The Times’ MLB power rankings
Houston’s Luis Valbuena gets showered with water and sunflower seeds after hitting a home run against Baltimore on June 2.
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Zach Helfand ranks the 30 Major League Baseball teams.
Last week’s rankings are in parentheses;statistics are through Friday’s games:
1. ST. LOUIS: Ace gone for the year in a tough division? Yawn. The Cards have a comfortable cushion in first. (1)
2. MINNESOTA: Like the Giants — decent lineup, good pitching, scorching May — only better. (5)
3. HOUSTON: Luis Valbuena is the quintessential Astro. Leads the team in home runs. Batting less than .200. (6)
4. PITTSBURGH: Andrew McCutchen raised his batting average 108 points over 26 games (9)
5. DODGERS: Good news: Dodgers can be seen Tuesday on Charter. Bad news: Just in time to watch tired team struggle. (7)
6. KANSAS CITY: The Royals lost eight games in a 10-game stretch. This division will be fun. (2)
7. WASHINGTON: Where would this offense be without Bryce Harper? (3)
8. N.Y. METS: Meet Steven Matz, the Mets’ latest ace-in-waiting. If pitching and defense win, well … (11)
9. SAN FRANCISCO: That sound? That was the Giants’ May bubble bursting. (4)
10. CHICAGO CUBS: With the passing of Lennie Merullo, no person on Earth has played in World Series with Cubs. (10)
11. TEXAS: The Rangers say Joey Gallo is up in the majors only temporarily. Yeah, right. (14)
12. N.Y. YANKEES: The league’s most inconsistent team is on a hot streak, which means they’ll soon be swept. (16)
13. ANGELS: Albert Pujols’ six homers in seven games are his way of laughing at Mike Trout’s intentional walks. (13)
14. TAMPA BAY: The Rays are first in the majors in opponents’ batting average. If only they could score runs. (17)
15. SAN DIEGO: James Shields is still unbeaten. The rest of the team? Beaten fairly regularly. (19)
16. ATLANTA: Braves’ rebuilding effort going more quickly than expected. If they had bullpen, they might contend. (20)
17. CLEVELAND: The starting pitching staff leads the majors in strikeouts. (21)
18. DETROIT: The Tigers might want to hang some posters to try to find their offense. (8)
19. ARIZONA: Poor Paul Goldschmidt — one of the league’s best hitters is on one its more irrelevant teams. (18)
20. BALTIMORE: The Orioles didn’t win once last week, and the American League East remains unpredictable. (15)
21. TORONTO: Help wanted: Seeking pitcher. Earned-run average must be under 4.00. Nights and weekends. (23)
22. OAKLAND: Athletics used left-hander and right-hander to pitch a scoreless sixth Friday. Both were Pat Venditte. (24)
23. COLORADO: Hey, Denver, can California borrow some of your rain? (26)
24. CHICAGO WHITE SOX: The start has been bad, but the White Sox are still contenders in the AL Central. (22)
26. CINCINNATI: If the Reds don’t start winning, Johnny Cueto could be gone before the trade deadline. (28)
25. MIAMI: Dee Gordon leads the All-Star vote at second base. (27)
27. SEATTLE: What’s up with Robinson Cano? He’s batting .248 with just two home runs. (12)
28. BOSTON: Through their first 51 games, the Red Sox had their worst run differential in 55 years. (25)
29. MILWAUKEE: Turns out it wasn’t the manager. This team just wasn’t good. (29)
30. PHILADELPHIA: On the bright side, Philadelphia, only a couple months until Tebow time! (30)
