We’re halfway through spring training and less than two weeks away from the regular season. Here’s a look at how training is going for all of the teams. These are the records as of the end of the March 16 games.
Grapefruit League (Florida)
1. Atlanta Braves (12-6): The Braves have had a good week. With five wins, including wins against the Red Sox and Yankees, the Braves are holding on to the top spot in the Grapefruit League. Only the Cardinals were able to give them trouble this week, serving the Braves both a loss and a tie.
2. Philadelphia Phillies (13-7): The Phillies are 6-1 in the last week with a doubleheader on Saturday. Having had a break on Wednesday, they should be able to keep up the pace and edge out Atlanta for the top spot.
3. Detroit Tigers (13-9): The Tigers have been very active in the last week, but playing games every day, including a doubleheader on Sunday, may have been too much. The Tigers are 5-3 in their eight-game week and have almost doubled their losses in a single week.
4. St. Louis Cardinals (10-7): The Cardinals have had a messy week and were 3-3 with one tie game. With a strong loss to the Mets, it’s hard to see the Cardinals staying in the top.
5. Minnesota Twins (10-8): The Twins have had a mediocre 4-3 week. That being said, two of their wins, one of which was against the Yankees, were by seven or more runs.
6. Washington Nationals (10-8): The Nationals have struggled in the last week to earn a record of 3-5. This does not necessarily represent them fairly, as three of their losses, all three to the Astros, were by one run.
7. Boston Red Sox (11-9): Perhaps the highlight of the last week for Red Sox fans was the close victory against the Yankees on Monday, followed by another nail-biter in extra innings against the Tigers Tuesday night.
8. Baltimore Orioles (8-8): After a 3-4 week ending with a 10-0 loss to the Yankees, the Orioles are starting to look more like their regular season team.
9. Toronto Blue Jays (9-9): The Blue Jays were 5-2 this past week. It should come as no surprise that the Phillies and Tigers, the number two and three teams, were the ones that served Toronto those losses.
10. New York Mets (9-10): The Mets are 4-2 in the last week with multiple wins against Florida and a close loss to the Twins.
11. Tampa Bay Rays (8-9): The Rays have spent the week both winning and losing. That being said, their wins have come against teams such as the Phillies and Red Sox, while their losses were against the Pirates and Blue Jays.
12. Pittsburgh Pirates (8-12): Other than a surprise win against the Rays and a strong victory against the Red Sox, the Pirates have remained stagnant this last week.
13. New York Yankees (7-11): It’s hard for some to believe but the Yankees went 1-6 during the last week. Wednesday they seemed to get their losses behind them, with a 10-0 victory against the Orioles. Fun fact: the Yankees were originally known as the Baltimore Orioles.
14. Houston Astros (8-14): Houston has had a very busy week, with two doubleheaders leading to a 5-4 record. The five wins shouldn’t be too impressive though; three of them were against the Nationals.
15. Florida Marlins (5-13): As of Wednesday night the Marlins are on a nine-game losing streak. Their closest losses have been against the Nationals, losing by four runs in two games.
Cactus League (Arizona)
1. San Francisco Giants (16-5): With a 6-1 record, the Giants are maintaining a strong hold in the front of the Cactus League.
2. Colorado Rockies (14-6): The Rockies are closing the gap between themselves and the Giants with a 7-1 record. While seven wins should be impressive, all of them have been by two runs or less.
3. Kansas City Royals (12-6): The Royals split the week with a 4-2 record and a tie game. The highlight of their week was a strong victory against the Dodgers on Saturday. With a score of 19-7, they won by 12 runs on March 12.
4. Seattle Mariners (10-5): The Mariners are 4-1 with a tie game last Friday. If they could have managed two more runs in one game, and only one run in the tied game, they’d have had a perfect 6-0 for the week.
5. Milwaukee Brewers (12-7): The Brewers were also close to a perfect week, going 5-2. Both of their losses were by two runs or less, with one game going into extra innings.
6. Cincinnati Reds (10-8): The Reds went 2-4 in the week with both wins against the Cubs. All pre-season, the Reds have never managed more than three runs in a game they lost.
7. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (10-10): Last week they were 6-6. With another split week they are staying consistent with a 4-4 week.
8. Texas Rangers (9-9): With a 2-4 record for the week, excluding a tied game, the Rangers are seriously falling from prominence.
9. San Diego Padres (8-9): Unfortunately for the Padres, they needed better than a 3-3 split week. Two of their three wins were by four runs or more, and all three losses were by three runs or less.
10. Cleveland Indians (7-9): With a 3-2 record for the week, plus a tie, the Indians are at least making progress towards a split record.
11. Chicago Cubs (9-12): With a 5-4 record for the week, the Cubs can be proud with two wins against the Reds and their crosstown rivals, the White Sox.
12. Oakland Athletics (7-12): In the last eight games, the A’s are 2-5. Hopefully, for Oakland fans, they can break their three game losing streak.
13. Chicago White Sox (6-11): These Sox have remained stagnant in the last week with an unimpressive 3-4 record. Their best game came in the middle of the week, with a 6-1 win against the Dodgers.
14. Los Angeles Dodgers (6-15): The Dodgers finally broke their eight-game losing streak on Tuesday with a 7-6 win against Texas, resulting in a 1-7 record for the week.
15. Arizona Diamondbacks (5-16): The diamondbacks were 0-7 this week, and extended their final loss last week into an eight-game losing streak.