| Rank | Last | Team | W-L |
| (1) | 2 (+1) | Arizona Diamondbacks | 27-15 |
| The Diamondbacks continue to do everything right -- second in the NL in both runs scored and runs allowed. The emergence of Max Scherzer in a rotation that already has Brandon Webb, Danny Haren and Micah Owings makes them even stronger. The offense continues to show, top-to-bottom, they know how to bring the thunder. | |||
| (2) | 3 (+1) | Boston Red Sox | 24-19 |
| The Red Sox offense has lived up to expectations, even with the struggles of David Ortiz. The bats they have coming off the bench easily makes them the deepest team in the Majors. While the rotation has struggled at times, the bullpen -- especially Okajima -- has been absolutely lights out. | |||
| (3) | 4 (+1) | Cleveland Indians | 22-20 |
| The biggest surprise of the ML season thus far has been Cliff Lee finally putting everything together and becoming what the Indians had long hoped he would. A big surprise has also been the struggles of the Cleveland offense. Don't expect Garko, Gutierrez and Hafner to continue to put up sub-100 OPS+ numbers for much longer. | |||
| (4) | 10 (+6) | Chicago Cubs | 26-16 |
| Despite the struggles of the greatly overpaid Jason Marquis and Ted Lilly, the Cubbies pitching staff has been absolutely lights out this season. Kerry Wood and Carlos Marmol could be the best one-two bullpen punch in the Majors. Fukudome and Geovany Soto have also proven to be huge surprises and the perfect compliments to the trio of Lee, Soriano and Ramirez. | |||
| (5) | 13 (+8) | Los Angeles Dodgers | 21-20 |
| Even though the Dodgers offense has to deal with Andruw Jones, Jeff Kent and Juan Pierre on an everyday basis, the youth movement of James Loney, Blake DeWitt, Matt Kemp and Andre Either finally give the LA fans long-term hope. Derek Lowe and Brad Penny are both putting up sub-100 ERA+ numbers right now, but Hiroki Kuroda has become a solid number three starters. | |||
| (6) | 16 (+10) | Tampa Bay Rays | 25-17 |
| Up to this point, James Shields, Scott Kazmir and Matt Garza have proven Troy Percival's declaration correct -- they do seem like the second coming of Maddux, Glavine and Smoltz. If the young trio can continue their dominant ways, it won't matter what the offense does. It's safe to assume that Carlos Pena, Carl Crawford and Evan Longoria won't continue their sub-par performances, however. | |||
| (7) | 5 (-2) | Philadelphia Phillies | 24-19 |
| The surprise has been the struggles of the Phillies offense despite playing in uber hitter-friendly Citizens Bank Park. The bigger surprise has been how dominant Brad Lidge is. Factor in J.C. Romero and Chad Durbin, as well, and the defending NL East champs have the dominant bullpen they lacked a season ago. | |||
| (8) | 6 (-2) | Atlanta Braves | 21-20 |
| How the Braves have managed to allow the least amount of runs per game in the NL is a huge mystery given the injuries that have already stricken their pitching staff. Hampton, Glavine, Smoltz, Peter Moylan and Rafael Soriano have all missed extensive time, but youngster Jair Jurrjens has been lights out. | |||
| (9) | 9 (--) | Los Angeles Angels | 25-19 |
| Despite the missed time for John Lackey and Kelvim Escobar, Joe Saunders and Ervin Santana have combined with Jon Garland to be a very strong rotation. | |||
| (10) | 26 (+16) | Oakland Athletics | 23-20 |
| Harden, Blanton, Chad Gaudin, Dana Eveland and Justin Duchscherer have been the best fivesome in the Majors in '08. And even with a list of no-namers rounding out their lineup, they are scoring runs thanks mainly to a team isoOBP of 84. | |||
| (11) | 15 (+4) | Minnesota Twins | 21-20 |
| (12) | 7 (-5) | Milwaukee Brewers | 20-21 |
| (13) | 8 (-5) | New York Yankees | 20-22 |
| (14) | 1 (-13) | Detroit Tigers | 16-26 |
| (15) | 20 (+5) | St. Louis Cardinals | 24-20 |
| (16) | 21 (+5) | Florida Marlins | 23-18 |
| (17) | 11 (-6) | New York Mets | 20-19 |
| (18) | 17 (-1) | Texas Rangers | 21-22 |
| (19) | 14 (-5) | Houston Astros | 24-19 |
| (20) | 25 (+5) | Chicago White Sox | 21-20 |
| (21) | 24 (+3) | Pittsburgh Pirates | 20-22 |
| (22) | 12 (-10) | San Diego Padres | 16-27 |
| (23) | 28 (+5) | Toronto Blue Jays | 21-23 |
| (24) | 23 (-1) | Washington Nationals | 18-25 |
| (25) | 22 (-3) | Baltimore Orioles | 22-19 |
| (26) | 27 (+1) | Cincinnati Reds | 19-23 |
| (27) | 18 (-9) | Kansas City Royals | 20-21 |
| (28) | 30 (+2) | Colorado Rockies | 15-27 |
| (29) | 29 (--) | San Francisco Giants | 17-26 |
| (30) | 19 (-11) | Seattle Mariners | 16-27 |
Greatest Jump: Oakland Athletics (+16)
Greatest Drop: Detroit Tigers (-13)
(Note: Movement refers to team's placement on my pre-season rankings.)
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