The 2017 MLB season has officially passed the first quarter mark, and as of June 4, the biggest question is can anyone slow down the runaway train Houston Astros? The Astros finished the month of May with a 20-7 record and have continued to be red hot in June as the Astros look to move to a perfect 3-0 in the month as they try to sweep the Texas Rangers on Sunday afternoon from Arlington.
According to an SB Nation report, while you can never truly say that a team is unbeatable and is World Series bound this early in the season on June 4, Houston is very quietly off to one of the best starts in baseball history. The Houston Astros have an incredible 12.5 game lead over the L.A. Angels in the American League West division, and they also have 19 comeback wins to their credit. Some teams don’t earn that many come from behind victories in an entire year!
The Houston Astros’ dominance really is something to behold so far in 2017, and now with the team with the best record earning home-field advantage in the World Series (now that MLB finally threw out that controversial rule that the winning all-star team earns their league home field advantage in the fall classic) don’t be surprised if Astros fans start to get pennant fever in August if this keeps up!
Houston Astros Manager A.J. Hinch isn’t getting caught up in the streaks or all of the impressive stats his Houston team is putting up. Hinch is taking things one game at a time and wants the Astros to do the same as he told CBS Sports yesterday.
“It means we’ve put a lot of games together in a row successfully,” Hinch said.“We don’t get caught up in first to 40, or leads. It’s June and we’re trying to win as many games as we can.”
At 40-16, and winners of nine of their last ten games, the Houston Astros are leaving little question that they are the best team in baseball.
Two other teams that are heating up right along with the weather and the Astros are the Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers are 8-2 in their last ten games while the Nationals have gone 7-3 over the same span. While it may be unfair to the Nationals and Dodgers players, this is not major news. In fact, the only news would be if both of these squads were in last place heading into June.
After all, the Washington Nationals and L.A. Dodgers are two of the heavy favorites to win the 2017 National League pennant and World Series.
Now on to two teams that weren’t expected to be World Series bound back in April, but have been red hot as of late. The New York Yankees continue to roll, and rookie Aaron Judge continues to hit the cover off the ball. Judge leads baseball with 18 home runs and has become an instant hero in right field for the Bombers.
Finally, someone break up those Toronto Blue Jays!
After starting the season 3-12, Toronto has somehow turned things around and are back in the thick of things in the AL East race. Winners of 10 of their last 13 games, the Toronto Blue Jays have climbed to a 27-29 record and now are just six games behind the division-leading New York Yankees.
What do you think MLB fans? Are the Houston Astros for real? Will the high payroll L.A. Dodgers or Washington Nationals finally break through and win the World Series? Summer is just getting started, but already the heat is being turned up on the 2017 MLB season!
Below is a look at the current MLB power rankings as of June 4.
MLB Power Rankings (6/4/2017)
1. Houston Astros
2. Washington Nationals
3. Los Angeles Dodgers
4. New York Yankees
5 Colorado Rockies
6. Arizona Diamondbacks
7. Boston Red Sox
8. Minnesota Twins
9. Chicago Cubs
10. Baltimore Orioles
11. Milwaukee Brewers
12. St. Louis Cardinals
13. Cleveland Indians
14. Tampa Bay Rays
15. Texas Rangers
16. Los Angeles Angels
17. Chicago White Sox
18. Cincinnati Reds
19. Toronto Blue Jays
20. Detroit Tigers
21. New York Mets
22. Pittsburgh Pirates
23. San Francisco Giants
24. Oakland Athletics
25. Seattle Mariners
26. Kansas City Royals
27. Atlanta Braves
28. Miami Marlins
29. Philadelphia Phillies
30. San Diego Padres
[Featured Image by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images]