Surprise Atop MLB Power Rankings

Let’s face it, the Chicago Cubs haven’t exactly matched expectations early on. Sitting in third place in the NL Central standings, and under .500 to boot, there are some fans that have begun the full out freak out.

Not only has there been concern among some fans (often times the most vocal of your favorite Cubs FanPage) but there are some concerning developments on the field as well. Specifically speaking, the Cubs bullpen. While it is early and any run a reliever gives up is going to have a huge impact on their ERA, it is still disheartening to see Pedro Strop give up huge runs against teams that are far less talented than the Cubs.

But it isn’t just the bullpen, no. The Cubs offense has had its struggles early on as well. When your offensive standout is Jason Heyward, your offense needs a spark. Further, when Kyle Schwarber, Addison Russell, Willson Contreras, Ben Zobrist and Kris Bryant own a combined .224 batting average… that ain’t good.

Surprisingly, and regardless of the Cubs struggles, MLB.com has kept the Cubs atop their power rankings. They mention, “though they’ve had a very pedestrian start to the season, we’re not quite ready to knock the Cubs out of the top spot.”

They add that the Cubs starters have not been the issue, posting a 2.56 ERA early on. Although Kyle Hendricks and John Lackey (who has three earned runs that came after an error) have ERA’s of 5.73 and 4.00 respectively. The blame is mostly due to the lackluster offense, which has eeked out 17 runs over their last five games, and are ranked 22nd in baseball with 50 runs scored.

While MLB.com is staying with the Cubs, even if for one more week, Fox Sports and ESPN have dropped the Cubs to the number two spot, while Bleacher Report, RotoWorld, and USA Today still have the Cubs crowned as the best in the game. There is an off the wall ranking by CBS Sports’ Matt Snyder who has the Cubs ranked fifth.

I can understand dropping the Cubs for the Houston Astros, I can even understand dropping the Cubs lower than second, but fifth, and Baltimore!? I don’t know…

Do you believe the Cubs should still be the top team in MLB’s Power Rankings? Let us know in the comments!

Jamie Baker

Hi, I’m Jamie and I run this site. I’ve published work on multiple other sites and through that experience I decided to create CHICAGO style SPORTS. We truly aim to speak for the Chicago fan. Additionally, as a member of the IBWAA (Internet Baseball Writers Association of America) you can be assured that all content you read will be written with incredible integrity.

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