By Zach Buchanan, Nick Groke and Stephen Nesbitt
We have some alarming news. Due to supply chain issues, we have been informed that The Athletic is low on words. We (I, Zach Buchanan, along with Nick Groke and Stephen Nesbitt) are under strict rationing orders until further notice. As such, the majority of this week’s rankings will consist of haikus.
Because we value your readership, we have cajoled and begged for a few extra words for a blurb ahead of each poem. Our editor — who most definitely wasn’t all like “don’t you think doing only haikus will just make everyone angry” — saw the light and relented. But in the spirit of conservation, we endeavored to capture the essence of each team in those 17 poetic syllables.
Please feel free to sound off in the comments, especially in haiku form. I’ve been told that whatever you type will not negatively affect the worldwide supply of nouns and verbs and the rest, further hamstringing us. Don’t ask me how that works. I may be an expert writer, trained in the proper and artful usage of the English language by the finest institutions in the land, but I am not an economer.
Record: 42-19
Last Power Ranking: 1
Odds are, the Rays will be caught at some point — maybe soon, like when the Rangers come to St. Petersburg this weekend. Teams just don’t go wire to wire atop the standings (or the power rankings). They tire. They slump. They tumble. But, so far, the Rays have avoided that fate. They are four games clear of the Orioles in the AL East. They are still a force. — Stephen Nesbitt
Challengers beware
The Rays slug, steal, shove and score
Best team in baseball
Record: 38-20
Last Power Ranking: 2
It’s been a month since the Rangers lost two in a row. It’s been more than that since they’ve lost two in a row to the same team. The last team to claim a series against them was the Braves nearly three weeks ago. Texas owns the best run differential in the game and the second-best record. The only team with more wins awaits later this week. After three games against the Rays in Florida, it’s possible we’ll have a new No. 1 next Monday. — Zach Buchanan
Welcome to Texas
Please enjoy our new ballpark
And your butt-whoopin’
Record: 35-24
Last Power Ranking: 3
The shorthanded Braves — saved Sunday by one swing of the bat from Eddie Rosario — are not yet clicking on all cylinders, but behind Bryce Elder, Spencer Strider and a loaded (yet inconsistent) lineup, they’ve managed to stay atop the NL so far. After weathering a difficult stretch of schedule over the past month, the Braves don’t face another opponent currently above .500 until the Twins on June 26. They could use some cushion. — SN
Hurt but still ahead
Can’t believe I’m saying this
The Fish are coming
Record: 35-24
Last Power Ranking: 6
The Astros just took three of four from the Angels and are 11 games over .500, but it’s worth pointing something out. The Astros have won two series against the Angels in the last month, but the last time they claimed a series against another winning team was late April. They’ve lost recent series to the Brewers and Twins, and also to sub-.500 clubs like the Giants, Mariners and Phillies since then. Plus, pitching depth is becoming even more of an issue. How long can they keep this up? — ZB
Arm depth unaddressed
They’ll have to pay the piper
But wait, can he pitch?
Record: 37-22
Last Power Ranking: 4
The O’s have alternated wins and losses for the past eight games, so things have been uneven of late. But in the bigger picture, they’re still wonderfully positioned. After taking a weekend series from the Giants, the Orioles are 15 games over .500 and four games behind the Rays. They have the burners, the bats and the bullpen arms. The rotation has stabilized recently, but an upgrade there could have a massive impact on this team’s chances as a contender. — SN
While Mullins is out
Hicks is in and en fuego
Who’s next? Ellsbury?
Record: 35-25
Last Power Ranking: 5
The Dodgers just dropped a home series to the Yankees — to spare our servers, New York fans, please just collaborate on one angry comment about L.A. still ranking higher — but they’re going to be fine. The lineup is star-studded and hitting like it. The pitching is thinner, but then the Dodgers just called up Bobby Miller and watched him deal with four premium pitchers start after start. Julio Urías is due back soon, and I don’t think we’ve seen the best of L.A. just yet. — ZB
Can’t dodge injuries
But with great drafts and P.D.
They can withstand them
Record: 36-25
Last Power Ranking: 7
It was the kids Oswaldo Cabrera and Anthony Volpe who secured a series win Sunday in Los Angeles — the Yankees’ third consecutive series win — but it was the Captain who stole the show over the weekend, slugging his 19th homer and slamming into the right-field fence for a sensational catch Saturday. Judge is batting .291/.404/.674. He is a cheat code that destroys baseballs. — SN
What if Aaron Judge
was worth every cent and then
did it all again?
Record: 33-27
Last Power Ranking: 12
The Blue Jays have won three series in a row — and against good teams — after sweeping the Mets in Queens over the weekend. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is starting to feel it at the plate. And Chris Bassitt, José Berríos and Yusei Kikuchi pitched like they were trying to outdo each other. That’s a series to build on. — Nick Groke
Meet the Mets? More like
sweep the Mets, know what I mean?!
Jays are on a roll
Record: 35-25
Last Power Ranking: 8
The Diamondbacks went 17-10 in May, but it was a bit of a pattycake month. They began June by dropping a series to an actual good team in the Braves. Nonetheless, they’re tied with the Dodgers for the lead in the NL West, and it would be foolish to think they’re going to fade away as the competition gets tougher. Arizona is for real, which is why the Diamondbacks just extended manager Torey Lovullo. — ZB
Going first to third
Corbin Carroll ran faster
than I could type this
Record: 31-29
Last Power Ranking: 9
An impressive series victory in Houston, capped by Louie Varland’s seven strong innings in the rubber game, should have handed the Twins a bunch of momentum. But then they split a four-gamer against the Guardians. The Twins have what they need to run away with the Central. Yet the division is still up for grabs. — NG
One team has to win
the Central in the end, right?
Right?! Who will it be?
Record: 30-29
Last Power Ranking: 10
The Red Sox have been backsliding a bit and now have to contend with Shane McClanahan, who will start for the Rays in a makeup game Monday. Boston still ranks among the best offenses in the AL — keep an eye on the emergence of Masataka Yoshida and the approaching return of Adam Duvall — but the pitching staff is untrustworthy and the defense suspect. — SN
Winning’s hard enough
Without Little League homers
The Rays need no help
Record: 32-27
Last Power Ranking: 15
Why does run differential matter? Because it’s an indication of sustainability. Yes, the Brewers remain atop the Central, by a half-game over the Pirates, with a healthy bumper on the Cubs. But in the division, only the Reds have a worse run differential. For now, it’s working. Andruw Monasterio on Sunday hit his first career homer, then left the game early after he was inadvertently punched by the Reds’ Will Benson on a pickoff attempt gone awry. Whatever works for Milwaukee at this point. — NG
Crew isn’t the lone
team dealing with injuries
But c’mon, no mas
Record: 31-27
Last Power Ranking: 19
Expectations and projections being what they are, neither the Pirates nor their fans planned on sitting a half-game out of first place on June 5. Not on Opening Day. And not a week ago when they’d lost 19 of their past 25 games. But now they’re back on track, sweeping the Cardinals and riding a five-game win streak behind the hot bats of Ke’Bryan Hayes, Connor Joe and Jack Suwinski. — SN
Rumors of their death
Grossly exaggerated
Watch out for the Bucs
Record: 31-30
Last Power Ranking: 13
If the AL East is the Division of Death, then the AL West must be the Division of Hurts Really, Really Bad. The Rangers are sudden juggernauts, the Astros are formidable despite some roster issues and the Mariners are loaded with talent after making the playoffs last year. If the Angels want to sniff the playoffs, too, they’ll need to show they can hang. And losing three of four in Houston — scoring more than two runs only once — isn’t quite hanging. — ZB
Minors? Who needs it
Draft those suckers one season,
In the bigs the next
Record: 29-30
Last Power Ranking: 11
The Mariners keep calling up one exciting arm after another — this time it’s Bryan Woo — but it’s putting a lot of pressure on a staff of young pitchers to ask them to carry the team in the midst of a playoff hunt. And the cracks are showing. Woo had a rough debut and the Yankees and Rangers both got to rookie sensation Bryce Miller, ballooning his ERA to 4.46. The M’s got outscored 40-16 last week, and that second number is just as concerning as the first one. — ZB
“Your soul for a bat?”
At last, the ultimate trade
Dipoto smiles wide
Record: 29-30
Last Power Ranking: 14
After winning 10 of 12 in the back half of May, the Giants have come back to Earth a bit by dropping home series to the Pirates and Orioles. Both of those opponents went through lengthy rebuilds in order to now compete, but if there’s a silver lining for San Francisco, it’s that the Giants may have figured out how to avoid such a fallow period. Casey Schmitt and Patrick Bailey are homegrown rookies helping the team now, and there may be more prospects in that wave. The best teams build a player development pipeline, regardless of payroll, and for the first time under Farhan Zaidi, the prospects are flowing. — ZB
Stop, it’s a cliche
Don’t write “they’re sleeping Giants”
Fine, ignore me then
Record: 32-28
Last Power Ranking: 21
It’s time to talk about the Marlins. On one hand, they are tied for the second-worst run differential in the NL (-37). On the other, run differential is a stat for unserious people desperate to delegitimize the fact the Fish are in wild-card position and closing in on the Braves with the lowly Royals coming to Miami this week. — SN
Watch Luis Arraez
Take a run at .400
And at first place, too
Record: 30-30
Last Power Ranking: 17
If the Mets are eventually going to pull from their early-season slumber and return to the playoffs, we might look back at this week as a turning point. Swept at home by the Blue Jays, they now head to Atlanta. Or maybe it won’t be an inflection point, and it’ll just be another week in a season the Mets and their fans would rather forget. The Mets are just not an intimidating team right now, despite employing sluggin’ Pete Alonso and two Hall of Fame starters. — SN
Time to get going
Cohen’s cash isn’t waning
But his patience is
Record: 27-32
Last Power Ranking: 20
Here’s a wake-up call: The Padres are only two games ahead of the last-place Rockies in the NL West. They went 10-16 in May. Among their many issues, the Padres are 3-11 in one-run games and 0-5 in extra-innings contests. While MLB’s model organizations are able to plug holes with call-ups from their farm — see: the Rays and Dodgers — San Diego so decimated its upper-level prospect depth to build this roster that general manager A.J. Preller is left scrambling for solutions. The Padres surely will play better than this in the long run, but this is not a recipe for sustained success. — ZB
Free Gary Sánchez!
Any takers? Preller sighs
And raises his hand
Record: 25-35
Last Power Ranking: 18
The Cardinals were swept out of Pittsburgh, which was bad enough in a division that is imminently winnable. But now they have to rebound in Texas against the red-hot Rangers? Bad timing all around. Jordan Walker is back, but can he simply regain his form? The Cards keep tinkering, flipping and flopping their pitching rotation. Whether that’s more panic moves or deft strategizing, we’ll have to wait and see. — NG
Summer? Just two weeks
away, and yet the Cardinals
remain stuck in spring
Record: 27-32
Last Power Ranking: 16
Funny how things work out. On the surface, the Phillies appear to be washed, now in fourth place in the East, a full eight games back of the Braves. And yet, this was essentially their lot a year ago, before surging through the season and into the World Series. Of course, slow-playing the season with more losing than winning is not a smart strategy. “I’m telling you that we’re not panicking, but there is a sense of urgency,” Kyle Schwarber said, with wisdom. “Just because we had the experience last year doesn’t mean it’s going to happen. You’re not just going to flip.” — NG
Time, a flat circle,
repeats itself forever
Phillies aren’t cooked … yet
Record: 27-32
Last Power Ranking: 26
A peek under the hood in Cleveland shows exactly what’s wrong and what will make them right. The Guardians won’t get anywhere this season with the worst offense in the league, no matter how good the pitching is. Sometimes you need to “take the hair with the hide” and lean into what you’re good at, to steal a phrase from hitting coach Chris Valaika. — NG
Home runs are hard to
find this season, rarer than
palm trees in Cleveland
Record: 26-32
Last Power Ranking: 23
As they enter a make-or-break part of their season, the Cubs are responding in kind. A week ago, they were swept by the Reds. A wake-up call, perhaps, because then they won two of three against the Rays and are up a leg on the Padres with one more Monday. Marcus Stroman is either pitching the Cubs back into contention in the Central or pitching himself into a valuable trade. Either way, win-win for the Cubs. — NG
Hold your horses, please
Dansby Swanson is back in
the MVP race
His glove plays, for sure
But Cubs need to win to prove
he’s valuable
This is a tri-ku
Three stanzas for the shortstop
Swanson is worth it
Record: 26-31
Last Power Ranking: 22
We knew the “Detroit Tigers, second place” era wouldn’t last forever. Losing five of six to the Rangers and White Sox was a splash of cold water. The Tigers’ injured list is extensive, featuring Eduardo Rodriguez and Riley Greene but also Tarik Skubal, Casey Mize, Austin Meadows and a bunch of other ballplayers whose absences are being felt. The silver linings are still there with this team, to be sure, but you have to be willing to really look for them right now. — NG
Reality check
They’ll still be bad for a bit
Just not Royals bad
Record: 26-35
Last Power Ranking: 25
When you’re nine games south of .500 and down among the dregs of the league, with the worst OBP in the majors, you gotta take the wins however you can get them. — NG
“What in the world did
we just watch?” I have no clue
But the White Sox won
Record: 26-33
Last Power Ranking: 24
I don’t think the Reds are being talked about enough. The young talent on the major-league roster is impressive, with Matt McLain, Spencer Steer and Hunter Greene all enjoying strong seasons. The farm system is even more loaded. It seems like weekly I’m hearing from a scout about some stud Cincinnati has in the minors. (One of them, pitcher Andrew Abbott, is now in the big leagues.) It’s not translating to consistent winning yet — the Reds have lost four straight — but this feels to me like the kind of core of young talent that has propelled the Orioles to the season they’re currently having. — ZB
Elly De La Cruz
The man we’re all waiting for
Don’t @ me, Herbstreit
Record: 25-34
Last Power Ranking: 27
A bummer of a week for the Nationals, losing five of seven games, was punctuated by a real bummer report from the Washington Post that Stephen Strasburg is dealing with severe nerve damage and is shut down from physical activity. Much as we’d all like to rewind to 2019, let’s instead turn our attention to the interesting core forming in Washington D.C. — SN
The Nats are climbing
Gray and Gore have both arrived
Still, long way to go
Record: 26-35
Last Power Ranking: 28
For lack of clear expectations in Colorado — do they want to contend next year or 2025 or ever? — it’s fair to at least compare the Rockies to the Diamondbacks. In the five-plus seasons since they faced each other in a 2017 wild-card playoff, the Rox and D-Backs have nearly identical records. But Arizona fell and built itself back in quicker order. They are now a better team that is better positioned for the future, as evidenced by a four-game sweep of the Rockies last week. — NG
Scooby, fire up
the Mystery Machine, quick
Kris Bryant’s a ghost
Record: 18-41
Last Power Ranking: 29
A couple of eight-run outings ruined Brady Singer’s ERA, but the right-hander might be coming around. He looked right in striking out seven, against no walks, over 5 2/3 innings on Sunday. And the Royals nabbed a 2-0 win over the Rockies in Kansas City to dodge a sweep. — NG
Royals are on pace
for 112 losses
They should be better
Record: 12-49
Last Power Ranking: 30
The A’s did something last week they’d done only one other time this season. They won two games in a row. Not only that, they won consecutive games against the Braves. Don’t try to wring meaning out of that, you’ll wind up in the hospital with a case of Galaxy Brain. Unless that meaning is this: All the former A’s the Braves have pilfered in recent years came back to Oakland and felt bad for the home crowd. It didn’t last long — Oakland has now lost four in a row, only their sixth-longest losing streak of the season. — ZB
Hello, 9-1-1
I’d like to report a crime
The A’s are playing
(Top photo of Luis Arraez: Jasen Vinlove / Miami Marlins / Getty Images)
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