The
Opsera is a statistic I created in order to rank teams by how well they hit (OPS) and pitch (ERA). In order to determine a team's Opsera, I take their OPS, move the decimal point over one place to the right and then subtract the team's ERA from that number.
* Previous week's ranking in parenthesis.
1. St. Louis Cardinals: 4.53 (2)
The Cardinals have seen disappointing production out of their leadoff slot, with an on base percentage of just .319 with Skip Schumaker the usual victim.
2. Toronto Blue Jays: 4.27 (3)
The Jays are scoring runs in ways we haven't seen for years, despite a modest .721 OPS from Alex Rios. Aaron Hill, Rod Barajas, Kevin Millar, Marco Scutaro and Jose Bautista are all having far better than expected seasons and are putting up All-Star caliber numbers.
3. Los Angeles Dodgers: 4.10 (5)
Chad Billingsley and his 2.21 ERA, 9.30 K/9 rate is putting together an early resume for NL Cy Young.
4. Kansas City Royals: 3.88 (6)
I didn't realize Zack Greinke loved hitting so much until reading Joe Posnanski's cover story. He has a career .833 OPS in 12 big league at bats and the he'll potentially have the opportunity to bat at Busch Stadium, Minute Maid Park and PNC Park in Interleague play. He may also get a second chance at Busch Stadium with a little first inning rally by the AL as their All-Star game starer.
5. Pittsburgh Pirates: 3.80 (1)
Adam LaRoche is hitting .276/.364/.540 to lead the surprisingly balance Pittsburgh offense.
6. Boston Red Sox: 3.55 (4)
Even though Jacoby Ellsbury and David Ortiz have been disappointments by having OPS totals of .647 and .600 respectively, Kevin Youkilis, Jason Bay, J.D. Drew and Mike Lowell are putting up All-Star numbers.
7. Detroit Tigers: 3.53 (7)
The Edwin Jackson trade is looking very good for Detroit in the early going, as he has a 2.25 ERA in 32 innings.
8. Milwaukee Brewers: 3.47 (14)
The Brewers have blown eight saves already, as the late innings continue to be problematic.
9. Atlanta Braves: 3.47 (8)
Jair Jurrjens (1.89), Derek Lowe (3.03) and Javier Vazquez (3.38) have been every bit as good as the Braves were hoping, but the back end of Jo-Jo Reyes and Kenshin Kawakami has been disappointing and the team is 2-5 during their seven starts.
10. Seattle Mariners: 3.43 (10)
Three-fifths of Seattle's starting pitching has been excellent, with Felix Hernandez, Erik Bedard and Jarrod Washburn postings ERA under 3.00.
11. New York Mets: 3.42 (11)
There is a 4.30 difference between Johan Santana's ERA and John Maine's, who is second amongst New York's starters in that category.
12. Tampa Bay Rays: 3.42 (16)
Jason Bartlett was mostly valuable defensively last season, but he leads al shortstops in OPS this season, sitting at .926.
13. San Francisco Giants: 3.13 (17)
The Giants are 10-4 since losing six in a row against the Padres and Dodgers in mid-April. They're not scoring many more runs (scored five despite taking two out of three this weekend against Colorado), but their pitching (even Barry Zito) has turned back to what most were expecting.
14. Cincinnati Reds: 3.05 (20)
Joey Votto has a 1.014 OPS, while Jay Bruce has hit six homers.
15. Texas Rangers: 2.95 (22)
The Rangers have hit one homer for every 19.3 at bats.
16. Houston Astros: 2.94 (19)
Carlos Lee and Lance Berkman have hit for solid power even though their OBP have been unmistakably disappointing.
17. Chicago Cubs: 2.87 (9)
The Cubs are the leaders in K/9 with a rate of 8.55.
18. Colorado Rockies: 2.79 (27)
Ryan Spilborghs has an OPS of .856 as Matt Holliday's left field replacement.
19. Washington Nationals: 2.70 (18)
Is this finally the Ryan Zimmerman the Nationals have been waiting for? He is hitting .306/.364/.551 with five homers.
20. Los Angeles Angels: 2.69 (21)
Mike Napoli continues his excellent offensive production, hitting for an OPS of 1.069 and four homers in just 51 at bats.
21. Chicago White Sox: 2.67 (12)
Chicago's late-inning relief has been very good, with Bobby Jenks, Scott Linebrink, Octavio Dotel and Matt Thornton throwing quality innings.
22. Arizona Diamondbacks: 2.65 (23)
The D-Backs only have three batters with an OPS better than .800 in Mark Reynolds, Felipe Lopez and Justin Upton.
23. Oakland Athletics: 2.60 (24)
Matt Holiday and Jason Giambi have now combined to hit three homers.
24. San Diego Padres: 2.52 (13)
Heath Bell is still waiting to give up his first earned run as San Diego's new closer.
25. Florida Marlins: 2.46 (15)
Florida has faded fast in the Opsera, but they are still first in the NL East.
26. Philadelphia Phillies: 2.46 (25)
The unstoppable 2008 Brad Lidge has morphed into the 6.52 ERA 2009 Brad Lidge.
27. New York Yankees: 2.32 (28)
Nick Swisher went from offseason afterthought to the 1.150 OPS hitting slugger, which leads all right fielders.
28. Cleveland Indians: 2.08 (26)
After a rough start to the season in Texas, Cliff Lee has settled down with four consecutive quality starts and he's lowered his ERA to 3.92.
29. Minnesota Twins: 1.89 (30)
Joe Mauer has returned with a vengeance, with seven hits (one homer, two doubles) in just 10 at bats.
30. Baltimore Orioles: 1.75 (29)
As expected, Baltimore is hitting as well as anyone, but cannot pitch to save their lives.