Surging past the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers, the Arizona Diamondbacks cracked the top 10 in MLB.com's power rankings.
Despite being one game out of a Wild Card spot, the Arizona Diamondbacks earned the No. 9 spot in MLB.com's power rankings.
Will Leitch believes Arizona did enough this past week to rise in the rankings, and a series win over the Atlanta Braves certainly helped their case.
The D-backs are just 5-5 in their last 10, but they won two games against the Los Angeles Dodgers and another two against the Braves.
Those two series victories helped get them to a new high in the power rankings, but their work is far from finished.
Arizona awaits a huge series at Fenway Park, one that puts them head-to-head with a Boston Red Sox team that Leitch has at No. 7. The Red Sox actually fell one spot, so this is clearly a great time for the Diamondbacks to be facing Boston.
Diamondbacks continue rising in the power rankings
"In a crowded National League Wild Card race, the Diamondbacks have gotten some real separation since the All-Star break, and they have been led by the likely Hall of Famer at third base," Leitch wrote.
He added, "Nolan Arenado is playing like peak Arenado right now: Since July 6, he has a .348 OBP, a .575 SLG, and a 147 wRC+, with 11 homers and 26 RBIs in 34 games. The D-backs have to hope the discomfort that caused him to exit Sunday’s game does not become a long-term issue."
Should it be a long-term issue, this team could be in some trouble. They have solid depth, certainly enough to get them to this point, but what could losing Arenado mean for their outlook during the rest of the regular season?
With just six weeks remaining, there isn't a lot of room for error. Arizona knows winning of the division would be a tough ask, so their best bet is to sneak into the Wild Card.
If they were in the American League, they'd be able to get in, no problem. The issue is the National League is as stacked as it's ever been, so it's going to take a ton of wins, and some help from the likes of the Philadelphia Phillies and the San Diego Padres to make sure Arizona doesn't miss the playoffs.
Overall, they outscored the Braves, 12-3, in the first two games of the series, and that's a major reason why they have entered single-digit territory in the power rankings despite being 11 games out of the league's best record.
