The best action movies have compelling villains. It's part of the tried-and-true formula that draws us in, touching everything from Die Hard and Lethal Weapon to Star Wars and the Avengers. It is imperative to have a villain that draws us in and ultimately causes us to root even harder for the protagonist.In sports, it usually isn't much of a chore for any fan base. You have a favorite team and each game the opponent is the villain. Simple enough.At times, though, the fan bases for the rest of the league rally against a common foe. A lot of the time in baseball, it's the . The "Evil Empire" thing just fit so perfectly, didn't it? I think the best part about it is how comfortable Yankees fans are in general with this dynamic. As a group, they generally don't want other fan bases to like them. They enjoy the hate.In recent years, a lot of the collective ire of baseball fandom has turned toward the . I have been urging Astros fans these last few years to embrace the hate and enjoy being the villain. After all, fans don't hate irrelevant teams. The have the longest playoff drought and do you really think there are legions of baseball fans out there expending a bunch of energy hating them? Yes, I'm aware there was a scandal, but if the Astros were now a terrible team, they wouldn't be showered with even remotely as many boos on the road. Juan Samuel Jersey CBS Sports HQ Newsletter Your Ultimate Guide to Every Day in Sports We bring sports news that matters to your inbox, to help you stay informed and get a winning edge. I agree to receive the "CBS Sports HQ Newsletter" and marketing communications, updates, special offers (including partner offers), and other information from CBS Sports and the Paramount family of companies. By pre sing sign up, I confirm that I have read and agree to the . Please check the opt-in box to acknowledge that you would like to subscribe. Thanks for signing up! Keep an eye on your inbox. Sorry! There was an error proce sing your subscription. Of course, the Astros aren't terrible. They are great. Again. They've now won 12 of their last 13 and 17 of 21. Only the Yankees have a better record in all of baseball.The Astros have been doing it behind some incredible run prevention. They allowed 13 runs on Saturday -- the lone lo s in their last 13 games -- but otherwise have only allowed 12 runs total in their last 12 wins. , at age 39, coming off Tommy John surgery, looks like the best pitcher in baseball. The staff, collectively, looks as good as any in baseball, top to bottom, and that's with on the shelf.The offense isn' J. T. Realmuto Jersey t quite the wrecking crew it has been in years' past, but it's still one of the better groups in the league. is heating up, is among the best power hitters in baseball and would win AL Rookie of the Year right now. The likes of , and fill out, again, a very deep lineup that can get put up a crooked number without warning. I'll admit that while I've watched all the hate in the direction of the Astros the past few years, there's always been a part of me that feels a twinge of contentment when they are going well. I don't root for them, but I don't root against them. It's compelling to see a team so reviled by so many people perform as well as the Astros do. There's always been an element of it with the Yankees for me, too, even if the reasons for the opposing-fan hatred are different.For me, there's just something about a good villain. It's enjoyable to watch it all unfold.And now take note of the top two spots in this week's power rankings. I'll be hearing in my head as we move forward. Biggest Movers 7 Phillies 5 Orioles RkTeams ChgRcrd 1 They have now won 20 of their last 24. Those four lo ses came by one, one, two and three runs, respectively. 1 99-63 2 Perhaps the best part, to continue the "villain" theme, is that these two hate each other. Even better! 4 106-56 3 In addition to everything else that is going right, look at Chase Silseth and Reid Detmers. They are home-growing starting pitching! 1 73-89 4 Welp, it couldn't last forever. The Mets have lost a series. They are now 9-1-1 in series this season. Fret not, it's no emergency. They're fine. 1 101-61 Cesar Hernandez Jersey 5 The two-out rally Sunday rescued them from a four-game sweep at the hands of the Phillies, but they still went 2-5 against the state of Pennsylvania this past week. The Clayton Kershaw injury is worrisome, too. 4 111-51 6 Josh Bell is hitting .336. Yes, I know he plays for the Nationals, but we're about to make a fun point. Bell is third in the NL in hitting behind Manny Machado (.359) and Eric Hosmer (.350). The Padres haven't had a batting title since, you gue sed it, Tony Gwynn. Mr. Padre won eight batting titles. The Padres franchise has nine. Can you name the other? I'll give the answer in the number 30 spot. 1 89-73 7 Interesting stretch here on the schedule. The Rays play obviously inferior teams (Tigers, Orioles, Marlins) for eight games before hosting the Yankees in a four-gamer Memorial Day weekend. Is it a realistic goal to close the 4 1/2 game gap by the end of the month? 1 86-76 8 The career year at age 34 was always going to look out of place, but it Dave Cash Jersey 's that much more jarring as you watch 35-year-old Brandon Crawford hitting .211 with a .333 slugging. 4 81-81 9 Think the record is too good for this spot in the rankings? The Brewers have played the easiest schedule in all of baseball to this point. They are 4-4 against teams .500 or better. Oh, and they just lost a series to the Reds. 2 86-76 10 Just to piggyback off that Brewers comment, you have to commend the good teams for beating up on bad teams. There's something to be said for taking care of busine s. I bring this up here because the Twins don't play another team over .500 until June 3. Zack Wheeler Jersey It's the Royals, Tigers and A's for the next 18 games. 1 78-84 11 Look, guys, I know there are ebbs and flows to the season and all, but losing a series to the Orioles before winning one over the Giants makes rankings a lot more complicated than they should be. Let's lock it up, here. -- 93-69 12 This is at least mildly concerning. The Jays have lost nine of their last 12 and are 7 1/2 games out in the AL East. 2 92-70 13 Obviously that was a really rough finish to the week, but the Phillies still went 5-2 on a road trip out west that included four games in Dodger Stadium. That's a wildly succe sful week. 7 87-75 14 Last week I mentioned that it felt like they were on the verge of a hot streak. I, of course, didn't mean right away. I called the Power Rankings version of a delayed steal. I know everyone believes me, too. 1 101-61 15 One of the better offensive teams in the league with a suspect pitching staff, just like everyone predicted. 1 92-70 16 They still have three starting pitchers in the 1s in ERA (Zac Gallen, 1.05; Merrill Kelly, 1.71; Madison Bumgarner, 1.78). No team has pulled that off in a