Week in Review 3

Week In Review

 

We’re back with Week 3 in the Week in Review. A lot of good and bad this week as per usual, so let’s get to the review.

AL EAST

-The Boston Red Sox did not have a good week offensively but the pitching was on point. This has been the same story for the past two weeks as well with this team. The offense will eventually heat up and start clicking on all cylinders, but they need to hope that when it happens the pitching doesn’t take a turn for the worst. The Orioles are in last place in the division, thanks in large part to subpar pitching and a complete power outage from an offense that is very dependent on the long ball. The Toronto Blue Jays kept themselves afloat while Jose Reyes was on the DL and they now have him back. If Reyes can stay healthy and be the spark plug he needs to be for this offense the Blue Jays will be able to hang around for most of the season. They do need to get improved pitching from every starter not named Mark Buerhle though. This week was a good news bad news week for the Yankees and their depth issues. Mark Teixeira returned to the lineup helping to deepen it and move everyone back to positions they are more comfortable in. However, Ivan Nova was removed from a start with elbow soreness which was revealed to be a partial tear of his UCL. This injury means only one thing; Tommy John Surgery is almost certainly on the horizon for the young pitcher. Tampa Bay’s bats woke up in the middle two games of a four game set with the Yankees but fell back asleep again on Sunday. Tampa needs their patchwork rotation to hold everything together for another month or so until reinforcements are ready. If the offense plays like they have before those two Yankee games then this team is in a whole lot of trouble.

AL CENTRAL

-The Detroit Tigers have to feel pretty good with a 9-6 record considering Miguel Cabrera is only batting .220 on the season. Their pitching has been key and will need to continue to be in order to stay in first. The Royals offense is continuing to struggle scoring runs and hitting home runs which is a problem considering how well they have pitched this year. I picked this team to win the division before the season started and it will not happen if the lack of power and scoring punch continues. The Chicago White Sox are the number one offense in baseball but only have a 9-10 record to show for it. The back end of their rotation has been awful, including Felipe Paulino who is an early front runner for worst starter in baseball in 2014. The Indians are playing horribly and needed a miracle to escape a sweep at the hands of Toronto. If they don’t wake up soon they can kiss the postseason goodbye. Raise your hand if you thought the Minnesota Twins would be at .500 after 18 games. I don’t even think Joe Mauer would have his hand up right now but that is exactly where the Twins find themselves. Chris Colabello is leading the AL in RBIs and thanks to a very suspect bunch of teams in their division the Twins are riding high for the time being, gaining confidence and experience.

AL WEST

-The Texas Rangers played very well at home this week to improve their record to 11-8. They get Adrian Beltre back this week which will help boost the offense. The Oakland A’s are playing fantastic and have the best run differential in baseball. Jesse Chavez has been a revelation for this team. The Astros went winless on the week but have taken steps necessary to start the promotions of the young studs in the minors. George Springer made his debut this week and has shown with time and experience he will be a good player in this league. Next up will be first baseman Jonathan Singleton. The Mariners started the year 3-0 and have gone 4-11 since. Their bullpen has been horrific, the starters are almost all hurt, and they still can’t score any runs. There was plenty of optimism in the first 72 hours but that is fading away real fast.  The Angels lead the majors in home runs, which would be a lot more devastating if they drew walks every once in a while to really make opposing pitchers pay. The pitching hasn’t been great but better than expected. There is potential here for a playoff push but they need to stop being the Yankees of old and relying solely on the long ball to generate runs.

 

NL EAST

-The Atlanta Braves do not have a starting pitcher with an ERA over 3.00. All the talk about pitching injuries and how they will overcome is now quieted down. Mike Minor will be back this week likely sending David Hale to the bullpen. The pitching has been dominant but the offense has been hit or miss. The Braves need to find a consistency if they want to fend off Washington. The Nationals are playing pretty well even if Matt Williams doesn’t appreciate Bryce Harper’s efforts in running out groundballs. Anthony Rendon will be an All Star in this league. The pitching has been ok but can improve, and will need to if they want to pull out in front in this race. The Mets have played better than expected despite being on their second closer already and Curtis Granderson looking like he forgets to bring a bat up to the plate. However, that is going to change, and quickly, as the injuries have started to affect the team. Juan Lagares had been the best player on this team by far when he went down. The Mets also traded Ike Davis this week to Pittsburgh, and if history is any indication, Davis should enjoy some good success away from the Mets. A big positive for the Philadelphia Phillies has been their starting pitching. They have gotten some very good quality starts out of their rotation and that only can improve with the impending return this week of Cole Hamels. The offense however has been a nightmare, especially Ben Revere, who is still batting leadoff. The Miami Marlins would most likely be the best team in this division and a playoff favorite if they were able to play all their games in Miami. Unfortunately for them, half their games are on the road, and they will need to dramatically improve on the road if they want to contend. Giancarlo Stanton is playing out of his mind and leads all of baseball with 26 RBI already on the season. The pitching is there and the offense is coming along especially with a healthy Stanton, but they need to play better on the road.

NL CENTRAL

-The Milwaukee Brewers have the best record in baseball and show no signs of slowing down. They also show no signs in being able to control Carlos Gomez who poses on routine hits and ends up getting the team into constant arguments and fights. If I was one of his veteran teammates I would sit him down and let him know in no uncertain terms the behavior will stop or else. The Cardinals have had some shaky offensive performances and Trevor Rosenthal has not been his dominant self yet they are still over .500. When everything starts clicking teams will dread seeing St. Louis on the schedule. The Pirates are another team that has not yet clicked but they are getting good pitching once again this season, as long as Jason Grilli doesn’t have to face Ryan Braun in the 9th inning of a save situation. The Cincinnati Reds have lacked a right handed option to balance out the heavy left-handedness of their best hitters in the lineup, but could have found that option in catcher Devin Mesoraco. He has been on fire and playing extremely well. With the bullpen getting back to full strength due to Marshall and Chapman being ready to return this could be a dangerous team, even with black hole Billy Hamilton leading off. The Cubs may be the biggest example of a one dimensional team. They have gotten some great starting pitching, especially from the top of the rotation in Samardzija and Wood but their offense has been dead on arrival. This team struggles to score, and not even consistently, just in general.

NL WEST

-The Dodgers wish they could play every day against the Diamondbacks, whom they have a 7-1 record against, while playing under .500 against everyone else. The good news for them is that the rest of the division may be bad enough that the Dodgers could still easily run away with it despite that. The San Francisco Giants started the year putting up very good offensive numbers but they have come back down to Earth hard. Morse, Posey, and Sandoval are all struggling and will need to pick it up if they want to turn this into a two team battle. The Rockies have played well despite a lot of injuries but this week could be a very telling one for the team. They have back to back sets against the Dodgers and Giants, who again, are struggling but are still very clearly the two best teams in this division. The Padres need their entire offense to wake up and start getting positive results. If that does happen, then this could be a team to look out for. Their pitching has been great and playing in the cavernous Petco Park helps them as much as it kills the offense. The Arizona Diamondbacks are one of the worst teams in the league and need to figure out a way to fix the starting rotation and their ability to hand the other team runs. Star prospect Archie Bradley is probably not enough at this point but will surely help. However, you have to wonder what his reception in the clubhouse will be after he and his agent spoke out publicly about the club not promoting him.

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