MLB Power Rankings: Nationals surge as Rockies go into free fall

The ninth edition of theScore's MLB Power Rankings for the 2019 season takes us into the All-Star break. Rankings will continue being published every second Monday throughout the regular season, with the next installment coming July 22.

1. Los Angeles Dodgers

They say walk-off wins bring teams together, so five in a row - which the Dodgers recently pulled off - must really boost clubhouse morale. Meanwhile, no other team has reached the 60-win plateau, and Dem Bums are set to get Corey Seager, A.J. Pollock, and David Freese back after the break.

2. New York Yankees

It feels like half of the Yankees' roster has been injured this year, and yet they're pulling away from the pack in the American League East. When more stars return, look out.

3. Houston Astros

The Astros are riding three straight series wins into the All-Star break, having outscored opponents 46-32 over their last eight games. That being said, the Athletics have started nipping at their heels, and the Rangers aren't far behind either. Coming out of the break, Houston will have crucial divisional matchups against Texas, Los Angeles, and Oakland with 14 games in 14 days.

4. Minnesota Twins

A blister has sidelined All-Star right-hander Jake Odorizzi, which could highlight Minnesota's likeliest weakness entering the second half: pitching. Odorizzi isn't expected to miss much time, but rotation depth would become a problem if any arm goes down for a significant period. Still, with the best run differential in the AL, the Twins have succeeded so far by bludgeoning opponents into submission. Rookie Luis Arraez has made the most of his opportunities, too, batting .393/.453/.524 over his first 26 games.

5. Atlanta Braves

Last year's Cinderella division winner has proven that the slipper still fits, as the Braves have taken control of the NL East with a solid stretch to open July. While the pitching remains a question mark, Dallas Keuchel finding his groove - as he did Sunday with 7 1/3 solid frames - would go a long way toward providing an answer.

6. Tampa Bay Rays

Despite the Yankees' dominance in the division, the Rays keep plugging along. Tampa Bay always seems to find diamonds in the rough, most recently plucking Travis d'Arnaud off the scrap heap. In 36 games with the Rays, d'Arnaud has contributed six home runs, and he's batted over .300 across the last two weeks. Pair that with the emergence of rookies Brendan McKay and Brandon Lowe (who will miss the All-Star Game with a shin injury) and the scrappy Rays could make hay come playoff time.

7. Washington Nationals

After early-season drama, the Nats have turned everything around and are heading into the break in a playoff spot amid an 8-2 run. The rotation's on fire, and even the leaky bullpen has figured it out with a 3.12 ERA in July. So yeah, there's hope in D.C. after all.

8. Chicago Cubs

Kris Bryant returned to MVP form while slashing a remarkable .358/.445/.589 with four homers over the last 30 days. Nevertheless, the Cubs can't seem to pull away from the floundering Brewers and Cardinals.

9. Boston Red Sox

The Red Sox responded to their poor performance in England by returning to North America and beating up on the lowly Blue Jays and Tigers. That's a good way to enter the break, but it still doesn't feel like the defending champs have their mojo back just yet - and that's weird to say in July.

10. Oakland Athletics

The Athletics are back, and they're not just winning against pushovers. Oakland hasn't lost a series since mid-June despite facing the Rays, Cardinals, and Twins, among others, going 14-5 over that span. Mike Fiers has picked up where the suspended Frankie Montas left off, authoring a 1.72 ERA over his last five starts.

11. Cleveland Indians

After being diagnosed with leukemia, Carlos Carrasco said he hopes to return this season and that his condition is under control, which is fantastic. On the field, Jose Ramirez is finally showing flashes of what made him an MVP candidate in consecutive seasons, batting .273/.375/.545 with two home runs over the last two weeks.

12. Philadelphia Phillies

The Phillies ended an up-and-down first half with a 5-5 stretch that exemplified their season. However, they're still in contention and former Met Jay Bruce has slugged four homers against his old team, so things could be a whole lot worse.

13. Milwaukee Brewers

Outfielder Christian Yelich is having a season for the ages and has single-handedly kept the Brewers afloat. Going forward, the need is pretty simple: add pitching. Brandon Woodruff has been the club's top starter, but the rotation is largely a wreck with Jimmy Nelson injured again and with questions about Zach Davies' ability to sustain his current level of run prevention. The NL Central is shaping up to be a bloodbath - with all five teams vying for a playoff spot - so it doesn't appear the Brewers can stand pat if they're hoping for a second straight trip to the postseason.

14. Texas Rangers

Are the Rangers - especially their pitching - coming back down to earth? Since shutting out the Rays to win their sixth straight game on June 28, the Rangers have gone 2-6 while allowing at least five runs in each of those losses, with nine or more coming in three of them.

15. St. Louis Cardinals

A so-so end to the first half has St. Louis sitting at .500 - a rare sight for Cardinals fans. Injuries have hurt, but there are plenty of question marks with this team right now. The Cards will need to kick things into high gear in a hurry once the second half gets going.

16. Arizona Diamondbacks

Zack Greinke has held up his end of the bargain in his fourth season with the D-Backs. After a couple of shaky starts against the Rockies and Dodgers - who seem to be his kryptonite - he's rattled off consecutive scoreless outings. However, Arizona isn't quite looking like a viable contender, so trade rumors could swirl around the veteran righty.

17. San Diego Padres

Fernando Tatis Jr. will be absent from the Midsummer Classic this week, but the shortstop has done his best impression of an All-Star this season. Over the past month, the young phenom has been one of the hottest hitters in baseball, boasting an otherworldly .333/.400/.657 slash line with seven homers and seven stolen bases. Manny Machado has found his power stroke as well, collecting 10 dingers over the past 30 days.

18. Los Angeles Angels

Can you name the best hitter in baseball over the past 30 days? If you guessed Mike Trout, you were wrong, because it's actually his teammate Shohei Ohtani. The second-year star has slashed .372/.394/.777 over the past month while producing a league-leading 205 wRC+. Ohtani's been so good that some people are actually suggesting the Angels should never let him pitch again in order to keep his bat in the lineup.

19. Colorado Rockies

The Rockies are in a free fall after losing six straight. While this slump began with games against the difficult Dodgers and Astros, Colorado hasn't strung together any winning streak of at least three games since June 4.

20. Cincinnati Reds

Despite boasting a positive run differential, the Reds are five games under .500 at the break. On the bright side, Sonny Gray just made his first All-Star roster since 2015 after posting a career-best 27.8 percent strikeout rate in the first few months with his new team. Then there's fellow offseason acquisition Yasiel Puig, who's crushed nine homers with a 1.188 OPS over the last 30 days.

21. Pittsburgh Pirates

All-Star Josh Bell is batting just .224 over the last two weeks, but he's made his contact count with seven of 11 hits going for home runs. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh trails the division-leading Cubs by 2 1/2 games. Last season, a similar scenario led the Pirates to trade Austin Meadows, Tyler Glasnow, and Shane Baz for Chris Archer in an effort to make a playoff push. That didn't work out, and they'll need to decide soon if they're buyers or sellers this time around.

22. Chicago White Sox

You probably haven't noticed, but the White Sox are enjoying a pretty good stretch right now, which included taking a series from the Twins last week. That won't be enough for a Cinderella playoff run this year, but don't sleep on the South Siders, who will make things difficult for contenders down the stretch.

23. New York Mets

The storyline surrounding the Mets should be focused on rookie phenom Pete Alonso ahead of his Home Run Derby appearance. Instead - as is too often the case in Flushing Meadows - the chatter is focused on the front office. General manager Brodie Van Wagenen has gone from labeling his team the class of the NL East to throwing chairs during staff meetings. Yikes.

24. Toronto Blue Jays

It's been a trying season in Toronto, especially on the mound, but the future continues to look bright. Danny Jansen's awoken from a long offensive slumber to produce six home runs with a .400/.415/1.000 line over his last 11 games, and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. has matched him swing for swing with seven homers in the last two weeks. Meanwhile, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hasn't lived up to his billing yet, but when he starts swinging the bat like he's able to - along with the eventual arrival of Bo Bichette - the Blue Jays should be a force at the plate. About that pitching staff, however ...

25. San Francisco Giants

The fate of veteran ace Madison Bumgarner is the only real topic in Giants land these days. With the team desperately in need of restocking its prospect cupboard, he's the most viable option to return some much-needed assets. Fortunately, it sounds like Bumgarner should be okay after being struck by a line drive on Saturday, which likely had management and the fan base holding its collective breath.

26. Seattle Mariners

If the Mariners didn't get off to a red-hot start, there's a real likelihood that they'd be mentioned in the same breath as the Marlins and Orioles as the league's truly abysmal teams. Since going 13-2 to start the season, Seattle's posted a 26-53 record, which projects to 109 losses over the course of an entire campaign.

27. Miami Marlins

Rookie starter Jordan Yamamoto, one of the "other" pieces acquired by the Marlins in last year's Christian Yelich trade, owns a 1.24 ERA since being called up in June and held the Braves to two hits in six shutout frames on Friday.

28. Kansas City Royals

Eighteen different position players have appeared in a game for the Royals this season. Only one of those players - All-Star Whit Merrifield - has racked up more than 90 hits, but at least he has an MLB-leading 117.

29. Detroit Tigers

Here's one way to articulate just how bad the Tigers have been this season:

• Number of times they've won at least two straight games: three
• Number of times they've lost at least four straight games: five

30. Baltimore Orioles

With the big-league squad in a perpetual tailspin/rebuild, let's check in with the prospects. Infielder Ryan Mountcastle - who could make the trip to Camden Yards this season - is batting .307/.329/.505 with 15 home runs in 80 games at Triple-A despite drawing just 11 walks. Meanwhile, the team's top pitching prospect, 19-year-old Grayson Rodriguez, is carving through Single-A. He's 7-2 with a 2.18 ERA and a 12.2 K/9 rate.