Of course power rankings are a media-created abomination but... interesting to dissect. ESPN - 4/4/22 https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id...ngs-playoff-odds-everything-need-all-30-teams Dodgers Blue Jays Braves White Sox Astros (despite better projected W-L and playoff odds than Braves and White Sox... I get SOS but really...? I get the Braves because y'know, but... I don't see how the White Sox are better... Schoenfield: After falling short in the World Series in 2019 and 2021, the Astros go all the way -- ensuring Dusty Baker's status as a Hall of Famer. ) Yankees - (Schoenfield: They finally get past the Astros in the postseason and reach their first World Series since 2009 -- and Cole takes World Series MVP honors with his Game 7 shutout.) Brewers Mets Rays Giants Red Sox Padres Phillies Mariners Cardinals Angels Twins Tigers Marlins Guardians Rangers Cubs Royals Nationals Reds Rockies Diamondbacks As Pirates Orioles
From the Ringer: https://www.theringer.com/mlb/2022/...eseason-power-rankings-blue-jays-dodgers-mets 5. Houston Astros Oh yeah, Justin Verlander’s still on this team, isn’t he? That’s easy to forget, as the Astros won a third pennant in five years without Verlander or Lance McCullers Jr. (for most of the postseason, at least) at the front of their rotation. There’s an illusion of consistency with the Astros, who have made the ALCS five years running and made the playoffs six times since 2015. But with Carlos Correa in Minnesota, the only remaining players from the 2015 team are McCullers and Jose Altuve, plus Jason Castro, who left the club after the 2016 season and returned last year. Everything else—even the face of the franchise—gets rolled over incrementally. So far, it’s working. Even without Correa, the lineup packs an attractive combination of power and contact skills, and even with McCullers on the IL, the rotation goes an easy five deep. I don’t know if this team has another 100-win season in it, but it seems reasonable to expect a comfortable, uneventful run to the division title.
The Athletic and “2017” or “Cheating” … DRINK! https://theathletic.com/3241414/202...round-in-our-very-very-early-season-rankings/ 5. Houston Astros Record as of 4/11: 3-1 Last Power Ranking: 6 Reasons to overreact: An offense that was so good after the cheating scandal that everyone just assumed they were still cheating has lost Carlos Correa, and now they’re suffering indignities as flagrant as a shutout in a Saturday game that had a large portion of it pitched by the Angels bullpen. All, it would seem, is lost. But! Rome wasn’t built in a day, and in many cases throughout history, wasn’t sacked in a day either. Maybe this doesn’t currently seem like the strongest Astros roster of the last few years. Yet even without Lance McCullers, the early signs in the rotation suggest it could be a strength. I mean, they have Justin Verlander.
What a horrible take. If Bregman is anywhere close to pre-pandemic Bregman, this team will be better than last years.
https://theathletic.com/3252911/202...t-leap-a-brave-tumble-and-how-bout-them-mets/ 6. Houston Astros Record as of 4/18: 5-4 Last Power Ranking: 5 How do the Astros remain among the favorites despite losing George Springer and Carlos Correa in consecutive offseasons? Well, it helps to pull a useful arm out of a car wash, and to have a shortstop of the future make an immediate impact in the present, and to have 39-year-old Justin Verlander return from Tommy John surgery still looking like Justin Verlander. And when a lineup that still has Alex Bregman, Jose Altuve, Kyle Tucker and Yordan Álvarez (before he got hurt) doesn’t come out of the gate blistering hot, it helps to have the pitching staff pick up enough slack to stay competitive in the early going. The Astros are only a game over .500, but their roster still looks plenty good enough, especially in the AL West. Are we really supposed to have more faith in the Angels or Mariners? Clearly, we’re not there yet. https://www.si.com/mlb/2022/04/18/mlb-power-rankings-giants-mets-cardinals 6. Houston Astros (LW: 5) Houston’s offense will wake up soon enough, particularly when Yordan Álvarez returns from illness. Jeremy Peña had big shoes to fill after the departure of Carlos Correa, and he’s done everything you’d hope for and then some in the early stages of his career. https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/...ok-like-the-two-best-teams-in-baseball-again/ 6. ASTROS Justin Verlander went eight scoreless innings in his second start back from Tommy John surgery and looked every bit the ace he was before the surgery. Remarkable.
I do not judge Bregman on his exit velo at this point. I look at whether he swinging at strikes and laying off the balls. The hitting will come. He's been hosed with ball/strike calls so far. His eye at the plate is back and when his short stroke returns, he'll be good. They don't call them the Boys of Summer for nothing.
