Sonny Skies Ahead for Oakland

Sonny Skies Ahead for Oakland

 

 

Last night the Oakland Athletics and the Texas Rangers met in game one of a three game set with first place on the line. Both teams had their aces on the mound and were coming into the series with something to prove. Yu Darvish has always had trouble with Oakland, a trend that would continue on this night as Darvish pitched the shortest outing of his career. In the Oakland dugout was the opposing pitcher who has had very little trouble with figuring this league out. That pitcher was Sonny Gray.

Sonny Gray is an unlikely ace. Looking at him you would easily figure out he is not the tallest, not the most intimidating, or most overpowering pitcher in the league. Nothing about him screams dominance. Then he steps on the mound. Gray throws primarily a fastball and a curveball with a not so occasional changeup thrown in for good measure. The fastball is not overpowering but when you combine it with the second best curveball in all of baseball, (nobody can touch Adam Wainwright’s) the deception and headaches it causes batters is otherworldly. 

Since his debut last season Sonny Gray has the lowest ERA in all of the American League. Last night was the best I had seen him throw his curve for a strike. There’s having great stuff and being “on” and then there is Sonny Gray last night. He had the Rangers completely fooled and frustrated to the tune of three hits and one walk with six strikeouts. 

The reason Gray’s curveball is so dominant is again, his ability to throw it for a strike. Most pitchers when they throw the curve get the 12 to 6 action where the 12 is the middle of the plate and the 6 is the hard drop into the dirt. This isn’t the case for Gray his 12 to 6 action is completely different. The ball starts almost at the throat of the batter and drops down hard to the middle of the plate. Most pitchers get the strikeout with the curve by getting batters to chase, Gray gets it by getting batters to realize too late the pitch is hittable.

Many people thought the Athletics were in trouble when it was announced A.J. Griffin would miss significant time to begin the season and Jarrod Parker would require a second Tommy John procedure. However, Gray, along with the rest of the staff has shut down opposing offenses, leading the league with an impressive 2.85 ERA. Jesse Chavez and Scott Kazmir are as responsible for this as Gray is but neither of those guys has or had the potential of Gray. Even when Parker comes back and is healthy his place as the number 1 starter will be gone. The A’s will go as far as Sonny Gray takes them and if what we’ve seen thus far is any indication; that will be very far.

 

Other Game Notes

-There may not be a pitcher in the Majors with better total stuff than Yu Darvish. Last night however was not his best night. Darvish struggles against the A’s because they are the most patient team in the game and fight during at bats like no other. Seven of the first ten batters Darvish faced went to a full count.

-There was a heads up base running play in this game by Eric Sogard which you rarely ever see guys replicate. With one out and a bloop towards centerfield Sogard took off and kept going, reaching third when the ball hit the ground. Too many times you see guys come to a complete stop and end of getting thrown out anyway because they stopped on the way to second or stopped and impeded their ability to get back to first. In Sogard’s mind if he’s going to be out anyway on a catch may as well take the chance of getting the extra base in case the ball falls. He deserves applause and recognition for that.

-The Rangers really miss Geovany Soto. Robinson Chirinos is a tremendous defensive catcher with a rocket arm but very little offensive output. J.P. Arencibia is arguably the worst all around catcher in baseball so he’s no help for the team either. Soto is a better well rounded player and calls a good game so he needs to come back quickly for the Rangers. They have done well enough without him so upon his return they could really go on a run.

Thanks for joining us here on Day 1 of 30 Days Around the Majors. We will back tomorrow with some news and notes on the New York Mets/Philadelphia Phillies game as Jon Niese takes the mound for the Mets who are looking to continue their winning ways against the back to healthy Cole Hamels at Citizens Bank. Be sure to follow us on Twitter @changingspeeds for our continued coverage of the national pastime.

Week in Review

Week in Review

 

 

 

AL EAST

-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.

 

AL CENTRAL

-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.

 

AL WEST

-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.

 

NL CENTRAL

-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.

 

NL WEST

-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.

Witness to a Legend

Witness to a Legend

 

There are plenty of instances where the word legendary wrongfully gets thrown around. Especially in 2014, the era of instant gratification and short attention spans. However, I am about to use the word to describe not only the greatest first baseman of my lifetime, but one of the greatest players of all time. That man is Albert Pujols.

Pujols joined the exclusive 500 Home Run club last night by hitting #’s 499 and 500 in the same game (Becoming the first player ever to do so). The puzzling thing though, is that so many people were surprised by stats this year and seem to have forgotten what kind of player Pujols was and still currently is. Pujols leads the majors in home runs this season with 8 and skeptics want to question whether he is using steroids and is cheating. This boggles my mind. People forget that this season is the first time since signing his contract with Anaheim that Pujols is completely healthy. When we jump into our DeLorean’s and gun it to 88mph in order to go back to a time when Pujols was healthy, we see that this guy was pretty damn good. A feared hitter, who drew walks, never struck out, hit for power, hit for average, and played a fantastic first base.

When you look at his list of accomplishments it should not surprise anyone that a healthy Albert Pujols is a legend of the game. Two time World Series Champion, 3 time NL MVP, 9 time All-Star, a batting title, 2 time home run champion, an RBI championship, a doubles championship, 5 times led the NL in runs scored, 6 Silver Slugger Awards, 2 time Gold Glove winner, and Rookie of the Year. This is clearly the resume of a player who didn’t need the 500 home runs to ensure his place in Cooperstown. Nor is it the resume of a player who ever had his name come up in any kind of investigation so there’s no need to start that talk now. Also, thanks to Jayson Stark for this statistical nugget: only three players in baseball history have a career .300 batting average/.400 on base percentage/500 home runs/.600 slugging percentage. Those three players are Ted Williams, Babe Ruth, and Jimmie Foxx. However, Pujols is currently .1% away in slugging from joining that group. I wouldn’t put my money on the line betting against it that’s for sure.

With Pujols healthy, Angels games are even more must see, given the fact that Mike Trout also plays for the team. There are not many instances where we as fans can say we witness history and transcendent talent on a nightly basis but the first baseman of the Anaheim Angels provides us that opportunity. Congratulations Mr. Pujols on your accomplishment, and as a baseball fan, thank you for all that you’ve done for the game and in the game. It has been a pleasure to watch thus far and will continue to be for many more years.

Be sure to follow us on Twitter @changingspeeds for all our coverage of the national pastime.

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.

Be sure to follow us on Twitter @changingspeeds for all our coverage of the national pastime.

Will All the Doubters Please Sit Down

Will All the Doubters Please Sit Down

 

 

Before the 2014 season began, numerous prognosticators, myself included, questioned whether the Braves would be able to replicate their pitching susccess due to the injuries their pitching staff was piling up. Well, the season has started and the team has kindly told all of us to sit down and shut up. Kris Medlen and Brandon Beachy need Tommy John Surgery? No big deal. Gavin Floyd and Mike Minor starting the year on the DL? So what? Atlanta has proven that with a lot of skill and just a little bit of luck, they very well may be the team to beat in the National League.

Julio Teheran was pegged from the beginning to be a star for this team and he has not disappointed. He is a frontline starter and ace in every sense of the word. The late signing of Ervin Santana has shown that Spring Training can be overrated. Santana, after having a good year in the American League last year enters the National League and does what most guys in that situation do, pitches phenomenally. His haircut may make him look like he works at Good Burger and wants to take your order but his stuff is nasty. He realized his best option was signing a one year deal and facing facts that he wasn’t going to get the money he was looking for, but from what he’s shown so far, he will end up getting that money anyway. Alex Wood is a good young mid rotation starter and has struck out 20 batters in 21 innings. He gives the Braves good versatility because his stuff can translate well to the bullpen down the line or if the Braves get back to full strength and want to trade Wood he will command a big return. 

So far nothing really unexpected has happened or been talked about but now is when things get interesting. Anyone who predicted the starts to the year that David Hale and Aaron Harang are having, please go down to your local market and play the lotto. The production these guys are giving the Braves is spectacular and they are doing a fine job of holding the spots of Minor and Floyd. Once Minor returns Hale should shift to the bullpen, which surprisngly has not been Atlanta’s strong suit this year, giving them a good arm to improve the numbers.

The Braves could very well run away with the NL East again this year as the Nationals, who were seen as the favorite and a superior team, have had some injuries and are having trouble getting going. It also doesn’t help that Matt Williams and upper management don’t seem to have a problem batting Bryce Harper low in the order where he cannot be as effective. Once the bullpen rights itself and somewhat returns to form this is going to be a very dangerous team. Badstreet USA will be rocking this summer and the competition will be chopped down to size.

Be sure to follow us on Twitter @changingspeeds for all our coverage of the national pastime.

The Week in Review

The Week in Review

 

 

Another week has come and gone in the 2014 season and while we still don’t know what exactly to make of these teams, the picture is becoming just the slightest bit clearer. Small sample size still reigns supreme but the small sample is getting larger. Teams that looked good last week might not look so good this week, and vice versa (looking at you Marlins and Brewers). Let’s get to the recap.

 

AL EAST

-The Yankees had a very good week on the pitching side of things. Besides Ivan Nova’s shaky outing against Baltimore, every starter stepped up and pitched a quality game, including Nova against the Red Sox last night. Brian McCann has finally began to see some luck. He has been hitting the ball hard all year but couldn’t find a hole as he was hitting into the shift every time. That’s beginning to change. Francisco Cervelli is headed to the DL and Yangervis Solarte and Derek Jeter are dealing with leg injuries but shouldn’t miss any time. Injuries would be the downfall of this team, they need to stay healthy. The Red Sox lost 3 of 4 in the Bronx and have not looked sharp coming out of the gate. There’s plenty of time to turn it around though but the bats and arms need to wake up. Xander Boegarts is the real deal and then some. They have a fantastic blue chipper at shortstop. Tampa Bay was dealt another injury to their pitching staff this week when Alex Cobb had to be placed on the 15 day DL. Add him to the list along with Hellickson and Moore and the Rays have been hit hard. Hellickson and Cobb will be back, Moore most likely not, so Joe Maddon will have to pull some magic out of the hat to keep the team afloat until the reinforcements are ready. The Toronto Blue Jays are enjoying a phenomenal season from Mark Buehrle who is 3-0 with a 0.86 ERA. He has become the de facto ace with R.A. Dickey struggling. The team has played well enough without catalyst Jose Reyes but can that continue for a longer stretch? Down in Baltimore the Orioles have really struggled to be consistent. No player is swinging a very hot bat and the starters are racking up the pitch counts, meaning the bullpen has needed to work more than they should. The bad part about that is that the bullpen has not been very good.

 

AL CENTRAL

-The Kansas City Royals ended this week getting swept on the road by the Minnesota Twins. That isn’t something a team looking to be a contender can be doing, even early in the season. Through two weeks they only have one home run as a team and are struggling mightily to score runs. They will need to turn it around before they fall too far behind. The Detroit Tigers are looking once again like the team to beat in the division but they will need to get better production from the bullpen, the weakest part of the team thus far. The aforementioned Twins have looked better than anyone could have imagined thus far. The pitching has been better than anticipated so enjoy it while it lasts. The Chicago White Sox have not gotten good production from the back end of the rotation, which was a weak spot coming into the season. The offense however has played very well and this team is never out of a game. Jose Abreu has been fantastic so far but will he be able to sustain that success the second time around facing teams? In Cleveland inconsistency has been front and center. The starters have performed well enough including strikeout machine Danny Salazar. Nyjer “Tony Plush” Morgan has been a good catalyst at the top of the order but the rest of the order has not been playing well enough to drive him in more. Once the bats wake up and stay consistent this team could be the only challenger Detroit will have to worry about.

 

AL WEST

-The Seattle Mariners have come back to Earth after their scorching offensive start, which may or may not have to do with the fact they came back home to Safeco this week. Their pitching has been great despite two starters on the DL with a third joining them this week. This team barely walks and strikes out way too much. The Angels have looked good and gotten much better pitching than anticipated. The Josh Hamilton injury hurts but between J.B. Shuck’s offense and Colin Cowgill’s defense they could be ok. They look like a team that could be in it for the long haul. Oakland thus far is making me look smart for believing in them despite their big pitching injuries. The offense has played well led by Josh Donaldson who is proving last year was no fluke. The Astros are all pitching and no offense. They have the worst team average and on base percentage in the majors and have played seven games where they’ve scored two runs or fewer. The Rangers are another team that has gotten good pitching and very little offense. Yu Darvish has been unhittable since his return and Martin Perez looks like a solid top of the rotation lefty to pair well with him. Prince Fielder and Shin Shoo Choo need to come alive and start producing and this team should be fine.

 

NL EAST

-The NL East is still looking like it will be a two team race but based on the record of one of those teams against the other it may not be much of a race after all. The Washington Nationals are 7-22 in their last 29 games against the Atlanta Braves while going 52-28 in the same stretch against the rest of the division. The talent is there but they will need to find a way to consistently beat Atlanta when they play if they want to be a contender. The Miami Marlins started out scorching hot playing their first six games at home but once they hit the road everything fell apart. They went 0-6 on their road trip losing three games apiece to Washington and Philly. The Phillies have played above expectation thanks in large part to Chase Utley and his .500 average. Ryan Howard is showing the power swing again and will help erase some of the bad defensive plays out of the team’s memory if he can keep connecting for home runs.

The Mets have not looked like a team with a chance to win 90 games, the benchmark set by the organization for the season. The offense has been dreadful and the bullpen has been even worse. There may not be a word that can accurately describe the bullpen’s performance this season. It hasn’t been invented yet. For all the talk of how badly their pitching staff got hit with injuries and how much they would suffer because of it, the Atlanta Braves have been absolutely lights out. When Aaron Harang is dominating you know something special is going on. Ervin Santana was Cy Young like in his first start and gives the team an innings eater with big game experience to lean on. Justin Upton is performing this April as he did last April, and that’s to say he’s the Human Torch he’s so on fire. He has shown an ability to start out hot but unlike last year he needs to keep it up this season for prolonged stretches. Freddie Freeman is playing like an MVP as well and I hope my preseason pick for the award keeps it up.

 

NL CENTRAL

-The story of the NL Central this season has been the Milwaukee Brewers. The Brewers are in the midst of a 9 game win streak with division favorite and rival St. Louis coming to town. This series will really show how for real Milwaukee is. They are the best pitching team in baseball and strike out less than any team in the game. They just need to hope the injury bug doesn’t come sweeping through the clubhouse because depth is not a strong suit of this team. The Cardinals have played well, treading above water. They have not played their best ball yet and they still look like a team that will challenge for supremacy once they get going. Michael Wacha is the real deal and Adam Wainwright still has the most beautful and deadliest curve in the game. The offense in Cincinnati came to life yesterday scoring 12 runs and if they can stay consistent as the pitching gets healthy they could be a very dangerous team. Tony Cingrani has been tremendous since coming up last season. In his 21 career starts he has yet to give up more than five runs and five hits in a game. That is absolute domination, and the fact that he’s doing it with basically one pitch makes it even more noteworthy. It’s still not 2015 in Wrigleyville but Jeff Samardzija and Travis Wood have looked very good for the Cubbies. Pittsburgh is still Pittsburgh. Good pitching, not much offense, and Pedro Alvarez hitting home runs. The Pirates need to find an answer at first base because their All-Star platoon of Sanchez and Ishikawa is not cutting it at all.

 

NL WEST

-If the season ended today Angel Pagan should be a top 3 MVP candidate in the National League. Pagan has set the table extremely well allowing San Francisco, yes San Francisco, to become one of the more dominant and consistent offenses in all of baseball. You know things are going well for you offensively when your dominant pitcher has a 5 RBI game including a grand slam, which is what the Giants got from Madison Bumgarner. My predicted division winner the Arizona Diamondbacks have stumbled out of the gate to the worst record in baseball. Despite having the National League leader in home runs in Mark Trumbo and the makings of another great season from Paul Goldschmidt this team is in serious trouble. The rest of the offense has not played even half as well as their two boppers and the pitching has been beyond abysmal. They can’t really use the injury excuse either when teams like Atlanta and Oakland continue to thrive. This team is going nowhere fast. One of the reasons the Diamondbacks have the worst record in baseball is because they have been absolutely embarrassed by the Dodgers. Los Angeles is 5-0 against Arizona and is turning this very heated rivalry one sided. Adrian Gonzalez is back to his true form and Matt Kemp has managed to stay healthy for more than 3 days, and looked very good. San Francisco will be on their tail for most if not all of the season but Los Angeles is proving they are here to stay and will accept nothing less than a championship. Colorado has been one of the more inconsistent teams in the game, alternating wins and losses over their last eight contests. They’ve also been hit by the injury bug when it comes to pitching. Offensively they should be much better than they are but Charlie Blackmon has settled into the leadoff spot quite nicely. Ron Burgundy’s favorite team is once again falling into the curse of Petco Park and its “where offense goes to die” philosophy. When you have a roster full of above average to pretty good players and you have them play their home games in the Sahara Desert it will no doubt carry over into their performance on the road. The one positive is Jedd Gyorko. He hasn’t hit consistently this season but when he has he’s showed that last year was a sign of things to come. He will be a star. Speaking of stars, Andrew Cashner and his luxurious mullet have been exceptional so far this season and he looks like an ace.

 That does it for week number two in the Week in Review. Hope you all enjoyed reading and always, follow us on twitter @changingspeeds for all your coverage of the national pastime.

The Hot Start of the Milwaukee Brewers

The Hot Start of the Milwaukee Brewers

 

The season might only be two weeks old and records and stats are still falling into the dreaded small sample size argument, but one thing has been clear. The Milwaukee Brewers are the biggest surprise of the season thus far. The success of the Brewers has been the result of just how dominant their pitching has been thus far. Both their starters and their relievers have shut down the opposing lineups on their way to baseball’s best record and an 8 game win streak.

Led by Yovani Gallardo who is 2-0 with a 0.96 ERA, every starter has stepped their game up and answered the challenge. Having a 6-0 record on the road, including a three game sweep of the World Champion Red Sox in their home opening series has shown that Milwaukee will not be rattled by the atmosphere outside of Miller Park.

The season may still be young and Milwaukee may be proving they should be taken seriously, but in order to be a contender there are still some things that the Brewers need to count on. Firstly, once the pitching comes back to Earth and starts evening out, how will they respond? It’s easy to brush things off and not second guess yourself when everything is going your way. Secondly, they need to stay healthy. This is not a very deep team and there isn’t any real help waiting in the minors to answer the call if needed. Last but not least they have to hope that the platoon of Lyle Overbay and Mark Reynolds can provide them with just enough offense as to not become a black hole in the lineup. They can play well for stretches but asking prolonged success from either of those guys is way too much. Hopefully Ron Roenicke will be able to find the right balance.

Everyone pegged the NL Central as St. Louis’ to lose and they may still be right because as stated before there is certainly a long way to go. However, with the Brewers being able to build a lead now while riding this high, it has certainly put them in a very advantageous position. Cincinnati has not looked good thus far and the Pirates have gotten good pitching but inconsistent offense.  The Brewers very well could find themselves fighting for a second place finish and what could certainly be a wild card berth in the playoffs.

We will be back tomorrow with the Week in Review. Be sure to follow us on Twitter @changingspeeds for all our coverage of the national pastime.