We know computers hate the Orioles, and national broadcasters hate the Orioles, but do the folks who make power polls/rankings hate the Orioles? Well, they aren't feeling the love they had last week, but it's not as bad as it could be after getting swept in Houston.
ESPN.com Power Poll (10th; Last Week: 5th)
The Orioles fell hard this week, slipping almost a half dozen slots and barely hanging on to a Top 10 ranking. “Do the Orioles strike out too much? O's batters are in the top 10 in strikeout percentage, but they're also 11th in the majors in runs scored per game.
The O's could use better production out of Adam Jones and Pedro Alvarez, and if a healthy J.J. Hardy returns in June, he should help. -- Matt Kremnitzer (@mattkremnitzer),Camden Depot”
SI.com: The 30 (6th; LW: 4th)
Jonah Keri is a tad more optimistic about the Orioles than most.
USA Today Power Rankings (8th; LW: 5th)
The Orioles drop three slots in The Nation’s Newspaper. “After a woeful spring, Hyun Soo Kim batting .333 in six-straight starts.”
Bleacher Report Power Rankings (10th; LW: 6th)
Slideshow Central drops the Orioles four slots to the outer edges of the Top 10. “The Houston Astros swept the Baltimore Orioles at the start of last week, but Baltimore clings to a spot inside the top 10 thanks to a weekend series win over a good Cleveland Indians team.”
CBS Sports (6th; LW: 3rd)
Matt Snyder kept the O’s solidly in the Top 10, but that was before the debacle in Houston. “Polar opposite of last season, it doesn't appear that there will be any top-tier arms available via trade this coming July. That's too bad, because the Orioles could use one. They could be scary with that power and bullpen if there was a frontline ace in a postseason series in front of Chris Tillman and Kevin Gausman.”
Power Rankings Guru (4th; LW 4th)
PRG is an aggregate of several national power rankings/polls, and they have the Orioles 4th. Not sure how that works, since most of the national polls have dropped the O’s to as low as 10th, but whatever.
Reddit’s Power Poll (7th; LW: 5th)
And just when the Orioles started to climb up the reddit rankings, they slide back down two slots. “A pretty terrible week. The O's set the record for strikeouts in a three game series when the Astros discovered that the O's had no idea what a curveball was. Ubaldo Jimenez continued his terrible season, recording his third straight start of allowing six runs (this last one lasting 1.2 innings).
And the offense continued their boom or bust ways, going 11/57 w/RISP this week (a .193 average). Yet despite getting outscored 30-19, they still managed to go 2-4.”
OddsShark.com (14th; LW: 17th)
Ranks are based on rolling past 20 games overall. And the OddsShark.com rankings roller coaster seems to have leveled out a bit, with the O’s landing just north of the median.
The Baltimore Sun's MLB Power Rankings (9th; LW: 3rd)
The Sun didn’t much like the O’s getting swept in Houston, and almost dropped them out of the Top 10. “The Orioles had a pretty tough week offensively with all the strikeouts, and some of the shine is off this bunch. It’ll be interesting to see whether a little time in their own beds after a miserable road trip will get their spark back. On Monday, the Orioles looked like a team that needed one.”
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.