MLB Power rankings have the Toronto Blue Jays rising faster with every series
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Watch out Yankees ... the American League East is heating up.
New York has seen its division lead be entirely erased as it's now tied with the Blue Jays atop the division with the Rays just a half-game back.
Both Toronto and Tampa Bay reached their highest rankings of the season this week at 10 and seven, respectively, while the Yankees hold fast at No. 6.
Elsewhere in the AL, the Astros have steadily moved up our list to No. 4, also their highest ranking of the season, after having ranked 17th as recently as mid-May.
Houston has ridden its momentum to a seven-game lead over the Mariners, who have fallen to 14th after peaking at No. 8 in early June, in the AL West.
What will the next week and a half before the All-Star break bring?
Alejandro Kirk is playing his best baseball since he started the 2022 All-Star Game. He hit .285 that season with a 127 OPS+ but fell off to a 92 OPS+ in each of the past two seasons. But he hit .365 in May and .337 in June and might be on his way to a Gold Glove Award. He leads all catchers in Statcast's catcher framing runs and has a caught-stealing rate above the MLB average. He trails only Cal Raleigh and Will Smith in catcher WAR via FanGraphs. The Blue Jays have never had a two-time All-Star catcher, as Kirk, John Buck, Russell Martin and Ernie Whitt each have one selection. -- Schoenfield
Junior Caminero is having quite the season. With 21 home runs, he has a chance to become only the third player in his age-21 season to hit 40 home runs, matching Eddie Mathews (47 in 1953) and Ronald Acuna Jr. (41 in 2019). He's also chasing a more dubious record: Jim Rice's single-season record of 36 double plays grounded into (Caminero is already at 22). Caminero's strikeout-to-walk ratio improved in June, which bodes well for him continuing to mash in the second half. After a 26-6 ratio in April and 17-3 in May, it was 18-11 in June. Remember, this is his first full season in the majors. -- Schoenfield
The Yankees finished 13-14 in June, as the offense continued to stumble. After an .829 in OPS in April, it fell to .792 in May and .718 in June. Aaron Judge still hit nine home runs and had a .967 OPS in June, and Jazz Chisholm Jr. was terrific with a .318 average, seven home runs and 19 RBIs. But Paul Goldschmidt hit .143, Ben Rice hit .181 and Trent Grisham hit .229 with only two home runs. All three had been red hot to begin the season, helping to back up Judge early. Let's see if the Yankees look to add a bat at the trade deadline. -- Schoenfield
Keep in mind these rankings were compiled at the end of June.
Now July, the New York Yankees have lost three in a row to the Toronto Blue Jays who are looking for the four game sweep as I write this today, so surely these rankings have already changed in favor of the Blue Jays.
The Blue Jays begin at three game set against the Angels this weekend and their next two series are against the Athletics and the Chicago White Sox.
They have a favorable schedule in the near future so you can bet the Blue Jays will be looking to separate themselves from the pack going forward.
| POLL | ||
JUILLET 3 | 245 ANSWERS MLB Power rankings have the Toronto Blue Jays rising faster with every series Will the Blue Jays win the Al East Division this year? | ||
| Yes | 142 | 58 % |
| No | 27 | 11 % |
| Too early to tell | 76 | 31 % |
| List of polls | ||
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