MLB Playoff Power Numbers
Playoff Power Rankings: Cubs, Red Sox poised for deep run
by Jonah Birenbaum
With the regular season officially in the books, it's time to look ahead to playoffs, which begin Tuesday night when the Toronto Blue Jays host the Baltimore Orioles at Rogers Centre in the American League wild-card game.
So, to get you ready for what's sure to be a bonkers October, here are your MLB Postseason Power Rankings:
1. Chicago Cubs
RecordRun DifferentialRecord vs. NYM/SF
103-58+2526-8
If you want a blueprint for the perfect team, head to the North Side of Chicago. The Cubs' lineup is littered with superstars, from presumptive National League MVP Kris Bryant to Anthony Rizzo to Addison Russell to Ben Zobrist, their fourth-best starter had an ERA 19 percent better than league average after adjusting for park effects, and their closer happens to be the most dominant reliever in baseball history. After more than a century of futility, this could be the Cubs' year.
2. Boston Red Sox
RecordRun DifferentialRecord vs. CLE
93-69+1844-2
The big-bopping Bostonians scored 101 more runs than the second-most prolific American League club this season, and with their late-inning relievers finally healthy at the same time, the Red Sox may have enough firepower in their lineup and bullpen to compensate for a rotation that thins out significantly after Rick Porcello (3.15 ERA; 3.39 FIP) and David Price (3.99 ERA; 3.60 FIP).
3. Texas Rangers
RecordRun DifferentialRecord vs. TOR/BAL
95-67+87-7
A trade-deadline bonanza (along with the return of Yu Darvish) dramtically improved a team that overperformed through the first half of the season, and the Rangers will head into the playoffs having played .589 ball over the last two months while managing the third-highest isolated power (.187) since the start of September.
4. Washington Nationals
RecordRun DifferentialRecord vs. LAD
95-67+1511-5
Even without Stephen Strasburg, the Nationals still have a formidable 1-2 punch in Max Scherzer (2.96 ERA) and Tanner Roark (2.82), and Daniel Murphy's impending return from the buttocks strain that sidelined him for the last couple weeks of the season should stabilize an offense that scuffled hard over the final month of 2016.
5. Los Angeles Dodgers
RecordRun DifferentialRecord vs. WAS
91-71+875-1
Trivia question: Which pitcher (min. 20 starts) leads the majors in adjusted ERA over the last two years? If you guessed Clayton Kershaw, you're wrong, as that distinction belongs to Rich Hill. So, as the NL Division Series looms, it appears no team has a more potent top-of-the-rotation tandem than the Dodgers, whose lineup also scraped together the fourth-most runs in baseball in the second half.
6. Cleveland Indians
RecordRun DifferentialRecord vs. BOS
94-67+1012-4
All season long, people have underestimated the Indians, so why stop now? Sure, they'll have home-field advantage in the division series and went 53-28 at Progressive Field during the regular season, but would you really put your money on a team of Jose Ramirezes and Tyler Naquins with both Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar nursing injuries?
7. Toronto Blue Jays
RecordRun DifferentialRecord vs. BAL
89-73+9310-9
If they can squeak by the Orioles on Tuesday at Rogers Centre, where they posted a .785 OPS (108 wRC+) this year, the Blue Jays' unfailingly reliable rotation may be able to carry a lineup that, woeful September notwithstanding, still has plenty of firepower.
8. Baltimore Orioles
RecordRun DifferentialRecord vs. TOR
89-73+299-10
After staying afloat all season by virtue of their big bats, the Orioles flipped things around in September, with their pitching staff somehow authoring a 3.06 ERA to keep them in the hunt while their homer-happy offense scuffled. Should they survive Tuesday's play-in game in Toronto, the Orioles will need their hitters to wake up, because expecting Ubaldo Jimenez, Yovani Gallardo, and Wade Miley to keep pitching effectively is a fool's errand.
9. New York Mets
RecordRun DifferentialRecord vs. SF
87-75+544-3
Though the Mets were able to navigate a deep postseason run last year in spite of themselves, don't bank on it happening again this October. With all due respect to Noah Syndergaard, Yoenis Cespedes, Asdrubal Cabrera, and the ageless wonder Bartolo Colon, the Mets are simply too hurt - Jacob deGrom and Steven Matz are done for the year - and too mediocre to be taken seriously.
10. San Francisco Giants
RecordRun DifferentialRecord vs. NYM
87-75+843-4
It's an even year, and they'll have Madison Bumgarner on the mound for the wild-card game, but the Giants don't have much else going for them, having posted a .416 winning percentage in the second half while eking out the fifth-lowest OPS (.705) in the majors.