Power Ratings: Do the Sox have some staying power?

The month of April is freshly behind us, and the Cubs top our blend of results to date and rest-of-season projections.

We of course still have five months of regular season left to play, so the projection portion of the calculus is still having a heavy say over matters.

That balance will gradually shift as we move through the 2016 season.

As noted, the Cubs top our projections, thanks to a franchise-record 17 wins in April. That's not especially surprising, given the talent in place.

What is surprising, perhaps?

SportsLine presently projects the Orioles to win the AL East and the Mariners to prevail in the AL West.

Here is a team-by-team look at this week’s MLB Power Ratings ...

The Cubs have a narrow lead over the Nationals for best record in baseball. They're also backing it up with a staggering +78 run differential. To build up that kind of run differential in less than a month of play is simply remarkable. That's partly why they're the only team that SportsLine presently projects to win 100 games.

The early knock on the Nats was their schedule, but now they're coming off a road sweep of the Cardinals, who still profile as a strong squad. We know about Bryce Harper's excellence, but the Nats' staff paces all of baseball in ERA.

The Cards are hovering around .500 and coming off a home a sweep by the Nats. Still, the SportsLine Projection Model expects St. Louis to win at an MLB-best .623 clip the rest of the way.

The Dodgers still grade out well, but they took a hard hit over the last week. They endured a four-game sweep at the hands of the Marlins and then dropped two of three to the Padres, all at home. As a result, the Dodgers see their playoff percentage drop by 22.5 points.

The Mets now have a win projection north of 95 victories and are better than 80 percent to make the postseason. They've done this despite getting a 4.76 ERA from Matt Harvey and just three starts from Jacob deGrom.

Baltimore's momentum from that early start continues. They split a four-game series with the White Sox, which in 2016 qualifies as a good thing. They'll be without shortstop J.J. Hardy for perhaps two months because of a foot fracture. Right now, though, the Orioles are forecasted to top 90 wins.

The Royals' outlook has worsened significantly, as they dropped five straight before finally winning on Sunday. Not long ago the defending champs registered a healthy playoff percentage of 70.3. This time around? It's down to 44.4.

The rotation, save for R.A. Dickey, has been quite effective, but the Jays' offense ranks a somewhat disappointing sixth in the AL in OPS (they led the league in that category last season). SportsLine, though, sees the Jays as the best team in the AL over the remainder of the season.

Surprise of the AL? Maybe not. The White Sox directly addressed the gaping holes at second and third over the offseason, and Brett Lawrie and Todd Frazier have indeed delivered thus far. Pitching, though, has carried them. Over the last week, they added more than a win to their projected record and bumped up their playoff percentage by more than 10 points.

The Giants are performing as hoped on a number of fronts, but the struggles of Matt Cain and Jake Peavy suggest that the team may need to try something different at the back end of the rotation.

The Tribe enter this week hovering around .500 despite a positive run differential. There's a big six-game stretch ahead, as they'll host the Tigers and Royals for a total of six games. SportsLine still sees the Indians as a 90-win team and the favorites in the AL Central.

The pitching staff has been a mixed bag, but the offense has impressed -- especially since Andrew McCutchen hasn't hit his stride just yet. They're currently testing their impressive start with a three-game set at home against the Cubbies. Right now, they're projected to be in the heart of the NL wild card race. Again.

The big winners this past week? The Mariners, who won four of six from 2015 playoff teams Houston and Kansas City. For their efforts, they tacked on 26.1 points to their playoff percentage. On Monday, they took the first game of a big three-game series in Oakland.

The wholly revamped bullpen has been excellent thus far, but Khris Davis, Billy Butler, and Yonder Alonso have struggled badly on offense. It was a tough week in all for the A's, as their playoff percentage tumbled from 50.3 to 36.7.

The latest example of why you should pay little attention to pitcher won-loss records: David Price is 4-0 with a 6.14 ERA. The Sox are getting what they need from vets Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz, and the young crop of position players has continued to impress. As for the projections, the Sox picked up almost three wins and roughly 20 playoff percentage points since last week.

The Rays are treading water despite a 5.01 ERA from Chris Archer and absolutely miserable production from catcher, first base, and left field. Given those performances, it’s encouraging that SportsLine still gives the Rays roughly a one-in-five chance of returning to the playoffs for the first time since 2013.

Zack Greinke and Shelby Miller have combined for a 6.64 ERA thus far in 2016, and the rest of the rotation hasn't been much better. A nine-game road swing starts Tuesday.

Sure, they play home games at a mile above sea level, but the Rox as a team are slugging .492. That's driving their ongoing relevance. Going forward, SportsLine sees them as a .458 team.

It's been an absolutely disastrous start to the season for the Astros, and over the last week the SportsLine Projection Model has faded their playoff percentage from 20.5 all the way down to 8.3. Much depends on Dallas Keuchel righting himself.

The Rangers remain in 20th position, but they made incremental progress in terms of projected wins and playoff percentage. More good news: Yu Darvish (Tommy John surgery) looked dominant in his first minor-league rehab start.

The Tigers as of the end of last week were 14-10 with a run differential befitting that very record. SportsLine is not really buying it, though, as the Tigers are still projected for 75 wins and less than a five percent chance of making the playoffs. Big stretch ahead, as they'll play 13 straight against the Indians, Rangers, Nationals, and Orioles.

Once you adjust for their hitter-friendly ballpark, the Yankees may be saddled with the worst offense in baseball. Chase Headley's been particularly terrible. Only once in the divisional era have the Yankees finished in last place (1990), but SportsLine sees it as a distinct possibility in 2016.

After a slow start to the season, Mike Trout is producing like Mike Trout. The supporting cast is such that SportsLine still pegs the Angels for last place in the AL West.

Surely thanks to improved vision, Joe Mauer is thriving once again. He's running an AL-best OBP of .459, and he's reached base in every game this season. The Twins should improve going forward, but that awful start has them tabbed for 90 losses.

Giancarlo Stanton has rounded into form, and Christian Yelich looks like he's taking the next step toward stardom. Obviously, the loss of Dee Gordon for half the season (PED-related suspension) will sting and test the infield depth. SportsLine sees the Fish as long shots, but a strong week has that playoff percentage headed in the right direction.

Joey Votto is running a sub-.700 OPS, so you can bet things aren't going swimmingly for the post-Todd Frazier Reds. In Cincy's defense, though, they still have a full rotation on the disabled list.

The Phils went 15-10 to start the year, but part of that is an unsustainable 8-2 record in one-run games. SportsLine isn't buying, either, as it thinks the Phillies will play .414 ball the rest of the way.

The good news on offense? Matt Kemp and Wil Myers. The bad news on offense? Pretty much everyone else. They project as the worst team in the NL West by a substantial margin.

The Brewers have some hitters who are off to promising starts, but that team ERA of 5.61 isn't helping matters. The big question in Milwaukee is which bats they'll shop leading up to the non-waiver trade deadline.

Hey, let's keep it positive when it comes to the worst team in baseball. The Braves are on pace for 41 wins this season, but SportsLine tabs them for almost 58 wins. So that's something, right?