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We know computers hate the Orioles, and national broadcasters hate the Orioles, but do the folks who make power polls/rankings hate the Orioles? Again, not so much this week.
MLB.com (4th; LW: 4th)
MLB.com keeps O’s in their Top 5. “After taking two of three vs. the Red Sox over the weekend, the Orioles have yet to lose a series. They aren't leading the AL in many of the major offensive and pitching categories, yet three weeks into the season, they have the second-highest win total. Baltimore has navigated around injuries to a couple of key pitchers, even more impressive given the offense has been mediocre in the early going.”
USA Today Power Rankings (4th; LW: 4th)
The Nation’s Newspaper also keeps the O’s right at #4. “Dust-up with Pedroia overshadows fact Manny Machado batting .202 with 88 OPS-plus.”
Bleacher Report Power Rankings (4th; LW: 6th)
Slideshow Central agrees with USA Today and MLB.com, and rank the O’s 4th.
CBS Sports (1st; LW: 1st)
Matt Synder ranks the Orioles as the best team in baseball. For a second week in a row. Really. “Wade Miley has a 2.08 ERA in 26 innings. What is this sorcery?”
reddit’s Power Poll (7th; LW: 8th)
The community editors over at reddit move the Orioles up one slot this week. “Another series, another series win. The O's have yet to lose a single series this year, winning 5/6 and splitting a two game series with the Red Sox. Because this is Bizzar-O world, they're doing it with pitching.
The Orioles are 6th in the majors in team ERA 4th in FIP, and have a rotation anchored by Dylan Bundy (1.37 ERA/1.82 FIP) and Wade Miley (1.89 ERA/2.25 FIP). Now if only that scrub Kevin Gausman (currently has the lowest fWAR on the team) could put it together…”
OddsShark.com (15th; LW: 6th)
Ranks are based on rolling past 20 games overall. They will typically be the lowest rankings the O’s receive, and that’s certainly true this week.
ESPN.com Power rankings (3rd; LW: 3rd)
The World-Wide Leader stays optimistic about the O’s, keeping them at 3rd. “The Orioles may have the best record in the league, but they've scored just 68 runs this year. Every team that has scored fewer than that has a losing record. So how are the O's ruling the roost? Well, they're best in the American League with runners in scoring position and they're 5-1 in one-run games. -- Sarah Langs, ESPN Stats & Information”
Rotoworld (4th; LW: 4th)
Jesse Pantuosco keeps the O’s at 4th, just like last week. “Man, the Orioles love facing Steven Wright. They’ve slugged six home runs against the Red Sox knuckleballer including two each for Trey Mancini and Jonathan Schoop. Manny Machado had a five-game hitting streak snapped on Monday night. He also injured Dustin Pedroia on a slide at second base over the weekend, prompting retaliation from Matt Barnes. Tensions will be through the roof when these teams square off in Boston next week.”
Fox Sports (3rd; LW: 6th)
The folks at Fox have the O’s as the third best team in MLB. “One Nice Thing: It's been the starting pitching that's put Baltimore here — the O's have a sub-.300 OBP as a team, but a 3.53 ERA overrides that.”
Power Rankings Guru (4th; LW: 6th)
PRG is an aggregate of several national power rankings/polls, and unsurprisingly, they have the Orioles at #4.
SI.com: The 30 (6th; Last Week: 8th)
Jonah Keri has the Orioles at 6th as he focuses on National League teams this week.
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.