Around the Horn

May 19, 2018

Now that the weather has warmed up and fewer games are being cancelled, the baseball season is taking shape. The good teams are starting to play well along with some surprises..

At this point the Houston Astros have a 3 game lead. The Angels with the additions of Upton, Kinsler and baseball’s best player, Mike Trout, are keeping them close, playing .568 baseball.  The pitching has been much better than anticipated.  The Mariners have also played well. If they have a lead after 6 innings, their dynamite relief pitching will shut teams down. Losing their best player Cano to PEDs will hurt wild card chances. Talking about AL West would not be complete without a Shohei Ohtani update. He’s 3-1 with a 3.58 ERA. In 90 at  bats, he’s hitting .321 with 6 homers and 17 RBI.

As expected, the Yankees and Red Sox are dogging it out in the AL East owning the two best records in the majors. This should be close until the end. So far the best player in the game has been Boston’s Mookie Betts. He leads the league in batting average and is among the leaders in home runs. He has 30 RBI in the lead off position and has a 10 point lead in runs scored. The Toronto Blue Jays and Tampa Bay Rays are good teams that would be fighting for the lead in the AL Central.

In what is probably the worst division, the Cleveland Indians are in first place at 23-22.  Minnesota got side tracked by 3 straight cancellations and should get better. Right now a bad Detroit team is in second.  The Royals are are terrible and the White Sox just suck.

Last year it seems the Dodgers over achieved. Career years and great pitching got them to the World Series. However, injuries have really hurt this team and the rest of the players aren’t stepping up. There is still time, but it will hard catching the Diamondbacks and Rockies. Even with Goldschmidt not clicking on all cylinders, the Diamondbacks' pitching has them in first place. The Rockies with their great line up are right behind. The Giants with the acquisitions of Longoria and McCutchen have improved and are 3 ½ games out, 4 in front of the Dodgers.

While the Mets are starting to fade, the rebuilt Braves and homer happy Phillies are 1-2 in the NL East. While I expect the Phillies to fade, the Braves can make it tough for Washington (now 1 ½ games out) to repeat as division champs. What I thought was a joke could turn out to be the most interesting of the pennant races.

The NL central is really bunched right now. Three teams within 2 ½ games. I can’t see anyone but the Cubs winning this division, well at least on paper. St. Louis and Milwaukee don’t possess a line up as good. Rizzo will get back on track so the Cubs will be stronger. The starting pitching, even with Yu Darvish is better than their competitors. The bullpen with knock down closer Morrow is good enough.  Recent stretch of 7 out of 10 versus Miami, Chicago and Cincinnati doesn’t hurt. All are last place teams.