MLB Power Rankings: Yanks maintain top spot, Braves continue incredible ascent

Welcome to the fifth edition of theScore's MLB Power Rankings for the 2018 season. Rankings will be published every other Monday throughout the season, with the next installment coming June 4.

1. New York Yankees

Giancarlo is getting his groove back: over his last 15 games, the Yankees' once-slumping slugger is hitting .352/.435/.778 with six homers and five doubles. The Yankees have lost just three times over that span.

2. Houston Astros

Lance McCullers Jr. was perfect through five innings on Sunday, allowing just one hit to the Indians, and he's somehow only the fourth-best starter in the Astros' rotation. These guys are good. Real good.

3. Boston Red Sox

Two players are tied for the MLB lead in home runs, and both are employed by the Red Sox. Mookie Betts is putting together an MVP-caliber year and J.D. Martinez's nine-figure deal is paying early dividends.

4. Atlanta Braves

As it turns out, the Braves are a pretty great team when not relying on Freddie Freeman for all of their offense. The youth movement in Atlanta may be more than a thorn in the side of the Nationals in the NL East race.

5. Milwaukee Brewers

Despite the notable handicap of being a reliever, no player has been more valuable to the Brewers this season than Josh Hader, who has now accrued 1.5 WAR while managing a 1.32 ERA, 0.77 WHIP, and an eye-popping 59 percent strikeout rate in 16 appearances.

6. Chicago Cubs

The Cubs are one of four NL Central clubs with at least 25 wins, and now that Willson Contreras, Ian Happ, Kris Bryant, and Addison Russell are among the hottest hitters in baseball, they could soon re-establish themselves as the division favorite.

7. Philadelphia Phillies

Odubel Herrera's impressive on-base streak ended Sunday at 45 games, but Gabe Kapler has the Phillies cooking with gas and keeping pace with the Braves in the NL East after winning seven of their last 10.

8. Washington Nationals

With Howie Kendrick done for the season, the Nationals are now perilously thin at second base, but at least his injury gave them an excuse to call up Juan Soto, the 19-year-old outfielder who was playing in Low-A less than one month ago.

9. Arizona Diamondbacks

Losing A.J. Pollock - the D-Backs' best hitter this year - for potentially the next two months will only increase scrutiny on slumping Paul Goldschmidt. Through 46 games, he's hitting just .205/.323/.367 while striking out a career worst 31.3 percent of the time.

10. Los Angeles Angels

Mike Trout picked the least opportune time for the worst slump of his career - everyone else in the Angels' lineup is slumping, too. Over the last week, Justin Upton, Zack Cozart, Andrelton Simmons, Ian Kinsler, Kole Calhoun, and Albert Pujols have combined for one home run.

11. Pittsburgh Pirates

Since getting swept by the Nats at the beginning of the month, the Pirates have lost just one series, riding a red-hot offense (127 wRC+ over the past two weeks) to eight wins in their last dozen contests.

12. St. Louis Cardinals

If the Cardinals want to stay in the playoff hunt, they'll need more consistent production from Matt Carpenter, Marcell Ozuna, and Dexter Fowler. Together, they've been worth a combined minus-0.7 WAR, making the Cardinals' plus-27 run differential even more impressive.

13. Seattle Mariners

Robinson Cano's 80-game suspension may be a death knell for the Mariners, but it also might have lit a fire under their behinds - they've won three straight and sit two games back of Houston for top spot in the AL West.

14. Tampa Bay Rays

In the process of pioneering a new model of pitcher usage, the Rays - who started veteran reliever Sergio Romo on consecutive days this past weekend - are also winning games. Despite starting the season 3-12, Tampa Bay is now just one game below .500.

15. Oakland Athletics

Following a weekend sweep over the Blue Jays, the A's find themselves in the thick of the AL West race thanks to a resurgent Matt Chapman and strong debut from Dustin Fowler. They'll hope Khris Davis' leg injury isn't serious as he's among the MLB leaders in home runs with 13.

16. Colorado Rockies

The Diamondbacks are certainly leaving the door open for the Rockies to take over top spot in the NL West, but Colorado is scuffling themselves, winning just four of their last 10. Jon Gray has not looked right in his last two starts, allowing 19 hits and 11 earned runs.

17. New York Mets

The Mets have weathered the loss of Yoenis Cespedes thanks to Brandon Nimmo and his .435 OBP, and the addition of Devin Mesoraco could end up being a key difference in their push for a wild-card spot.

18. Cleveland Indians

The Indians ended the weekend sitting atop the AL Central despite a sub-.500 record. The pitching staff has been predictably stingy in the early going, but the bats outside of Jose Ramirez and Francisco Lindor have been wildly inconsistent.

19. Los Angeles Dodgers

Nothing is coming easily for the Dodgers. A weekend sweep of the Nationals, sparked by the return of Justin Turner, was undercut by Rich Hill aggravating the blister on his throwing hand. With the rest of the division floundering, the Dodgers' injuries haven't sunk them.

20. Toronto Blue Jays

Recently, any discussion about the scuffling Blue Jays has mostly revolved around a player not even on the 40-man roster, as Vladimir Guerrero Jr. continues to mash at Double-A. The Nationals called up 19-year-old Soto, is Vlad next?

21. San Francisco Giants

There's always something going on in San Francisco. Whether it's Brandon Belt's opinion on umpires, Pablo Sandoval readying himself for second base, or Mark Melancon losing his closer's job. Drama doesn't equal wins, however, as the Giants sit third in their division at .500.

22. Minnesota Twins

A playoff team last season, the Twins have struggled in every aspect. While the team ERA of 4.54 isn't abominable, the offense hasn't picked up the slack, scoring more runs than only three other teams.

23. Detroit Tigers

Francisco Liriano carried a no-hitter into the seventh on Sunday, but the Tigers failed to capitalize, dropping their third straight. They haven't been a complete mess without Miguel Cabrera, though, going 7-8 thanks to catcher John Hicks, who posted a .400 OBP in May.

24. Texas Rangers

Almost no team has had to cope with more injuries than the Rangers, with the left side of the infield - Elvis Andrus and Adrian Beltre - both shelved. It's early, but the hole they've dug themselves in the AL West already seems insurmountable.

25. San Diego Padres

Anchored by Brad Hand, the Padres' bullpen has been quietly terrific all year, and they've been especially stingy of late, crafting a 2.47 ERA over the last two weeks with the third-most win probability added in the bigs.

26. Miami Marlins

For a hot second, the Marlins and the Dodgers actually had identical records. Sadly for Miami, that's an indictment of Los Angeles more than anything else. The Marlins' sixth-best hitter by WAR is Dan Straily, who, it should be noted, is not a hitter.

27. Kansas City Royals

The Danny Duffy of the past two seasons is no longer. The struggling Royals ace posted an ERA of 9.31 in May. He's even questioned his own ability, telling reporters on Saturday he doesn't feel "special at pitching."

28. Baltimore Orioles

As has been their M.O. over the past few seasons, when the Orioles hit, they win. Baltimore has won five of their last 10 games and, during their victories, averaged 10 runs per game. In their losses, that number drops to 1.8.

29. Cincinnati Reds

A fun fact about the Reds: Eugenio Suarez leads the team in RBIs. That might not seem that interesting, except when you remember the stud third baseman missed 17 of Cincinnati's 48 games so far this year. The Reds will be found down here for a while.

30. Chicago White Sox

Rebuilds aren't easy. At 13-30, the White Sox have the worst record in baseball. Reynaldo Lopez looked sharp on Sunday, though, throwing a career-high eight innings in a 3-0 win over the Rangers.

(Pictures courtesy: Getty Images)