NL Power Rankings (July 2, 20007)

Team/Record/This Week (Last Week) - Comments

Padres/46-34/1 (2) - Major League best 271 runs allowed (3.01 ERA). Peavy/Young an interesting juxtaposition against soft-tossing control specialists Maddux and Germano. The bullpen is pretty nasty, too. Bradley and Barrett might be enough to make the Padres the team to beat in the NL through the 2nd half (raise your hand if you ever thought you'd see that sentence in print anywhere?)

Dodgers/46-36/2 (3) - After dropping 2 of 3 to the Padres, the Dodgers will finish the first half with four against the Fish and three against the Braves. Martin and Loney continue to impress, and the starting rotation isn't far behind San Diego. Should be a great race from here on out.

Brewers/47-34/3 (6) - Last year, Braun and Gallardo were showcased in the futures game (pictured right). It's not a stretch to think they could find their way back to the All-Star festivities in the Bronx. Can't say I agree with dropping Gallardo to the pen in favor of Capuano, but at least Milwuakee has stayed away from the silly "back to Nashville" talk.

Mets/46-34/4 (1) - David Wright has a legitimate shot at 30-30 this year (currently 14-17). Staff continues to impress, despite pre-season second-guessers (PnR certainly included) -- 2nd in QS (49), 2nd in ERA (3.65), 1st in BAA (.234), 3rd in OPSA (.696) and 2nd in WHIP (1.25).

Diamondbacks/46-37/5 (4) - Run differential not too impressive (-17), nor is losing back-to-back series against the Giants and Dodgers. Snakes will need a lot more offense if they want to keep pace with the Dodgers and Padres (currently ranked 12th in NL in OBP, 14th in BA and 12th in runs).

Braves/43-39/6 (5) - Braves missed a prime opportunity to take charge in the East in June. With the final two first half series on the road against the Dodgers and Padres -- and the Mets facing Colorado and Houston -- Atlanta could be looking at 6-8 game deficit going into the 2nd half. Will Soriano be closing by the end of July?

Phillies/42-40/7 (7) - Nothing worse than being a buyer in July with nothing to offer. Hopefully Myers is effective in his return, but it's going to take more to stay with the Mets (as evidenced by this weekend's near sweep). On the bright side, Utley is OPSing an impressive .985 and Howard has a healthy second half to look forward to. No matter what the voters say, Rollins is having an All-Star calibre season.

Cubs/40-40/8 (13) - Don't fret, Carlos, Barrett is gone and you're throwing like yourself again. Odds still in favor of Barrett getting the last laugh, as the Cubbies are probably not built to stay with Milwuakee and San Diego should be a virtual lock for the post-season. Good opportunity to make a run with four against the Nats and three against the Bucs going into the break.

Rockies/39-43/9 (8) - Rough stretch for the Rox, who have dropped nine of their last ten. There has been cause for excitement in the first half, but stretches like these will likely continue until the team gets a little more experience under their belt. Solid offense (top half of the NL in most offensive categories) and iffy pitching (bottom half of the NL in most pitching categories) par for the Colorado Course.

Marlins/38-44/10 (9) - I was expecting more from one of last-year's more entertaining teams. Rough week ahead in San Diego and LA; 2nd half reprieve with first three series against DC, StL, and Cincy. Strong group of power arms waiting in the wings (and current crop of youngsters lead by Cabrera, Ramirez, Willingham, etc.) should translate into another playoff run in the next three years.

Pirates/35-46/11 (11) - Freddy Sanchez is a curious choice for the All-Star team, no? Especially with Gorzy turning in such an impressive first half (not to mention leaving off Sanchez would have made room in the IF for Ramirez/Rollins). Young pitching still fun to watch, but at some point you have to draft and sign some big bats.

Cardinals/36-42/12 (12) - 15th in ERA (4.89) and 14th in QS, watching Haren in the All-Star game will be particularly tough for Cards fans. Toss in a bottom-third ranking in OBP, SLG and runs scored, and you have the perfect recipe for not defending a World Series title.

Astros/35-47/13 (15) - Congrats to Biggio on #3,000 (as well as 1-2,999). Not sure he did the Astros any favors by sticking around to pursue this milestone (his .293 OBP/ .393 SLG has been far from impressive), but I guess he's earned the right...hasn't he? Now, will some one PLEASE let Burke get some regular time at 2b?!

Giants/35-45/14 (10) - How pretty would Cain, Baker, Liriano, Lowry and Lincecum (shame on those of you who were starting to doubt Timmay!) look for the next four or so years? How about with Nathan in the bullpen? Giants should be big sellers this month, at least in part to prep for a run at Arod in the offseason.

Nationals/33-48/15 (14) - While they're a far cry from the worst team in baseball history -- which some predicted they would be -- the Nationals still have a ways to go before they can be called a decent squad. One All-Star "snub" you won't read about is Dmitri Young (yes, partially because it's not that big of a snub). Still, it's nice to see the Meat Hook put up a solid first half after such an ugly end to 2006.

Reds/30-49/16 (16) - Homer Bailey has been dreadful, and I fully expect him to find his way back to Louisville soon. Cincy will try to peddle Dunn and Griffey, but there isn't really a huge market for expensive veterans now-a-days. There is no joy in Redsville; nor is there reason for optimism.

NL MVP: Prince Fielder, Brewers (.281/.371/.614, 27 HR, 66 RBI, 20 2B)
NL Cy Young: Jake Peavy, Padres (9-2, 2.09 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, .214 BAA, 119 K/31 BB/ 112 IP)

NL RoY: Hunter Pence, Astros (.340/.367/.571, 8 HR, 36 RBI, 7 SB)