Midyear Reports

So the season is more than half way completed and some players are just raking. This post will focus on the players raking. Another will follow with the players who are disappointing, and another will follow with which teams may be buyers and which teams may be sellers.

In the American League, baseballs are flying out of stadiums from every which direction. The home run leader Chris Davis has an astounding 33 home runs as of July 10th. Miguel Cabrera follows him with 29 in the Motor City, and Adam Dunn represents the South Side with 24.

In the National League, Carlos Gonzalez leads with 24 big flys with Philadelphia's pleasant surprise Dominic Brown and Pittsburgh's slugger Pedro Alvarez both trailing with 23. Alvarez's amazing season has been a major part in Pittsburgh's contention in the NL Central and why they are fighting with the Cardinals for the best record in baseball.

Throw Back Miggy with the Marlins

I'm not a big fan of batting average, I like on base percentage more, but some guys are just blowing the category away this year. In the NL Yadier Molina leads with a .344 avg followed by Rockies surprise Michael Cuddyer with a .336 avg. Finishing third in the NL avg contest is Allen Craig with a .329 avg of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Miguel Cabrera has made a joke of American League pitching by posting a .366 batting average a half season after winning the triple crown. David Ortiz comes in second with a .327 avg for the Red Stockings and teammate Dustin Pedroia finished third with a .321 avg; a fair explanation for the success of the Boston Red Sox.

In the MLB leaders for ERA the first seven names are of the National League. Pitching has been dominate in the NL this season. Clayton Kershaw leads the pack with a 1.89 ERA, followed by Jeff Locke of the Pirates with a 2.15 ERA, and rounding out the top three is Adam Wainwright with a 2.30 for the Cardinals.

Felix Hernandez is the king of Seattle. He has a 2.69 ERA for the Mariners, leading the American League. Second in the AL is Bartolo Colon with a ... 2.69 ERA (rounded but slightly higher than Hernandez's). Finally Yankees pitcher Hiroki Kuroda has a 2.77 ERA in 2013 and has been a bright spot for the bombers this year.

I've also mentioned how strikeouts aren't a necessity for pitchers, but they are still awesome to watch and in the American League Yu Darvish has collected 157 k's to lead the MLB. Second in the AL and third in the MLB is Max Scherzer with 146 punch outs. Finally rou
nding out the trio is surprise guest Justin Masterson with 137 strikeouts for the Cleveland Indians.


In the National League pheno
m Matt Harvey leads the league with 147 for the Mets. Following Harvey is my favorite starter Clayton Kershaw with 129 k's in LA. From the North side of Chi Town comes the man who's name I can't spell Jeff Samardzija with 128 strikeouts in 2013.

Jim Johnson. Was that a balk or a bark?

The American League features all three save leaders in the MLB. They are of course Jim Johnson of the Orioles with 31, Joe Nathan of the Rangers with 30, and the great Mariano Rivera of the Yankees with 29. That is as of July 12th.

In the National League the save leaders are the usual suspect and two surprising pitchers. Jason Grilli of the Pirates leads the NL with 28 saves, followed by Craig Kimbrel of the Braves with 25, and Edward Mujica of the Cardinals
also with 25.

Those are your lead leaders for the midyear report. These guys have been ripping their leagues a new one. They may just continue to do so for the second half. Will Davis hit 60 homers? Will Cabrera win back to back triple crowns? Can Kershaw finish with a sub 2.00 ERA? We have about 70 more games to find out.

Baseball in the Big Citi

The All Star Game is next week and this year it will be held at my home. New York City. Its been 5 years since the All Star Game was held it Yankee Stadium, this time the venue will be at the Mets' Citi Field.

Bryce "The Warrior" Harper and Chris "Crush" Davis

First the Home Run Derby will take place Monday, but Citi Field doesn't yield many home runs, so they will have to be blasted. The participants for the National League: David Wright, Carlos Gonzalez, Michael Cuddyer, and Bryce Harper. For the American League: Robinson Cano, Prince Fielder, Chris Davis, and Yoennis Cespedes. I predict Harper will win the Home Run Derby at Citi Field.

I know I'm not the only one hoping Gonzalez's injury will sideline him from the All Star Game and Giancarlo Stanton will have to be added to the Home Run Derby. That guy will hit them all the way to Brooklyn.

The actual All Star Game will be exciting as well. Matt Harvey will probably get the start for the National League, because it's his home ballpark, although Clayton Kershaw clearly deser
ves the start purely based on statistics. For the American League, I think Jim Leyland may go Felix Hernandez to start the game, and it almost certain Mariano Rivera will be pitching at some point. I predict the American League will win the All Star Game this year.

First time All Star Patrick Corbin will be returning to his home state and will be fun to watch pitch, for he has dominated the Major League this season. Manny Machado has been ripping doubles left and right and he is on track to break the record for most doubles in a single season. Marlins starter Jose Fernandez also made the roster for his stellar first half and is a huge promise for the future of their organization.

You can view the rest of the roster here http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20130706&content_id=52391804&c_id=mlb

But there were some huge All Star Game Snubs. Grant Balfour, Evan Longoria, Matt Carpenter, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Mike Leake.

Vote in the poll for who you think was the biggest All Star Game snub.








Dont Forget to submit your vote for All Star Game Final vote. Vote Puig! and Vote Robertson!

2012 Standings Predictions

The standings are ordered from the team with the most wins to the team with the least wins. The teams will be listed with the number of wins following. All of the wins are approximates, the actual number may vary 1-2 wins higher or lower depending on unexpected events during the season.  The teams with a "W" following their name means they will get a wild card spot. 

American League

East 

        1. Yankees 98

        2. Red Sox 93 W

        3. Rays 90

        4. Blue Jays 70

        5. Orioles 62 

Central 

        1. Tigers 95

        2. Indians 83

        3. Royals 81

        4. Twins 70

        5. White Sox 70 

 

West

        1. Rangers 94

        2. Angels 93 W

        3. Mariners 71

        4. Athletics 64

Nationals League

East

        1. Phillies 96

        2.Marlins 92 W

        3. Nationals 87 

        4. Braves 85

        5. Mets 63

Central 

        1. Reds 93

        2. Cardinals 92 W

        3. Brewers 85

        4. Pirates 78

        5. Cubs 65

        6. Astros 60

West 

        1. Giants 91*

        2. Diamondbacks 91*

        3. Dodgers 85

        4. Rockies 73

        5. Padres 60 

* The Giants and The Diamondbacks are so well matched they will finish with exact records. They will have to play a game 163 and the winner will go on and win the division. I predict the winner of game 163 to be the Giants.