Ben Verlander takes a victory lap after Astros prove they're still tops in AL West

Ben Verlander, the brother of San Francisco Giants pitcher Justin Verlander, is oftentimes hounded by numerous opposing MLB fanbases — especially those who aren't fond of the Houston Astros — for his outspoken opinions. Verlander obviously has a little bias when it comes toward the evaluations of his brother's former team, and has been one of the Astros' loudest cheerleaders over the years.

Whenever Verlander (the host of the Flippin' Bats Podcast) has a take that elevates the Astros over other teams, it's not uncommon for those on social media to blast the analyst for what are sometimes seen as partisan views.

Verlander routinely releases power rankings, and last week's top-10 created a social media firestorm of sorts. Verlander ranked the Astros (10) ahead of the Seattle Mariners despite the fact Houston was behind in the AL West standings. The Astros then preceeded to take 3-of-4 from the M's, thus proving Verlander's prognostications correct. So you'll forgive the podcast host if he decided to take a victory lap during Monday's episode of the Flippin' Bats Podcast. He also doubled down on his view of the Astros.

MLB anlayst Ben Verlander takes a victory lap after Astros prove they're still tops in AL West

Verlander's latest power rankings, unsurprisingly, have Houston still among the top 10 teams in Major League Baseball. While his view hasn't changed — the Astros come in at No. 10 — Houston's dominant showing over Seattle proved that the AL West still goes through Space City.

In order, Verlander's top 10 looks like this: Philadelphia Phillies, Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, New York Yankees, New York Mets, Giants, San Diego Padres, Minnesota Twins, and Astros.

The Astros asserted their AL West dominance this past week, and will get the chance to take over first place in the division with two games against the Athletics. The A's are in the AL West basement with no signs of recovery. Houston then welcomes the Tampa Bay Rays to town for a three-game series over the weekend. The Rays are currently just one game above .500.

Houston may trail Seattle in the AL West standing heading into play this week, but after taking 3-of-4, the Mariners' division lead is down to just 1½ games heading into play on Tuesday. Verlander may have taken a lot of flack last week after putting the Astros ahead of the Mariners, but he's been vindicated, and the Houston faithful absolutely love it.

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