Week 18 Power Rankings
1.
Younger(1)- The only question for this team
whether or not they had enough offense.
46 runs in their last 2 games seems to have answered that question.
2.
Feldman(4)- Not only have they won 10 out of
their last 11 games but they are making it look easy. Their last 8 victories
have been by a margin of four or more runs.
3.
Pollock(3)- It’s been a consistently great
season for the defending champs. We have a league best 5-2 record against teams
with a running record- a good sign for the playoffs.
4.
Lapine(5)- An impressive doubleheader including
a 20 run victory over Sarcona and a win against a dangerous Team Mamone earns
them a spot in the top four this week. Underrated all season, they still have a
legitimate chance at the top seed in the American League.
5.
Wallman(2)- Dropping three spots in one week may
seem excessive but this is really just a result of how the other top teams
played last Sunday in addition to Wallman’s loss. This is going to be the first
season in awhile where the Bykofskys were not on the team with the best regular
season record.
6.
Goldfarb(7)-
While I think there is a dropoff after the top 5, the move to #6 for
Goldfarb is quite an accomplishment. Since being placed at #16 on the power
rankings, they’ve gone 9-4 and are positioning themselves as a dark horse in
the playoffs. There’s one problem: a 2-7 record against above .500 teams.
7.
Harris(6)- I was tempted to drop Harris to the 8th
spot, but I believe they’re a much better team than their last four games
represents. Still, a -40 run differential in their last five games is very
alarming even if they were missing some players. Harris needs to build some
momentum going into the playoffs if they are going to avoid an early exit.
8.
Carlin(10)- Team Carlin is like a monster in a
horror movie that you’re never going to be relieved until you KNOW it’s dead.
They have one of the two or three best offensive players in the league(Brad),
the AL’s top average hitter(Darren), another player on the leaderboard in
almost every offensive category(Marc), and a guy who batted over .700 last
year(Ronnie). With three wins in their last four games, they may be finally
playing up to their abilities. The fact that they have a chance of going in as
a 7th seed is horrible news for the runner up to the AL crown.
9.
Applebaum(8)- It may seem odd that a division
leader is ranked this low, but that’s what happens when you’re fortunate enough
to play in the NL East. Ever since that 5-0 start, Team Applebaum is just 6-9.
The good news is that winning their division earns them the #2 seed and a
likely berth into the elite 8.
10.
Mamone(9)- Just lke Carlin, Mamone is a team
that nobody wants to face in the playoffs. As their very convincing win versus
Wallman shows, they can be dangerous when playing up to their potential.
11.
Sarcona(11)- At 6-4 I suggested that their
record was slightly better than where I think the team should be. Since then
they’ve gone2-5 with a -40 run differential. In fairness, their 4 game losing
streak includes 3 games against division leaders.
12.
Beilis(13)- Case in point that the AL features
no bad team. Sure Beilis is 5-14, but take a closer look at the numbers. They
actually have a positive run differential in their last 10 games despite a 3-7
record during that stretch. They’ve beaten the #2 AL team, Lapine, TWICE this
season and barely lost to league leading Team Pollock(by one run) and division
leader Team Applebaum(an 11 inning affair).
13.
Jacoby(15)- This is only the second time this
season Team Jacoby has been higher than #14 on the power rankings. It may take more than victories against
Randell and Schefkind to start thinking “playoff run” but there are definitely
huge positives to build on from these games. The problem is even if they
continue this streak, they’ll be locked into playing a very tough opponent in
the playoffs.
14.
Randell(16)- A very convincing win over Granese
salvaged Randell from the #16 spot. For one game, their defense looked
respectable. This snapped a seven consecutive game streak in which they gave up
double digit runs. No other team has had a streak of more than five games all
season.
15.
Granese(12)- It wasn’t too long ago that Granese
was 7-8 and had a defense capable of keeping them in any game. All of a sudden,
they stopped fielding the ball and their dormant offense has yet to wake up. In
their last five games, Granese has given up an average of 15.2 runs per game.
In the five games before that, their average runs against were 4.2 runs per
game. Meanwhile, they’ve now been held to 7 or fewer runs in an astounding 10
consecutive games. No other team has gone more than 5 games in a row with that
total.
16.
Schefkind(14)- Every year there seems to be a
team who collapses by the end of the season due to injuries. Right now it looks
like Schefkind is that team. Losers of 9 of their last 10 games, they’ve been
outscored 60-12 in their last three. Something has to give when they square off
against Team Granese this Sunday.
