June 20, 2017
Although it is still early in the season there is much to
talk about with both leagues having something special going on.
In the American
League, the Yankees started out like a ball of fire. The lineup is stacked with
great hitting. Ellsbury, Sanchez, Castro and Holliday. Add MVP candidate Aaron
Judge and you get tons of runs. He might be only the second player since 1967
(Miguel Cabrera 2012) to win the Triple Crown. He leads in all three categories.
However, the pitching is suspect and they have been caught by Boston.The Red
Sox not only have great hitters, they also have the pitching to win this division, which I
and others predicted when the season started.
The Minnesota Twins got off to an awfully good start. The
major reason is last year the pitching ERA was 5.09. They have cut that down to
about 3.00 Starters Santana and Berrios have ERA's under 2.75. They rely on Mauer,
Sano and Dozier to provide offense and the bullpen has improved. Last weekend the lead was down to two
games. After leading the division for
most of the year the bubble may have burst..They got swept in a four game series with the Indians and are now two games
out. The Indians are playing like they want to go back to the World Series (unlike
their National League opponent). They are clearly the class of this division
and should win it easily, just like many thought. The Twins? Third place at
best.
I thought Texas was going to repeat in the West Division and
Houston would challenge if they got off to a good start. Well, the Astros are
playing .657 baseball and lapping the field. The offense is powered by Altuve,
Correa, Beltre and Springer. The pitching staff led by Keuchel (who I think is
better than Kershaw or Sale) with a 1.87 ERA is leading a staff who’s aggregate ERA is 3.65. No one will catch them even with Keuchel currently on the DL.
In the National League, one of the biggest surprises is that the Cubs are trailing a rebuilding Brewers team. This won’t last. The Cubs aren’t playing
well but will still win the division. Many figured they would once again run
and hide from the competition. At this point they are just mediocre at best. An 87-75 record is all it will take to win this division.
In the East Division Washington is running away. Some people
thought the Mets might challenge but injuries have really hurt their team.
Washington can go far in the post season. They have three of the top ten
hitters in the league Murphy, Harper and Zimmerman who is near the top in home
runs and RBI. They also have top three real good starters, Scherzer, Strasburg
and Gonzalez. What they desperately need to make a run for the World Series is
a closer. Just ask the Giants.
The craziest of all the divisions is the NL West. Everyone
knew the Dodgers would be good. As of this writings writing this they are in a
dog fight but not with the Giants.Instead perennial losers, the Colorado Rockies
and Arizona Diamondbacks are playing at a .639 and .629 clip.The Dodgers are
at .629. How is this happening? The
Rockies have three primary run producers, Arenado, Gonzales and Blackmon. The
pitching staff has a is 4.13 ERA, excellent at Coors
Field. The Diamondbacks hitting comes from Lamb, Drury ,Peralta and one of the
top hitters in the game, Goldschmidt. The staff is led by Greinke, T. J.
McFarland 1.74 and Robbie Ray 2.78. Problem maybe Rodney as a closer. He has 20
saves however, his ERA is 4.23. Playing on the west coast I don’t watch many
Dodger games. I do know, they have great pitching .Led by Kershaw, Wood and McCarthy and an excellent bullpen Baez and Jansen, the team ERA is a meager 3.38. Corey Seager and
Yasiel Puig have combined for 24 homers and 75 RBI. Their best offensive player is rookie Cody
Bellinger. He hit 21 homers in 51 games, fastest in major league history. Right now he has 22
home runs and 49 RBI. Therefore, the Dodgers will win the division. Colorado and Arizona would be wild cards if
the season ended today.
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