MLB Watchability Rankings

Welcome to the first installment of The Outside Corner's Watchability Rankings! We've all seen power ranking in countless other places, but these rankings, while similar, are a bit different. Here, how good a team is matters, but it isn't the end all be all. What we are ranking on here is style and quality of play, interesting storylines, exciting talent, intriguing match-ups in the week to come and our very base need to see dingers and whiffs! This is an evolving process, so please feel free to leave a comment to let us know what factors we might be overlooking.

RANK	TEAM	SCHEDULE	COMMENT
1		@ WAS vs. KC	Atlanta Braves – With great pitching in every game and Justin Upton murdering baseballs, the Bravos are the epitome of appointment watching.
2		@ PIT vs. PHI	Cincinnati Reds – This team has something for everyone. Strong pitching, good hitting and the constant promise of a Shin-Soo Choo making a blooper reel moment in center field.
3		vs. ATL @ MIA	Washington Nationals – Nationals versus Braves this weekend might be the series of the year thus far.
4		@ NYY vs. TB	Baltimore Orioles – Chris Davis still has it switched into God Mode and the YOLOriole magic still seems to be present.
5		vs. MIL @ PIT	St. Louis Cardinals – The breakout campaign continues for Matt Carpenter and now they've added Smash Adams to the mix. More, please! Bonus points this week Kyle Lohse making his return to St. Louis on Friday.

6		vs. DET vs. HOU	Oakland Athletics – The A's are scorching hot right now and get to re-live their ALCS matchup against the Tigers over the weekend.
7		@ CHC @ MIL	San Francisco Giants – The freak show factor is in full effect now that Barry Zito has temporarily turned into the team's best pitcher (0.00 ERA) AND hitter (1.500 OPS). The actual Freak, Tim Lincecum has some appeal as well since it isn't totally clear how much he has left yet.
8		@ OAK @ SEA	Detroit Tigers – The Watchability Factor for the Tigers took a hit now that there is no longer any chance of random camera shots of Kate Upton sitting in Justin Verlander's luxury box. Playing the "who's gonna close tonight?" guessing game is pretty fun though.
9		vs. TEX vs. DET	Seattle Mariners – All of the sudden Safeco is a home run haven. Hooray for moved in fences! The fireworks should continue this week with the Rangers and Tigers coming through.
10		vs. TOR @ ATL	Kansas City Royals – I'm not saying that I'm not a believe in the Royals, but I am saying that you should enjoy them while their hot because you never know.
11		vs. LAD @ NYY	Arizona Diamondbacks – If you like offense, this is the team for you. It isn't just one guy doing all the damage as just about every player but Cliff Pennington and Eric Chavez is hitting well right now.
12		@ KC vs. CWS	Toronto Blue Jays – They've go the "big spending gone wrong" factor still going for them, especially with Josh Johnson looking awful. It might be born out of morbid curiosity but the Jays are pretty watchable.
13		@ SEA @CHC	Texas Rangers – Their watchability goes as Darvish goes. His blister problem could kill the fun though.
14		@ ARI vs. SD	Los Angeles Dodgers – Losing Zack Greinke hurts their entertainment value quite a bit, but with the Dodgers hooking up with the Padres again this week, there is plenty of reason to keep your eyes on SoCal.
15		vs. COL @ LAD	San Diego Padres – Assuming Carlos Quentin files the obligatory appeal, you should at least be sure to flip over for all his at-bats in LA this week to see what level of retaliation he is in store for. Just to be safe, you may want to make sure there are no children in the room at the time.
16		@ MIN @ COL	New York Mets – There's Matt Harvey. And then there's Matt Harvey. Have I mentioned Matt Harvey? Oh, and don't forget about Matt Harvey.
17		vs. TB @ CLE	Boston Red Sox – Between Hanrahan melting down and Lackey's ugly injury, the drama appears to be on its way back to Beantown. Too bad the Jack Bradley Junior Show appears to be headed for cancelation.
18		@ MIA @ CIN	Philadelphia Phillies – Watching what Roy Halladay is going through right now is no fun at all. Not even the promise of another monster dinger from Dom Brown can lure me in at this point.
19		@ CLE @ TOR	Chicago White Sox – Alex Rios is rolling and Chris Sale is Chris Sale. Beyond that though there is a bunch of "meh" blended with hoping that Paul Konerko didn't finally succumb to old age.
20		@ SD vs. NYM	Colorado Rockies – Catch them now while their pitching is still kind of respectable.
21		@ LAA @ OAK	Houston Astros – It is either an avalanche of strikeouts or a downpour of homers and sometimes both. For a pretty lousy team, there is a strange appeal to this squad.
22		vs. BAL vs. ARI	New York Yankees – They may be on a little bit of a roll, but it is still pretty hard to get excited about watching the Replacement Yankees. Call us in May.
23		@ STL vs. SF	Milwaukee Brewers – How can one possibly endorse a team with half their roster on the DL and a manager that actually was carrying an eight-man bullpen at one point?
24		vs. HOU @ MIN	Los Angeles Angels – No Weaver, no Aybar, Trout scuffling, Hamilton constantly whiffing. They have a certain car crash appeal to them right now, but not enough that appeal only goes so far, especially when their match-ups this week are the Astros and Twins. Yuck.
25		@ BOS @ BAL	Tampa Bay Rays – Not that home runs are everything, but four for the whole team for the entire season? Really?
26		vs. CWS vs. BOS	Cleveland Indians – This team better start hitting if they want anyone to watch them because their rotation makes for some brutal viewing. Bring back Bauer, please. We do get to see Francona take on the Red Sox for the first time though. Assuming Terry can find the ballpark.
27		vs. SF vs. TEX	Chicago Cubs – This isn't a very good team, but not bad enough to merit a severed goat's head. Take it easy, people.
28		vs. NYM vs. LAA	Minnesota Twins – Their entire pitching staff has a 4.91 K/9 rate now. Meanwhile Eduardo Escobar and Pedro Florimon Jr. lead the team in OPS. So, I'll pass, thanks.
29		vs. CIN vs. STL	Pittsburgh Pirates – Their team OPS is .448. is there really anything else that needs to be said?
30		vs. PHI vs. WAS	Miami Marlins – This is the worst team in baseball. They are so bad that you can't even hate-watch them. Factor in that Giancarlo Stanton is still homerless and there is literally nothing redeemable here except maybe Jose Fernandez who they will surely ruin before long.