One Third

There is only one third of the season remaining on the schedule for most teams around baseball. The wild card and division races are close and may come down to the 162nd game once again. So which players put their team in the position they are now?

The Monarchy Reins Over Detroit

The Tigers of course have ridiculous amounts of production from Miguel Cabrera (.326 AVG,  29 HR, .592 SLG, 95 RBI) and Prince Fielder (.310 AVG, 19 HR, .514 SLG, 80 RBI), but the reason for their success has been Austin Jackson. The lead off batter has a .405 on base percentage and is 10/15 in stolen base attempts this season. If Jackson wasn't on base. The King Cabrera and Prince Fielder combo would all be solo homers.  

The Angels have the most dangerous core group of players in the MLB. In the rotation Jered Weaver, CJ Wilson and Zack Greinke are a force to be reckoned with. In the lineup Mike Trout (.346 AVG, 20 HR, .601 SLG, 60 RBI, 36/39 SB), Mark Trumbo (.289 AVG, 28 HR, .568 SLG, 72 RBI), and Albert Pujols (.285 AVG, 24 HR, .527 SLG, 76 RBI). The Angels are getting a lot of production from the rotation and the lineup if they can keep it up in the final third they will make the playoffs.

The Nationals have been heavily relying on pitching. Strasburg (2.97 ERA), Zimmerman (2.45 ERA), Gonzalez (3.34 ERA), Jackson (3.56) and Detwiler (2.99 ERA) anchor the team. The key to this team is to be successful after Strasburg is shut down. Strasburg is just 40 innings away from his innings limit. When he is shut down how will that effect the rest of the rotation? The Nationals might give some way to the Braves.