The weather is heating up as is the pennant races. The division races are closer than ever with a lot to be decided as the All-Star break is upon us. The mid-season classic is the halfway point in the season with mid-season predictions coming soon. Here are this weeks top 5 storylines.
Top 5 Storylines:
1. Yasiel Puig
2. Detroit Tigers entire pitching staff
3. Miguel Cabrera
4. Will the real Washington Nationals please step up!
5. Kirk Gibson’s Arizona Diamondbacks
5) The Arizona Diamondbacks have been up to the challenge so far as they compete with the defending World Series champion SF Giants (who are tied with the Chicago Cubs in terms of wins....ouch), the Dodgers, and two up and coming teams in the Colorado Rockies and San Diego Padres. The Diamondbacks head into July 11th with a 1.5 game lead over the surging Dodgers. With the off-season trade of Justin Upton many thought that the Diamondbacks would see a major decline but Kirk Gibson has his team playing great baseball and getting contributions up-and-down the lineup. Lefty Patrick Corbin (10-1) will turn 24 on July 19th and is emerging as the team's ace and a star in this league. Leading the way offensively is Paul Goldschmidt with a .311/21HR/and a league leading 76RBI’s. The second half will be very interesting with all five teams in this division having a legitimate chance at taking it.
4) After last year’s monumental collapse in the playoffs, at home, the Washington Nationals have had everything set up for 2013. Stephen Stratsburg returns from being benched at the end of season, in hopes to play a full season. 21-year old Bryce Harper has a year under his belt. Dan Haren and Rafael Soriano were added to improve the rotation and bullpen respectively. But as they head towards the all-star break manager Davey Johnson and his squad have to be considered as “under-achievers.” They are (47-44), 5-games back from division leading Braves and 4-games back from the wild card held by the Pittsburgh Pirates and Cincinnati Reds. A recent streak has gotten them back into contention but the Nationals have high expectations with a playoff or bust mentality. However, with the Braves being as strong as they are and holding down 1st place, a division playoff spot looks tough, which only leaves the wild card. Jordan Zimmerman and Gio Gonzalez have been a mainstay at the top of the rotation while Haren has been placed on the DL after a terrible start to the season. We will know a lot more about this team in the next coming weeks.
3) Triple Crown Winner. AL MVP. World Series Champion. Going to his 9th-All Star game this year and Miguel Cabrera is only 30 years. Chris Davis is in BEASTMODE this year, and Mike Trout is off to a strong sophomore season but is there any question that Cabrera is the toughest out in all of baseball? and the mid-season AL MVP? He’s so intimidating at the plate with the ability to spray the ball to any part of the diamond that pitchers feel like the walk is the only way he wont do damage; he leads the AL in walks with (55). 2012 was no fluke! Cabrera became the first player since Carl Yastrezemski did it in 1967 to win the Triple Crown*. It also helps to have guys like Prince Fielder and Victor Martinez batting after him and hitting machine Tori Hunter in front of him. In 2013 Cabrera is on pace to DESTROY all his numbers from 2012. With a week before the All-Star break Cabrera is on yet another Triple Crown pace. .366/29HR/93RBI/.456OBP. What is even more impressive, is that every year since he entered the MLB with the then Florida Marlins in 2003 his offensive numbers have always improved. Each year he ends up with a batting average over .300 and has finished with 100+RBI’s in every season but his rookie season which he put up 62. Cabrera will reach the triple digit mark in RBI’s this season and it might still come in the first half of the season. Move over Albert Pujols you have been replaced as the best and purest hitter in the game by Cabrera.
2) Sticking with the Detroit Tigers their pitching staff has been nearly flawless leading the Majors in strikeouts. It starts with Justin Verlander who by no means is having a “Verlander-Esque” type of a year but is still the leader of the group and can win without pitching his best stuff. Verlander (9-6) has a 3.71 ERA and a 122 strikeouts. Clearly these are not the Verlander stats we are used to but when one person is down another picks up the pieces and in this case it's Max Scherzer. Scherzer is having a CY Young caliber season with a perfect (13-0) start and a WHIP** of (0.95). But it’s not just Scherzer and Verlander pitching well in the rotation but Anibal Sanchez and Doug Fister are also in the top-20 for strikeouts, a big reason why the Tigers lead the AL Central....and Miguel Cabrera of course. The rotation has been tasked with going deep into game with the bullpen being very problematic this season for Jim Leyland’s Tigers. To put into perspective Jose Valverde leads the team with 9-saves and has not pitched since June 19th.
1) Since coming into the MLB on June 3rd no one has been under the spotlight as much as Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig. In his second profssional game Puig had 2 home runs and 5 runs batted in against the San Diego Padres. The 22-year old Cuban has hit .394/8HR/19RBI/.428OPS in 2 months since being called up and was a candidate to be in the All-Star Game next weekend from Citi Field but lost out to Freddie Freeman. If it were up to this writer then Puig should be no doubt the final selection for the NL Team (sorry Freddie Freeman) but Puig is a bolt of energy, just like Mike Trout is in the AL. The MLB is heading in a new direction with young players like Stratsburg, Bryce Harper, Trout and Manny Machado dominating the game and the these young phenom’s should be showcased on baseball's brightest stage, an All-Star game without Puig is a huge mistake! Puig has sparked the Dodgers back into contention with a lineup that features Hanley Ramierez, Matt Kemp and Adrian Gonzalez to round out the top-4. Puig will not be in the contention for the NL MVP, however the NL Rookie Of the Year is still a strong possibility. The best part of Puig is that he plays the game with such confidence. His jersey number is 66 which is a very unusual baseball number unless your a reliever or a call-up but it reminds me of Manny Ramierez and the #99, and on ground ball singles he flicks his bat like he has just hit a no doubt home run. Sports Science did a feature on Puig on his ability to Hit, Steal and Throw out base runners it is simply one of the coolest things I have seen recently and am very excited by his potential.(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GZ3OFzB9c8)
Games To Watch:
1) Texas Rangers (53-39) @ Detroit Tigers (50-41)
- Friday to Sunday
- Two of the best teams in the MLB going at it to wrap up the first half
- Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander will both pitch in the series.
2) Cincinnati Reds (51-40) @ Atlanta Braves (52-39)
- Two of the best teams in the NL
- A very possible NLCS come this October
- Both teams have electric rotations and bullpens
3) Toronto Blue Jays (44-47) @ Baltimore Orioles (50-42)
- Friday-Sunday
- Jays have a possible chance of climbing within 5 games of a playoff position
The last time these two teams met the Jays swept all 3 from the Rogers Centre, despite two of the games being 1-run wins.
Index:
*Triple Crown: is awarded to a player who leads HIS league in Batting Average, Home Runs and Runs Batted In
** WHIP: Walks+Hits/Innings Pitched
No comments:
Post a Comment