2014 MLB Power Rankings Week 2

Boston Strong. It is the one year anniversary of the horrific attack during the Boston Marathon and thinking about it makes me shudder. After the bombing last year the Red Sox season continued onward on its magical journey. Nobody knew at the time the team was headed for a championship season. They did just that. Nobody knows at this time which team is headed for a magical championship season of their own. This year's Boston squad? Well, they've stumbled a bit out of the gate but the season is young and full of promise for all 30 teams. Could this week's top team be a legit threat to win it all? Or are they just enjoying a hot streak to start the year? Only time will tell how it all shakes out, but for now, let's just see how things shake out after two weeks of baseball.

*Note: All stats and records are through Sunday's games.

1. Milwaukee Brewers (10-2) ~ The Brew Crew are off to their best start since 1987 when they started that year 13-0. The offense looks good and their pitching leads the majors in ERA. Not too shabby for baseball's smallest market team. (Last Week's Ranking 12)

2. Atlanta Braves (8-4) ~ So far they are the only team to have defeated the Brewers (twice) and the Washington Nationals (five times). Also Freddie Freeman and Justin Upton are so hot right now. They make up one of the best 3-4 spots in baseball. (LWR 3)

3. Los Angeles Dodgers (8-4) ~ Still waiting for the media to figure out how to blame Yasiel Puig for Clayton Kershaw's injury. I mean, everything wrong in LA is his fault. Isn't it? (LWR 6)

4. Detroit Tigers (6-4) ~ You gotta love it when an American League pitcher gets a hit. Justin Verlander got his first two in his last outing, both singles. (LWR 1)

5. San Franciso Giants (8-5) ~ I think Bruce Bochy should avoid pitching Tim Lincecum against the Arizona Diamondbacks, or more specifically, Paul Goldschmidt who smacked his 7th home run off of the two-time Cy Young award winner. That's some serious ownage. (LWR 2)

6. Washington Nationals (7-5) ~ As I mentioned before all five of their losses are to division rival Atlanta. Couple that with the loss of Ryan Zimmerman to a broken thumb and it wasn't a good week for the Nats. (LWR 4)

7. Tampa Bay Rays (7-6) ~ It appears as though Matt Moore will need Tommy John surgery. That puts a hut on the Rays starting rotation. Jeremy Hellickson should be back in a month but they may need to rely on youngster Jake Odorizzi more than they wanted to this year. (LWR 5)

8. St. Louis Cardinals (7-5) ~ Is it too early to say this series between the Cards and Brewers is big? If Milwaukee sweeps St. Louis would be six games out in the National League Central. (LWR 9)

9. Oakland A;s (8-4) ~ I've always referred to them as the Athletics when I write these up but when I speak about them it's always the A's. I think I'm going to write about the as the A's from now on. Anyway, big dollar closer Jim Johnson is out of the closer role after a horrific debut in Oakland. (LWR 15)

10. New York Yankees (7-6) ~ They took three of four from the Red Sox and Brian McCann hit his first two homers in pinstripes. Not a bad weekend for the Yanks. (LWR 10)

11. Pittsburgh Pirates (6-6) ~ I really can't figure out why the Pirates didn't do more to shore up first base this season. Keeping Justin Morneau (and his .325 average in Coloroado) would have been a much better option than running Travis Ishikawa out there. (LWR 7)

12. Seattle Mariners (6-5) ~ Taijuan Walker is close to returning to the rotation and Hisashi Iwakuma won't be far behind. King Felix can't and won't have to do it all this year. (LWR 11)

13. Boston Red Sox (5-8) ~ If Grady Sizemore keeps this up not only will he undoubtedly win the Comeback Player of the Year award but he will be the biggest free agent bargain in recent memory. (LWR 14)

14. Colorado Rockies (6-7) ~ I bet you didn't know the Rockies have scored the most runs (70) in the NL. Their record might be a little better if they could keep their opponents from scoring at will as well (69 runs allowed). (LWR 24)

15. Cleveland Indians (6-7) ~ Could Justin Masterson's early woes but attributed to his contract (or lack thereof) talks? He has given up five earned runs in each of his last two starts and issued nine walks in 15 innings so far. (LWR 15)

16. Texas Rangers (6-6) ~ Prince Fielder is having a rough go of things to start his Ranger career slashing .141/.191/.245. I was drunk on Fielder love with expectations for 2014. I blame myself. (LWR 16)

17. Toronto Blue Jays (7-6) ~ Sergio Santos has looked magnificent in closing while Casey Jannsen is on the disabled list. It leads me to wonder if Santos keeps the job going forward. Either way they should make for a dominant back end of the bullpen. (LWR 17)

18. Los Angeles Angels (6-6) ~ Losing the hot-hitting Josh Hamilton for the next month is going to hurt. At least it looks like Albert Pujols is finding his stride again. (LWR 21)

19. Miami Marlins (5-8) ~ The Marlins surprised everyone by racking up five wins in the first week of the season. A week later they still sit at five wins. (LWR 8)

20. Chicago White Sox (7-6) ~ If you asked me who the highest scoring team in baseball was after two weeks the White Sox would not have been among my first 10 guesses. I would have been wrong 10 times. (LWR 20)

21. Baltimore Orioles (4-7) ~ I love Adam Jones' comments about fans running onto the field. It's dangerous and it shouldn't happen. They should be tased and deserve whatever it is coming to them. (LWR 23)

22. Philadelphia Phillies (6-6) So far Chase Utley has at least one hit in all 10 games he has played this season. Somewhere Mac from Always Sunny is smiling. (LWR 22)

23. Cincinnati Reds (4-8) ~ All I can picture is Joey Votto doing an interview dressed up as a mountie. If you haven't seen it do yourself a favor and Google it. It's worth it.

24. Kansas City Royals (4-7) ~ It's almost unfathomable to believe that the Royals have hit just one home run as a team this year. Seriously. How does that happen in today's game? (LWR 19)

25. Minnesota Twins (6-6) ~ The Twinkies are putting up runs. They are tied for second in the AL. Their pitching will most likely stink the rest of the year but if the offense keeps it going they could avoid 100 losses this season. (LWR 25)

26. San Diego Padres (5-7) ~ It looks like MLB is going to name an award after who I think is the second greatest Padre of all time: Trevor Hoffman. (LWR 28)

27. New York Mets (5-7) ~ First it's Ike Davis and then it's Lucas Duda. Then Davis is back but oh, wait, its Duda again. Who's on first for the Mets? Really. I don't know. Who's on first? Tell me. (LWR 27)

28. Houston Astros (5-8) ~ They are ranked in the bottom five in most major offensive categories including dead last in team batting average (.189) and on-base percentage (.262) which is, well, just dreadful. (LWR 26)

29. Chicago Cubs (4-8) ~ Back-to-back 2-4 weeks. Let's hear it for consistency! (LWR 29)

30. Arizona Diamondbacks (4-11) ~ It may be early in the season but if the D'Backs don't step it up Kirk Gibson may be on the hot seat in the desert. (LWR 30)