MLB Power Rankings: A New York State of Mind

After spending two weeks playing second fiddle to the Los Angeles Dodgers, the New York Yankees reclaimed the top spot in our MLB Power Rankings this week. They did so by posting a league-best 1.15 ERA and the second-best OPS.

Yankees starters have dominated the sport this season. There’s no better example of this than their performance last week. In six starts, Yankees starters allowed just four earned runs. And there’s no sign of them slowing down.

The next big move this week was made by the Los Angeles Angels. After losing 11 straight games, the Halos dropped out of our weekly rankings. This made room for the Boston Red Sox to make their debut on the list.

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Before we see how the rest of the league did, understand that when preparing for the MLB Power Rankings this season, I relied on numbers. I created a spreadsheet using pitcher WAR, batter WAR, team record, and run differential. Teams with the highest combined score are ranked at the top.

Let’s look at the top 10 teams in Week 5 of the 2022 MLB season.

2022 MLB Power Rankings

10. Boston Red Sox (+3)

The Red Sox jumped three spots this week to become the No. 10 ranked team in MLB. They shouldn’t get too comfortable. They just barely squeaked by the Toronto Blue Jays, who lost two of three to the Twins last week.

What’s keeping the Sox competitive is their batting. They lead the American League with 262 runs scored. If they can keep this up, they will be a force in the AL.

9. Minnesota Twins (-2)

After suffering a COVID outbreak and playing eight games in seven days, the Twins dropped two spots. To start the week, they won just one game in five tries against the Detroit Tigers. Fortunately, they ended the week on a good note, winning two out of three against the Toronto Blue Jays.

8. San Francisco Giants (+2)

After stumbling a couple of weeks, the Giants regained their footing some this past week. They won four of seven games against the Philadelphia Phillies and the Miami Marlins, allowing them to jump to No. 8 this week.

7. San Diego Padres (+1)

The Padres started off the week by being swept by the Cardinals. They ended it by winning three straight against the Milwaukee Brewers, including two shutouts. This enabled the Pads to improve their run differential, which in turn allowed them to jump one spot in our Power Rankings.

6. Milwaukee Brewers (-2)

The Brewers get some much-needed rest today as they come off a week in which they lost two consecutive series. The first series loss was against the Cubs. The second was against the Padres. As a result, they’re at risk of losing the division lead to the Cardinals.

The Top 5

5. St. Louis Cardinals (+4)

Last week, the Cardinals put themselves within striking distance of the NL Central lead. With the Brewers experiencing a rare bad week, St. Louis won five of seven games and are now just half a game from first place.

4. Houston Astros (+1)

The Astros won five of six games last week, allowing them to jump one spot in our MLB Power Rankings. This comes on a week when Yordan Alvarez signed a contract extension and then delivered the best performance of any player over the last seven days.

According to FanGraphs, Alvarez had the highest WAR during the week. He posted a .565 batting average and a 1.217 OPS.

A Three-Headed Monster

3. New York Mets (0)

The Mets stayed put this week, showing that they are a good enough team to absorb major losses to their rotation. After sweeping the Washington Nationals and then splitting a four-game series with the Dodgers, the Mets claimed the NL’s best record.

2. Los Angeles Dodgers (-1)

The Dodgers had a bad week. They were swept by the Pittsburgh Pirates to start and then split a four-game series against the Mets. Thankfully for them, they’ve been so good to start the season that they could absorb the blow. As a result, L.A. drops just one spot.

1. New York Yankees (+1)

The Yankees are unstoppable. Their hitters lead baseball with 80 home runs and the AL with a .761 OPS. Their pitchers lead MLB with a 2.74 ERA, a 3.04 FIP, and a 1.04 WHIP.

It’s no surprise they have the most wins of any team and trail only the Dodgers in run differential. This and the fact that they went undefeated last week jumped them back up to the top spot in our weekly MLB Power Rankings.