We’re Halfway There

Since my preseason picks, I haven’t talked much about baseball besides the Yankees’ unexpected struggles. Since we’re halfway through the baseball season and there’s no way to milk another article on the NBA, I’ll analyze what’s going on with select teams and what will happen with the rest of the season, including updated award predictions and World Series predictions.

Boston Red Sox (Runs Scored: 8th, ERA: 3rd, Errors Committed: 11th)

It goes without saying that the Sox are playing extremely well. Both Kevin Youkilis (.328 BA) and Dustin Pedroia (.318 BA) have stepped up big time to be key pieces in the Red Sox’ success. David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez are doing fine as well. Julio Lugo (.197 BA) has been the anchor that keeps the Sox from pulling full speed ahead but it isn’t enough to keep the team down. Pitchers Curt Schilling and Tim Wakefield have also been struggling, but their efforts have been balanced out by the great performances of Josh Beckett and Daisuke Matsuzaka. Schilling has been on the DL as well as future-star Jon Lester, and their return should help out a lot. What I like most about this Sox team is the fact that their bullpen has dramatically improved. Their bullpen was awful last year which is one of the main reasons they went through a second half slump last season causing them to ultimately finish 3rd in the division. This year, Hideki Okajima, Brendan Donnelly, and Javier Lopez have allowed the Sox to close out games. Jonathon Papelbon’s continued success is also a giant factor. The big question still remains, will the second half slump occur again this season? Signs of it already exist as they were swept by the Tigers right before the break. The Sox will probably cool off, but it won’t be enough for them to fall out of the division lead.

New York Yankees (Runs Scored: 3rd, ERA: 15th, Errors Committed: 7th)

Despite failing to achieve their goals in the first half of the season, the Yankees are far from finished for the simple fact that they are 3rd in the league in runs scored and 15th in the league with lowest ERA (Cleveland ranks worse). No one should ever count the Yankees out of the competition until they are deep into the second half of the season. Still, the Yanks have a lot of work ahead of them. Certain players need to play well now. Clemens is already back in the groove winning his 350th game two starts ago and going 8 innings with one earned run his next start. Andy Pettitte has had a recent history of playing much better in the second half along with Bobby Abreu. Alex Rodriguez is looking at his second MVP award with the Yankees, and Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada are playing excellent as well. Chien-Ming Wang has been excellent as well continuing his success as the ace of the Yankees pitching staff. Look for the Yanks to grab some bullpen help before the deadline which seems to be their biggest weakness.

Detroit Tigers (Runs Scored: 1st, ERA: 13th, Errors Committed: 18th)

The Tigers are in a tight race with the Indians at this point but are performing very well under the circumstances. They’ve won six of their last seven and look like the best team in baseball right now. Last year, one of the key pieces they were missing was the power hitter in the lineup. In the off-season they grabbed Gary Sheffield who seems to be performing to his expectations with 21 homeruns and 58 RBI. Although the pitching hasn’t been the best, Kenny Rogers is back and his addition should help out a lot. Their biggest weakness is their bullpen so it will be interesting to see if they wait it out and rely on their injured guys to get better or grab help before the trade deadline.

Cleveland Indians (Runs Scored: 2nd, ERA: 17th, Errors Committed: 15th)

The Indians are 1-2 in batting with the Tigers. The bad news is that the Tigers are in their division. Contrary to popular belief, there is no guarantee that the wild card team comes from the Central Division which puts pressure on the team to do well. Look for the struggling Travis Hafner to heat up in the second half as he has had a batting average of over .300 the past three seasons. C.C. Sabathia has become one of the elite pitchers in the league and Fausto Carmona has been a great young guy. After those guys, the pitching isn’t very good however. One of the bigger disappointments is Jeremy Sowers, who is going through a bad sophomore slump with an ERA of 6.92. A lot will depend on him if the Indians want to make the playoffs.

Minnesota Twins (Runs Scored: 7th, ERA: 11th, Errors Committed: 2nd)

The Twins' pitching has been mediocre but that can change. Matt Garza recently came back from the minors to pitch an excellent first game (6 IP, 0 ER). If he can keep that up, this will be a big boost to the Twins who don’t have too many reliable pitchers after Johan Santana. Boof Bonser has looked great at times this season and should do a lot better in the second half. Justin Morneau and Torii Hunter lead the offense but it won’t be enough to compete in the Central Division while they are 8 games back right now. I don’t see them catching the Tigers and Indians.

Los Angeles Angels (Runs Scored: 6th, ERA: 8th, Errors Committed: 16th)

The Angels starting pitching is pretty good. They have three solid guys in John Lackey, Kelvim Escobar, and Jered Weaver. Their bullpen is even better; one of the strongest in the league. Coupled with a powerful offense led by Vladimir Guerrero, Orlando Cabrera, Casey Kotchman, Reggie Willits, and Chone Figgins, this team is a lock for the playoffs.

Oakland A's (Runs Scored: 23rd, ERA: 2nd, Errors Committed: 12th)

With the A’s, the question since the preseason was whether anyone on the offense can step up. The pitching was not really a question and the A’s proved it by having the second lowest team ERA in the bigs. The problem is the offense is horrible and the Angels are too strong. It’s safe to say at this point, the A’s won’t be seeing any October action.


New York Mets (Runs Scored: 21st, ERA: 5th, Errors Committed: 5th)

Moving onto the National League, the Mets pitching has surprised everyone ranking fifth in the league. One has to question how good this really is however. Oliver Perez has a surprising 3.14 ERA when in the last three season he’s posted an ERA over six. Whether he will continue his success in the second half of the season is very questionable. Another question is the eventual return of Pedro Martinez; will he be back in time to help the Mets out and if he is, will he be effective enough? Another surprising stat about the Mets is that they are 21st in the league in runs scored. You have to believe that that will get a lot better in the second half of the season when last season with pretty much the same offense, the team was ranked seventh. The Mets will win the NL East.

Atlanta Braves (Runs Scored: 15th, ERA: 12th, Errors Committed: 23rd)

The Braves look like a promising team. While the defense needs work, the pitching and the offense are pretty good; the bullpen is even better. If the defense steps up, look for the Braves to grab the wild card.

Philadelphia Phillies (Runs Scored: 4th, ERA: 28th, Errors Committed: 13th)

With the Phillies, it’s very simple, the pitching is terrible. Besides Cole Hamels, the Phillies have noone, both as a starter or reliever. Of course it doesn’t help that a number of relievers are injured but even with their return, the pitching staff doesn’t look that much better. What has kept them at .500 is that their offense is really good. Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins, and Aaron Rowand have been nothing less than great. If the Phillies want to contend, they need to invest in pitching before the break or grab some help from the minors.

Milwaukee Brewers (Runs Scored: 9th, ERA: 10th, Errors Committed: 22nd)

The Brewers are a great team when it comes to pitching and offense. They have a lot of great young guys who are performing up to their expectations. The problem is the team is too young which means they are very capable of collapsing in the second half of the season due to the pressure and lack of experience on how to deal with it. The disadvantage of their age is already showing with their defense which is not so great. While they will dominate the NL for years to come, I don’t see them closing out the deal this year.

Chicago Cubs (Runs Scored: 20th, ERA: 7th, Errors Committed: 9th)

Look for the Cubs to have a huge second half and take the lead in the Central Division. They have solid pitching with Carlos Zambrano looking great once again and Ted Lilly proving he was a good investment after all. The bullpen is pretty decent as well. What the Cubs need to do is to get the bats going, and look for it to happen. Alfonso Soriano is on pace to hit 66 RBI when in the past five seasons, he’s hit over 90. Derrek Lee should also catch fire as he is on pace to hit 84 RBI when the season prior to his injury, he hit 107 RBI.

Houston Astros (Runs Scored: 18th, ERA: 23rd, Errors Committed: 14th)

The Astros have been one of the bigger disappointments. Their batting has been pretty solid for the most part with the emergence of Hunter Pence and the continued success of Carlos Lee and Mark Loretta. Lance Berkman, batting .263 when he was supposed to be in the race for MVP, has been one of the big factors for the team underachieving. But the biggest problem is that a team once known for its pitching has taken a step in the opposite direction. Woody Williams, who had an ERA of 3.65 last year, is pitching 5.34 this season and Chris Sampson has not been helping either with his first year as a full time starter. To make it even worse, the bullpen for the Astros has been awful, one of the worst in the majors. Even though I had this team representing the NL in the World Series in the beginning of the year, I can safely say, this team has little chance of competing in the second half.

San Diego Padres (Runs Scored: 24th, ERA: 1st, Errors Committed: 8th)

The Padres have the best pitching in the league with Jake Peavy and Chris Young leading their starters. Their bullpen is also the best in the league which helps out other starters who might struggle early on. Why are they not running away with the best record in the league? Their offensive is terrible. How terrible? No starter from the beginning of the season has a batting average over .300. Adrian Gonzalez will heat up in the second half but he will need help. I don’t think Milton Bradley’s addition is the solution to this problem; it helps, but it’s not enough. They have to grab someone else before the deadline to help them out on offense if they want to seriously contend for the championship because they won’t get to smell it with the lineup they have right now.

Los Angeles Dodgers (Runs Scored: 19th, ERA: 4th, Errors Committed: 28th)

The Dodgers have the worst defense out of all of the contenders with 68 errors committed. That’s the bad news. The good news is that the starting pitching is very good and their bullpen is even better; one of the best in the majors along with the Angels. Their offense is pretty decent, at least better than the Padres’ which should work to their advantage in the two-team battle for the NL West. It should be fun watching these two teams duking it out for the division title.

My updated predictions with the season half over are as follows:

World Series: Detroit Tigers over Los Angeles Dodgers, 4-2

AL MVP: Alex Rodriguez
AL Cy Young: Johan Santana
AL ROY: Daisuke Matsuzaka

NL MVP: Derrek Lee
NL Cy Young: Jake Peavy
NL ROY: Hunter Pence

References: Baseball-Reference.com

Sports Moment of the Week

Roger Federer got his revenage against Rafael Nadal on the grass winning his fifth straight Wimbledon title last week. Last month, Nadal defeated Federer on the clay at the French Open.