For three weeks now, I've been writing an MLB weekly review and each of those weeks we've had some sort of no-hitter to discuss( you're welcome pitchers). All three of these have had some sort of noteworthy twist to them. The first, thrown by Johan Santana, was the Met's first no hitter in franchise history while the second was thrown by six different pitchers. This time around the twist was a little more simple; Matt Cain threw a perfect game. Although this is an incredibly rare feat, it's becoming less so recently. This is the 5th perfect game thrown in the past 35 months. To put that in perscpective the five before that were thrown over the course of 13 years and the five before that took 26 years to occur. In fact, there were exactly zero perfect games thrown from 1922-1956(34 years aka a really, really long fucking time). Incredibly 41% of perfect games have been thrown during my lifetime. I'm 19, baseball is 130. So why have their been so many more perfect games recently? I can't help but think my effort on this blog has something to do with it but other than that i'm stumped. I guess all we can do is enjoy the ride because these performances are bound to stop sometime.
He's Not Dunn Yet:
The perrenial 40 home runn, 200 strike out Dunn we grew to expect this past decade has finally returned. After suffering through one of the worst seasons in the MLB's ridiculously long history(-3 WAR); Dunn is back to his old free swinging ways. Although his batting average hovers around .230, he's now leading the American League in home runs with 23. On top of that he's on pace to only barely break the single season strike out record! I for one am happy to see the strangest hitter of our generation back to form.
Hot Teams:
New York Yankees: The Yankees have started their annual late spring/early summer bounce back a bit more furiously than usual. The Bombers have won eight straight and 18 of the last 22 overall. Although Jeter has struggled a bit of late, the big bats of Teixeira, Rodriguez, and Cano have gotten going recently. Meanwhile Swisher and Granderson have been solid all year and even bench guys like Jayson Nix , Eric Chavez, and Raul Ibanez have gotten going. Meanwhile all five starters have been dealing lately even former AARP member Andy Pettitte and fan's whipping boy Phil Hughes. The Yankees are playing like the best team in baseball right now and with Gardner expected back in July, they may only get better.
Baltimore: Just as quickly as they were written off by me, the Orioles have worked there way back into contention. They've won seven of ten and are now second in the tight AL East race. Although the pitching has been putrid all year, the offense has begun to shine and Adam Jones looks like a legit franchise cornerstone. However the O's better look to get an arm or two at the deadline if they want a prayer of competing for a playoff spot.
Los Angeles Dodgers: Somehow this group of mistfits still holds the best record in the MLB and it's beginning to look like it's not at all a fluke. The Matt Kemp-less offense that appears to be made of kleenex and duct-tape is more than holding it's own while the pitching staff is one of the best in baseball. Never heard of Chris Capuano, AJ Ellis, or Nate Eovaldi? Don't worry, you'll see plenty of them in October.
Not so Hot Teams:
Miami: So about Miami having the best May record in baseball......yeah that might have been a fluke. June has not been so kind to the Marlins as they've been victorious in just four of fourteen contests. In that span they've lost games 13-4, 11-0(twice), and 10-2. The offense has been hampered by a littany of disapointments. Jose Reyes has dropped about 70 points in batting average since last year, Hanley Ramirez is continuing his 2 year slump, Logan Morrison has not been nearly as good as adveritised, and Giancarlo Stanton has cooled down after a red-hot May. While the starters haven't been bad, below average was not what was expected of this pitching staff. Josh Johnson has been solid but not great while the rest have severly disapointed. My guess is that one out of Buerhle, Nolasco, Zambrano, and Sanchez starts to pitch to expectation soon. While this may not be a playoff team, don't expect them to play this poorly all year either.
Colorado: It appears as though the Rockies have reverted back to their old ways of being terrible and exciting yet irrelevant. After a few years of Coors Field being just another place, it may again be a hitters park. Perhaps I'm wrong and it's just this ridiculous Rockies team. Although they have one of the best offenses in baseball, they're as cold as anyone. They've lost nine of ten and are giving up nearly eight runs a game in that span. Yes the lineup has cooled off a bit in recent weeks but the extent of the pitching's ineptitude has been beyond comprehension. They've had ten different guys start multiple games, none of whom have an e.r.a below 4.70. The other nine average nearly about 6.00 e.r.a. The Rockies may want to look to deal some of their MVP caliber assets(Tulo, CarGo).
Chicago: They haven't made an appearance on here yet but the Cubs may very well be the worst team in baseball. This team is a shell of it's 07-08 version that played into October both years. It's halfway through June and they're already 20 games under .500. The worst part is, unlike the Rockies they don't have anyone with any trade value. Theo Epstein has his work cut out for him in the next few years.
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