MLB Midterm Review

Now that the MLB All-Star game has been played, it is time to take a look back on what has happened thus far in the 2013 season.  On opening day, I made several predictions (and if you want to check them out you can just click here http://bit.ly/YWPdDP), and to be honest not too many of them were very good.  The worst prediction I made was that the Angels and Blue Jays were going to be the cream of the crop in the American League.  Boy was I wrong about that!  Both teams have been subpar.  I successfully jinxed both of my Cy Young winners; Jered Weaver suffered a freak broken elbow in his non-pitching arm and Stephen Strasburg has been pretty good but still has a losing record at the break.  Joey Votto was once again an All-Star but is hardly having an MVP season and Mike Trout is having an MVP season but it is for the most disappointing team in baseball.  The Rookie of the Year race in both leagues is up for grabs but the talent seems to be all in the National League where Evan Gattis, Shelby Miller, Julio Teheran, and Dodger phenom Yasiel Puig seem poised for an exciting finish whereas the lackluster AL rookie battle can conceivably be won by a player who has less than 20 RBI at the break.  It’s like Joaquin Andujar once said, “You can sum it up in one word: You never know.”  Without further ado, here are my most pleasant surprises and most disappointing ones for the first half.

Most Pleasantly Surprising Team

NL-Pittsburgh Pirates: How can anyone not root for these guys and this franchise that has not had a winning season in 21 years?  I am not completely surprised that they are having a great season but I am surprised that they have the second best record in the NL thus far.  They have a nice mixture of young talent (Andrew McCutchen, Starling Marte, Pedro Alvarez) and some strong veteran leadership (A.J. Burnett, Russell Martin, Francisco Liriano), not to mention what may be the best story in MLB this season in closer Jason Grilli.  Grilli has converted 29/30 save opportunities and has an ERA less than 2.00.  Not bad for a 36-year-old guy who only had five career saves coming in to this season. 

AL-Cleveland Indians: It is hard to imagine that the Indians are only one game behind the Detroit Tigers for the Central division lead.  Seriously, who does this team have?  Well, they were aggressive in the offseason getting guys like Michael Bourn and Nick Swisher, they have made great trades over the past few years acquiring Justin Masterson, developing young talent like Jason Kipnis and Carlos Santana, and going to the scrap heap to revive the careers of guys like Mark Reynolds and Scott Kazmir.  Oh yeah, they also brought in some guy named Francona to manage them.  Supposedly he broke some kind of curse in Boston or something.  Maybe he can do the same in Cleveland, a town that has not won a professional sports championship since 1964. 

Most Disappointing Team

NL-San Francisco Giants: To think that the team that has won two of the last three World Series is twelve games below .500 at the All-Star break is unfathomable, especially when you consider it is pretty much the same group of guys.  The starting rotation still includes Cain, Lincecum, and Bumgarner and the lineup still has Posey, Scutaro, Pence, and Sandoval.  Bruce Bochy hasn’t forgotten how to manage.  So what’s the problem?  Some of it has been injuries but most of it has been lackluster pitching combined with mediocre hitting.  I believe the Giants will get things turned around but they have too far to climb to be a contender this year.

AL-Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim: The Blue Jays made a million trades in the offseason and were poised to have the best rotation in the AL if not all of baseball so the fact their pitching has been atrocious (and that may be a kind description) makes perfect sense, right?  And the Angels have spent billions of dollars the past two offseasons getting arms and bats so it just stands to reason they are only mediocre.  What else can you say about these two teams other than there is no reason they should be a combined nine games under .500 at the break.

Pleasant NL Youth Movement

Young arms have emerged and dominated in the National League this year.  The hapless Mets have a young stud in All-Star Game starter Matt Harvey and they have another waiting in Zack Wheeler, whom they received at the trading deadline two years ago in the Carlos Beltran trade with San Francisco.  These two could the cornerstone of the Mets rotation for the next decade.  Shelby Miller has been a rock in the St. Louis Cardinals rotation.  It seems the Cardinals have an endless abundance of starting pitching just laying in the weeds.  No wonder many analysts say they have the best farm system in baseball.  Patrick Corbin has been phenomenal this year for the first place Diamondbacks.  He has more wins that Harvey and the same ERA but gets much less hype due to playing in the desert.  And there are some young bats, too.  Evan Gattis, Jean Segura, and Yasiel Puig will make the highlight reels for many years to come.

Disappointing Veteran Free Agents

It doesn’t get more disappointing than B.J. Upton and Josh Hamilton.  Upton signed the largest free agent contract in the history of the Braves organization and has been an utter embarrassment at the plate through the first 95 games.  Upton has amassed 8 HR and 20 RBI in the first half.  His brother, Justin, who the Braves traded to get in the offseason, had those numbers three weeks into the season.  Josh Hamilton signed a mega-deal with the Angels much like the one that Albert Pujols signed after the 2011 season.  At the break, Hamilton has 14 HR, 39 RBI, a .224 AVG, .696 OPS, and 95 Ks in 339 at-bats.  Braves rookie Evan Gattis has 14 HR, 37 RBI, a .246 AVG, and an .873 OPS in 167 at-bats while making the major league minimum. 

All-Surprise Team : )

NAME                        TEAM             POS     HR      RBI     AVG  
Evan Gattis                 Braves             C         14        37        .246
Paul Goldschmidt       D’backs           1B       21        77        .313
Matt Carpenter           Cardinals         2B       9          45        .321 (NL leading 72 runs)
Jean Segura                Brewers           SS        11        36        .325(27 Stolen Bases)
Josh Donaldson          A’s                  3B       16        61        .310
Domonic Brown         Phillies            LF       23        67        .273
Carlos Gomez             Brewers           CF       14        45        .295 (21 SB)
Yasiel Puig                  Dodgers          RF       8          19        .391 (1.038 OPS, 38 Games)

                                                                        W-L     ERA    K         SV/OPP

Matt Harvey                 Mets                SP        7-2       2.35     147
Patrick Corbin              D’backs           SP        11-1     2.35     109
Shelby Miller               Cardinals         SP        9-6       2.92     112
Jason Grilli                   Pirates             CL                   1.99     63        29/30

All Surprise Team : (

NAME                         TEAM             POS     HR      RBI     AVG
Miguel Montero          D’backs           C         8          33        .224 (16/87/.284 2011-12)
Ike Davis                     Mets                1B       5          18        .165 (32/90/.225 2012)
Danny Espinosa          Nationals         2B       3          12        .158 (19/61/.242 2011-12)
Starlin Castro              Cubs                SS        6          29        .243 (12/72/.296 2011-12)
Mike Moustakas          Royals             3B       6          17        .215 (20/73/.242 2012)
Josh Hamilton             Angels             OF       14        39        .224 (34/111/.291 2011-12)
B.J. Upton                   Braves             CF       8          20        .177 (25/79/.244 2011-12)     
Josh Reddick              A’s                   RF       4          32        .218 (32/85/.242 2012)

                                                                        W-L     ERA    K         SV/OPP

Matt Cain                    Giants              SP        5-6       5.06     103
Josh Johnson               Blue Jays         SP        1-5       5.16     67
Mark Buehrle              Blue Jays         SP        5-6       4.89     77
R.A. Dickie                 Blue Jays         SP        8-10     4.69     92
Fernando Rodney        Rays                CL       3-2       3.79     56        22/27

Triple Crown Watch

Now that it has happened in my lifetime, I have come to expect someone to win the Triple Crown every year.  The best candidate to do so is, shockingly, Miguel Cabrera.  Coming off his 2012 Triple Crown MVP season, Cabrera only became the first player in MLB history to achieve 30+ HR and 90+ RBI at the All-Star break; all while batting a cool .365.  He could be on his way to becoming the first man ever to win the Triple Crown in back-to-back seasons.  (And let’s not forget this cat just turned 30 in April).  To accomplish that feat, though, he will have to surpass Baltimore’s Chris Davis who has 37 HR and only trails Miggy by two RBI.  I’ll say the odds are pretty good that Cabrera doesn’t repeat, but wouldn’t it be something if he did?

All in all, the first half of the season has been amazing and I see no reason why the second half won’t be even better.  The trading deadline is in two weeks and many teams will be looking to make moves.  Hold on tight, baseball fans!  It’s going to be a fantastic ride to the finish line.