San Diego Padres: Week #5 power rankings update

Where do the San Diego Padres stand according to power rankings as the season is six weeks in? We take a look at all of the major lists.

As the opening week of the second month of the baseball season comes to a close, the San Diego Padres find themselves pretty much where they began – in rebuilding mode. The club has only gained ground on one of our four power rankings lists this week.

The positives for the Padres continue to be all-star first baseman Wil Myers and 33-year-old left-handed starter Clayton Richard. Besides these players however, disappointment has overcome the organization and their fans, as is evident based on how they rank among the rest of baseball.

Our look at the power rankings this week begins with ESPN.

ESPN: 30th

The Worldwide Leader in Sports is not too keen on the Padres this week. As the only major ranking giving the Padres the bottom slot, there are moral victories, as the description points out. But according to ESPN, the club falls even behind the likes of the Royals and Braves at this point.

It might be a moral victory that the Padres haven’t owned the bottom slot in the early going; eight of their 20 losses have been by five runs or more, reflecting a pitching staff and a lineup without much depth. Count the performance of rookie Manuel Margot on both sides of the ball among the few positives not automatically associated with Wil Myers.

FOX Sports: 27th

FOX ranks the Padres the highest of all of our lists, ahead of the Braves, Royals, and NL West cellar-dwelling San Francisco Giants. It makes sense, as the Padres lead the Giants both in overall record and in head-to-head matchups. Of course, this isn’t the only criteria for power rankings, but it is refreshing to see FOX at least acknowledge how poorly the Giants are playing and the reasons for which Padres fans can be optimistic.

Manuel Margot’s May is off to a great start — he’s slashing .353/.478/.471 this month.

Related Story: Week #4 Power Rankings Update

USA Today: 29th

USA Today ranks the Padres ahead of the Braves, and pretty much sums up the frustrations of fans in a single sentence:

1-9 vs. Dodgers and Braves, 11-11 vs. everyone else.

Bleacher Report: 29th

After a 1-4 record which brings the club’s record down to 12-20, Bleacher Report dropped San Diego two slots to the second worst ranking in baseball. Only the 10-20 Kansas City Royals rank lower.

Next: San Diego Padres: Week #5 recap

Can the Padres begin making their way up from the bottom of baseball? Stay tuned for next week’s update to find out.