Orioles Power Rankings roundup - Week 7

We know computers hate the Orioles, and national broadcasters hate the Orioles, but do the folks who make power polls/rankings hate the Orioles? Actually, no, except for those degenerate gamblers in Las Vegas.

ESPN.com Power Poll (5th; Last Week: 5th)

It’s hard to be mad at a Top 5 ranking, even if the Red Sox are ranked 2nd. “Matt Wieters has been on a tear of late. He has totaled more than half of his extra-base hits in recent games, making up for his slow start to the season. The Orioles would more than welcome a full year of above-average production at the plate.” -- Matt Kremnitzer (@mattkremnitzer), Camden Depot

SI.com: The 30 (4th; LW: 4th)

Jonah Keri gives the O’s the deep dive treatment this week, focusing on their lack of sacrifice bunting and declaring it a good thing. “More telling on the field has been the team’s aversion to sacrifice bunts. Baltimore hitters have laid down just one of those all season, tied with Tampa Bay for the lowest total in the majors. That follows a 2015 season in which the O’s executed the third-fewest sac bunts (only the statheads in Tampa Bay and Oakland laid down fewer). The other Duquette-led seasons saw the Orioles finish 18th, 19th and 25th in the majors in that department.”

USA Today Power Rankings (4th; LW: 5th)

The Orioles gain one spot in The Nation’s Newspaper’s rankings, “Taking modern path to dominance: Lead AL in home runs, bullpen ERA.”

Bleacher Report Power Rankings (6th; LW: 3rd)

Slideshow Central drops the Orioles three spots. Seems a bit harsh. Although it’s hard to argue with their main criticism. “While Chris Tillman (9 GS, 6-1, 2.61 ERA) and Kevin Gausman (6 GS, 0-1, 2.70 ERA) are both throwing the ball very well, this still looks like a team that's at least one quality starting pitcher away from being a serious title contender.”

CBS Sports (3rd; LW: 6th)

Matt Snyder is buying into banked wins and lifts the O’s three spots. “Two different seven-game winning streaks before the mid-point of May (yes, their seventh win in the second streak came on May 14) is amazing. That's 14-0 cleared before even thinking of the other 23 games (through Tuesday).” NOTE: These rankings will lag by almost a week due to their publication date.

Power Rankings Guru (4th; LW 5th)

PRG is an aggregate of several national power rankings/polls, and they have the Orioles up one slot to 4th.

Reddit’s Power Poll (5th; LW: 6th)

Slowly but surely the Orioles climb up the reddit rankings. This is the second week in a row they climb one slot. “A 3-3 week against the AL West, losing 2/3 against Seattle before taking 2/3 in Los Angeles. Chris Tillman and Kevin Gausman both continue to lead the rotation with sub-3.00 ERAs (sidenote: O's are 8-1 in Tillman starts)”

OddsShark.com (17th; LW: 8th)

Ranks are based on rolling past 20 games overall. And the OddsShark.com rankings roller coaster continues, as they crash down nine spots from this time last week. Not sure I’m seeing the Orioles as being in the bottom half of MLB, but these people set odds for a living, so they’re putting their money where their odds are.

The Baltimore Sun's MLB Power Rankings (3rd; LW: 3rd)

The Sun leaves the Orioles right where they were last week, with only two National League teams in front of them. “Catcher Matt Wieters is taking his turn shouldering the offensive load for the Orioles. He’s batting .372/.386/.651 with three home runs this month, as pretty much everyone else on the team has gone into a slump.”

Any egregious slights or wild overestimation of this team? Any polls you’d like to see included? Add your thought down below and hit me up on Twitter @Bill_Duck21804 where you will find way, way too much discussion of politics and MMA for any baseball fan’s liking.