MLB power rankings: Braves, Phillies becoming beasts of the NL East

There is a heavyweight fight of the highest order taking shape atop the AL East, and the Yankees currently are ahead by a point through the first three rounds of the season. By game No. 40, they already had four batters with at least 10 home runs — Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Gary Sanchez and Didi Gregorious — with Tyler Austin on their heels with eight in nearly 20 fewer games. If that isn't enough, Gleyber Torres became the youngest Yankees rookie since Mickey Mantle to have a two-homer game.

There are some impressive duos around the game today, but none is keeping pace with Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez. Their dual assault on the league includes 30 home runs and over 70 RBI, nearly 80 runs scored and a .354 batting average through a third of the season. Both sit atop the MLB leaderboard in homers and are first and third in batting average, respectively.

They became the third AL team to eclipse 30 wins on the year and possess a win differential greater than 20 runs over both the Yankees or Red Sox. This is largely due to the continued dominance of their starting staff, as Justin Verlander, Charlie Morton and Gerrit Cole have combined to go 15-3 while allowing 32 earned runs over 28 starts — good for a collective ERA of 1.58.

It is time to stop asking, but if you must continue to do so, for one last time: Yes, the Braves are for real. They are so for real that they have MLB's second-best winning percentage against teams over .500. The return of Dansby Swanson over the weekend further added to that potency, and he paid dividends immediately. His ninth-inning walk-off hit capped a six-run comeback win in the ninth on Sunday afternoon.

Another young team to believe in is Philadelphia. While they have struggled on the road, the Phils are the NL’s best team at home, where they face off against the Braves to open the week. The Phillies struck first, authoring a five-hit shutout led by Nick Pivetta, and currently sit just a half game behind the Braves in the NL East.

Somehow the Cubs are the National League’s sleeping giant. They are second in the league in runs scored, have arguably baseball’s best bullpen and Kris Bryant is performing like an MVP candidate again. After struggling early, their rotation is beginning to round into its advertised form as well. The club has won Yu Darvish, Jon Lester and Jose Quintana’s last starts by a combined score of 24-1.

The Halos have hit a bump of late, splitting a series with the struggling Twins before dropping five straight to the Astros and Rays. However, Shohei Ohtani showed some stopper’s blood runs through his veins as the weekend, and the team's losing ways, carried on. Working into the eighth inning, Ohtani rang up nine K’s versus the Rays on Sunday to bring the Angels’ struggles to an end, the third time in seven career starts he has reached as many punchouts.

Somehow, Max Scherzer keeps getting better. With his 13-strikeout outing last Saturday, he crossed the 100-strikeout mark in just 63 innings, the fastest pace in MLB history. He has reached double-digit K’s in seven of his 10 starts against only 16 walks. Mad Max is truly settling himself up to be among the greats of all time.

Considering the strong start the Diamondbacks got off to, it is time to be worried about Arizona’s long-term outlook. There is no good time to lose 10 of 11 games, an implosion that has completely erased a once sizable lead in the NL West, and the upcoming weeks look to show few promises with A.J. Pollock out of action for potentially two months with a fractured thumb, Robbie Ray out with an oblique injury and Paul Goldschmidt struggling to stay above the Mendoza line.

The excitement of their early success — which included James Paxton’s no-hitter on May 8 — was dealt a major blow last week. Robinson Cano’s trip to the disabled list with a fractured wrist turned into something far worse for the club’s long-term aspirations, as he was suspended 80 games due to testing positive for a banned substance. In an ironic turn, even if the Mariners snap their MLB-worst 16-year postseason-less streak, the man brought to town to lead the turnaround will not be eligible to play past game 162.

The recent losses of Carlos Martinez, Yadier Molina, Paul DeJong and Adam Wainwright have put a strain on the Cards. However, the club's collection of young arms has been its saving grace. Jack Flaherty picked up 13 strikeouts in his first career victory against the Phillies on Sunday, while Jordan Hicks threw a pair of pitches 105 miles per hour in relief of him. If that isn’t enough, top prospect Alex Reyes has allowed only six hits over 16 innings while striking out 31 in his first three rehab starts and is set to rejoin the club on May 29.

The place in the standings does not always tell the entire picture of who a team is. The Brewers currently have a 1.5-game lead in the NL Central but are also two games away from fourth place. They have scored the fourth fewest runs in the division and surrendered the third most, but have been buoyed by a strong road trip (winning seven of 10 over the past two weeks) and a bullpen that ranks among the NL’s best — and that recently regained All-Star closer Corey Knebel.

Aside from Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez, who are again having a pair of the finest all-around seasons in either league, the Indians are lost right now. Their lead in the AL Central is more a device of their surroundings than anything they have done well themselves. Aside from a pair of wins over the Royals May 12-13, they have not won consecutive games in a month.

While they have not been particularly amazing of late, the Rockies have nonetheless found themselves in the right place at the right time. They have risen to the top of the NL West as the Diamondbacks have struggled to find their way of late. A pair of series with the Dodgers and Reds, along with one sandwiched between with the Giants, could tell the story of who this club is early on.

Top prospect Austin Meadows had a big first weekend in the majors, proving to be a spark plug with a home run, stolen base and hits in five of his first 11 at-bats. The Bucs will need him to continue to set the tone as 10 games are coming up soon against the Cardinals and Cubs that could make or break their surprising stay in the early race.

The A’s have been a pleasant surprise so far this year and could stand to benefit the most from any decline that the Robinson Cano-less Mariners could see. Armed with an inspirational boost from the return of Stephen Piscotty, the A's took six of seven against the Red Sox and Blue Jays, an outcome that could stand as a proving point week for their legitimacy. However, they will have to deal with a substantial loss of their own, as DH Khris Davis suffered a groin injury on Sunday.

The nightmare start for the Dodgers has still yet to clear in full, as the injuries have continued to mount up. But the return of Justin Turner provided undeniably positive returns, as the Dodgers swept a weekend series with the Nationals. The team has won four of six since he returned to the lineup, with Turner hitting .280 in the process.

Creative, innovative or bad for baseball? The opinions on the Rays' decision to start Sergio Romo — who had 588 career appearances headed into the weekend, all in relief — on consecutive days got the attention of fans and players alike. In all, the Rays used nine pitchers over two days while Romo made two scoreless appearances over the weekend as manager Kevin Cash defined the idea of a "bullpen day." Considering the Rays have been one of the hottest teams in the game and have pulled nearly up to .500, the unconventional ways are working.

May has been a brutal month on the Jays, who have yet to string together victories in the month. Entering the new week, they have dropped eight of their last 10 and have fallen under the Rays in the AL East standings. Following a four-game sweep at the hands of the A’s, they have lost their last six series during their current free fall.

Brandon Belt has had a great go at it of late, winning NL Player of the Week honors, but otherwise the Giants have been uneven. After losing six straight, they won three straight, only to lose three more before picking up a pair of wins over the weekend. With trips to visit the previous two World Series champions in Houston and Chicago this week, another cold front could be on the horizon again.

They must be sad to see the Cardinals leave their schedule after taking three of four from them over the past few weeks. It has been one of the few consistencies for the off-kilter Twins this year, who are dragging themselves back toward .500 but taking the long way in doing so. The AL Central is still wide open for the taking, however, so they could still have a shot at things after all.

A stagnant offense has been much to blame for the Mets' horrid May, which has seen them score the second fewest runs in the NL. So perhaps it is plain good luck on their part to get a chance to play against the only offense that has been less productive than them over the weekend in the Diamondbacks, against whom they pulled off a three-game sweep.

Amazingly, the Miguel Cabrera-less, 20-27 Tigers are only three games out in the AL Central. They have hung around by taking two of three from the Indians and Mariners over the last week, after claiming only two of seven from the Royals and Rangers the week before. Sometimes nothing makes sense at all.

Jordan Lyles went 7.1 innings before Trevor Story got to him and ended a strong bid for what would have been the first no-hitter in franchise history. It would have served as an exclamation point amid a surprisingly strong run by the scrappy Padres, who have gained at least a split in their last three series against clubs with winning records.

Boy, the NL Central has been rough on the Reds. After dropping three of four to the Cubs over the weekend, their record against in-division foes dipped to 4-18, by the far worst mark of any team against its own division. The tough weekend undid the good of the previous week’s six-game winning streak, which nearly equaled their April win total.

Reportedly, the Rangers are open to fielding offers on their talent. Considering how much of their system they purged to bring some of the available talent aboard (namely Cole Hamels), it is not the worst idea. They are over 10 games out of the race in mid-May and can’t do much to get in gear.

For comparison’s sake, the league-worst Orioles pitching staff has yielded over two times the runs (254) the Astros have (123). Even the recent hot streak of Kevin Gausman’s hot streak aside, they are on pace to continue to vomit up runs at an extraordinary pace that could bury them even deeper than the 17.5-game hole they already reside in.

They have had to take on a heavy schedule of late, with two dates with the Braves, a visit to Wrigley and (to a lesser extent) a series with the Dodgers as well. In the process, they have allowed over seven runs eight times and have seen their team ERA fly north of five runs per game. Even considering this, things are going slightly better than most thought they would in South Beach so far.

Who’s worse off between the Royals and White Sox? It is a fight for futility that will likely last throughout the full year, but for the time being, the White Sox have taken a slight step forward. They accomplished this by virtue of taking three of four from the Rangers over the weekend, which is barely headline-worthy, especially considering they still have the fewest wins in the league after this brief flare-up.

It will be really, REALLY easy to pick an All-Star for the Royals, as a Kelvin Herrera save has been involved in 64 percent of K.C.’s victories this year. He has turned in a save in nine of the team's 14 victories on the year. If such a situation could find him more than once per week, the Royals might be on to something.