Chuckle at the New York Mets, if that’s your thing. Gawk at the five-car pileup that is the Boston Red Sox organization, which decided to kneecap its paragon of stability.
Yet if you’re looking for the messiest big-market failure as April draws to a close, the Philadelphia Phillies might fill the bill.
They didn’t lose a dozen games in a row, like the Mets, just 10. Yet a one-night reprieve gave way to perhaps their most discouraging setback yet – a 6-2 loss to the front-running Atlanta Braves in which starter Aaron Nola was very bad and the lineup utterly powerless to counteract lefty Chris Sale.
Nola has a $172 million guaranteed deal and they can’t simply make his 6.03 ERA go away like they did Taijuan Walker. And in a season of league-wide parity, they now own the biggest deficit in the major leagues – 10 ½ games behind the Braves – and dropped another 10 spots in USA TODAY Sports’ power rankings.
A look at our updated rankings:
3. Atlanta Braves (+1)
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Only the 1997 team can top their 20-9 record at this stage.
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Lucas Giolito finally finds a home in diminished Padres rotation.
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Ten-game win streak halted by Dodgers, who did not need any special rules to do so.
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Konnor Griffin hits first homer on night Paul Skenes threatens to throw perfect game. Exciting times!
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Spencer Torkelson homers in five straight games, first Tiger to do so since legendary Marcus Thames in 2008.
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In a three-way tie for last with 19 homers.
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Angel Martínez’s first career multi-homer game comes with a pair of blasts off Max Scherzer.
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Kade Anderson watch: One earned run, 30 strikeouts in 18 ⅔ innings at Class AA.
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Win every other day and it’s real easy to build big leads over the Phillies and Mets.
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Don’t look now, but Josh Jung has a .920 OPS.
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Pitching the eighth inning means Jeff Hoffman loses his light show intro.
17. New York Mets (+1)
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Move up a spot only because the Phillies are more embarrassing.
19. Athletics (+1)
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Have won four consecutive series away from Yolo County.
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Outfield prospect Joshua Baez has six homers at Class AAA.
21. Los Angeles Angels (-)
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Catcher Logan O’Hoppe suffers wrist fracture.
22. Philadelphia Phillies (-10)
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What if they’re simply this bad?
23. Boston Red Sox (-1)
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Alex Cora their first manager to get fired during the season since Jimy Williams in 2001.
24. Minnesota Twins (-)
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Have lost nine of 10, perhaps an inevitable bit of regression.
25. San Francisco Giants (-)
26. Washington Nationals (+1)
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Foster Griffin tosses seven shutout innings and looks more and more like a real find.
27. Houston Astros (-1)
28. Kansas City Royals (-)
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It took more than 100 at-bats, but Bobby Witt has himself a home run.
29. Colorado Rockies (-)
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Overworked bullpen prompts Chase Dollander’s first start of season – and he pitches seven shutout innings.
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Noah Schultz strikes out eight in third major league start..
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: MLB power rankings: Phillies a huge disappointment in NL East standings
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