MLB Power Rankings - May 11: Nationals heating up; slumping A's fall to No. 27

1. St. Louis Cardinals

Matt Carpenter was noticeably absent from his team's weekend series in Pittsburgh due to a bout of "extreme fatigue." Apparently, it's pretty exhausting being the best hitter on the best team in baseball.

2. Los Angeles Dodgers

The Dodgers fielded one of the shakiest bullpens in the majors last summer and their closer has yet to return from February surgery, so, naturally, their current relief corps remain the envy of baseball. The club's bullpen owns a 29 percent strikeout rate, tops in the National League, and has surrendered one home run in 92 1/3 innings.

3. Washington Nationals

Maybe someone should ask Tom Koehler if Bryce Harper is, indeed, the most overrated player in baseball. The 22-year-old has led his team to a 7-2 record so far this month, almost single-handedly, and leads the NL in home runs after blasting six over a truly historic three-game span last week.

4. Kansas City Royals

Though the Royals continue to roll offensively, regression is looming on the mound. Only one team boasts a bigger gap between its earned run average and fielding independent pitching than the Royals, who also placed left-hander Jason Vargas on the DL last week due to a flexor strain.

5. Detroit Tigers

David Price pretty much encapsulated how the Tigers' rotation has performed in 2015 when he suffered a very mild hamstring stepping on a bat Friday night: it hasn't been pretty - at times, it's been downright painful - but, ultimately, it hasn't caused too much harm.

6. New York Yankees

Despite fielding one of the league's more mediocre lineups, the Yankees keep eking out victories by relying on their ridiculous bullpen. In games decided by one run this season, the Yankees boast a 7-4 record, but the club hadn't won a game by more than three runs since April 24 prior to Sunday's series finale against the Orioles.

7. New York Mets

The most effective rotation in the NL thus far will showcase one of the game's best prospects Tuesday when Noah Syndergaard makes his MLB debut. The 6-foot-6 right-hander, known affectionately as "Thor", fashioned a 1.82 ERA with a 30.1 percent strikeout rate in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League before being summoned to the big leagues.

8. San Diego Padres

A.J. Preller is probably texting every general manager in the league after watching his revamped roster eke out a paltry .234/.295/.349 (82 wRC+) over the last two weeks amid some serious slumps from Matt Kemp and Alexi Amarista.

9. Houston Astros

His confidence buoyed by the Astros' recent success, George Springer felt like he could literally run through a wall Tuesday night. Turns out, he can't. Instead, the 25-year-old - with an .863 OPS since April 24 - hasn't played since landing on the 7-day concussion DL on Wednesday.

10. Toronto Blue Jays

Pitching will continue to be a weakness for the Blue Jays throughout the season but, as evidenced last week, the rotation only needs to be occasionally decent for Toronto to be successful this season. Propelled by an elite offense, the Blue Jays managed a 4-2 record on their recent homestand while their starters fashioned a 3.28 ERA.

11. Chicago Cubs

Joe Maddon suggested his team's young hitters got squeezed a bit Wednesday night, but the Cubs are still drawing walks more frequently this season (8.7 percent) than all but two National League teams. Kris Bryant, for instance, has already drawn more walks in 2015 than Ben Revere did in 626 plate appearances last season.

12. Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pirates continue to squander stellar performances from their starters - Pittsburgh's starting corps own the second-best ERA in baseball - by failing to score runs. Only six teams are averaging fewer runs per game than the Pirates, who own an ugly 79 wRC+ this season.

13. Tampa Bay Rays

Impending surgeries for both Alex Cobb and Drew Smyly could decimate the Rays, but the club's rotation really hasn't struggled in their absence thus far. No team in the American League has allowed fewer baserunners per inning than the Rays, who also boast the strongest fielding independent pitching in the AL after adjusting for park effects.

14. Minnesota Twins

The Twins' continued ability to hit the ball to all fields is paying off handsomely, especially at Target Field, where the club boasts a gaudy .337 batting average on balls in play - the third-best home mark in baseball - and equally impressive 12-5 record.

15. Los Angeles Angels

Garrett Richards carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning Sunday and owns a 1.69 ERA over his last four starts, while Jered Weaver hurled a complete-game shutout against the Astros on Friday, topping out at 89 mph on the radar gun. Maybe there's hope for this rotation yet.

16. Seattle Mariners

Given the makeup of their lineup, it's going to be very tough for the Mariners to be competitive if Robinson Cano isn't hitting, and the 32-year-old really just hasn't gotten it going yet. Though he leads the AL with 11 doubles, Cano owns a meager .703 OPS (98 wRC+) and hasn't homered in 23 games.

17. Cincinnati Reds

Billy Hamilton leads the majors with 16 stolen bases, but the 24-year-old is also hitting just .175 with two walks and 10 strikeouts over his last 13 games. Hamilton's .563 OPS this season, meanwhile, ranks 10th-last among the game's 177 qualified hitters.

18. San Francisco Giants

A second straight championship wouldn't be nearly as fun as a legitimate resurgence from Tim Lincecum, who owns a 2.00 ERA through six starts and is inducing ground balls with unprecedented frequency as he eyes the third NL Cy Young award of his career.

19. Boston Red Sox

Resolved to punish someone for the pitching staff's incredible lack of success in 2015, the Red Sox fired pitching Juan Nieves on Thursday. Not a single member of Boston's rotation, incidentally, has stopped whistling inconspicuously or twiddling his thumbs for roughly 96 hours.

20. Baltimore Orioles

Only six teams have received a smaller percentage of quality starts than the Orioles this season, and left-hander Wei-Yin Chen has personally accounted for one-third of those outings. Chris Tillman and Bud Norris, meanwhile, have combined for a ghastly 7.93 ERA through 12 starts.

21. Arizona Diamondbacks

The Diamondbacks' unimpressive record belies their performance, as the club ranks fourth in the NL in run differential this season while managing an .829 OPS over the last two weeks, the third-best mark in baseball over that span.

22. Miami Marlins

Only one rotation in the NL is striking out fewer batters than Miami's starting corps, but recovering right-hander Jose Fernandez faced lived hitters for the first time since surgery roughly two weeks ago, so that issue could soon be rectified.

23. Atlanta Braves

Remember how good Atlanta's bullpen was for the first week of the season? Over the last 30 days, no relief corps in baseball owns a worse fielding independent pitching, while their 5.77 ERA is third-last in the NL over that span.

24. Chicago White Sox

Throughout a uniformly underwhelming display by the White Sox thus far, no two players have looked worse than Melky Cabrera and Adam Eaton, who have combined for a .574 OPS and one home run through 227 plate appearances.

25. Cleveland Indians

Regression and bad luck have spoiled the last few weeks for Trevor Bauer and Corey Kluber, respectively, but Danny Salazar continues to dominate for the Indians. The 25-year-old retired 21 straight hitters Sunday after allowing a leadoff homer to Brian Dozier, and boasts a 123 ERA+ with 48 strikeouts in 33 innings this season.

26. Texas Rangers

How brutal are the Rangers? Prince Fielder, Adrian Beltre and Shin-Soo Choo have combined for less wins above replacement this season than Carlos Peguero, the 28-year-old with 69 games of MLB experience prior to 2015.

27. Oakland Athletics

Even though the Athletics' offense completely disappeared this week, it's difficult to overlook how poorly the club's relievers have pitched this season. The Athletics' relief corps lead the majors in losses (nine) and meltdowns (20) while posting a 6.44 ERA with a 12.4 percent walk rate over the last two weeks.

28. Colorado Rockies

Wilin Rosario was befuddled when he was recalled from Triple-A on Friday and manager Walt Weiss expected him to make a spot start. "He can't possibly be worse than what we've been running out there," said Weiss, whose rotation owns the second-worst park-adjusted ERA in the NL.

29. Milwaukee Brewers

Craig Counsell owns a 3-4 record since taking over as manager last week, but perhaps the Brewers should've hired him to play second base. Scooter Gennett, Elian Herrera and Hector Gomez (primarily) have combined for a measly .593 OPS this season, contributing to the club's woeful average of 3.72 runs per game.

30. Philadelphia Phillies

Cole Hamels has done a better job keeping the ball in the yard of late, managing a 2.77 ERA while allowing just one home run over his last four starts after surrendering seven round-trippers through his first three outings. That's something, right?