MLB Power Rankings: Cardinals soar into top 10

The whole world is ready to hand the NL Central division title to Joe Maddon's crew, but it'd be foolish to completely write off the surging St. Louis Cardinals, who completed a three-game sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday and returned to the top 10 in our Power Rankings for the first time in four weeks. Things aren't going quite as well for the Mets, though, who are under .500 this month and now find themselves outside the top five.

The composite rankings were compiled by theScore MLB editors Jonah Birenbaum, Bryan Mcwilliam, Simon Sharkey-Gotlieb, George Halim, and Dan Toman.

1. Chicago Cubs

Baseball's best team remains on pace for 114 wins after another huge week. They lost to the Braves on Friday just to show everybody they're human.

2. Washington Nationals

Bryce Harper suddenly broke out for 10 hits this week and is now hitting .333 in June. In a remarkable coincidence, his hot bat pushed the Nats to reopen a 4 1/2-game lead on the Mets.

3. Boston Red Sox

David Ortiz called Xander Bogaerts the "best shortstop in the game," and that's not a stretch. After going 10-for-15 (.667) this weekend, the 23-year-old Aruba native now leads all MLB position players with 4.0 WAR through 61 games.

4. San Francisco Giants

Bruce Bochy used five pitchers in one inning while up a run on Saturday. Those five pitchers blew the lead, and the Giants still managed to beat the Dodgers. Things are just going the Giants' way.

5. Texas Rangers

Jurickson Profar was supposed to be a fill-in guy. Now he's indispensable and the Rangers just keep on rolling.

6. New York Mets

Matt Harvey has a 0.90 ERA while holding opponents to a .127 average in his last three starts. The Dark Knight may have returned to Gotham.

7. Baltimore Orioles

So how about that Chris Davis? The slugger has five homers in five games, and that's not even his career best. In 2012, he belted six home runs in six games.

8. Seattle Mariners

In their last two series against Texas, the Mariners are 1-5. If you wanna be a good team, you've got to beat the good teams.

9. St. Louis Cardinals

Jhonny Peralta is hitting .333 with three extra-base hits since coming off the DL on Tuesday. Not coincidentally, the Cardinals are now in the midst of a five-game winning streak, their longest of 2016.

10. Los Angeles Dodgers

After going on a home-run spree last week, Corey Seager struggled to the tune of just four hits in his last six games. The Dodgers need him if they want to win.

11. Toronto Blue Jays

Parrots thrive in warmer weather, evidently: Edwin Encarnacion has gone deep three times in his last eight at-bats, helping the Blue Jays stay within striking distance of first place in the AL East.

12. Pittsburgh Pirates

The best game the Pirates had this past week was the postponed Tuesday matchup against the Mets.

13. Cleveland Indians

Michael Brantley's absence won't be all that devastating if the Indians' staff can sustain the 2.77 ERA they've fashioned in June. With the arms they have, it isn't impossible.

14. Kansas City Royals

Now 3-8 in June, the injury-ravaged Royals have been positively awful at the dish of late, managing a .659 OPS and league-worst 0.25 BB/K rate this month.

15. Chicago White Sox

The White Sox really ought to bring back Drake LaRoche. He couldn't possibly be worse than James Shields, as the newly acquired veteran allowed seven runs over two-plus innings in his Chicago debut.

16. Detroit Tigers

If the Tigers, 7-3 in their last 10, are serious about contending, they need rotation help pronto. Their starters not named Fulmer, Zimmermann, or Verlander own a combined 5.57 ERA.

17. Houston Astros

A poorly timed series in Arlington crushed the Astros' momentum. Despite winning 11 of 13 coming into Texas, the Astros remain 10 games back of the Rangers after dropping three of four upstate.

18. Miami Marlins

As elated as the Marlins must be about Marcell Ozuna and Christian Yelich, you think the $308.5M owed to Giancarlo Stanton - hitting .195 with a 96 OPS+ - might be killing the vibe a bit?

19. New York Yankees

Winners in five of their last seven games, the Yankees are working tirelessly to debunk the idea that you have to have good players to win.

20. Colorado Rockies

Blessed with not one, but TWO starters - Tyler Chatwood and Jon Gray - boasting a park-adjusted ERA better than league average, this is probably as good as it's going to get for the Rockies.

21. Tampa Bay Rays

The mound woes continue in Tampa Bay, as none of the Rays' starters own an ERA below 4.09 since the calendar flipped to June.

22. Arizona Diamondbacks

These Diamondbacks starters just can't keep the ball in the yard. Excluding Zack Greinke, Arizona's starters are coughing up 1.45 homers per nine innings this year.

23. Los Angeles Angels

The Angels have done the impossible in making a team with Mike Trout just about unwatchable. In their last seven games, they've averaged 3.29 runs and been outscored 46-23.

24. Philadelphia Phillies

On Thursday, the Phillies took California high-schooler Mickey Moniak first overall in the 2016 draft. Right now, he's probably the club's best option to play left field.

25. Oakland Athletics

Though Rich Hill remains sidelined, Sonny Gray has gotten things on track since coming off the DL last Sunday, giving A's fans at least one decent trade asset to watch for the next six weeks.

26. Milwaukee Brewers

Despite optioning their Opening Day starter to Triple-A on Sunday, the Brewers are somehow 4 1/2 games back of a wild-card berth thanks to the recent success of their unheralded starters (e.g. Zach Davies, Chase Anderson, Junior Guerra).

27. San Diego Padres

Somehow, A.J. Preller found someone willing to take James Shields. Now, if only he could do the same with ... well, almost every other player he has.

28. Cincinnati Reds

Zack Cozart, a free agent after 2017, has quietly turned himself into one of Cincinnati's top trade assets, posting an .807 OPS with nine homers and nine defensive runs saved for the hapless Reds.

29. Minnesota Twins

A towering walk-off bomb against the Red Sox on Sunday capped an impressive weekend for rookie Max Kepler, who now boasts a respectable .740 OPS over his last 10 games. Byron Buxton continues to struggle, though.

30. Atlanta Braves

Well, they beat the Cubs on Friday. That's something.