81 games have come and gone and there have been even more surprises the longer the season has gone on. The “super teams” that are the Blue Jays and the Dodgers are finally starting to streak and look like the teams they were expected to be, and a surprising run has put a new team in the top spot. This is the point in the season where you can start to weed out the pretenders from the contenders, and it is the time when the teams on the edge can start to make their move.
30. Miami Marlins (Last Time 30)
It’s not surprise the Marlins are still on the bottom of the list. The team stinks, but there has been a glimmer of hope for the future. Rookie Jose Fernandez has shown that he can be an ace of the franchise for the future. In his last four starts, Fernandez has two 10 strikeout performances and has lowered his ERA from 3.11 down to a spectacular 2.72. Other SPs with an ERA in the 2.70’s include Yu Darvish, Shelby Miller and Bartolo Colon. All three are expected to make the All Star team, and if this kid keeps this up, he’ll be an All Star for years to come.
29. Houston Astros (Last Time 29)
As bad as their record is, there is nothing bad you can say about how the Astros play the game of baseball. Bo Porter was not handed a great situation when he took over the reigns as manager of the ‘Stros, everyone knows that, but he has done a fantastic job of getting these players to play hard for him. This team is filled with bright young talent and will be good, someday.
28. Milwaukee Brewers (Last Time 28)
Remember when the Brewers were streaking and Jean Segura was the talk of the league? It seems like forever ago now. Now the Brewers are the butt of the joke in the NL Central and All Star/MVP Ryan Braun is on the DL. Segura is still hitting a crazy .325, but not much else is going right for the Brew Crew.
27. Chicago White Sox (Last Time 22, Down 5)
What a difference a year makes. In 2012 the White Sox shocked the MLB and pushed the Detroit Tigers to the limit in the NL Central, Adam Dunn had bounced back from a horrid 2011 and Robin Ventura was up for the Manager of the Year Award. Now, after the first half of the season is done and gone, they look like a team that will be selling at the trade deadline. Chris Sale has been just as good as last season with a 2.79 ERA, but lack of run support has given him a 5-7 record.
26. New York Mets (Last Time 27, Up 1)
The Mets fans have not had a lot to be happy about this season. David Wright has continued to be his stellar self, Matt Harvey has been a true ace, Zack Wheeler has finally made the Mets the winners of the Carlos Beltran trade, but the Mets are still looking up at the rest of the NL East. The future is bright, but this season is done.
25. Seattle Mariners (Last Time 21, Down 4)
The M’s had so much to look forward to. They traded for heavy hitters to improve the offense, the fences were being moved in to help those hitters and Hisashi Iwakuma was stellar as a starter down the stretch in 2012. Iwakuma has been great, Felix Hernandez is still the king, but not much else has gone right for the M’s this season and it could cost Eric Wedge his job.
24. Chicago Cubs (Last Time 23, Down 1)
Even though the Cubs are the first team to be deemed sellers in the trade market, they aren’t even the worst team in their division, so at least that’s something, right? The Cubs have a lot going for them in the future, but this will not be the year they finally win the series, sorry Cubs fans.
23. Minnesota Twins (Last Time 19, Down 4)
The Twins are only 6.5 games back, but for some reason they just don’t seem like a team that can make a run. Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer are healthy this season, and although Morneau is not hitting it out of the park like he has in the past, both are hitting well. The fact that they have the 28th team ERA in the league is what is really worrisome. It is hard to see the Twins with pitching like that, especially since the Twins’ philosophy has been good pitching and solid defense.
22. Kansas City Royals (Last Time 26, Up 4)
Although the Royals are only two games better than the Twins and three games under .500, they are starting to click. The best part about this for the Royals is that neither the Tigers nor the Indians seem like they are ready to run away with the division. If the rally sauce keeps the magic going, that 4.5 game deficit can be erased really quickly.
21. Los Angeles Dodgers (Last Time 25, Up 4)
Two words have turned the Dodgers’ season around, Yasiel Puig. The Cuban sensation has walked onto the team and completely changed the course of their season. The Dodgers are 15-11 in the 26 games since his debut, not a tremendous record, but four games over .500 is huge for a team in last place. Before he was called up, this team was all but done for the year, but now they only sit 3.5 games out of first place.
20. San Francisco Giants (Last Time 14, Down 6)
How the mighty have fallen. The defending World Series champs all of a sudden cannot hit, unless the name on the back of the jersey says Posey, and cannot do the one thing that they have done better than anyone over the last three seasons, pitch. If the Giants do not make a move for pitching at the deadline to help the bullpen and the starting rotation, the Giants could be watching the division pass them by.
19. Philadelphia Phillies (Last Time 17, Down 2)
The Phillies made a late run last year, but fell short because of their early season struggles. This season, the Phillies would have to have a similar second half just to come close, but at 9.5 games back, they still do have a shot. The first half struggles of the Phillies are no fault of Domonic Brown, he has suddenly become a home run king with 21 long balls. Expect the Phillies to shop Chase Utley and Cliff Lee, and don’t be surprised if the team gets better after they’re gone.
18. Los Angeles Angels (Last Time 20, Up 2)
Don’t look now, but the Angels are making a run. It may be too little, too late for the Halos, though. The A’s and Rangers have been very consistent this season, and because of that, the Angels sit nine games back. With the stars this team has, and the way they’ve been playing lately, though, don’t be surprised if this run continues and the Angels eventually catch up, much like the A’s did last season in this same division.
17. San Diego Padres (Last Time 18, Up 1)
The Padres are a roller coaster of a team. One week they’re up, the next week they’re down. Right now they are down. They’ve lost three in a row and seven out of their last ten. The good news for the Padres and their fans is that none of the NL West teams want to run away with this division. Despite their recent struggles, the Padres aren’t even the worst team in the division over the last ten games, that belongs to the Giants who have lost eight out of their last 10. Expect this division to come down to the wire, and the Padres to be right there at the end.
16. Toronto Blue Jays (Last Time 24, Up 8)
Don’t look now, but the Blue Jays are starting to figure it out. They’re healthy, they’re hitting and lucky for them, much like the Padres, no one has really run away with the division yet. The Jays have made an impressive run to get back to .500 and right now they only sit eight games back of the first place Boston Red Sox. The division title might be a little out of reach because of the early struggles, but if they continue to play like they are right now they have a shot, and the Wild Card is right there within 5.5 games right now.
15. Colorado Rockies (Last Time 13, Down 2)
As mentioned before, the NL West is tight. No one wants to win, and the Rockies are no exception. It’s not entirely their fault, though. The biggest piece to this team’s resurrection this season was the health of Troy Tulowitzki and the improved pitching. So, it should be no surprise that now that Tulo is on the DL and the pitching has come back down to earth, they are sliding a little bit. Even with those slides, guess what, they’re only 1.5 games out of first. This division is going to be a toss up all season long.
14. Washington Nationals (Last Time 16, Up 2)
It is hard to figure out what has gone wrong for the Nats this season. They were the best team in the league at the end of the regular season in 2012 and they made great efforts to get better in the offseason. Yet here they are, just barely hovering around .500. Many think that they’ll turn it around now that Bryce Harper is back from the DL, but the team was in the same position before he got hurt, right around .500. It is going to take a good run from the Nats in the second half to turn this around, and it needs to start now.
13. New York Yankees (Last Time 11, Down 2)
The Yankees have been struggling on offense lately, but guess what, they’re still above .500 and only six games out of first place and 3.5 back of the wild card. If the Yankees can just continue to maintain right around where they are and wait until they get healthy, they could be a team that is dangerous down the stretch.
12. Arizona Diamondbacks (Last Time 9, Down 3)
The D-backs are the only first place team that is sitting outside of the top 10. Why? Because, as I’ve mentioned multiple times in these rankings, the NL West just isn’t very good this season. The D-Backs seem like the one team that could run away, but just when they seem to get a good lead in the division, they come back down to earth and that lead evaporates. Even though I’ve said before this division is going to be tight till the end, I believe the D-Backs will win in the long run.
11. Tampa Bay Rays (Last Time 10, Down 1)
The Rays are right there in striking distance. After what was a pretty tough start to the season for the Rays, the team has turned it around as of late, and with David Price coming off of the DL, they could be ready to turn it around even more. Price was a key reason to the poor start of the season, but it is hard to believe that the Cy Young winner won’t be able to turn it around in the second half. If he can return to form, the Red Sox and Orioles better watch their backs.
10. Detroit Tigers (Last Time 12, Up 2)
Miguel Cabrera is an absolute monster and Max Scherzer is amazing. If the rest of the team could just follow their lead and play to their full potential the Tigers would be the best team in the league. Instead, they currently sit a half game behind the Indians in the AL Central. It is hard to envision that the Tigers won’t be in the playoffs when the season is over, but if the season ended today they’d be on the outside looking in, and Scherzer’s perfect record and Cabrera’s monster season would be a waste. This team needs something to spark them, maybe the Indians passing them for first is just what they need.
9. Cleveland Indians (Last Time 15, Up 6)
The first place Cleveland Indians. It feels a little crazy to say that out loud. People knew the Indians were going to be good. They spent the money, the pitching was solid, but the White Sox and Tigers were supposed to be so much better than them. Yet here we are, right at the mid-way point of the season, the White Sox are a joke and they sit a half game better than the defending AL Champs. It’s hard to believe the Indians can hold the Tigers off, but the entire team continues to grow together and is starting to look like a contender.
8. Cincinnati Reds (Last Time 4, Down 4)
The Reds had a tough week. They had to travel out west and face two of the best teams in the AL on the road. They ended up with a 1-4 record to show for it. Even with that tough week, the Reds still sit in the top ten, even though they are a third place team. That not only speaks to how good the Reds are, but how good the NL Central is as a whole. Oh, and it helps to have a starting pitcher with two career no hitters. Congrats Homer Bailey.
7. Baltimore Orioles (Last Time 8, Up 1)
Baltimore is good, no one can doubt that. If they are going to take the next step, though, they need to improve the starting pitching, and the recent trade for Scott Feldman might not be enough. Chris Davis will continue to keep them up towards the top and in contention with the way he is playing, but it’s going to take more than a home run leader to catch the Red Sox.
6. Atlanta Braves (Last Time 7)
Justin Upton is coming back down to earth, but the rest of the team is starting to come around. It might just be that Upton is tired from carrying the team on his back for most of the first half. The Braves are the only team running away with a division lead so far this season, and there is not much more that you can say about the Braves other than this, they are a good all-around team.
5. Oakland Athletics (Last Time 6, Up 1)
The A’s last week looked really tough on paper. They had to face two of the top teams in the league back to back, and would have to face two of the best pitchers in the league in the process. All they did was take four out of five from the Reds and Cardinals. The A’s are looking great right now and don’t look to be slowing down one bit.
4. Texas Rangers (Last Time 3, Down 1)
In the last few weeks the Rangers turned around a slump against the team they were chasing in the standings, took the division lead by a half game and managed to maintain that half game by winning every single time the A’s won. Darvish was also struggling a bit in that time, partially because of a lack of run support, but he seems to have turned it around in his last start. The Rangers are healthy now, too, so it is going to be a long summer in the AL West
3. St. Louis Cardinals (Last Time 1, Down 2)
Even though Miller has had two rough starts, and they lost two out of three to a tough Oakland A’s team on the road, the Cards still have the third best record in the league. Having had a chance to see this team live this past week, even though it was in a loss, I have to say this very well could be the most complete team in the league.
2. Boston Red Sox (Last Time 2)
The Red Sox continue to win. It is hard to believe this is the team that was such a joke last season. They continue to pitch better than anyone expected and David Ortiz continues to be Big Papi. It is hard for me to explain just why they are so good, but they are. Even with Clay Buchholz on the DL, they continue to out pitch the opposition and win games. They are the best team in the AL right now, and that doesn’t seem like that is going to change anytime soon.
1. Pittsburgh Pirates (Last Time 5, Up 4)
Wow, the Pirates are in first place! It is hard to fathom after last season’s second half collapse that the Pirates would have the best record at the mid-way point of the season, but here they are. The Pirates have been pitching well all year with A.J. Burnett leading the NL in strikeouts before his stint on the DL, and when he goes down, the Pirates just call up a rookie Gerrit Cole who pitches almost as well. With their pitching finally on par with the MVP-like offense of Andrew McCutchen, this team could be ready to finally reverse history. Could this really be the year the Pirates finally make the playoffs, or at least have a winning season?