2023 MLB Power Rankings - Week 12 and U.S. Women's World Cup soccer roster announced
The Thursday morning edition of "Eleven things to know before 11 AM" is here!
Happy NBA Draft day Thursday! I unfortunately will not be previewing the NBA Draft on today’s Snippets, as I surprisingly know very little of this upcoming draft class outside of the inevitable top overall pick in Victor Wembanyama, but will cover another top story to go along with my weekly MLB Top 10 Power Rankings.
Do expect some sort of NBA Draft recap in tomorrow’s edition of my Snippets, covering the major trades and other facets of the draft, including what the Wizards do with their eighth overall pick and their multiple newly-acquired second round picks in the Bradley Beal and Kristaps Porzingis deals.
1) U.S. Women’s National Team roster announced for next month’s World Cup
The women’s soccer World Cup is just a month away, as co-hosting nation New Zealand takes on Norway at 3 a.m. local time on July 20. With that being said, the coach of Team USA, Vlatko Andonovski, named his 23-woman roster officially today.
There are several key holdovers from the 2019 World Cup champion squad that will not be traveling to co-hosting nation Australia due to injury, and they include Christen Press, Samantha Mewis, Mallory Swanson, Tobin Heath and captain Becky Sauerbrunn.
Among the notable names that will be a part of the roster (previous World Cup appearances in parentheses): goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher (2); defender Kelly O’Hara (3); midfielders Julie Ertz (2), Lindsey Horan (1) and Rose Lavelle (1); and forwards Alex Morgan (3) and Megan Rapinoe (3).
14 players will be making their World Cup debuts, including Washington Spirit’s own Trinity Rodman, who, yes, is the daughter of the Chicago Bulls’ forward Dennis Rodman.
The United States have somewhat of an easy World Cup group, as the three other teams are Netherlands (9th overall, according to the latest FIFA rankings); Portugal (21st); and Vietnam (32nd). The last time Team USA faced these opponents?
They defeated Netherlands in a penalty kick shoot-out in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics quarterfinals (and are 8-1-1 altogether against the Dutch).
They had a friendly and won 1-0 against Portugal on June 10, 2021 (10-0-0 all-time).
They have yet to play Vietnam in any format, but Team USA decimated a similar southeast Asian nation in Thailand, 13-0, in the group state of the 2019 World Cup.
The full roster is listed below:
2) The MLB Power Rankings - Week 12 edition
Biggest jump: (tie) San Francisco Giants (+2 from #6 —> #8) and Philadelphia Phillies (+2 from unranked —> #9)
Biggest tumble: Los Angeles Angels (-3 from #7 —> #10)
Dropped from rankings: Toronto Blue Jays (lost three of their last five games)
1. Tampa Bay Rays (52-25) | Last Week: 1 | Change from last week: None | Last 10 games: 5-5
This is the closest the top team in the Tampa Bay Rays have looked so vulnerable in losing their best record in baseball - the Florida team recently dropped three straight and five of their last eight for the first time all season. Thankfully (for them), the Rays split the mid-week two-game series against the Baltimore Orioles.
Toughest upcoming series: Mid-week (June 27-29) series at Arizona Diamondbacks (45-30)
2. Atlanta Braves (47-26) | Last Week: 2 | Change: None | L10: 8-2
The Braves have yet to lose since my last Power Rankings post, after a four-game weekend sweep against the NL West-worst Colorado Rockies (29-48). The bats have come alive for Atlanta, as they have scored an insane 8.6 runs per game during this seven-game winning streak. Also, outfielder Eddie Rosario has been on a hitting tear, with five home runs, 11 RBI and an unbelievable 0.556 batting average over the past week.
Toughest upcoming series: Weekend series at Cincinnati Reds (40-35)
3. Baltimore Orioles (45-28) | Last Week: 3 | Change: None | L10: 6-4
What a revelation Aaron Hicks has been for the Orioles. I did not mention this in my Week 9 Power Rankings, but opposing AL East fans were salivating over the Orioles signing Hicks a month ago to replace injured centerfielder Cedric Mullins. Hicks, the former Yankee, was hitting 0.188 in 28 games with the organization up until he was cut on May 20 (and was an anemic 0.229 hitter in seven years in the Bronx). Since then, Hicks has hit 0.340 at the plate and hit safely in 12 of his last 17 games (and has gotten on base on all but just two games), with three doubles and three home runs and 10 RBI as a member of the Baltimore Orioles.
Toughest upcoming series: Mid-week (June 26-29) series versus Cincinnati Reds (40-35)
4. Arizona Diamondbacks (45-30) | Last Week: 5 | Change: +1 | L10: 5-5
Sure, the Diamondbacks have gone a pedestrian 5-5 over the last 10 games, including a consecutive win-loss pattern against the Cleveland Guardians (35-38) and the Milwaukee Brewers (38-36), but the team has won three of their last five games. The infield duo of first baseman Christian Walker and second baseman Ketel Marte have had strong weeks at the dish; the former has gone 10 of 27 (0.370), with three long balls and 10 RBI (and surprisingly, only three strikeouts for the notorious strikeout hitter), and the latter, 9 of 20 (0.450) with 2 HRs and 8 RBI (and only two strikeouts) over the past seven games.
Side note: The Diamondbacks played this three-game set against the Brewers in Milwaukee that ended yesterday afternoon; they have flown to Washington D.C. for their make-up game this afternoon (their June 8 game against the Nationals was postponed); and will fly again, this time across the country for this weekend series against the San Francisco Giants in San Francisco on Friday night.
Toughest upcoming series: This weekend series at San Francisco Giants (42-32)
5. Texas Rangers (46-28) | Last Week: 4 | Change: -1 | L10: 5-5
The Rangers have stumbled recently, winning only five of their last thirteen games. Despite the early summer slump, the AL West team still holds a substantial five-and-a-half game lead over the second place Houston Astros (41-34). The good news for this Texas team? Based on Wednesday’s second All-Star ballot update, there are two finalists (shortstop Corey Seager and third baseman Josh Jung) and four other batters are within the top-five in All-Star game voting at their position.
Toughest upcoming series: This weekend series at New York Yankees (41-33)
6. San Francisco Giants (42-32) | Last Week: 8 | Change: +2 | L10: 10-0
One of the hottest teams in baseball, the Giants, like the Braves, have not lost since my last Power Rankings as well, ripping off a season-best ten straight wins. That includes two consecutive series sweeps against the St. Louis Cardinals (31-43) and the reeling Los Angeles Dodgers (40-33) and another three straight against the other AL West Californian team in the San Diego Padres (35-38). Just like the Braves, the Giants have also been scoring at an insane pace, averaging 8.4 runs per game during the streak, including a 15-0 shellacking of the Dodgers in Dodgers Stadium on Sunday.
Toughest upcoming series: This weekend series against the Arizona Diamondbacks (45-30)
7. Miami Marlins (42-33) | Last Week: 6 | Change: -1 | L10: 6-4
Winners of five of their last seven, the Marlins continue to roll. They swept the Washington Nationals this past weekend, and concluded their recent road trip going 6-3 in games at the Chicago White Sox (32-43), at the Seattle Mariners (35-36) and at the Nationals (27-45). Also, second baseman Luis Arraez, who currently leads all NL second basemen in All-Star votes, went 5 for 5 twice - once against the Nationals on Friday and again against the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday, increasing his batting average to an MLB-best 0.398. Oh, so close to 0.400!
Toughest upcoming series: Next, next weekend’s (June 30 - July 1) series at Atlanta Braves (47-26)
8. Cincinnati Reds (40-35) | Last Week: 9| Change: +1 | L10: 10-0
Someone cool-off the red-hot Reds! The team has won an MLB-best 11 straight games and are a season-best five games above 0.500 and the top team in the NL Central! Since the introduction of rookie shortstop Elly De La Cruz to the lineup on June 6, the team has gone an unbelievable 13-2. The Reds also got back legendary veteran first baseman Joey Votto on Monday night (10 months after surgery on his left biceps and rotator cuff), and in his 2023 MLB debut, he hit a fifth inning solo blast and a sixth inning go-ahead two-run single in a come-from-behind win against the Rockies.
Toughest upcoming series: This weekend series against the Atlanta Braves (47-26)
9. Philadelphia Phillies (38-35) | Last Week: Unranked | Change: +2 | L10: 7-3
These NL teams are really en fuego (Spanish for ‘on fire’). For the first time in any of these Power Rankings, there are three NL East teams in the Top 10. The Phillies are now 13-3 in their last 16 games, including impressive series wins against the Dodgers and at Arizona. The pitching has been the main focus during this run, as the team has allowed only 3.3 runs during these 16 games. This streak also ties-in with outfielder Kyle Schwarber (a.k.a. Kyle ‘Schwarbomb’) hitting the ball incredibly well this month (as he typically does each June): 19 for 72 (0.264) with 7 HR and 14 RBI in 18 games this month.
Toughest upcoming series: July 4th-midweek series (July 4-6) at the Tampa Bay Rays (52-25)
10. Los Angeles Angels (41-35) | Last Week: 7| Change: -3 | L10: 6-4
It’s not like the Angels are bad in that they drop three spots from last week… It’s that the other teams ahead of them have been absurdly good and unstoppable. Like the Diamondbacks, the Angels have also had consecutive wins and losses, winning two of three against the second-worst team in baseball in the Kansas City Royals (20-54), then losing in backbreaking fashion in the late stages, 2-0, to the crosstown rivals in the Dodgers on Wednesday night. However, the team is 11-5 in the last 16 games and prior to Thursday, have not lost a series since the start of this month against the Houston Astros (40-34).
Toughest upcoming series: 4th of July weekend series (June 30 - July 2) against the Arizona Diamondbacks (45-30)
Well, that will do it for this Thursday edition of my Snippets. For those basketball fans out there, enjoy the two-round NBA Draft tonight, at 8 p.m. EST-onwards.
Until next time, signing off.