{"id":37089,"date":"2011-04-14T07:16:29","date_gmt":"2011-04-14T14:16:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.capperspicks.com\/blog\/?p=37089"},"modified":"2011-04-14T07:16:40","modified_gmt":"2011-04-14T14:16:40","slug":"2011-power-rankings-13411","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/mlb-baseball\/2011-power-rankings-13411\/","title":{"rendered":"MLB Power Rankings \/ April 13th 2011"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><strong>Shea&#8217;s MLB Power Rankings (as of 13\/04\/2011)<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Teams have begun the 2011 Major League Baseball season. It\u2019s time to NOW bring your best\u00a0<a href=\"\/blog\/category\/mlb-baseball\/\"><strong>baseball betting<\/strong><\/a> hat to the table for gambling on baseball in the 2011 season. Cappers Picks all season long provides\u00a0<a href=\"\/mlb\/\"><strong>MLB baseball gambling<\/strong><\/a> predictions, so check back often.<!--more--><\/p>\n<h3><a href=\"http:\/\/partners.commission.bz\/processing\/clickthrgh.asp?btag=a_805b_650\" rel=\"nofollow\">If you love betting on MLB games, you\u2019ve found a new home. BetOnline.com &#8211; The Best Major League Baseball lines, odds, props, &amp; Futures<\/a><\/h3>\n<p>The first instalment of the MLB power rankings is here! In case you\u2019re new to reading power rankings, the main principles to know are that (a) they reflect relative strength of a team and (b) they\u2019ll diverge from the standings more as the season progresses. Let\u2019s get to it.<\/p>\n<p><strong>1. Texas Rangers (9-2): <\/strong>I predict that the Rangers won\u2019t hold the top spot for long. Josh Hamilton\u2019s broken shoulder stings and the pitching staff is playing way over its head.<\/p>\n<p><strong>2. Cleveland Indians (8-3): <\/strong>Cleveland\u2019s early-season success is s cute story but I\u2019m not fully buying it. Orlando Cabrera leading the charge offensively? \u00a0He\u2019s old. It won\u2019t last. And it\u2019s too soon to tell if all the prospects have truly arrived as viable major-leaguers.<\/p>\n<p><strong>3. Colorado Rockies (7-2): <\/strong>Seeing Troy Tulowitzki smash the ball is no surprise. But it\u2019s especially encouraging to see pitchers like Jorge De La Rosa picking up the slack while Ubaldo Jimenez is out.<\/p>\n<p><strong>4. Cincinnati Reds (8-3): <\/strong>Joey Votto hitting .415, the team playing great defense and Edinson Volquez piling up strikeouts? About par for the course.<\/p>\n<p><strong>5. Philadelphia Phillies (7-3): <\/strong> Ryan Howard is hitting early in the season for a change. Does that mean he\u2019ll club 80 homers?<\/p>\n<p><strong>6. Chicago White Sox (7-4): <\/strong>I think the 7-4 start is legit. Deep pitching staff, great power and, if Gordon Beckham continues to break out, that\u2019s gravy.<\/p>\n<p><strong>7. New York Yankees (5-4): <\/strong>Still think the Bronx Bombers will need to trade for another starting pitcher. But how about Russell Martin\u2019s return to All-Star form behind the plate?<\/p>\n<p><strong>8. Kansas City Royals (6-4): <\/strong>Doubt they have the horses to keep up the solid start \u2013 but it\u2019s exciting to see Alex Gordon finally showing signs that he belongs in the big leagues.<\/p>\n<p><strong>9. Los Angeles Angels (6-5): <\/strong>Vernon Wells is hitting .091. The Angels have no hope of making the playoffs if their big gamble doesn\u2019t pay off.<\/p>\n<p><strong>10. Milwaukee Brewers (5-5): <\/strong>Remember, the power rankings are about relative strength. I\u2019m a believer in the Brewers and they\u2019ve won two straight.  <!-- Affiliate Code Do NOT Modify--><a href=\"http:\/\/partners.commission.bz\/processing\/clickthrgh.asp?btag=a_805b_650\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft\" style=\"width: 250px; height: 250px; margin: 5px;\" src=\"http:\/\/partners.commission.bz\/processing\/impressions.asp?btag=a_805b_650\" alt=\"BetOnline\" width=\"250\" height=\"250\" \/><\/a><!-- End affiliate Code--><\/p>\n<p><strong>11. San Francisco Giants (5-6): <\/strong>The defending champs may be forcing the issue on rookie Brandon Belt. He may not be ready for prime time. And their outfield defense his horrible with Aubrey Huff pushed out to right.<\/p>\n<p><strong>12. Los Angeles Dodgers (6-5): <\/strong>I still worry about this team\u2019s offense but Jonathan Broxton\u2019s return to ninth-inning prominence is a nice story.<\/p>\n<p><strong>13. Baltimore Orioles (6-3): <\/strong>Two straight losses. The luster is wearing off the hot start. The Orioles\u2019 young pitching staff will take its lumps.<\/p>\n<p><strong>14. Seattle Mariners (4-7): <\/strong>Two straight wins for the Mariners. Could Michael Pineda be a top Rookie of the Year candidate given his arsenal of pitches?<\/p>\n<p><strong>15. Pittsburgh Pirates (5-5): <\/strong>The early-season offensive surge, led by Neil Walker and Jose Tabata, isn\u2019t a fluke.<\/p>\n<p><strong>16. Toronto Blue Jays (5-6): <\/strong>So much for the 4-1 start. This team still has the talent to win at least 80 games but it\u2019s young and raw, like Baltimore.<\/p>\n<p><strong>17. Minnesota Twins (4-6): <\/strong>Francisco Liriano\u2019s early struggles are very concerning. He has to be nothing short of an ace for Minny to win the AL Central again.<\/p>\n<p><strong>18. Detroit Tigers (4-7): <\/strong>The Tigers have some good players but they lack depth; that weakness gets exposed when supporting players like Rick Porcello are ineffective.<\/p>\n<p><strong>19. Atlanta Braves (5-6): <\/strong>They\u2019ll be fine. Dan Uggla never plays well in April. He\u2019ll get his 30 homers.<\/p>\n<p><strong>20. Washington Nationals (5-5): <\/strong>Fluking into a .500 record but it won\u2019t last. Ryan Zimmerman is hurt and they have no Stephen Strasburg all season.<\/p>\n<p><strong>21. Florida Marlins (5-5)<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>22. Oakland Athletics (5-6)<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>23. Tampa Bay Rays (3-8)<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>24. Boston Red Sox (2-9)<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>25. Chicago Cubs (5-6)<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>26. Arizona Diamondbacks (5-5)<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>27. San Diego Padres (4-6)<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>28. New York Mets (4-6)<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>29. St. Louis Cardinals (4-7)<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>30. Houston Astros (3-8)<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3><a title=\"MLB Picks\" href=\"\/handicappers\/\" target=\"_self\"><strong>CLICK HERE TO GRAB OUR BEST Picks Packages for 2011 MLB Betting! \u2014\u2013&gt;<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Shea Matthews&#8217;s weighs in with another edition the the 2011 MLB power rankings&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":195,"featured_media":24462,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[670],"tags":[48290,48291,48292,108,12228,12218,66497,12227,683,3775,12226,12916,12917,1015],"class_list":["post-37089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb-baseball","tag-2011-mlb-baseball","tag-2011-mlb-baseball-power-rankings","tag-2011-mlb-power-ratings","tag-baseball-handicapping","tag-baseball-power-ranking","tag-baseball-power-rankings","tag-mlb","tag-mlb-baseball-power-rankings","tag-mlb-handicapping","tag-mlb-odds","tag-mlb-power-rankings","tag-power-ranking","tag-power-rating","tag-power-ratings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37089","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/195"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37089"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37089\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38813,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37089\/revisions\/38813"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capperspicks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}