Baseball at the Midway Point

July 3, 2017

With the first half of the baseball season being over, it is a good time to assess the season. With the exception of the Cubs, the favorites are leading the other divisions. The teams at the top now will probably be there at the end of the year. With the Red Sox, Indians, Astros the American League pennant is up for grabs. The Dodgers seem to be the best in the National League.

What used to be fun is the upcoming all-star game. Still the best of its kind in sports, with inter-league play it has lost a lot of its luster. However, unlike other sports, the essence of baseball remains. Pitcher vs. Batter. Now let’s turn to our local boys of summer.

Chicago Cubs – Still waiting for that hot streak, the Cubs reach the halfway point as a mediocre .500 team. One of the things that can derail a good team are injuries. Bryant, Rizzo Zobrist and Heyward have all missed games, the latter two, several. The most devastating has been the loss of pitcher Kyle Hendricks.  With Arrieta having an off year, the Cubs are down to one reliable starter. Although he did look real good in his last outing against Cincinnati. However, a good team does not lose 2 out of 3 to the Reds. They still have trouble with good teams. If not for a terrible bullpen, they get swept by the Nationals. Meanwhile I’m not hearing about how many wins the great Joe Maddon is responsible for. Leading off Kyle Schwarber didn’t seem to work. To give this responsibility to a guy who hadn’t had a full season of experience was not a good move. He’s not as good as Maddon or Cub fans thought. Despite these problems, a modest win streak will allow them to catch Milwaukee and win this lousy division.

Chicago “loyalty trumps winning” White Sox – This team is as lousy as expected. After spending a majority of the season on the road, they opened a 10 game home stand losing three straight to the just as bad Oakland A’s.  What’s maddening is they then split with the Yankees and won a series against Texas. Renteria has them hustling and installed a never quit attitude. Yet they are still 9 games under .500 and what’s going on in the minor leagues is more interesting. Top prospect, Yoan Moncada should be up after the break. Nicky Delmonico looks good as the third baseman of the future. Frazier should be gone and Davidson strikes out too often. I’m all in for the rebuild. However, obtaining young pitchers is a crap shoot. To this point the ones they traded for are getting pounded in the minors. I’m looking forward to the trade deadline to see if Hahn can acquire position players for the future. Meanwhile relax, laugh, cry and pray. 2019 can’t come too soon.