with his subsequent scheduled begins, coming at Cincinnati and New York. — Karabell

ICYMI: Regulation: Prospect Howard might be massive a part of Phillies’ 2020 rotation

Milwaukee Brewers
2019 report: 70-66
Week 21 rating: 15

The hamstring damage suffered by rookie second baseman Keston Hiura on Friday was a tricky blow for a Milwaukee staff that’s teetering on the sting of a free fall. Hiura ranks second on the Brewers in OPS+ (138) to MVP candidate Christian Yelich. Whereas the Brewers have turned to the likes of Cory Spangenberg and Hernan Perez of late, the onus to keep up a semblance of Hiura’s manufacturing seemingly falls to Travis Shaw. Shaw was recalled from Triple-A San Antonio when Hiura went on the IL, although he was attributable to be referred to as up anyway when the rosters expanded on Sunday. Shaw hit properly for the Missions however his season on the massive league stage has been disastrous, that includes a .556 OPS and simply 13 RBIs over 228 plate appearances. Shaw, simply 29, has been one in every of Milwaukee’s cornerstone gamers the previous couple of years and a return to kind down the stretch would do extra for the Brewers than merely help their long-shot playoff push. It might assuage a number of issues heading into the offseason. — Doolittle

ICYMI: Handicapping the house run race: What are Yelich’s possibilities?

San Francisco Giants
2019 report: 66-70
Week 21 rating: 17

Over the previous three seasons, Buster Posey has hit one dwelling run after the commerce deadline — on Aug. Eight, 2017. That is 340 late-season plate appearances and one dinger. The Giants dropped him to fifth within the batting order this week. — Miller

ICYMI: Giants lower ties with Gennett month after commerce

Cincinnati Reds
2019 report: 64-73
Week 21 rating: 18

Misplaced season or not, what Aristides Aquino has been doing for the Reds has been one thing particular. He already holds — completely on his personal — the information for essentially the most dwelling runs hit by a participant by means of his first 12 (Eight homers), 14 (9), 16 (10), 17 (11), 22 (12), 27 (13) and 28 video games (14) of his profession; his 14 homers in August have been the fourth most by any rookie in a single month in historical past; and those self same 14 August homers tied a Reds franchise report for a single month. Aquino is establishing himself as a surefire common for the staff in proper discipline heading into 2020. — Cockcroft

ICYMI: Inside Aristides Aquino’s wonderful record-setting month

Texas Rangers
2019 report: 67-71
Week 21 rating: 19

It has been an unsightly season for Rougned Odor, whose MLB-low .194 batting common is 20 factors worse than that of the closest qualifier. However there have been two items of excellent information for Odor final week. First, he broke an Zero-for-28 hunch Friday with a key hit in a win over the Mariners. Second, August ended. For the month, Odor had a brutal slash line of .144/.278/.268, but performed each recreation. — Richards

Los Angeles Angels
2019 report: 65-73
Week 21 rating: 20

The Angels have no idea if infielder Tommy La Stella will play in September, however he has been taking batting observe and it appears clear he desires to return. La Stella’s All-Star season was interrupted when he fouled a pitch off his leg in July, leading to a fractured tibia, and he had 16 dwelling runs over 306 plate appearances on the time. La Stella hit 10 dwelling runs in his first 5 seasons, protecting 947 PA. It was a terrific story. The Angels will not be playoff sure however a return from La Stella, even whether it is temporary, can be a optimistic and create momentum for him for subsequent 12 months, with La Stella’s future unclear. — Karabell

ICYMI: Will Trout win his first dwelling run title?

San Diego Padres
2019 report: 64-72
Week 21 rating: 21

A call on Chris Paddack’s workload will presumably come within the subsequent a number of days, because the rookie right-hander has now compiled 124⅓ innings, or 34⅓ greater than he totaled within the minor leagues in 2018. The Padres have given him loads of relaxation all 12 months, by no means pitching him on fewer than 5 days’ relaxation, however regardless of that, Paddack is Three-for-Eight in high quality begins with a 5.36 ERA because the All-Star break. — Cockcroft

Chicago White Sox
2019 report: 60-76
Week 21 rating: 24

The ascension of starter Lucas Giolito to ace standing has been one of many brightest developments of the ChiSox’s marketing campaign. An identical however lesser-noticed breakout could have taken place for fellow righty starter Reynaldo Lopez. Lopez’s total numbers will not flip any heads, which is one motive his in-season enchancment hasn’t garnered as a lot consideration as Giolito’s robust efficiency. Lopez is Eight-12 with 5.41 ERA and 138 strikeouts over 153 innings. Because the All-Star break, nonetheless, Lopez had gone Four-Three with a 2.82 ERA and 52 strikeouts over 54⅓ innings earlier than coughing up six runs in simply two-thirds of an inning towards the Braves on Saturday. He has allowed three runs or fewer in eight of his 10 begins because the break. Lopez no-hit the Rangers for 5 innings on Aug. 25 earlier than departing with flu-like signs. His enchancment might be following an analogous path to that of Giolito, who began poorly in 2018 however was higher down the stretch. In that case, Lopez will likely be a participant to look at once we attain the 2020 season. — Doolittle

Colorado Rockies
2019 report: 59-79
Week 21 rating: 23

The Rockies can not seem to catch any breaks on the pitching aspect, surrendering a Nationwide League-worst 55 runs throughout the previous week, and so they’re now at risk of threatening their franchise worst for starters’ ERA, with a 5.94 mark that’s inside vary of the 6.19 that the 1999 rotation posted. The lack of ace German Marquez to proper arm irritation, which threatens to finish his season prematurely, has compelled the staff to show to a few starters — Chi Chi Gonzalez, Peter Lambert and Tim Melville — who weren’t even on the 40-man roster as lately as the start of June. — Cockcroft

ICYMI: Grey misplaced for season with foot fracture

Toronto Blue Jays
2019 report: 55-83
Week 21 rating: 22

The Blue Jays have 4 rookies with double-digit dwelling runs this season (Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Rowdy Tellez, Danny Jansen, Cavan Biggio) with Billy McKinney (9) and Bo Bichette (Eight) not far behind. If each have been to get to 10, it could set the report for essentially the most rookies on a staff with double-digit homers in a season with six. The 2 groups with 5 gamers doing so are the 1958 Giants and the 2006 Marlins. — Michael Bonzagni, ESPN Stats & Info

Pittsburgh Pirates
2019 report: 60-77
Week 21 rating: 25

Even when too little, too late, the Pirates’ bats, which had ranked among the many coldest in baseball because the All-Star break, have proven up lately, their 7.6 runs-per-game common since Aug. 23 exhibiting stark distinction to their Three.84 common — that ranked third-worst within the recreation — between the break and Aug. 22. Starling Marte has been the staff’s constant hitting chief within the second half, whether or not these round him contributed or not, as he has slashed .325/.375/.581 with 11 homers and 12 steals. — Cockcroft

Seattle Mariners
2019 report: 58-80
Week 21 rating: 26

Kyle Seager’s August was the most effective months of his profession as he hit .323/.417/.699 with 9 dwelling runs, eight doubles and 25 RBIs. He ranked seventh within the majors for the month in OPS and wOBA. The Mariners head to Houston for 4 video games this week: They’re 1-12 towards the Astros and have an opportunity to go 1-18. Since 1969, no staff has misplaced 18 video games to a different in a single season. (Six groups have misplaced 17, together with the 2006 Mariners, who went 2-17 towards the A’s.) — Schoenfield

ICYMI: M’s Broxton hit with suspension for throwing gear

Miami Marlins
2019 report: 48-88
Week 21 rating: 27

Twenty-two of the 25 lowest-attendance video games in MLB this 12 months have been in Miami, however the Marlins’ draw hit a brand new low this week: Simply 5,297 paid on Monday and 24,300 over a four-game set, fewer followers within the lengthy sequence than 18 MLB groups common per recreation. — Miller

ICYMI: Anderson seemingly performed for the rest of 2019

Kansas Metropolis Royals
2019 report: 49-89
Week 21 rating: 28

Because the Royals hit the ultimate month of one other rebuilding season, the instant way forward for the method grew to become murky — maybe in a great way — when the information dropped that the staff was being bought by a gaggle led by Indians minority proprietor John Sherman. It’s going to be a bit earlier than MLB’s house owners can log out on the transaction, and Sherman nonetheless has to divest himself of his curiosity within the Indians. So we do not have a terrific gauge for the time being as as to whether Sherman is solely going to imagine the wheel of a ship already pointed in a sure path or if he’ll need to change tacks and remake the group within the picture of the Indians. What’s that picture? For one factor, the Indians have adopted extra of an analytically pushed path than the Royals have in their very own Braves-inspired system. However Sherman is a Royals fan going manner again, so the John Schuerholz/Dayton Moore mannequin might be simply what he has in thoughts. — Doolittle

ICYMI: Royals offered to Okay.C. businessman, traders group

Baltimore Orioles
2019 report: 45-91
Week 21 rating: 29

It has been a tough couple of years for the O’s, however there’s all the time a silver lining. By 80 video games this season, Baltimore was the worst staff in baseball (22-58, .275) by 5½ video games. Since then, the Orioles’ .411 successful share is ninth within the American League and 20th total. And if we subtract the O’s brutal 1-13 stretch in early August from that span, they’re a good 22-20. Not so dangerous, proper? — Richards

ICYMI: Orioles’ tempers flare once more in dugout incident

Detroit Tigers
2019 report: 40-94
Week 21 rating: 30

Travis Demeritte’s tough week — he is 1 for his previous 22 — knocked his season line far sufficient that the Tigers now have solely two hitters with an OPS higher than the league common: pitcher Matthew Boyd (1-for-2) and pitcher Gregory Soto (2-for-2). — Miller

ICYMI: Gardenhire desires to return as supervisor of struggling Tigers