Every week, the Pitcher List team publishes an update to our power rankings, reviewing the biggest risers and fallers of the past seven days. As always, the full rankings can be found at the bottom of this article … but where’s the fun in that?
September is here, and the playoff pushes are in full force. The Yankees, Marlins, and Cubs are charging, while the Rangers, Red Sox, and Giants are heading in the wrong direction. Half of the division races are wrapped up as Atlanta, the Dodgers, and the Twins are looking at their magic numbers. Baltimore is holding serve with Tampa Bay, maintaining a slim lead in the AL East as the Brew Crew tries to hold off the red-hot Cubbies in the NL Central. The best race is in the AL West, where the Astros are back on top for the moment, but the Mariners and Rangers aren’t far behind. The stakes are high in this race, as the third-place squad may miss the playoffs altogether.
Two teams are perfect over their last six games, one to the positive and the other to the negative.
Movin’ On Up
Record: 72-67
Rank change: +3 (17 to 14)
The Fish are swimming upstream and have ridden a perfect week into being a half-game out from the last wild card spot. A four-game sweep of the Nationals isn’t overly impressive, but taking the first two from the Dodgers makes a statement (although Game 3 of the series didn’t go too well). The Marlins aren’t going away. It won’t be easy, as they lost Jorge Soler and Sandy Alcantara to the IL last week, and the upcoming schedule is rough with series in Philadelphia and Milwaukee on tap before Atlanta visits South Beach. However, the Marlins have found a way to win the close games all season, and the teams contending with them – Cincinnati, Arizona, San Francisco – have plenty of their own issues.
The Marlins’ strength has been on the mound this season, but lately, the offense has been popping. Jesús Sánchez and Luis Arraez hit .500 over the first five games of September, scoring 11 runs and driving in ten between them. The Fish have 13 dingers this month through Wednesday, three by Jake Burger and two apiece by Bryan De La Cruz, Jazz Chisholm Jr., and Sanchez. Miami is crushing it at the plate, averaging 8.4 runs per game this month through Wednesday.
The loss of Alcantara and Cueto is painful, but Jesús Luzardo is pitching like an ace. He held the mighty Dodgers offense to two runs over six innings on Tuesday, striking out six in the process. The Marlins will need Luzardo and Braxton Garrett to hold down the fort and hope Alcantara can make it back for a few starts. Rookie Eury Pérez has been hot and cold since his recall from the minors, as has Edward Cabrera all season. Miami just recalled Cabrera, who will now slot back into the rotation, and they have to hope they get the good version. The bullpen was solid last week, led by Tanner Scott, who pitched four scoreless innings, striking out four and notching two saves. Scott has had an unheralded season, leading the Fish relievers in almost every category.
Hittin’ The Skids
Record: 70-70
Rank change: -5 (12 to 17)
The Giants had a rough week, getting swept on the road by the Padres and the Cubs. A Cinderella story for much of the year, San Francisco is now looking up at a playoff spot, though not by much, as they only sit two and a half games out of the last wildcard spot. They are chasing three teams, though, and must take care of business against their NL West rivals. Outside of a three-game set against the Guardians next week, the G-Men won’t play any games out of the division for the rest of the season.
San Francisco struggled on offense and pitching last week when they were outscored 42-14. The offense scored eight runs on Tuesday but was shut out twice and held to three or fewer in the other five games. No one shined at the plate, but Austin Slater, Patrick Bailey, and Mitch Haniger had particularly brutal weeks. The trio combined for three hits in 40 at-bats.
On the mound, it wasn’t much better. Only Logan Webb recorded a quality start, and it barely qualified at three runs over six and two-thirds innings. Alex Cobb, Alex Wood, and Kyle Harrison were shelled, combining to give up 15 earned runs in 11 innings. Yikes! The bullpen didn’t pitch many innings from ahead last week but was asked to protect a 6-4 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh on Tuesday versus the Cubs. Tyler Rogers and Luke Jackson proceeded to surrender six earned runs before the inning was over. There’s still plenty of time for the Giants to get back on track, but they need to turn things around quickly if they want to play in October.
Week 23 Power Rankings