Here at numberFire, we like math. We're not about subjectivity. So when we calculate our power rankings, it's not based on what our eyes are telling us or what our feelings say. It's based on straight up math.
For baseball, we use our nERD metric to show how good a team actually is performing. nERD, for those of you who are unaware, tells us how many runs a team should win by against a league-average opponent on a neutral field. A nERD of 1.00, for instance, means that team would be an ordinary one by a run. If that team was facing a squad with a nERD of -0.5, we'd expect them to win by 1.5 runs.
Take a look at how things are shaping up around Major League Baseball, sorted by nERD.
| Team | Playoffs | Champs | Division | nERD | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Los Angeles Dodgers | 96.00% | 20.20% | 79.70% | 1.36 |
| 2 | Houston Astros | 70.40% | 5.50% | 50.50% | 0.83 |
| 3 | Oakland Athletics | 18.20% | 2.40% | 7.30% | 0.76 |
| 4 | St. Louis Cardinals | 97.50% | 14.10% | 83.90% | 0.71 |
| 5 | Tampa Bay Rays | 66.90% | 9.00% | 51.80% | 0.71 |
| 6 | Kansas City Royals | 58.80% | 5.00% | 37.20% | 0.66 |
| 7 | Toronto Blue Jays | 27.80% | 2.80% | 14.70% | 0.55 |
| 8 | San Francisco Giants | 67.60% | 5.50% | 18.40% | 0.54 |
| 9 | Cleveland Indians | 41.90% | 4.50% | 22.30% | 0.36 |
| 10 | Detroit Tigers | 47.10% | 3.90% | 27.50% | 0.33 |
| 11 | New York Mets | 45.80% | 2.20% | 30.50% | 0.32 |
| 12 | New York Yankees | 37.30% | 2.20% | 21.60% | 0.22 |
| 13 | Chicago Cubs | 27.40% | 1.10% | 2.80% | 0.15 |
| 14 | Los Angeles Angels | 54.80% | 5.60% | 32.30% | 0.15 |
| 15 | Pittsburgh Pirates | 63.50% | 4.00% | 13.10% | 0.12 |
| 16 | Baltimore Orioles | 15.60% | 1.70% | 8.00% | -0.02 |
| 17 | Cincinnati Reds | 4.00% | 0.20% | 0.20% | -0.06 |
| 18 | Washington Nationals | 72.40% | 6.40% | 62.20% | -0.13 |
| 19 | Seattle Mariners | 16.00% | 1.30% | 5.70% | -0.2 |
| 20 | Texas Rangers | 10.10% | 0.60% | 4.20% | -0.28 |
| 21 | Arizona Diamondbacks | 0.80% | 0.00% | 0.00% | -0.4 |
| 22 | Miami Marlins | 1.40% | 0.00% | 0.90% | -0.52 |
| 23 | San Diego Padres | 12.40% | 0.50% | 1.80% | -0.55 |
| 24 | Boston Red Sox | 8.20% | 0.50% | 3.90% | -0.63 |
| 25 | Atlanta Braves | 10.60% | 0.40% | 6.50% | -0.69 |
| 26 | Minnesota Twins | 25.90% | 0.70% | 12.50% | -0.84 |
| 27 | Colorado Rockies | 0.50% | 0.00% | 0.00% | -1.03 |
| 28 | Milwaukee Brewers | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | -1.43 |
| 29 | Chicago White Sox | 1.20% | 0.00% | 0.50% | -1.49 |
| 30 | Philadelphia Phillies | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | -1.56 |