The MLB season is over two months old, and the true contenders are starting to separate themselves from the pretenders - and bottom-dwellers that never had a chance. Here's how we rank all 30 MLB teams after the first nine weeks of the year:
1) Chicago Cubs
Record: 39-16
Even though Jake Arrieta lost his first decision of the season this week, Chicago still went 5-2 - showing nothing that can dethrone them from the top of the league.
2) Boston Red Sox
Record: 33-24
Boston struggled this week, going just 3-4 against the Orioles and Blue Jays, but that was due to surprising lapses in pitching that are more abnormalities.
3) Washington Nationals
Record: 34-23
Daniel Murphy's hot bat is carrying the Nationals at the moment, who are 5-2 over the last seven games.
4) San Francisco Giants
Record: 35-24
The Giants look like the second-best team in the league behind the Cubs, but Hunter Pence's quad injury will set this team back.
5) Texas Rangers
Record: 34-22
Texas is red-hot and has surged into first place in the AL West, going 12-3 over their last 15 games.
6) Seattle Mariners
Record: 31-25
Seattle's thrilling 10-run comeback against the Padres was followed by three straight losses, keeping them out of the top five.
7) New York Mets
Record: 31-24
Matt Harvey's seeming return to dominance was a needed lift for this team, but they went just 3-4 this week.
8) Baltimore Orioles
Record: 32-23
Baltimore's pitching is still shaky - at best - yet they've found a way to win four of their last five games over the Red Sox and Yankees.
9) Cleveland Indians
Record: 31-24
It's hard to start a week off worse than the Indians did, losing their series to the Rangers while having Marlon Byrd suspended for the remainder of the season. However, they bounced back to sweep the Royals, putting them ahead of KC.
10) Kansas City Royals
Record: 30-26
Kansas City looked like they had figured things out, winning six games in a row, but being swept by Cleveland sent them crashing back down.
11) Toronto Blue Jays
Record: 31-27
Toronto has continued their surge through AL East rivals Boston and New York, winning five of six games this week - including a sweep of the Yankees. They're now 9-2 over their last 11 games, all of which have come against those two teams.
12) Pittsburgh Pirates
Record: 30-26
There's no doubting Pittsburgh's talent, but losing five of seven to the Marlins and Angels is far from ideal.
13) Los Angeles Dodgers
Record: 31-27
The Dodgers took care of business by sweeping the Braves to close the week, yet losing three of four to the Cubs at the start of the week shows they still have a ways to go.
14) St. Louis Cardinals
Record: 30-27
St. Louis won both of their series over the Giants and Brewers this week, keeping them on pace in a crowded pack of borderline playoff teams.
15) Miami Marlins
Record: 30-27
Giancarlo Stanton continues to struggle mightily, batting .107 in his last 56 at-bats - yet somehow, this team managed to go 4-3 this week while winning their series against the Pirates.
16) Chicago White Sox
Record: 29-28
Adding James Shields should be a great addition to this team who needed rotation help, yet there's no denying their struggles, losing 19 of their last 29 games.
17) Houston Astros
Record: 28-30
Houston is starting to turn things around after a lackluster start, winning six of their seven games this week and 11 of their last 13 overall.
18) Detroit Tigers
Record: 28-28
Detroit rebounded from a four-game losing streak to win four of their last five games - including a sweep of the White Sox.
19) Philadelphia Phillies
Record: 28-29
Philadelphia has cooled significantly since their hot start, going 2-8 over their last 10 games.
20) Oakland Athletics
Record: 25-32
The A's started the week on a five-game winning streak, but ended it by being swept by the Astros.
21) New York Yankees
Record: 26-30
New York is simply struggling to find any answers, losing five games this week to the Orioles and Blue Jays.
22) Los Angeles Angels
Record: 26-30
Albert Pujols' recent surge has helped the Angels find a pulse, and he played a big factor in helping LA go 4-2 this week, winning both their series over the Tigers and Pirates.
23) Tampa Bay Rays
Record: 25-30
Tampa started their week with an embarrassing sweep at the hands of Kansas City, but rebounded by winning their last three games against the Twins. However, that snapped a 2-11 stretch in which their lackluster defense was exposed.
24) Milwaukee Brewers
Record: 26-31
Milwaukee went 3-4 this week, but the bad news is that two of those losses came against the reeling Phillies.
25) Colorado Rockies
Record: 25-31
Colorado got their first win of June on Sunday, snapping a four-game losing streak and 1-7 stretch.
26) Arizona Diamondbacks
Record: 25-34
Arizona just can't seem to find any traction this season. For instance, they became the first team in over a year to beat Jake Arrieta (in Chicago, no less), but that win snapped a 1-5 stretch.
27) Cincinnati Reds
Record: 21-36
The Reds looked terrible and were on an 11-game win streak, but thanks to a resurgent Joey Votto, the Reds have won six of their last nine games - including four games in a row this week.
28) San Diego Padres
Record: 23-35
San Diego is quickly approaching the bottom two teams on this list. However, after going 3-12 in a 15 game stretch, they have won three of their last five.
29) Minnesota Twins
Record: 16-40
Not only did Minnesota lose six of their seven games this week, they lost them to fellow last-place teams in the A's and Rays.
30) Atlanta Braves
Record: 16-40
The only think keeping the Twins out of the bottom spot is the Braves, who are just simply atrocious.
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