Latest MLB Power Rankings: Giants move up to No. 7, Rays crack the Top 10, Mariners drop six spots

Jim Bowden and Matt Snyder join CBS Sports HQ with their latest MLB Power Rankings.

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR CHANNEL:
https://www.youtube.com/user/CBSSports

WATCH
CBS Sports HQ: https://www.cbssports.com/live/
Paramount Plus: https://www.paramountplus.com

FOLLOW US ON:
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/CBSSports/
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/cbssports/
Twitter – https://twitter.com/CBSSports

#mlb #mlbpowerrankings

It is Monday, which means new MLB power rankings are out. We’ve got the Cubs, the Cardinals heading for an NL central battle, a repeat with the number one team, the Tigers, still holding on to that top spot. We got some movers, we got some shakers. The Yankees jumping up a spot, the Mariners sliding out of the top ten. It is all on CBS Sports.com. GM Jim Bowden and our favorite baseball writer Matt Snyder joining us now on HQ. So we’re going to start with the San Francisco Giants. The Giants one game back of the first in the NL West of that first team out there on a five game winning streak. Matt you have them up one spot to number seven. Walk us through it. Yeah well it’s crowded at the top. It’s tough to break into that force field there in the top five. And the Padres are right with the Giants. They’re one game behind the Dodgers. Who would have thought we’d have three teams within one game in the NL West right now? Everybody thought the Dodgers were going to run away with it. But look, the Giants are playing great baseball right now and a well-rounded brand of baseball here. We know the defense with Matt Chapman is at third but he’s killing the ball offensively Elliott Ramos as well on a tear offensively. And the rotation Logan Webb and Robbie Ray A12 punch of aces right now. Hayden Birdsong and Landon Rupe are also having a very very nice kind of three and four right now. And at the back end of the bullpen, Camilo Duvall is back. So I really like the Giants. The way they look right now. Again, a well-rounded team. Yeah Matt they’re legit, no doubt about it. And mainly because of the pitching right. Their second in Major League Baseball in team ERA. That’s how good they are. And to your point, both Logan Webb and Robbie Ray have Eras under 2.6. Webb doing it with that nasty sinker and command and control. And Robbie Ray with that kick change that he’s throwing now which has been incredible. And you mentioned land and he’s got A32 ERA and he’s a solid number three. And yeah you’ve got Duvall is back as the closer. He’s converted nine of 12 opportunities in the back end after Ryan Walker had converted ten of 13 as well. And to your point, in the middle of alignment Chapman’s got 12 homers Ramos has 11, Flores has 11. You know I talked to Buster Posey, the president of the Giants, a few days ago, and I asked him why there weren’t more transactions with the Giants this year compared to the last 3 or 4 years. And he said one of his philosophies is he wants to give players longer runways to succeed than the previous front office did. So he’s going to give these guys a longer time, he said. He’s a real big believer in stability and continuity. He doesn’t want to sign free agents who have opt out clauses. He wants to build a culture of home and family because that’s how they won three world championships. And certainly this team has that vibe. It is amazing when a team vibes together, how much success they can find. The Giants are going to start up a series against the Rockies tomorrow, so a team that needs to vibe together a little bit more. The Phillies. I don’t know what’s going on over there. Swept by the Pirates. They’ve won one game over the past ten. Matt. What what’s happening in Philadelphia? Well, many, many things. First of all, Jesus Luzardo completely fell apart in his last two starts. The back end of the bullpen is thin. They had they had losses in free agency. Then the Jose Alvarado PED suspension really affected them there. Offensively. Bryce Harper to the injured list. Now pretty much all the power falls on Kyle Schwarber at this point. Trey Turner is having a good year, but he’s not hitting for as much power. Nobody else left in the lineup has really hit for good power except Schwarber right now, so they need a lot more help offensively from some of the guys like you go down to Nick Castellanos, J.T. Realmuto, guys like that rotation wise, we’ll see if Aaron Nola gets back to his old self when he returns from the injured list. But with Luzardo falling apart, the rotation thins out. And I already said the bullpen send out. They have a lot of problems right now and the bullpen is bad. Matt. Right. I mean, it’s 25th in baseball in ERA and they’ve blown 11 saves. And Kurkjian and Strahm on the back end. Strahm they’ve blown seven of those 11 saves. Yeah they miss Alvarado bad. And Jordan Romano’s got an ERA of 7.71. So Dave Dombrowski and Preston Mattingly in the front office. They know what the goal is between now and the July 31st trade deadline. They want to help this bullpen, and they’re going to be out there searching for high leverage relievers. They think that’s the biggest need on the team. I would agree with that. But I’ll also mention this offense has not been good, right? I mean, they’re 10th in runs scored and Ops and their 14th in home runs. So we’re not seeing the lineup produce like we expected. Bryce Harper is not having a Harper type year, but we think it’s the right wrist. He’s got inflammation. So he went on the IL. Try to quiet that down. But they’re going to need him to have an MVP second half of this season. If the Phillies are going to win this division. Got a long way to go there. We’re going to go to the Al East now. The Tampa Bay rays finally getting hot. Maybe the hottest team in baseball cracking the top ten Matt. They’ve won 14 of 18. What have you seen there. Well they’re they’re everything’s coming together for them right now. You’ve got Junior Caminero Jonathan Aranda even Christopher Morrell here the last few games hitting the ball really, really well. Drew Rasmussen Zack Little throwing great in the rotation. They’re getting good work from the bullpen. I do think that their schedule is going to catch up with them. And to those who aren’t aware, since they’re playing outdoors in Tampa this year and George Steinbrenner Stadium down there in Tampa, it gets way too hot in the summer. So their schedule is really stacked with home games early in the year. So far they’ve played 43 at home and only 22 on the road. Coming up, they have stretches where they have 19 out of 22 games on the road. Another stretch with 16 out of 19 on the road. I don’t think that they’re going to be able to deal with that, and I think that’s ultimately where things fall apart for them. But hey, as you said right now, hottest team in baseball, they won 14 out of 18. So kudos to them. You said things falling apart. We’re going to talk about the biggest fallers of the week. And that’s the Seattle Mariners losing eight of their past 11 games down six spots. Matt what’s the biggest issue for the Mariners right now? Well, the weird thing is it hasn’t even been a tough schedule. They just to the Orioles and Angels last week they lost. Everything’s going bad for them. They’ve starting pitching has been an issue and you wouldn’t expect that it would be with the Mariners. But Bryce Miller George Kirby struggling Brian Wu after a great start to the season has fallen back. The offense is inconsistent as you expect it to be. There’s only so much the great Cal Raleigh can do. Pretty much everything’s going wrong right now, but I do think the starting pitching is one of the keys that they need to get that cleaned up. Yeah. And Jenny, you know you mentioned they’ve lost eight of 11. You know what they have in common in the eight losses. Every single one of them. They scored three runs or less. This offense needs a lot of help. They’re underachieving. And look I talked to the general manager of the team, Justin Hollander, yesterday. I asked him what his biggest need is at the trade deadline. He said, corner infield, we need another bat. And they do. In fact, I would argue they need a first baseman and a third baseman, but they’re going to work hard to try to get one of those from the Arizona Diamondbacks, either first baseman Josh Naylor or third baseman Eugenio Suarez maybe have a reunion with him. I think the good news for Seattle is the pitching is starting to come together. George Kirby’s last two starts, 17 strikeouts and one walk. He was having a hard time coming back from injury. He looks like he’s putting it together. They’re going to get Logan Gilbert back soon. I think this team is going to be able to pitch, but they have to fix this offense if they’re going to see the postseason. Last but not least, we’re going to look at the Pirates. They’ve won four of five. They’ve managed to win three of his last four starts Jim back at it tonight against the Diamondbacks. What have you seen from them as of late. Well all I care about in the Pirates is Paul Skenes. This is a that’s all people care about. Nowhere. Right? That’s all we care about. So let’s talk about his start yesterday. Right. Seven and two thirds, two hits a run. It wasn’t earned. One walk seven strikeouts. And how good is he. He’s got seven pitches that he throws for strikes at any count in any quadrant of the strike zone. Now listen to this, Jenny. You’re not going to. This is unbelievable. Opposing batters are hitting 196 against his four seam fastball. They’re hitting 118 against this sweeper 88 against his changeup 125 against his sinker 154 against the slider 225 against the split finger curveball, 267. It’s a small sample size, but it’s unbelievable that he’s got seven pitches that he throws at literally any count in any spot in the strike zone he wants. He will end up being the starting pitcher once again for the National League in the all star game, going against Tarik Skubal. He is the best pitcher in baseball right now. And he is must watch baseball. Like whatever you’re doing in life when Skenes is on the bump, just drop what you’re doing, get some popcorn, butter, salt and watch schemes. It’s really fun. Whatever you’re doing in life. Yes. Doesn’t matter. Okay, I’m down with the popcorn, the butter and the salt. Yeah, I’m. I’m in for a day of watching Paul Skenes on the mound. Jim Bowden Matt Snyder, thanks for joining us here on HQ with the latest MLB power rankings. Get your popcorn ready. We’ve got some good baseball games on tonight. We got the Cubs and the Phillies at 645, all the way down to the Dodgers and the Padres at