Week 10 Power Rankings

This was the most difficult power rankings of the season. Of course right after I talk about the dominance of the top four teams in the NL, two of its powerhouses go out and lose the following Sunday. I had a whole intro written out about how I don’t want to overreact to one week and that the top five of the power rankings were going to stay the same as last week. But as I started to look over the numbers and consider my own opinions of the teams, the more I couldn’t undervalue what happened last week. In most seasons, Applebaum’s 7 game winning streak would allow them the benefit of the doubt as the best team in the league. Not this year. Normally I dislike the idea that a power rankings should be a near-sighted look at the teams in the league. It’s a testament to how great the top teams are this year that one minor slipup can be enough to slip a few spots.

1.       1. Carlin (3)- While Team Jacoby rightfully gets credit for being the epitome of a team built around defense, look what Carlin has done during their last seven games. Not one game during that stretch have they given up more than six runs. Offensively they’re doing just fine between my early vote for MVP, Jesie Cytryn, Darren Freeman (.659), and consistently great Brad Goldstein.

2.       2. Jacoby (2)- For awhile I wrote off part of their success this year to a bit of luck. No other team has played in more one-run games (5) than Jacoby has which shows that half of their games haven’t featured displays of dominance. This thinking may have some legitimacy except for the fact they are only 3-2 in these games. Their victories for the most part are not the result of a lucky break here or there. This is a defending championship team going on another championship caliber run.

3.       3. Applebaum (1)- It’s so hard for me to actually rank this team third, but that’s what one bad game can do when you have some great competition. They were just coming off a six game stretch where they gave up a measly 5.16 runs per game. How impressive is that? No other team this year has had a better six game stretch all season. On the flip side, Team Applebaum is the only team to give up more than 20 runs in a game three times. Their offense will always show up, and Herm is a great pitcher. But will this Jekyll and Hyde defensive performance this season cost them in the playoffs?

4.       4. Mamone (5)- One of the toughest decisions this week was whether or not to keep Randell in the fourth spot. Ultimately I could not ignore the quick return to dominance Mamone showed on Sunday. It’s impossible not to reward a team that beat the reigning King of the power rankings by eight runs. Mamone has won its last six games by an average of 8.2 runs per game!  Notice I don’t use exclamation marks often in this column, but Mamone’s recent performance deserves it.

5.      5.  Randell (4)- After discussing the brilliant play of Carlin, Jacoby, Applebaum, and Mamone, it’s easy to underrate Team Randell. Maybe this is also due to the fact I only had them ranked 11^th in my pre-season column. Although they’ve lost two of their last three games, they have the 5^th best run differential in the league, and the 6^th best is pretty far behind.

6.       6. Lapine (6)- They keep on coming. With every week it’s becoming clearer just how many offensive threats this team has. There are the obvious leaderboard exploits of Spoto and Curreri, but then there’s also Callow and rookie Dave Meyer who will be on the leaderboard for Batting Average before June is over. Then there’s the power of Ferrarese and cousin Frankie who will continue to improve as his rookie campaign continues.

7.      7.  Goldfarb (NR)- It’s hard for me to give that much credit to a team that’s scored 6 or fewer runs in 75% of their games this year. They have, however, won 3 of their last 4 games and in a group of teams hovering around the .500 mark, that’s enough to get some positive attention.

8.      8.  Pollock (NR)- Is it time to put our team out there? Yes it is! We currently have four players batting .600 for the season in addition to a very solid second half of the lineup. Just as I said about Lapine before the season, I knew our team would need a month or so to gel. Matt has continued to improve on the mound, and despite some early defensive issues we have been steady in the field. But any discussion of the merits of our team comes back to hitting, and right now it’s clicking enough to earn us the final spot on the power rankings.