Every week, the Pitcher List team will publish 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?
Aaaaaand we’re back! After taking a week off during the All-Star break to allow teams to reset before the second half of the season, we’ve got a fresh new set of Power Rankings to start the second half.
As we inch closer to the trade deadline, these rankings should give a pretty good idea of who our top candidates for buyers and sellers are during the next several days. At the top of our list, things should look pretty familiar. The Philadelphia Phillies and Baltimore Orioles retain the top two spots in our list and are at the center of seemingly endless trade rumors. It will be intriguing to look back in a week and see if the Phillies addressed their center field needs or if the Orioles found a way to pay up and land Tarik Skubal.
Behind these titans are a few more familiar faces and a couple of teams surging as of late, the Milwaukee Brewers and Houston Astros. After a dismal start to the season, the Astros once again look like the dynasty we’ve grown to love (or love to hate) over the past decade. With Kyle Tucker still on the mend, the Astros are a team that can still improve without making too many moves at the deadline.
On the flip side of our rankings, we have a bunch of familiar faces at the bottom of the pack that are sure to be in trade headlines before July 30. This is where you’ll find a lot of the best names that should get dealt at the deadline. Garrett Crochet of the Chicago White Sox is probably the best arm on the market, while Brent Rooker of the Oakland Athletics might be the most underrated impact bat available for contenders.
The middle of the pack is, as always, where things get dicey. With plenty of teams remaining in the playoff race with the expanded Wild Card format, we probably won’t see many of these teams selling their top assets or moving top-tier prospects to improve their rosters. Still, some of these teams are bound to sell shorter-term assets (like Jack Flaherty of the Detroit Tigers) to improve their rosters for this season and the future. Only time will tell exactly how things will shake out.
With that, let’s dive into our biggest risers and sliders in this week’s Pitcher List Power Rankings.
Movin’ On Up
Record: 56-47
Rank change: +3 (13 to 10)
The Kansas City Royals are our biggest risers of the week, climbing three spots on the back of a 4-2 start in the second half of the season. The Royals are still sitting at third in a surprisingly competitive AL Central but maintain the third AL Wild Card spot by a game over the Boston Red Sox. The Royals don’t have the most complete roster in the league, but some excellent starting pitching and a decent enough lineup have kept them hanging around despite a minor 12-15 skid in June.
The biggest reason for the Royals’ hot-swinging offense right now is none other than Bobby Witt Jr., who has a whopping five games with three hits since the All-Star break. It’s a small sample size, but a 1.905 OPS in a week-long span is a ridiculous performance for any player. Witt is having a career season while solidifying himself as one of the top assets in the entire league at the age of 24 and is one of the biggest reasons the Royals remain firmly in the AL playoff picture. It sure would be fun to see what this kid can do on the league’s biggest stage come October.
Bobby Witt Jr. in his last calendar year of baseball – 161 games
10.1 fWar ‼️‼️‼️
.331 AVG
.964 OPS
160 wRC+
33 HR
44 SB
17 OAA at SSGenerational. pic.twitter.com/t8wwaZXdP5
— Just Baseball (@JustBB_Media) July 24, 2024
Hittin’ the Skids
Record: 53-51
Rank change: -3 (11 to 14)
While the Royals have surged in recent weeks, the same cannot be said for the Seattle Mariners, who are our biggest fallers of the week. The Mariners are a tale of two rosters, with arguably the best overall starting rotation in the league failing to get any run support from an offense that ranks in the bottom of the league in several statistical categories.
the Mariners league ranking in these stats this season pic.twitter.com/NVNF5zx62L
— BrooksGate (@Brooks_Gate) July 24, 2024
Without an offense to give their starters any sort of cushion, the Mariners have floundered in recent weeks and find themselves in danger of keeping pace in the AL West for the first time this season. They currently sit one game back of the Houston Astros and likely need to win the division to make it to the playoffs, as they sit 3.5 games back of the third Wild Card spot in the stacked American League. With Julio Rodríguez hitting the injured list this week, this offense is almost certain to get worse before it gets better barring a roster-wide turnaround.
If there’s any team that needs an impact bat at the deadline, it’s the Mariners. Perhaps the injury to Rodríguez will convince Seattle to make a run at another outfielder like Jazz Chisholm Jr., but even that might not be enough to keep up with Houston’s lineup. If things don’t get better for the Mariners soon, they might be waiting until 2025 before getting another crack at the postseason. There’s only so much an elite rotation can do for a team that can’t produce any runs.
Week 17 Power Rankings