Baseball Races Starting to Take Shape
We are only about 10% through the Major League Baseball season and a lot can obviously still happen, but let’s take a look at the standings so far. We will see a lot of teams near the top of the divisions that will not shock anyone.
In the American League East it appears that the New York Yankees have made the right moves in the off season and have a very tough starting pitching rotation. At 10-6, the lead the A.L. East and perhaps even better news is their two chief rivals, the Tampa Bay Rays and Boston Red Sox are both off to a terrible start at 7-9. In the last two days the Yanks have swept the Chicago Cubs in a double header, bot by shutouts and bombed David Price 10-2. This is looking like a Yankees year.
In the American League Central, we find the Detroit Tigers at the top at 7-5. However, the entire division is separated by only 1.5 games. The surprise team so far has to be the Minnesota Twins who most have pegged for a last place finish but so far are 8-7. If they are not the surprise team then it would be the Chicago White Sox at 8-8. They are supposed to be a bottom dwellar also. Look for the Tigers to break away from the pack and also for the Kansas City Royals to make their way up into the Wild Card chase.
In the American League West we have the Oakland A’s at 10-5 with a 1.5 lead over the Texas Rangers are 9-7. This is no surprise ans these two should be the favorites in this division. The Los Angeles Angels looked to finally be ready to contend until Josh Hamilton made and ill advised dive into first base and broke his thumb.
In the National League East, the Atlanta Braves are 10-5 and have a 1.5 game lead over the Washington Nationals at 9-7. The surprise team here may be the New York Mets who after starting the year off with a 2-4 home stand are now 8-7. The Braves have been getting excellent pitching as usual, allowing only one run in their last two games with the Philadelphia Phillies who are 7-8. Fortunately for the Phils, they too allowed only one run in the two games to avoid being swept at home.
In the National League Central we have baseball’s most surprising team, the Milwaukee Brewers who lead at 11-5. Not surprising is that has team only a game up on perennial favorite the St. Louis Cardinals at 10-6. Also not shocking is the teams in last place is the Chicago Cubs at a pitiful 4-10. The Brewers hot start got off the ground when they swept the Red Sox in the series when they were celebrating their 2013 World Series Championship.
In the National League West we have a really great race shaping up between two bitter rivals, the San Francisco Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers, both at 10-6. The Giants won the World Series in 2010 and 2012. This is another even numbered year and they look like they intend to make a run at another one. Their long time rivals though are the defending West Champions and will have something to say about it.
