Rays Earn Surprising Spot in MLB Power Rankings After Weekend Sweep

The Tampa Bay Rays are 4-5 through their first nine games of the season.

They were just swept by the Texas Rangers over the weekend, which dropped them below .500. However, they went 4-2 at their temporary home field in their first six games.

With Steinbrenner Field serving as their temporary stadium due to the hurricane damage at Tropicana Field, the Rays are playing as many home games as possible early in the season. Their next 13 games are at home, and 53 of their 81 home games will be played in the first half of the season.

That's not such a bad thing, though, as Tampa Bay is 4-2 there to begin the season. If the Rays keep playing well there, they have a chance to put together a strong first half.

Despite the up-and-down start, Tampa Bay moved up nine spots to No. 14 in this week's MLB.com power rankings.

Middle of the pack seems like a fair spot for the Rays. They are not a top team in baseball, but they are not a bottom team, either.

One thing they have is great young talent.

Mason Montgomery has the potential to be a very good back-end reliever for Tampa Bay. He runs his fastball up to 102 mph while getting plenty of swings and misses. Adding him to a bullpen that features good young arms in Hunter Bigge, Edwin Uceta and veteran Pete Fairbanks is dangerous.

In the starting rotation, the Rays have three great young pitchers.

Ryan Pepiot, Taj Bradley and Shane Baz are off to pretty good starts. They have combined for 28 innings pitched, 25 hits allowed, 35 strikeouts and a 2.89 ERA. They've shown lots of potential and seem capable of holding down the fort until Shane McClanahan returns from the injured list later this season.

However, Tampa Bay's lineup is what's holding the team back from being great.

The Rays have the 10th-best batting average in the Major Leagues, but they rank last in home runs with five. Their lack of power has caused them to score less than four runs per game.

Johnny DeLuca and Jake Magnum have had very good starts to the year. They've combined for 20 hits and are both hitting over .400. Neither has been able to leave the yard, but they are constantly on base and have stolen four bags apiece.

The lineup contributions drop off after the first few. Yandy Diaz, Taylor Walls, Danny Jansen and Curtis Mead have combined for just 11 total hits in 93 at-bats (.118 average). These four hitters have not hit for any power and have scored just six runs combined.

Tampa Bay will need more from them moving forward if they want to stay competitive in the AL East.

Even with their lack of offense and scoring, the Rays have a fair ranking thanks to their strong pitching. If they can win games at home early on, they are only going to keep climbing the rankings as the season progresses.