Run differential is one way to differentiate the frauds from the teams with something serious to play for. In this week’s MLB Power Rankings, we look at a different way to separate the contenders from pretenders.
How teams perform against clubs with a .500 record or better is a good indication of who is truly dominant and who isn’t. Anyone can beat the bad ball clubs. What about the elite?
This week’s MLB Power Rankings will take a look exclusively at the winning percentage of all 30 teams as of Memorial Day morning. Whose wins are the most legitimate? Any tie-breakers will be settled by total wins.
30) MLB Power Rankings: Oakland Athletics, .139, 6-37
It comes as no surprise for the Oakland Athletics to have the worst winning percentage against teams .500 or better. Somehow, more than half of their 10 wins have actually been against teams who fall into this category. Don’t set off any fireworks in celebration. The .139 winning percentage against good teams barely tops the .182 against everyone.
29) MLB Power Rankings: Kansas City Royals, .228, 8-27
Again, things are just going in order. The Kansas City Royals have the second-worst record in MLB. They naturally fall in 29th place in this week’s MLB Power Rankings focused on winning percentage against teams .500 or better. It’s somewhat of a surprise to see them have this many games against even or winning ball clubs thus far given the division they play in.
28) MLB Power Rankings: Chicago White Sox, .312, 10-22
The Chicago White Sox are playing .400 baseball this season but fall down to a .312 winning percentage when going against teams at .500 or better. They’ve dug themselves into an early hole. We can only imagine how bad their team record would be if they didn’t play in the league’s worst division. This team desperately needs a rebuild.
27) MLB Power Rankings: Washington Nationals, .363, 12-21
The Washington Nationals may be a little ahead of where we expected them to be at 23-30, but they are getting knocked around plenty by winning ball clubs. At 12-21 with a .363 winning percentage, they actually share this place in the MLB Power Rankings with an underachieving division rival who only edges them because of a superior regular season record.
26) MLB Power Rankings: Philadelphia Phillies, .363, 12-21
How can this be spun positively? Maybe the Philadelphia Phillies are just getting the losses out of the way early? Either way, it is somewhat of a surprise to see them own such a ridiculously bad record against the better teams in baseball. They’re going to need to figure out a way to actually find victories versus tough competitors. Although a wild card berth is within reach, this team needs to play up to its competition.
