MLB Power Rankings, Week 9: The Braves and Padres Keep Surprising

If you're wondering why the Braves have been so hot, look no further than Jason Heyward.

And once again, we have co-favorites to win it all.

Last week’s power rankings were eaten by some chaotic developments in the NBA playoffs, so there are quite a few significant changes from the last article. For starters, the Atlanta Braves, riding an impressive eight game win streak, leap up to contender status. Equally surprising is the free fall the Phillies find themselves in. They’ve lost eight of their last ten and despite Roy Halladay’s brilliance, seem completely lost on offense. Perhaps most shocking of all is the resilience we’ve seen from the San Diego Padres, who refuse to fall back to the pack. They’ve held steady in the top 5 all season and find themselves at no. 3 this week.

Of course, that’s no guarantee that they’ll wind up as NL champions in October. These power rankings are intended as a measure of how a team is performing right now, as well as considering how they’ve performed up to this point. The Padres keep winning and consistently outscoring their opponents, so they go toward the top of the list. Other teams, like the Phillies and the Giants, aren’t performing nearly as well lately, so they take a tumble.

That brings us to another interesting feature of the power rankings: the projected record. Occasionally, a team’s projected final record will be higher than the team (or teams!) above them, which seems counterintuitive. Shouldn’t a better team finish with a better, or at least identical, record?

You’d think, but that fails to take into account the team’s current record. The best examples from this week are the Baltimore Orioles and the Houston Astros. Both are terrible, obviously, but the Astros are lower on the list. However, they’re also projected to finish with three more wins than the Orioles. That’s because the Astros currently have four more wins than Baltimore. Even though the Orioles are (barely) a better team, they aren’t quite good enough to make up that four game deficit.

As always, these rankings are subject to change, as are the projected records attached to them. Feel free to enjoy them and use them as a snapshot of where the 30 MLB teams stand right now.