Dodgers’ Power Rankings Reactions: Why Isn’t LA Number One?

The week eleven power rankings have come out and the Dodgers slot in at the number two spot.  Why aren’t the Dodgers listed as the best team?

The week eleven power rankings have come out for MLB.com and the Dodgers slot in as the second-best team behind the Houston Astros.  It is the same spot that the Dodgers were in last week as they trail the Houston Astros for the second straight week.  The big question is why aren’t the Dodgers ranked number one?

The Dodgers have a slightly better record than the Astros as they enter Monday’s game with the same number of wins, forty-five, but one fewer loss than Houston.  When it comes to run differential, the Astros trail the Dodgers who have the second-best run differential in baseball at +109.  LA only trails the Twins by three runs.

There is no doubt the Astros are a very talented team, and arguably the best team in the American League at the moment, but the Dodgers have a few advantages outside of their bullpen.  Offensively, they have Cody Bellinger who is playing better than anyone in baseball with Christian Yelich being the only other acceptable answer.  Corey Seager is also heating up for the blue which will only take the Dodgers’ offense to a whole new level.

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Starting pitching wise, the Dodgers’ rotation is the best in baseball.  The Dodgers’ as a rotation have a 2.77 ERA which is almost a full run better than the Astros and trails the Rays by a small margin.  Hyun-Jin Ryu has been the best starting pitcher in baseball this season and is the favorite to start the All-Star game for the National League.  Walker Buehler is also starting to look like his usual self.

The one knock on the Dodgers remains their bullpen.  Although with their rotation eating up innings, the pen has performed better.  They did not allow a single run in the weekend series against the Giants and Kenley Jansen has quietly turned the corner on his early season struggles.  The bullpen is an arm or two away from making the Dodgers the most complete team in baseball.

While regular season power rankings admittedly don’t mean much, they are still fun to look at to see how different sites rank the powerhouses of Major League Baseball.  The Dodgers will have a big showdown with the Chicago Cubs later this week who currently present one of the bigger challenges to the Dodgers in the NL with their lefty-heavy rotation.  First, they will square off with the Angels in a mini two-game freeway series.