5 Up 5 Down: Power Rankings – 5 September 2013

September is under way, and there continue to be exciting battles and races to watch across the Major Leagues. The Red Sox have stretched out a 5.5 game lead in the AL East, as the Rays now need to fight to hold on to their wildcard spot with the Orioles and Yankees gaining ground. The Tigers have all but secured their second consecutive AL Central title, but the AL West has become another superb battle as the Athletics and Rangers cannot be separated after 137 games of regular season play. In the National League, the five post-season teams all but have their tickets stamped, but we still have an enthralling three-team race for the NL Central title, as the Cardinals, Reds and Pirates are all separated by just 3.5 games. All this adds up to make another thrilling September stretch run, and with momentum as crucial as ever, let’s take a look at which teams are on the rise, and which teams are faltering at the worst time.

1. Oakland Athletics

Just as last season, the Athletics were written off before a single ball was pitched this season, with most writers and fans backing either the Rangers or Angels to take the AL West spoils. Well, once again the A’s have been superb, and after sweeping the Rays, they have won the first game of a crucial three game set with the Rangers. With series after that against the Astros and Twins, the A’s will be hoping to at least take two out of three, which could well make them division favourites considering their strength of schedule the rest of the way. If Coco Crisp continues to homer in every game, this could be yet another one of Billy Beane’s odds-defying teams that make the play-offs.

2. Boston Red Sox

With some rotation concerns, including the never-ending injury to Clay Buchholz, many had the Red Sox pegged to lose their AL East lead and battle for a wildcard spot. However, a crucial series win against the Orioles was followed by a sweep of the White Sox, as the bullpen, and in particular Koji Uehara, was immaculate. They started a key three game set with the Tigers yesterday and were shut out by Doug Fister. They’ll need to avoid a sweep before heading into a big series with the Yankees at the Bronx.

3. Los Angeles Dodgers

The Dodgers haven’t quite been as red-hot as they were during their crazy 42-8 run, but they continue to set the pace in the National League West, moving ahead by 12.5 games and all but securing their spot in the NLDS. Clayton Kershaw has bounced back down to earth in recent starts, but the bats are coming to life and Zack Greinke continues to add to his incredible second-half resumé.

4. Atlanta Braves

The Braves haven’t received much coverage after their incredible hot April combined with the total ineptitude of the rest of the NL East has made their play-off run incredibly easy. But with the best record in baseball at 84-53, and an outside chance at 100 wins, they are going to deserve their number one seed in the play-offs – an impressive bounce-back after the devastating loss in last year’s wildcard. Freddie Freeman continues to put up NL MVP ballot-worthy numbers, and Andrelton Simmons is having the best defensive season, perhaps ever. This team is worth watching pretty much every night.

5. Los Angeles Angels

The Angels may be 11 games out of a post-season spot, but that’s not stopping them from going 9-1 over their past 10 games, and perhaps putting together an interesting September run. After sweeping the Mariners, the Halos took two of three from the Rays and then swept the Brewers. They won the first game of a crucial series with the Rays yesterday, and then have a massive series with the rival Rangers. The pitching staff, and in particular Jered Weaver are beginning to fire on all cylinders, whilst the bats are starting to rally behind MVP candidate Mike Trout. Even if they’re in too big a hole to challenge for the post-season, they could make life very difficult for teams with play-off aspirations down the stretch.

1. Tampa Bay Rays

As good as the Red Sox have been over the past week, the Rays have really dug themselves in a hole, with series losses to the Angels and Athletics, and another loss yesterday to the Halos giving them a 5 game skid. The return of Matt Moore today should give the rotation a boost, whilst David Price and Chris Archer will look to rediscover their form from earlier this season. The bats have also gone cold, as impressive rookie Wil Myers has hit a stumbling block and Evan Longoria has been unable to hit top gear when it’s needed most. The team has the talent to turn this skid around, but they’ll need to get going before the AL East crown slips away from them completely.

2. Cleveland Indians

The Indians needed to put together a strong stretch run to have any chance at catching the Tigers, but a 3-7 stretch and the loss of Justin Masterson has put a major dent in their wildcard aspirations too, as they find themselves 3.5 games behind the Rays. Being swept by the Braves and losing a key series to the Tigers were bad losses, but the Indians need to concentrate on the fact they have a phenomenally easy upcoming schedule, with series against the Mets, Royals (2), White Sox (2), Astros and Twins seeing them through to the end of the year. If they can win ¾ of those games, they could still have a shot, especially with the way rookie Danny Salazar is throwing.

3. Seattle Mariners

It has been another lost season for the Seattle Mariners, and though they got a glimpse of the future when Taijuan Walker made his Major League debut on Saturday night, he was unable to stop them from going 3-7 over their past 10 games and dropping to 62-75. King Felix was also forced to leave his start on Monday with back pain, a worrying sign for a possible Cy Young candidate. Although the M’s have been flashes of promise, in their middle-infield and the pitching prospects coming through, the rotation has been awful aside from Hernandez and Iwakuma and the line-up has been extremely inconsistent.

4. Arizona Diamondbacks

The D-Backs needed a big start to September if they were going to make a run at the play-offs, but after losing their series with the Giants, they conceded game one in a big interleague series with the Blue Jays. They have an up-and-down remaining schedule, with plenty of games against division rivals Dodgers, but if they want to keep their slim play-off chances alive, they had better start going on a tear now.

5. Houston Astros

This was always going to be a rebuilding season for the Astros, and whilst some youngsters have impressed, with Jonathan Villar showing off his speed in particular, the only thing left for the Astros to battle for is the number one pick in the draft next season. With exciting prospects on the rise, like Jonathan Singleton and 40/40 candidate George Springer, it may not be long until the Astros are relevant in the five up section, but for the time being they’ll continue to battle to play .500.