Updated: April 22, 2013, 12:06 PM ET

Rockies make their move up

Week:

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The Colorado Rockies jumped 11 spots, but it wasn't enough to pass the Atlanta Braves, who still lay claim to the No. 1 position in our Power Rankings.

The Oakland Athletics stay in the No. 2 spot for the second straight week, while the Boston Red Sox rise eight spots to No. 3. The Washington Nationals fall one spot to No. 4, and the Detroit Tigers move up one to take over the No. 5 position to round out the top five.

This week's voters were Jim Bowden of ESPN Insider, Tim Kurkjian of ESPN The Magazine, David Schoenfield of the SweetSpot Blog Network/ESPN.com and Jayson Stark of ESPN.com. Most of the team comments come courtesy of the fan bloggers on the SweetSpot Blog Network. Meanwhile, you can rank the teams yourself.

Tell us what you think about the Power Rankings. Use the hashtag #ESPNMLBPOWER.

2013 Power Rankings: April 22
RANKTEAM / RECORD TRENDINGCOMMENTS
1
Braves
13-5
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Last Week: 1		Justin Upton leads the majors with nine home runs, six of which have come at Turner Field. -- ESPN.com
2
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Last Week: 2		The A's were riding a high on offense going into Tampa, but they left humbled, swept and outscored by a 17 to 4 tally. Ex-Red Sox Coco Crisp and Jed Lowrie, each of whom has an OPS over 1.000, will try to get Oakland back on track in a three-game visit to Boston. -- Jason Wojciechowski, Beaneball
3
8
Last Week: 11		Amidst an incredibly challenging week for obvious reasons, the Red Sox responded about as well as anyone could have hoped for, going 6-0 on the week before dropping both games in the day/night doubleheader Sunday against the Royals. More importantly, they gave Bostonians something to smile about again. -- Hunter Golden, Fire Brand of the AL
4
1
Last Week: 3		The real surprise during this slow start for the Nationals has been the fielding woes. The Nats' 18 errors, led by Ryan Zimmerman's four and Ian Desmond's seven, are tops in the majors. -- Harper Gordek, Nationals Baseball
5
1
Last Week: 6		The Tigers finished off a six-game West Coast stretch that saw them not only lose four games, but play in three that lasted at least 13 innings. After a welcome day off on Monday, they return home to face the first-place Royals and a (very) tired fan base. -- Joshua Worn, Walkoff Woodward
6
1
Last Week: 7		Yu Darvish leads the majors in strikeouts (38) and has a .144 batting average against. -- ESPN.com
7
Giants
12-7
3
Last Week: 4		Barry Zito has yet to allow a run in three starts at home (21 innings pitched), earning wins against the Cardinals, Rockies and Padres. -- ESPN.com
8
11
Last Week: 19		The Rockies are surprising everyone at 13-5 and hitting isn't the only reason why. The Rockies' offense is second in the majors in runs scored (104), which is expected, but the pitching staff has a team ERA of 3.87, which is good for 15th-best in baseball, and is very much unexpected. -- Travis Lay, Blake Street Bulletin
9
4
Last Week: 5		Carlos Beltran heated up (three home runs/.400 OBP/.792 SLG for the week), but the Cardinals slipped out of first place as they split a four-game series with the Phillies. -- Matt Philip, Fungoes
10
Reds
11-8
1
Last Week: 9		The Reds have scored more runs than anyone in the league, and with Joey Votto heating up, the sky's the limit. Votto is now hitting .328/.522/.516 after raising his average by 64 points (and his SLG by 139 points) over the weekend. -- Chad Dotson, Redleg Nation
11
1
Last Week: 10		After winning two of three games against the Dodgers, the Orioles are two games over .500. However, there is a feeling that the starting pitching needs to be strengthened since Jake Arrieta and Chris Tillman have issues going deep into games. -- Jon Shepherd, Camden Depot
12
2
Last Week: 14		Travis Hafner, Vernon Wells and Robinson Cano have five home runs apiece as the Yankees have outhomered their opponents 27 to 14. Must be the magic of the pinstripes. -- David Schoenfield, SweetSpot
13
5
Last Week: 8		Didi Gregorius is batting a whopping .545 with two home runs in his first three games since being called up from the minor leagues. -- ESPN.com
14
Royals
10-7
1
Last Week: 13		Last year's Royals squad was 3-14 in their first 17 games. This version is 10-7 and leading the AL Central. The starting pitching has gone at least six innings in 14 of the 17 games so far. -- Diane Firstman, Value Over Replacement Grit
15
2
Last Week: 17		Things are looking up for the Jays: R.A. Dickey, Mark Buehrle and Josh Johnson all turned in quality starts, and Brett Lawrie and Jose Bautista have returned to the lineup. Twenty-seven of the Jays' next 31 games are against AL East opponents. -- Matthias Koster, Mop-Up Duty
16
4
Last Week: 12		Dodgers third basemen and shortstops have combined to hit .148 with two extra-base hits. Adrian Gonzalez and A.J. Ellis each have on-base percentages over .440 and yet have scored just six runs combined. -- David Schoenfield, SweetSpot
17
Rays
8-10
1
Last Week: 16		Evan Longoria might be the league's most important player. He has reached base in all 18 games this season and has four home runs over the last week. The Rays, as a team, have hit 13 home runs in their last seven games after belting just four bombs in their first 11 contests. -- Tommy Rancel, The Process Report
18
Mets
9-8
3
Last Week: 15		The Mets are 7-1 when Matt Harvey and Jonathon Niese start, but 2-7 when they don't, and the bullpen has allowed 32 earned runs in 56 innings pitched. -- Joe Janish, Mets Today
19
Angels
7-10
4
Last Week: 23		A walk-off home run from Mark Trumbo on Sunday capped a three-game sweep of the defending AL champion Tigers. It was the Halos' first sweep of the year, indicating they may have found the groove they've been searching for all season. The Angels need to keep the ball rolling as the Rangers roll into town on Monday. -- Mitch Quesada, Halos Daily
20
4
Last Week: 24		A 7-2 homestand versus the Cardinals, Braves and Reds puts the Buccos at 10-8. This is only the third time since 1992 they've been over .500 after 18 games. Opponents are batting an MLB-worst .212 against Pirates pitching. -- Diane Firstman, Value Over Replacement Grit
21
3
Last Week: 18		Chase Utley looks healthy, and his offensive numbers so far (.294/.347/.529) seem to back that up. His contract year may yet prove incredibly interesting, both for the Phillies and the league at large, especially if Robinson Cano re-signs with the Yankees. -- Paul Boye, Crashburn Alley
22
3
Last Week: 25		After a 2-8 start, the Brewers have won seven consecutive games. The much-maligned bullpen has stepped up over the past week, compiling a stellar 1.86 ERA. -- J.P. Breen, Disciples of Uecker
23
1
Last Week: 22		Adam Dunn is looking worse than he did in 2011, hitting .108 with 26 strikeouts and just three walks. He homered Sunday -- his only hit of the week. -- David Schoenfield, SweetSpot
24
4
Last Week: 20		The Mariners scored eight runs in six games last week, were shut out twice over the weekend, and haven't won two in a row since the first two games of the season. They rank 28th in runs per game and 29th in batting average. Same old M's. -- David Schoenfield, SweetSpot
25
2
Last Week: 27		The Twins were limited to four games in the past week by inclement weather, but managed to win them all. Joe Mauer led the way, batting .588 with six RBIs. -- Nick Nelson, Twins Daily
26
5
Last Week: 21		The Indians scored 19 runs in Houston on Saturday. In their other five games last week, they scored a combined 15 runs. Indians starters went winless last week, as the bullpen was credited with the win in both of their victories. -- Stephanie Liscio, It's Pronounced "Lajaway"
27
Padres
5-13
2
Last Week: 29		After an impressive sweep over the Dodgers in L.A., the Padres got swept in San Francisco, hitting .174 and getting shut out on Saturday and Sunday in games started by Tim Lincecum and Barry Zito. -- David Schoenfield, SweetSpot
28
Cubs
5-12
2
Last Week: 26		Despite the poor performance on the field, the Cubs got good news last week as Matt Garza pitched a simulated game and should be on track for a rehab start very soon. -- Joe Aiello, View from the Bleachers
29
Astros
5-13
1
Last Week: 28		From the land of strange and wonderful: Rick Ankiel (23 K's in 14 games) is on pace for 207 strikeouts and no walks, but he still has four home runs and 10 RBIs. -- David Schoenfield, SweetSpot
30
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Last Week: 30		The Marlins have scored an MLB-worst 43 runs, thanks to a .286 team slugging percentage and a .557 team OPS. Giancarlo Stanton's bad shoulder and cold bat (20 K's in 57 PAs) isn't helping. This week's schedule (two at Minnesota, four versus the Cubs) gives a chance to recover a bit. -- Diane Firstman, Value Over Replacement Grit
  • Biggest Jump:
  • 11
  • Biggest Drop:
  • 5

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