MLB Power Rankings: Tatís Jr., Harper Having Monster Seasons

30. Pittsburgh Pirates
29. Seattle Mariners
28. Boston Red Sox
27. San Francisco Giants
26. Kansas City Royals

Without Chris Sale, you had a pretty good idea that the Red Sox were going to have one of the worst pitching staffs in baseball in 2020. The Red Sox currently have a 6.36 team ERA, which is by far the worst mark in the sport. More disappointing is that some of the stars they kept in their lineup are underperforming. In what feel like the waning days of his time in Boston, J.D. Martinez is hitting just .244. A year after finishing in the top 15 in American League MVP voting, Rafael Devers is hitting just .207 and currently has a -0.6 fWAR. Meanwhile, Mookie Betts is having a monster season with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Perhaps the sports gods felt that Boston was overdue for a lean sports year, but 2020 has been especially cruel.

25. Los Angeles Angels
24. Detroit Tigers
23. Toronto Blue Jays
22. New York Mets
21. Miami Marlins

On paper, the New York Mets appeared to have one of the deepest rotations in baseball entering spring training. Of course, on paper, Carlos Beltrán was supposed to be the team's manager, so things never seem to go as planned in Queens. Noah Syndeergaard had season-ending Tommy John surgery in March. Marcus Stroman opted out of the remainder of the 2020 season earlier this month. Both Steven Matz and Rick Porcello have had fairly disastrous starts to the season. Even two-time defending National League Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom was scratched from his most recent scheduled start with neck stiffness and is slated to make his first start in 10 days Wednesday evening in Miami. What's that saying about best-laid plans?

20. Washington Nationals
19. Cincinnati Reds
18. St. Louis Cardinals
17. Texas Rangers
16. Milwaukee Brewers

Between 2015 and 2018, the most innings that Stephen Strasburg pitched in a single season was 189.1 in 2017. Then, as he helped lead the Washington Nationals to their first World Series title in 2019, he pitched 245.1 total innings when you count the team's postseason run, just a year after being limited to 130.0 innings. Never mind the studies that suggest pitchers tend to get injured the year after giant innings increases, Strasburg has never stayed as healthy as he did in 2019, so to expect him to sustain that was unrealistic. Unfortunately, he's now on the injured list for the second time this season, as a nerve issue in his pitching hand continues to bother him. Perhaps Juan Soto's individual greatness will be enough to carry the Nationals into the postseason with eight teams from each league going this year, but the team's chances to repeat as World Series Champions feel slim.

15. Arizona Diamondbacks
14. Philadelphia Phillies
13. Baltimore Orioles
12. San Diego Padres
11. Houston Astros

Remember that strange clip that surfaced in June where Chris "Mad Dog" Russo suggested that Bryce Harper "stunk" in his first season with the Phillies? When you consider that Harper homered 35 times and drove in 114 runs in his first season in red pinstripes, you get the sense that the Mad Dog didn't watch too many Phillies games in 2019. Well, he better check in now, because the 27-year-old is putting together an MVP-caliber campaign in Philadelphia. In 18 games, Harper is slashing .367/.486/.700 with five home runs, 15 RBIs, a 1.186 OPS and a 1.3 fWAR. Even as the Phillies try to play catch up for losing nearly a week's worth of action early in the season, FanGraphs says that Harper, the 2015 National League MVP, has been the eighth-most valuable hitter in all of baseball this season.

10. Atlanta Braves
9. Colorado Rockies
8. Chicago White Sox
7. Cleveland Indians
6. Chicago Cubs

With the Detroit Tigers playing at a higher level than anyone anticipated, the American League Central has turned into an especially difficult division to navigate through. The White Sox, who currently find themselves in third place but within striking distance of the top spot, have done a good job staying afloat early on. Eloy Jiménez, Tim Anderson, Yoan Moncada and Luis Robert each already have five home runs. Certainly, it's concerning that RHP Lucas Giolito has a 4.88 ERA and 4.08 FIP in his first five starts after an All-Star season, but the young corps that the White Sox have built figures to lead them to multiple American League Central titles, even if the first probably won't come in 2020.