MLB Rankings - 16 Jun

The Toronto Blue Jays are the only team to make a repeat appearance on the hot/not list this week, but they have switched to the other side of the spectrum. The top and the bottom of the standing remains unchanged, but there has been plenty of shuffling in the middle. Each team's name is followed by its weekly record, overall record, and previous ranking. Gaps between groups of teams represent gaps in performance.

1. NY Yankees (5-3) (38-28) (1)

2. Boston (6-1) (40-27) (7)

3. Philadelphia (7-1) (43-26) (4)

4. Detroit (4-4) (37-31) (5)

5. Atlanta (5-3) (38-31) (8)

6. Washington (5-2) (32-36) (13)

7. Milwaukee (5-3) (39-30) (9)

8. Texas (2-5) (36-33) (3)

9. Cincinnati (5-3) (37-33) (14)

10. Toronto (3-4) (34-34) (2)

11. Colorado (5-3) (33-35) (12)

12. San Francisco (5-2) (39-29) (15)

13. Arizona (4-4) (37-32) (10)

14. NY Mets (5-3) (34-34) (22)

15. Pittsburgh (5-3) (34-33) (11)

16. Saint Louis (1-6) (38-31) (6)

17. Chi Sox (3-4) (33-36) (16)

18. Seattle (4-4) (35-34) (17)

19. LA Angels (3-4) (33-37) (18)

20. San Diego (2-6) (30-40) (24)

21. LA Dodgers (2-6) (31-39) (21)

22. Baltimore (2-4) (30-35) (23)

23. Tampa Bay (4-3) (36-32) (19)

24. Cleveland (2-5) (36-30) (20)

25. Oakland (2-5) (29-40) (26)

26. Florida (1-8) (32-36) (25)

27. Minnesota (5-1) (27-39) (29)

28. Kansas City (4-3) (30-38) (28)

29. Chi Cubs (4-4) (27-40) (27)

30. Houston (2-6) (25-44) (30)

Hot

On Sunday the Boston Red Sox finished their third straight series sweep with a 14-1 pounding of the Toronto Blue Jays, their second straight double-digit victory. The biggest reason for their success has been Adrian Gonzalez, who batted 10-23 (.435) this week along with 7 RBI.

When the New York Mets had Chris Capuano, Dillon Gee, or Jonathon Niese on the mound this week, they came out on top. In the 33 innings pitched by the 3 starters, they gave up a total of 4 runs while striking out 27 batters and combining for a 1.09 ERA.

The Washington Nationals have won 5 straight, and Michael Morse has been their strongest player over that stretch. He hit 3 home runs this week while batting .391 overall and knocking in 7 runs. In more than 50 games entering this week, he only had a total of 9 home runs for the season.

Not

Toronto was hot last week, moving clear up to #2 in my rankings, but the Boston Red Sox embarrassed them this week over the course of three games, outscoring them 35-6 in those games. Over the past week 6 of Toronto's regular starters (including Jose Bautista) combined for a .142 BA.

St. Louis has lost 5 straight and 6 of 7, and in the 4 losses this week that were taken by the starting pitcher for the Cardinals, St. Louis' starters combined for a 6.86 ERA in just 21 innings pitched.

Texas has lost to the Yankees by a score of 12-4 on consecutive nights, but it gets even worse than that. Before that, they lost two straight to the Minnesota Twins by a combined score of 14-2. Even ace Alexi Ogando got rocked by the Yankees, giving up 6 hits and 6 runs in just 1.2 innings while taking his first loss of the season.

Predictions - 16 Jun

Most Likely MLB Blowouts

Brewers over Cubs

Phillies over Marlins

White Sox over Twins

Most Likely MLB Upsets

Tigers over Indians

Athletics over Royals

Prediction Results - 12 Jun

NBA Playoffs: 0-1 (.000) 56-25 overall (.691)

MLB Blowouts: 2-3 (.400) 15-10 overall (.600)