Well we're already halfway through the 2012 MLB season and we've already seen so many incredible surprises. We've seen five no hitters in the first 11 weeks(including two perfect games), guys in their mid-30s suddenly become stars, perrenial losers leading divisions, and powerhouses dwelling in the cellar. Yes this has been quite the surprising season thus far. Don't believe me? Ask Cliff Lee or RA Dickey.
Biggest Surprise(Team): This year there has been far too many positive surprises to limit the list to just one. Four teams, the Orioles, White Sox, Pirates, and Mets, have proven the pre-season analysts wrong thus far.
Baltimore has been able to stay relevant in a competitive AL East mostly due to the performance of its bullpen and the emergence of players like Jason Hammel and Adam Jones. Despite having some struggles of late, they're holding onto that coveted 2nd wild card spot.
After losing manager Ozzie Guillen and bringing back a supposedly washed up roster (Alex Rios, Jake Peavy, Adam Dunn); the White Sox were an after thought in spring. Yet they've seen those afforementioned veterans bounce back from a less than optimal 2011 while others such as AJ Pierzynski and Paul Konerko have kept up their consistent pace. Most importantly, young stars such as Chris Sale, Alejandro De Aza, and Dayan Viciedo have emerged and pushed the Sox to the top of the AL Central.
The Pirates have actually started scoring at the pace of a major league team these last two months. This combined with the suprise performances of pitchers such as AJ Burnett and James McDonald has the Pirates holding onto a one game lead in the NL Central. Could these Buccos play meaningful games in October for the first time since I was just a gleam in my father's eye?
With the Phillies having won the division five years in a row, the Braves barely missing the playoffs last year, and the Marlins and Nationals poised to finally compete; the NL East was hyped to be the best in baseball this year. That was, except for the Mets, ha the Mets like they'll ever be good again. Well those Mets are now making many of those "experts" eat their words by staying competitive in not only the wild card race but the NL East race with a mostly anonymous and homegrown roster.
Biggest Suprise (Player)R.A. Dickey After Years of toiling in mediocrity, R.A Dickey is now the best pitcher in baseball. He's had quite the first half in 2012 as he's thrown two one-hitters, had a 40+ inning shutout streak, and surpassed his career high in wins. Plus, there's still half a season to go. How far could the 37 year old take this? Could we see Dickey capture his first Cy Young and lead the Mets into the playoffs? Crazier things have happened,..... haven't they?
Biggest Disappointment (Team) Philadelphia: Who would have thought that the five time defending NL East Champs and supposed World Series Contenders would lose 50 games before the All Star break? Probably the same guy who thought that Cliff Lee would win his first game on the 4th of July. The Phils have been ravaged by injuries to Roy Halladay, Chase Utley, and Ryan Howard. Yet the offense hasn't been much of a problem. Catcher Carlos Ruiz has been putting up MVP caliber numbers while others such as Hunter Pence and Placido Polanco have held their own thus far. Overall the offense is middle of the pack while pitching has not nearly been what it was expected to be. This was supposed to be one of the great pitching teams of all time but they haven't nearly shown it yet. Halladay is on the shelf for the rest of the year, Cliff Lee has one win and is hovering around a 4 E.R.A, and Cole Hamels has been good but not great. The same can be said of Vance Worley but that's it. The rest of the staff including Joe Blanton, Kyle Kendrick, Jon Paplebon, and the entire bullpen have been awful. This could be the end of a fantastic run for the Phillies.
Biggest Disappoinment (Player)Albert Pujols: I understand that he's been improving as of late but what must be kept in mind is that he signed one of the largest contracts in sports history. When the Angels signed him to the monster $240 million dollar deal, I doubt they expected him to be the third best hitter on his own team. Albert is one of the all time greats but a .268 batting average and .795 OPS simply doesn't cut it in the first year of a deal this large. Don't expect to see him this down for too long though.
Best Team(AL) New York: I gave them the slight edge over Texas for a couple reasons. First they're hotter and headed in a better direction. The Yankess are 30-12 in their last 42 and seem to firing on all cylinders. They have one of the best bullpens in baseball, no real weak spots in the rotation even with all the injuries, and their lineup is superb. Secondly, they haven't been slowed by injuries as much as Texas has. The Bombers have barely missed a beat in the past few weeks despite losing two of their top pitchers in two days. With that being said, the teams are neck and neck; either one is equally as likely to end up with the best record.
Best Team (NL) Washington: The NL doesn't really have a complete team like New York or Texas that can pitch and hit at an elite level. But they do have the Nationals who have the best one-two puch in the MLB and score at a high enough clip to win. The Nat's pitching has been beyond incredible and they are the only team to not allow 300 runs by the all star break. While all the attention has been on phenom Steven Strasburg; Jordan Zimmerman and Gio Gonzalez are equally deserving of fanfare. Gonzalez has a team leading 12 wins while Zimmerman has the team's lowest era for a starter with 2.62. While the Chien- Ming Wang experiment was a failure; Ross Detwiler and Edwin Jackson have been phenomonal for 4th and 5th starters. On the offensive side Ian Desmond and Bryce Harper have been carrying much of the load so far. But I think the 2010 Giants showed that you don't need an elite offense to win a championship.
Worst team: Colorado: This qualifies at least as a minor suprise. The Rockies weren't supposed to be THIS bad. Yes, Tulowitzki landing on the DL hurts, but offense hasn't nearly been the problem. Carlos Gonzalez is putting up all star numbers(17 HR, 58 RBI, .330 BA) and the Rockies have the second best offense in the NL. But the poor performance of the pitching staff is almost beyond comprehension. They've used 11 starters already and given up 479 runs. They've had six guys pitch at least seven starts that have over a five era. They have five relief pitchers with 30+ appearances and only one starter of the eleven with less than a five era. It's quite clear what's needed in Colorado and it sure isn't another bat.
Bonehead Moves of the year: The San Diego Padres didn't become the least relevant team in the MLB by making intelligent personnel decisions. The most egregious example might be the handling of the Anthony Rizzo situation. Rizzo was the main prize in the Adrian Gonzalez trade. After tearing up the minors, he was sent to San Diego where he promptly flopped in San Diego and batted a less than desirable .140. So obviously the Padres traded him immeadiatly for pennies on the dollar because obviously any 21 year old who has a bad first month up has no chance in the big leagues right? Or maybe he just needed a little more time in the minors. The Cubs brought him up after 3 months in Triple A he has a 1.050 OPS in his first 12 games. AKA: He's gonna be really frigin good. Good move Padres...enjoy Andrew Cashner and Kyung-Min Na.
AL MVP- Mike Trout: After being called up in late April, the 20 year old has gone on an absolute tear. He's already got a 4.6 WAR(wins above replacement) despite missing almost a month. He's also leading the AL in batting average at .343 and in stolen bases with 26. Trout has also put up decent power numbers with 11 home runs and 39 R.B.I's. Look for this guy to be in the MVP discussion for a long, long time.
NL MVP- Joey Votto- Votto leads the NL in on base percentage (.469) and slugging (.620) while running away with OPS (1.088). The first baseman also had one of the highest WARs in the game(4.5) and pretty good power numbers (14 home runs, 48 RBIs). A big change is going to have to occur in the NL for Votto to not walk away with his second MVP in three years.
Predictions: AL East: Yankees AL Central: White Sox AL West: Rangers 2 AL Wild Cards: Angels and Rays
NL East: Washington NL Central: Pirates NL West: Giants 2 Wild Cards: Braves and Reds
ALCS: Texas over New York. This always seems to be the time of year the Yankees falter and at least in the last few years when Texas thrives.
NLCS: One condition here, if Washington shuts down Strasburg, I'm not confident they can get to this far. If they don't, they should be the favorite. However if they go through with their plan and shut him down, I'm going with Giants over Pirates in the NLCS.
World Series: I've got Texas finally coming through and beating either the upstart Nationals or getting revenge for 2010 against the Giants.
Sleeper:Watch out for the Chicago White Sox. If they can find someone who's a capable third starter either on their roster or through a trade; they could easily win it all. They'd then have two aces, a third guy capable of winning playoff games, and one of the best lineups in baseball. No one on Texas or New York wants to have to deal with Paul Konerko, AJ Pierzynski, Adam Dunn, Dayan Viciedo, Alejandro De Aza, Kevin Youkalis, Gordon Beckham, and Alex Rios.
Well that's it for the first half folks, here's to a fantastic finish to the 2012 season! Stay Hungry My Friends.
No comments:
Post a Comment