Week in Review
-The Toronto Blue Jays didn’t have a great week this week.
The pitching gave up a lot of runs and they finished the week with a 2-4
record. The good news for them is that 16 of their games have come against
division opponents. They have a long stretch of games outside the AL East
coming up which should help show who this team really is. The Yankees won two more series this week
against the Red Sox and Angels. They had to deal with PINE-da Gate and the
announcement that IVAN Nova will be getting Tommy John Surgery this week,
ending his season and keeping him out most likely all of the first half next
year. The Yankees are tied for the best record in the AL which is somewhat
surprising, but they need to keep guys on the field in order to win this
division. Last year’s division winner, the Boston Red Sox haven’t fared so
well. For the most part the team is healthy but they can’t seem to get
consistent run production from anyone not named Mike Napoli. The Rays have
finally had to battle with injuries to their pitching staff after consistently
being the luckiest team in all of baseball when it came to pitcher injuries.
The replacement arms and prototypical sputtering Rays offense have not done
this team any favors and due to the short starts by replacement pitchers the
bullpen is being run into the ground. The first month of the season has seen
the Orioles tread above water with a .500 record. The biggest surprise with
their record is the fact that they haven’t exactly been hitting or pitching
extremely well. They’ve been pretty middle of the pack and the DL trip for Home
Run King Chris Davis will hurt the depth of the lineup and take away a big
lefty bat.
-The Detroit Tigers have looked like division winners once
again in the first month of the season. Not so much because they’ve played as
well as they have in past, more so because the rest of the division has taken a
step backwards. Ian Kinsler has been a solid pickup thus far and is helping the
run production with his speed and stolen base abilities. The Kansas City Royals
have a fantastic pitching staff, other than Bruce Chen, but their offense has
not gotten going at all. They have the least number of home runs in the
American League, and in this league and division you need to be able to hit home
runs. After one month of the season I doubt very many people would have said
Jose Abreu would be the Major League leader in home runs and RBIs but that is
exactly what he is. Abreu has helped the White Sox offense score the most runs
in the AL, but on the flip side, the pitching has been so bad they’ve given up
the most runs. If this team wants to contend they need to find some pitching
help and get Chris Sale healthy. Here’s another question after one month of
play: who would have guessed the Twins would be over .500 to date? Considering
their starters ERA is over 6 this is nothing short of amazing. Brian Dozier and
especially Chris Colabello have been fantastic. Chief Wahoo and Terry Francona
have a lot to be upset about after one month of play. The offense has been the
definition of inconsistent, as have the starters with the exception of Corey
Kluber who has been very good thus far but looked even better considering
everyone else’s performance.
-The Texas Rangers are tied with the Yankees and division
rival Oakland for best record in the AL. They are finally getting healthy and
could be very dangerous if they stay that way. They start a home series with
Oakland tonight as Yu Darvish faces off against Sonny Gray in a matchup of
aces. That matchup will also be the first of our 30 days around the majors here
at changingspeeds. Oakland hit somewhat of a funk over the weekend losing two
games to the lowly Astros but even still they have looked like the best and
deepest team in the American League. The Angels have gotten better pitching
than expected from their starters but their biggest problem has been the
bullpen. If the Angels get a lead they have a lot of trouble holding onto it.
They have a 2-7 record in one run games which tells us the arms go wild and the
bats go silent when they’re most needed. Kyle Seager of the Mariners was no
doubt the hottest hitter of the week. Hitting a go ahead homer and walk off
homer against the Astros this week followed up by a two home run game yesterday
against the Rangers. The Astros are still a very weak offensive team as well as
a pretty below average pitching team. The arrival of George Springer has
however begun the turnaround as the kids become more and more prepared to show
up in the big leagues and help turn this franchise around.
NL EAST
-The Atlanta Braves continue to get out of this world
pitching from their starting rotation and that only seems to continue now that
Mike Minor is ready to return. All five starters for the Braves are in the top
20 in ERA in the National League. Another team getting fantastic productivity
from their starting rotation is the Matt Harvey-less New York Mets. The bullpen
is more miss than hit but the starters have helped lessen the burden of needing
to depend so much on the pen. If this team could get some kind of positive
production from Curtis Granderson and get themselves a shortstop, whether it be
coming to some kind of middle ground with Stephen Drew or acquiring someone
else, this would be a playoff team for sure. The Marlins have come back down to
Earth from an offensive standpoint but they have luckily seen Giancarlo Stanton
stay healthy and produce like the beast he is. The Nationals have had to place
Bryce Harper on the DL and will certainly miss his services but with Doug
Fister coming back and Tanner Roark making a statement so far, the pitching
will help the lackluster offense stay in many games. No surprise the Phillies
are getting good pitching from Burnett, Hamels, and Lee. It’s also no surprise;
the pitching from everyone else hasn’t been that great. The bullpen has been
atrocious but this is another team who has been lucky to have their star player
healthy and producing like Chase Utley has.
-The Milwaukee Brewers are 18-7 and it may be time we have
to start to take them seriously. Losing Jean Segura for a period of time due to
a freak accident involving a Ryan Braun practice swing will hurt them but the
pitching has been great and they are getting timely hitting throughout the
lineup. The Cincinnati Reds got swept this weekend by the Braves but were
looking good before that. Braves pitching can do those sorts of things to
teams. Homer Bailey needs to step up and improve his performance to match that
of Johnny Cueto and Tony Cingrani. Many pundits predicted a fall back from the
Pirates because of regression in the pitching staff. So far the Pirates have
not proved these pundits wrong. A lack of timely hitting a far less dominate
rotation and bullpen will continue to doom the Pirates unless they can somehow
get their act together. The Cubs have gotten good pitching from their top three
in the rotation, Jeff Samardzija, Travis Wood, and Jason Hammel. However,
that’s the only thing positive that can be said about the Cubbies. The offense
seems like it’s in a coma and the bullpen is not very good. Another team
regressing is the St. Louis Cardinals. There is less power on this team than
last year and there was no way they could replicate their history making
average with runners in scoring position from last year but they have performed
adequately enough thanks in large part to their pitching. Staff ace and Cy
Young if he stays healthy, Adam Wainwright has been dominant so far this season
and Michael Wacha is not too far behind him.
-The Arizona Diamondbacks continue to struggle on the
season. They are getting absolutely no pitching and their hitting has for the
most part been atrocious. Mark Trumbo landed on the DL and his power will be
missed but the story of this team is the arms. They will not be making it out
of the cellar in the NL West at all this season and I wouldn’t be surprised if
Josh Towers and Kirk Gibson are canned before the All-Star Break. The Padres
are dealing with more injuries as now Chase Headley has landed on the DL but
more important than his loss is the complete lack of offense in San Diego. The
pitching for the most part is there especially because of Petco but the offense
needs to find a consistency. The Colorado Rockies need adequate pitching from
sources other than Jordan Lyles but the emergence of Nolan Arenado’s bat to
match his glove has been a very welcome site in the Rocky Mountains. Charlie
Blackmon won’t keep this production up all season but the longer he can ride
out this streak and Colorado can take advantage of it, the closer they will be
to wild card contention. The Los Angeles Dodgers have not played well at home
this season and seem to be coasting. It’s almost as if they know they are good
but only try and play hard on certain days. They better watch out though
because not only could Colorado breathe down their necks with a few breaks but
our last team could easily overtake them. The San Francisco Giants have the
best bullpen in the majors by far from top to bottom. It is one of the bigeest
reasons they are 15-10 despite getting subpar starting pitching and no
offensive production from Sandoval, Posey, and Pence. Mike Morse may be a
defensive liability but he is an offensive savior for this team thus far. If
they can perform this well despite all the things mentioned above this will be
a team to be reckoned with once they get their three stars on track and get
consistent pitching.
Check back tomorrow as we begin our 30 Days Around the
Majors with a look at the Darvish-Gray showdown in Texas. Be sure to follow us
on Twitter @changingspeeds for all our coverage of the national pastime.
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