Don't let their slight drop fool you -- the Los Angeles Angels are feeling pretty good right now. They're not only over .500, but they also just swept the Seattle Mariners over the weekend and have won six in a row en route to grabbing hold of the final AL Wild Card spot.
Our metrics don't give them a tremendous chance of reaching October, but you'd have to imagine that anything is possible when Mike Trout is on the field, right?
| Rank | Team | nERD | Record | Playoff Odds | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | New York Mets | -0.37 | 53-63 | 0.1% | +2 |
| 19 | Detroit Tigers | -0.32 | 53-65 | 0.1% | -3 |
| 18 | Toronto Blue Jays | -0.27 | 57-61 | 7.0% | +1 |
| 17 | Kansas City Royals | -0.25 | 60-58 | 23.0% | 0 |
| 16 | Los Angeles Angels | -0.20 | 61-58 | 18.7% | -1 |
| 15 | Texas Rangers | -0.17 | 57-60 | 8.8% | +3 |
| 14 | Oakland Athletics | 0.03 | 52-67 | 0.2% | -1 |
| 13 | Milwaukee Brewers | 0.05 | 61-59 | 9.2% | +1 |
| 12 | Miami Marlins | 0.18 | 57-60 | 5.9% | 0 |
| 11 | Seattle Mariners | 0.24 | 59-61 | 14.0% | 0 |
Biggest Rise: Texas Rangers
Even without Yu Darvish around to lead the rotation, the Texas Rangers are within shouting distance of those Angels for a Wild Card spot, with only a three-game deficit between the two. One of the obstacles for Adrian Beltre and his club, though, is that there are five teams between Texas and Los Angeles at the moment.
Despite posting a 4.72 FIP over the past seven days, Texas is the proud owner of a shiny 2.89 team ERA, thanks in large part to the .204 BABIP allowed and 85.4% strand rate they've produced during this period of time. One guy who continues defying the advanced metrics is Andrew Cashner. He's put together a 5.44 SIERA and is barely striking out more hitters than he's walking (12.4% to 9.3%), but he's outperformed those shortcomings and has a 3.32 ERA through 114 innings of work in 2017.
Biggest Drop: Detroit Tigers
Considering their prior performance on the field and the front office's activity at the non-waiver trade deadline (and currently), watching the Detroit Tigers take a drop in our power rankings isn't surprising. However, one guy who's been consistently good throughout this disappointing season is outfielder Justin Upton.
He's kept that up over the last two weeks (54 plate appearances), posting a 167 wRC+, .421 wOBA, and .429 ISO. In the second season of a six-year, $132.75 million contract, the 29-year-old will have an interesting decision to make this winter: stick around in the Motor City, or test the open market by exercising his opt-out clause.
Based of the Tigers' recent moves, they probably wouldn't be all that sad to no longer be on the hook for that large contract.