clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

MLB Power Rankings: Rangers Are No. 1 With A Bullet

The Texas Rangers have been the best team in baseball at the beginning of the 2012 season. The power rankings bare that out.

By Bill Hanstock
TORONTO, CANADA - APRIL 30: Mike Napoli #25 and Joe Nathan #36 of the Texas Rangers celebrate the win against the Texas Rangers during MLB action at the Rogers Centre April 30, 2012 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Abelimages/Getty Images)
TORONTO, CANADA - APRIL 30: Mike Napoli #25 and Joe Nathan #36 of the Texas Rangers celebrate the win against the Texas Rangers during MLB action at the Rogers Centre April 30, 2012 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Abelimages/Getty Images)
Getty Images

The Texas Rangers have fairly bulldozed their way through the American League to open the 2012 season. They're racking up wins and piling up runs and head into May with a 6.5-game lead in the AL West. The next-largest lead for an MLB first-place team is currently 3.5 games.

The latest MLB Power Rankings from Sports Illustrated have been released. The Rangers ranked in the top spot out of the 30 MLB teams. Here's what SI has to say:

Texas Rangers
WAR Winning Percentage: .779; Current Winning Percentage: .727; WAR Wins: 17; Current Wins: 16

Tampa Bay may have slowed the wrecking ball -- the Rays became the first team to take a series from Texas this season -- but the Rangers still put together the best April of any team in baseball. Josh Hamilton is rightfully getting a lion's share of the credit, but don't overlook the contributions made by some of the less heralded pitchers on the staff. Colby Lewis issued only four walks the whole month, and Alexi Ogando has been the American League's best reliever to date, posting a 0.84 ERA in 11 outings.

The Rangers will hope to keep the momentum rolling into May and beyond. They may just end up sprinting away with the division.

For all news and information regarding the Texas Rangers, please visit Lone Star Ball.

Check out the SB Nation Channel on YouTube

Photographs by jamesbrandon, jdtornow, phlezk, flygraphix, mcdlttx, tomasland, and literalbarrage used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.