Image courtesy of ajc.com
If you’re a person who lives in America and cares about baseball even a little bit, you’re almost undoubtedly sick of the constant coverage surrounding a certain New York third baseman.
Don’t get me wrong; I enjoy under-qualified, pompous, old, crotchety columnists write recycled, boring stories about how a certain player isn’t worth of life because he doesn’t make children smile or bad feelings disappear with the frequency of Derek Jeter. I just think there might be more to talk about right now.
For example…
1. Chris Johnson is currently leading the NL batting title race with a .339 average. No, not that Chris Johnson. The infielder for the Atlanta Braves; he of 28 years and 445 career games. Johnson would be the perhaps the least prominent batting champion since…ever?
2. Trout vs. Cabrera: Oh, no. Oh shit, we’re gonna have to do this again, aren’t we? This didn’t seem like it would be an issue for most of the year. That was until Cabrera slowed a bit while Trout did an encore to last year’s Rickey Henderson impression (should I say impression? Because he’s been a far better 20-21-year old than Rickey was). The New Jersey native is now up to .333/.424/.575 with 32 doubles, eight triples, 20 home runs and 24 steals. He’s top five in WAR, batting average, on-base percentage, slugging, OPS, doubles, triples, hits and walks. If he keeps this up this torrid pace, we’ll be staring down the barrel of yet another disheartening debate.
3. Pat Corbin has come out of nowhere to post a 12-3 record with a 2.33 ERA so far this season. And he doesn’t have a realistic shot at the NL Cy Young. This is due to the transcendent efforts of Matt Harvey, Adam Wainwright and Clayton Kershaw. Each of these guys have put mind-blowing numbers.
In his last 37 starts, Kershaw has allowed four earned runs twice, three earned five times, two earned nine times, one earned 11 times and no runs 10 times. That’s it. He hasn’t allowed more than four since last June. Unfreakingbelievable.
Matt Harvey has only nine wins but has an incredible 2.09 ERA and .86 WHIP in his first full season.
Adam Wainwright has pitched a league-leading 175.2 innings and has walked only 21 batters for a stunning BB/9 rate of 1.1.
Good luck, NL Cy Young voters. You’ll have your hands full come November.
4. Here’s a list of guys who have taken at least 35 at bats for the Yankees this year: Lyle Overbay, Travis Hafner, Zoilo Almonte, David Adams, Jayson Nix, Chris Stewart, Eduardo Nunez, Kevin Youkalis, Austin Romine, Luis Cruz, Francisco (steroids don’t always work for everyone) Cervelli, Brennan Boesch, Ben Francisco, Reid Brignac, Chris Nelson, Brent Lillibridge and Alberto Gonzalez. Oh, and Vernon Wells is fourth on with 342 at bats. What a season.
5. We’re now 10 years removed from the release of Moneyball and saber metrics have taken on a large role in professional sports far quicker than anyone would have anticipated. There is no greater indicator of this than the success of two of the original “Moneyball” believers: Oakland and Tampa Bay. Both teams are positioned to make the playoffs in the American league despite both being among the bottom five in team payroll in the MLB.
6. Just a year removed from their disaster 69-win season, the Red Sox are seriously challenging for a World Series. Much of this success can be traced to a healthy core (Ortiz, Pedroia, Ellsbury), improved pitching (Buchholz, Lester, Doubront) and low-scale free agent signings (Victorino, Dempster, Napoli). Combine that with Bobby V’s departure and this turnaround doesn’t seem all that surprising.
7. The Atlanta Braves have the second-best record in baseball, the third-best run differential and have won 13 straight. The Braves now lead the NL East by a cool 15.5 games and have all but assured themselves their first division title in eight years. This all despite losing ace Tim Hudson for the season only a few weeks ago. Even without Hudson, the Braves go five deep with quality starters, have a reliable bullpen and can count on Johnson, Freddie Freeman, Justin Upton and Brian McCann to produce runs.
8. The Tigers have the AL Central all but wrapped up but this summer has given hope for a couple franchise resurgences. First, Cleveland is challenging for a Wild Card spot after five consecutive years of missing the playoffs. Also, Kansas City appears to be finally near the end of their 28-year rebuilding plan. And yes, that’s how long it’s been since they’ve been in the playoffs. Even if neither team plays into October this season, both have given their fan bases glimpses into a bright future.
9. The aforementioned glimpses into a bright future was what Pittsburgh fans got in 2011 and 2012 as the Pirates started out hot only to falter in August. This year is that bright future. The Pirates have the best record in baseball (70-44) and will almost certainly play meaningful fall baseball for the first time in 21 years.
10. The Giants never really felt like a dynasty-type team; they were never really considered the best team in baseball save for the months of October 2010 and 2012. But them falling this hard and this fast is something no one expected. They’re 51-63 with a -59 run differential and are in the bottom half of the league in both team pitching and hitting. Matt Cain’s 4.47 ERA is to blame. As is Angel Pagan’s injury, Ryan Vogelsong’s amnesia, Barry Zito’s Barry Zitoing and Pablo Sandoval’s mediocre numbers. It’s hard to believe this is the defending World Series Champion.
Stay hungry, my friends.
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