Rocky Mountain Rundown
Inside the Mind of The Gregapus
Rocky Mountain Rundown #7
Week 3 Power rankings: One Good and One Bad for Every Team
Week 3 is in the books. Sunday gave us our first real look at the Angels in action before the night ended with two undefeated teams colliding in “Cancel Gate.”
Wednesday’s slate only featured two games, including a perfect performance and another battle of undefeated teams. There was still plenty to take away heading into Week 4.
Today we’re breaking down every team, highlighting some key stats, opponent records and one positive and one negative trend from the start of the season. I’ll also give each team a realistic floor and ceiling based on what we’ve seen so far.
Only five games were played this week, but there was still enough movement to shake up the rankings heading into Week 4.
Rocky Mountain Rankings
1. A’s –
2. Astros +1
3. Mariners +1
4. Royals +2
5. D Backs +6
6. White Sox -4
7. Expos -2
8. Blue Jays -1
9. Angels +2
10. Mets -2
11. Phillies -2
● Athletics beat the Astros to fully cement themselves as the #1 team in the league.
● Didn't give the D Backs any credit for the Jays win last week but after a perfect game and a 2-1 record you can't deny them the biggest rise of the season.
● White Sox plummet after the lineup concerns reach a season high
● Angels nearly got perfect gamed by the Astros but showed enough against the Expos to jump a couple teams who didn't play.
Angels 1-2 RS 6 RA 10 RD -4
Opponent Records: 1-2(L) 3-1(L) 1-2(W)
Key Stats- SLG-.477(4th) OBP-.319(10th) ERA-3.64(8th) WHIP-2.00(7th)
The Good- Johnny Demucci, the most shocking selection of the 1st round has had a very good start on the mound. He’s thrown 6 innings to a 1.33 ERA striking out 14 and walking only 3. Nate has struggled to find his footing on the mound, but the emergence of Johnny has been huge for the Halos season outlook.
The Bad- You simply won't find a ton of success in this league if your team ranks 10th in OBP. Nate the clear leader with an OBP of .500 is followed by Mike Sfida (.273) Johnny Demucci (.250) and Andrew Kelly (.250). AK boasts a career .467 OBP so it’s shocking to see.
Current Floor 4-10 Current Ceiling 8-6
Astros 3-1 RS 16 RA 4 RD +12
Opponent Records 1-2(W) 0-3(W) 1-2(W) 4-0(L)
Key Stats- OPS-1.042(2nd) HR-5(T-1) ERA-1.00(1st) BB/X-4.75(9th)
The Good- The Astros have been very impressive this season in all aspects. Most impressive has been the pitching. We highlighted Frankie last article but after 3 solid innings on Sunday Teddy's numbers are in a great spot as well. The Duo together has thrown 16 innings allowing just 4 runs. Tough to lose games allowing 1 run per game. Also want to mention they are the only team in the league where all 4 players have a home run.
The Bad- I feel like people saw Haines and Eddie go deep against the mets and want to crown this team for the depth but that hasn't been the case. Eddie is batting .214 but hasn't drawn a single walk so his OBP of .214 ranks 35th. Haines only hit was that home run and he's batting .071(T-35th) with an OBP of .316. If Teddy and Frankie cool off at all, this team becomes much less intimidating.
Current Floor 8-6 Current Ceiling 12-2
Athletics 4-0 RS 17 RA 6 RD +11
Opponent Records 2-1(W) 0-3(W) 3-1(W) 2-1(W)
Key Stats- BA-.247(8th) OPS-.888(4th) ERA-1.26(2nd) WHIP-1.37(2nd)
The Good- When you’re the only undefeated team in the league pretty much everything has to be good. They've been consistent in every part of the game. The highlight has been the brother duo of Dylan and Chris who rank top 12 in Average and OBP. Dylan has also been the best pitcher thus far, ranking 1st in innings and strikeouts, 3rd in ERA and T-1 in WHIP of guys who have thrown 5+ innings.
The Bad- Contribution outside of Dylan and Chris. Similar to the Astros but not as detrimental. Josh holds an OPS of .473(33rd). Wayne comes in at .381 ranking 35th. Dylan and Chris have 16ks to 12 walks the plate. Josh and Wayne are at 23ks to 8 walks.
Current Floor 8-6 Current Ceiling 12-2
Blue Jays 1-2 RS 5 RA 14 RD -9
Opponent Records 1-2(L) 2-1(L) 1-1(W)
Key Stats- BA-.298(1st) OBP-.400(6th) ERA-5.60(11th) WHIP-4.20(11th)
The Good- The only positive I can even find is Cam's performance at the plate. He's slashing .700/.800/1.400 which all rank 1st. I wish I could say more but I can not.
The Bad- For the Jays this should be “The Disgusting” or “This legit makes me sick looking at it”. There is simply no excuse for how bad this team has been pitching. A concern early has turned into the worst single attribute of all 11 teams. Ranking 11th in ERA, Walks, Strikeouts and WHIP while being 1 of 2 teams to not allow a home run. Honestly embarrassing stuff out of Cam on the bump.
Current Floor 4-10 Current Ceiling 9-5
Diamondbacks 2-1 RS 10 RA 7 RD +3
Opponent Records 4-0(L) 1-2(W) 1-2(W)
Key Stats- OBP-.483(2nd) OPS-.958(3rd) ERA-2.33(6th) WHIP-1.17(1st)
The Good- Is a perfect game good? In the Diamondbacks only loss of the season Sean gave up 6 earned in 3 innings to the #1 ranked A’s. In his second appearance on the mound he threw 4 innings striking out 11 and allowing 0 baserunners en route to the 1st perfect game of the new era. Outside of that, Mr. Irrelevant Dylan Ayers leads the team in OBP with a .615(7th) and the rest of the lineup sits above .429. Getting on base at that clip makes it tough to not score runs.
The Bad- It's difficult to find a bad statistic for this team so far. I'll point out Sean's .182 average. He’s a career .251 hitter so this slow start seems more like a slump than a trend.
Current Floor 6-8 Current Ceiling 9-5
Expos 1-2 RS 11 RA12 RD -1
Opponent Records 1-2(W) 3-1(L) 1-2(L)
Key Stats- SLG-.364(9th) OBP-.458(3rd) ERA-4.80(10th) WHIP-2.20(8th)
The Good- Outside of Noah’s Struggles, the rest of this team has been very solid. If you remove Noah's stats then Mike, Beyers and Hinchey would rank 1st in batting average and 2nd in OBP as a team.
The Bad- Noah. Both at the plate and on the mound has struggled. He ranks bottom 7 in Avg, OBP and OPS. Of the 15 pitchers who have thrown 5+ innings, he is 13th in ERA and 11th in WHIP. The pre-season MVP hopeful simply has to be better if his team is going to find season long success.
Current Floor 5-9 Current Ceiling 9-5
Mariners 1-1 RS 4 RA 4 RD 0
Opponent Records 1-1(W) 1-2(L)
Key Stats- SLG-.680(1st) OBP-.571(1st) ERA-2.00(4th) WHIP-2.25(10th)
The Good- It's tough to gauge this team's performances being the only team with less than 3 games played. They've only played in a 3 man lineup to this point but both Jack and C Dub have been great on both sides of the ball (C Dub slightly better hitting and pitching).
The Bad- Riley has struggled so far in his return batting .111 with a .385 OBP. I think this is a case of him just needing more reps but as a first round selection, those numbers won’t cut it as we get further into the season.
Current Floor 6-8 Current Ceiling 10-4
Mets 0-3 RS 6 RA 14 RD -8
Opponent Records 2-1(L) 3-1(L) 4-0(L)
Key Stats- BA-.240(9th) OBP-.387(7th) ERA-3.80(9th) WHIP-1.83(5th)
The Good- Stepping back and looking at this team's performances you'd realize this is not an 0-3 team. They've played the toughest schedule thus far and have been competitive in every game. They lost 4-3 to the Royals who had a 3 man lineup for the last 2 innings where they scored 2 in the top of the 4th to Win. They lost 4-0 to a very good Stros team but the game was 0-0 through 3. Most recently they lost 6-3 in 6 innings to the current #1 and only undefeated team remaining and if Dennis doesn't barrel a ball right into Pone's stomach they may have won it then.
The Bad- We can talk about the struggling bats but they've faced the 2 best pitching teams through 3 games. I think the big issue for them right now is giving up the longball. Polanco has given up 4 home runs in 6.2 and Pone has given up 3 in 7 innings. Their 7 home runs allowed is the most by 3. I'm not sure there is anything they can do differently but it's a little bad luck mixed with a tough schedule to start.
Current Floor 3-11 Current Ceiling 8-6
Royals 2-1 RS 7 RA 7 RD 0
Opponent Records 0-3(W) 1-2(W) 4-0(L)
Key Stats- BA-.255(8th) OBP-.375(8th) ERA-1.85(3rd) WHIP-1.54(3rd)
The Good- The pitching has been the key to the early season success. After a rough start for Zane in game 1 allowing 3 runs in 3 innings. Both him and Behn have been great. They allowed 1 late run against the Phillies and held the undefeated A’s to 1 run in regulation before losing in extras.
The Bad- This team is 0-1 in their first game as a 4 man lineup. Flick went hitless in his debut and Mike has gotten on base twice in 3 games. They need to prove they can win games and score runs as a 4 man lineup.
Current Floor 6-8 Current Ceiling 10-4
Phillies 1-2 RS 5 RA 6 RD -1
Opponent Records 1-2(W) 1-1(L) 2-0(L)
Key Stats- BA-.214(10th) OBP-.286(9th) ERA-2.18(5th) WHIP-1.91(6th)
The Good- I’ll keep this one short. The only real positives from this team so far have been Mutztard showing signs of being a real contributor and Colin's solid start at the plate. Colin’s slashing .500/.692/.500 good for top 5 in both Average and OBP but the lack of a home run hurts the slug.
The Bad- The jury is still out on Mutz, who's been solid but it's too early to tell how much of an impact he will have over the course of the season. The issue is having 2 guys who are a combined 1/22 with a .087 OBP. While you may be saying it's unfair to combine the 13th and 32nd pick into one player. Over the past 2 full seasons Pat is batting .085 with 1 Home run and JVH is batting .052 with 3 home runs.
Current Floor 4-10 Current Ceiling 8-6
White Sox 1-2 RS 5 RA 8 RD -3
Opponent Records 1-1(L) 1-2(W) 2-1(L)
Key Stats- BA-.167(11th) OBP-.302(11th) ERA-2.91(7th) WHIP-2.27(10th)
The Good- One of the more disappointing teams in my eyes to this point don't have many positives to take away. Boas has been great to start batting .400 with a .500 OBP. He's also pitched 8 innings to 1.50 era.
The Bad- I may officially be on board saying this is the worst lineup in the league. 2nd overall pick Tommy Loftus, Rookie Jimmy Hallman and 2025 RP champ Brendan Risley have combined for a .077 average and a .194 OBP. An absolutely brutal start offensively that I'm not sure can improve quickly.
Current Floor 5-9 Current Ceiling 9-5
Three weeks in and the league already feels split into tiers. The Athletics have separated themselves at the top, several contenders already have major flaws exposed, and a few teams are running out of time to prove their slow starts are just early season noise. With more marquee matchups coming, we should finally start getting answers to which teams are real contenders and which teams are simply surviving off preseason hype.
Up next from the Rocky Mountain Rundown: TBD