Dodgers and Astros Fighting for Top MLB Power Rankings Spot
According to MLB.com, the Dodgers are ranked second in their version of the MLB Power Rankings, sitting only behind the well-regarded Houston Astros. This is the same result as last week, but with the Astros going 5-1 this week with a sweep over the Colorado Rockies and the Dodgers going 6-1 with a sweep over the St. Louis Cardinals, they basically went toe-to-toe.
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Top 20: https://t.co/xZYSRJFG4J pic.twitter.com/kdaSEHWYDR
— MLB (@MLB) August 12, 2019
The teams are fairly similar in production this season in basically all facets of the game. The Houston Astros are tied for the second-best record in Major League Baseball with the New York Yankees at 77-41. The Dodgers have a one game lead in that department, boasting a 79-41 record.
The Astros’ recent acquisition of Zack Greinke has made some believe that the Astros have leapfrogged the Dodgers in the ‘best team in baseball’ conversation, but this might not necessarily be the case.
The offenses match up fairly similarly, the pitching staffs are both three-headed monsters with an excellent supporting cast, and have some bullpen arms that are misses and some that are stars.
When the time comes, this matchup could very well be the one we see in late October. The Dodgers seem poised to return to their third consecutive World Series to potentially face a team they lost in seven games to in 2017. Let’s just hope this year has a different result.
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Methinks that considering the Dodgers have been playing without Ryu (one week), Stripling, Rich Hill, Alex Verdugo, Chris Taylor, Enrique Hernandez and David Freese, yet still maintained their status as best team in the NL, that is pretty impressive stuff already. But the ‘Stros had a better bullpen than ours and now their starting pitching rivals ours and Washington’s. Verlander, Cole and Greinke, they counter Ryu, Buehler and Kershaw well………in a seven game series you have to talk about Wade Miley (2.99 ERA) versus Rich Hill (2.55 ERA) or Dustin May (3.18 ERA). Unlike the rest of the world, I DO NOT think that the Astros starting pitching is better than the Dodgers. But the Astros offense is relentless, just like the Dodgers……..where the Astros are clearly the better team, what separates them from the Dodgers?………their bullpen & they have a closer they can trust. The Dodgers have no idea what they are going to get when they open those bullpen gates anymore. Hopefully the Dodgers actually play the Astros in another world series this season and the relievers of the Dodgers get a chance to prove me wrong.