2011 MLB Power Rankings: June

June saw quite a few streaky teams, a manager resign during a bad streak and a manager resign during a good streak. Excellent pitching performances by Cliff Lee and Justin Verlander all throughout June also highlight the month, as does interleague play, which finishes up in the first weekend of July.

The Washington Nationals had the biggest rise this month, going up 11 spots from 28th to 17th. The Florida Marlins had the hardest fall; their disastrous 5-23 June shoots them down 22 spots from 4th to 26th.

Records are as of the games played on June 30th, 2011.

SLR = team's record Since Last Rankings | Prev = Previous Rankings from April and May

1) Philadelphia Phillies (51-31 | 17-10 SLR | Prev: 1/1)
The Phillies keep rolling along, though injuries have started to pile up: Roy Oswalt may be out until August while Cole Hamels is dealing with some pain as well. Luckily for them, both Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee are pitching extremely well.

2) New York Yankees (48-31 | 18-8 SLR | Prev: 5/8)
With Derek Jeter having missed half a month with a calf injury, the Yankees have played much better, their offense not having missed a step. Mark Teixeira and Curtis Granderson are still slugging, Alex Rodriguez leads the team in hitting and even Nick Swisher is starting to get back on the right track.

3) Atlanta Braves (47-35 | 17-9 SLR | Prev: 18/11)
Jair Jurrjens may be the new "best pitcher nobody knows about" in baseball, as he leads the NL with 10 wins and accompanies it with an ERA at 2.07, but overall Atlanta's pitching has been among the best in the league.

4) Boston Red Sox (46-34 | 16-9 SLR | Prev: 23/6)
Just as Carl Crawford was getting on track, he gets injured. Boston's offense had been doing alright without him until a recent interleague swing in Pennsylvania shut them down pretty hard. Still, their April troubles are but a distant memory.

5) San Francisco Giants (46-36 | 17-11 SLR | Prev: 14/9)
The Giants have allowed just 286 runs, the second fewest in baseball (only the Phillies have allowed fewer). The Giants, however, have only scored 287 runs, which puts them in the bottom five in league offenses.

6) Tampa Bay Rays (45-36 | 16-11 SLR | Prev: 9/10)
The Rays have done well to stay in the AL East race thanks to strong pitching and Evan Longoria slowly regaining his bat, while Kyle Farnsworth continues to pitch well as their closer, amazingly enough.

7) Detroit Tigers (44-38 | 16-12 SLR | Prev: 26/13)
A strong June, aside from their paltry efforts against interleague opposition, has put the Tigers back into AL Central contention. However, the All-Star break is fast approaching, and everybody by now should know just how terrible the Tigers have been following said break. No reason to believe otherwise this year. Also, I'd be foolish to not mention Justin Verlander, who has solidified himself as perhaps the best pitcher in the American League.

8) Milwaukee Brewers (44-38 | 14-13 SLR | Prev: 12/7)
Zach Grienke this month either had great starts (as was the case against the Marlins, Cardinals, and Rays), or disastrous ones (Wrigley and Yankee stadium were not kind to him). Prince Fielder has been more consistent, having hit 21 HRs thus far.

9) Arizona Diamondbacks (44-38 | 14-13 SLR | Prev: 24/5)
Arizona has kept it together for another month. Justin Upton and Chris Young highlight their power-heavy offense, while Daniel Hudson and Ian Kennedy have pitched well enough for the Diamondbacks to stay within two games of the NL West lead.

10) Texas Rangers (43-39 | 14-13 SLR | Prev: 6/14)
Josh Hamilton's claim that his blue eyes limit his ability to hit in day games would seem somewhat ludicrous if his day/night split stats didn't back them up so well.

11) St. Louis Cardinals (44-38 | 11-15 SLR | Prev: 7/3)
Albert Pujols and his broken wrist may keep him out for weeks. Even though he had been struggling, and Lance Berkman once again is finding some magic in his swing, it's going to be tough for them to play well without him.

12) Cleveland Indians (42-37 | 10-17 SLR | Prev: 2/2)
The Indians have fallen back to the rest of the pack but they're not willing to fall any further, though they now try to go forward without Shin-Soo Choo for at least two months.

13) Pittsburgh Pirates (41-39 | 16-11 SLR | Prev: 22/19)
Strong starting pitching and a bullpen led by Joel Hanrahan's 23 saves out of 23 chances are the biggest reason the Pirates are above .500 this late in the season. Now only two games out of the NL Central lead as of the end of June, could the Pirates actually be a buyer this year?

14) Cincinnati Reds (42-40 | 14-12 SLR | Prev: 10/17)
Jay Bruce continues to have a strong season in terms of his power numbers, but their pitching, one of the keys to their NL Central title last season, has had its ups and downs.

15) Los Angeles Angels (42-40 | 13-12 SLR | Prev: 8/16)
Earlier I mentioned Verlander being perhaps the best pitcher in the AL. Well, despite some struggles in early May, Jered Weaver has once again established his dominance in the AL, giving up just two runs over 23 innings in his last three starts, all on the road.

16) New York Mets (41-40 | 16-11 SLR | Prev: 25/21)
Before getting shut down by Verlander on the 30th, the Mets were producing a record amount of offense, scoring 52 runs over a four game span against both Texas and Detroit. When healthy (and that's usually not the case), the Mets offense can hit among the best teams in baseball.

17) Washington Nationals (40-41 | 17-10 SLR | Prev: 21/28)
The sudden retirement of Jim Riggleman while the team was riding a 12-win out of 13 streak due to contract squabbles may send this team reeling. Since Riggleman left, the team has lost four of their last five, though these have all come on the road. Eight games at home against the Pirates and Cubs should test this team's mettle.

18) Chicago White Sox (40-42 | 14-11 SLR | Prev: 29/22)
Adam Dunn is not a popular figure in Chicago right now. Being 2nd in the AL in strikeouts (despite having around 100 ABs less than #1 Drew Stubbs) is a lot of the reason for this.

19) Toronto Blue Jays (40-42 | 12-15 SLR | Prev: 15/15)
Despite a power outage for most of June, Jose Bautista still leads the majors with 24 home runs and leads the Jays in most offensive categories. Toronto's pitching has been its weakness, with Ricky Romero being perhaps their most consistent starter.

20) Colorado Rockies (39-42 | 14-13 SLR | Prev: 3/23)
Todd Helton, who leads the team in batting average, recently played in his 2000th game. Contributions by him as well as Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez are keeping the Rockies in it long enough for perhaps another late-season push towards a division title.

21) Seattle Mariners (39-42 | 11-16 SLR | Prev: 19/12)
Hidden within the Mariners' abysmal offense is Justin Smoak, who has developed into a decent power hitter for the team. Excellent pitching from the likes of Felix Hernandez and Michael Pineda keep the Mariners from falling apart.

22) San Diego Padres (37-45 | 13-14 SLR | Prev: 28/25)
Rumors that Heath Bell would be traded last season died down as the Padres continued to play well. Now that the Padres aren't doing so well this season, will they consider trading their top-notch closer?

23) Baltimore Orioles (35-43 | 11-14 SLR | Prev: 16/24)
Baltimore has an offense that, despite the age of many of its players, does alright. Baltimore's pitching staff is one that, despite being terrible at times, is very young. This combination creates yet another disappoint season for the Orioles, at least so far.

24) Los Angeles Dodgers (36-46 | 10-16 SLR | Prev: 13/20)
The problems at the ownership level, which now feature a bankruptcy and perhaps a forced takeover by MLB in the near future, may finally be taking its toll on the team, as there were no guarantees they'd even be paid on time.

25) Oakland Athletics (36-46 | 9-17 SLR | Prev: 17/18)
Like Seattle, Oakland needs its pitching to step up and overcome the inadequacies of its offense. Unfortunately for Oakland, they don't have a Felix Hernandez or a Michael Pineda on their team (Trevor Cahill, perhaps their best pitcher, has struggled of late).

26) Florida Marlins (36-45 | 5-23 SLR | Prev: 4/4)
Going 1-19 to start the month caused the resignation of manager Edwin Rodriguez. The team has fared better with the return of Jack McKeon, going 4-5 since the change.

27) Minnesota Twins (34-45 | 17-9 SLR | Prev: 30/30)
After going 15-2 in early June, coupled with Cleveland's struggles, many thought the Twins were going to do what they always do and, despite their struggles, win the division anyway. However, news that Justin Morneau is now gone for a couple of months, along with the loss of Delmon Young have sent the Twins on another tailspin, losing six in a row and looking to pick up the pieces once more.

28) Chicago Cubs (34-48 | 11-18 SLR | Prev: 20/27)
Carlos Pena is starting to heat up, hitting 5 home runs in his last 10 games and leading the team in HRs and RBIs. However, their pitching remains a mess and the Cubs are going nowhere, fast.

29) Kansas City Royals (33-48 | 9-18 SLR | Prev: 11/26)
If it's not the pitching that's costing the Royals games, it's the offense that suddenly can't find the scoring touch when the pitching does relatively well. The struggles of Joakim Soria back when the Royals were still doing decent seem like a distant memory.

30) Houston Astros (29-53 | 8-19 SLR | Prev: 27/29)
With the Twins having a decent month, the Astros take their place as the worst team in baseball. Nothing has gone right for any stretch of time for them and they just can not compete in what is an ordinary NL Central.