There is shock: the Astros were on top of the American League West for most of the first half of the season, the Twins are hanging tough in the AL Central and Tampa Bay is challenging the Yankees in the AL East.
There is awe: speed, athleticism and an impenetrable bullpen make the Royals the favorites to repeat as kings of the AL, and the Angels’ Mike Trout and Albert Pujols are slugging like Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.
There is wonder: How could the Oakland A’s have a plus-44 run differential and still be nine games under .500? Are the Boston Red Sox really going to finish in the East basement for a second consecutive year?
No doubt, it was a wild first half, and the second act promises plenty of intrigue, with nearly every team clinging to a playoff dream. In the East, all five teams remain in the hunt, with the Yankees holding a mere 6½ -game lead over last-place Boston.
Over the next two weeks, the winning and losing could be determined as much by front-office phone calls as by hits and strikeouts. The Astros, everybody’s Cinderella, rank 29th in the majors with a payroll just above $73 million. They could afford to make a salary splash for a pitcher and could be in the market for left-handers Cole Hamels (Phillies) or Scott Kazmir (A’s), or right-hander Johnny Cueto (Reds).
The East
Over the past 10 years, the winner of this division has averaged 96.9 victories, the highest of any division in baseball. But dominance has been replaced by parity — or perhaps mediocrity. But at least it’s going to be interesting as summer melts into fall.
The Rays, without manager Joe Maddon and with few fans paying attention, have refused to go away and trail the Yankees by only 3½ games. Their offense has been tepid, but with ace Chris Archer leading the way, Tampa’s starting pitchers have a 3.33 ERA, which ranks second in the AL.
The Yankees have to be considered the favorites. Somehow, they have managed to keep an aging offense healthy — think Alex Rodriguez — and they are one of the highest-scoring teams in baseball, averaging 4.65 runs per game. Moreover, in Andrew Miller, Dellin Betances and lefties Justin Wilson and Chasen Shreve, they have the best bullpen east of Kansas City.
Toronto’s offense is fast and powerful, but the Blue Jays lack quality arms. The Orioles, the defending division champs, have failed to recapture their 2014 magic. Injuries and lack of pitching have Red Sox nation saying its prayers and hoping for an ace.
Spotlight: New York’s Alex Rodriguez
A-Rod entered the all-star break hitting .278 with 18 homers and 51 RBIs in his return from his suspension. His surgically repaired hip has held up well, and although he turns 40 at the end of the month, he has experienced a resurgence. He already has posted the most WAR (2.3) by a player in his age-39 season or older since the Braves’ Chipper Jones in 2012. If Rodriguez continues his resurgence and can get to 3.8 WAR, he’d be only the 16th player of his age to do so, and just the second since 1992, joining Barry Bonds.
Key number
45-0
The Yankees’ record when leading after eight innings. Betances and Miller have been automatic at the back of New York’s bullpen.
The Central
Although the Royals surged in the playoffs to win the pennant in 2014, it is the Tigers who have won the Central four consecutive years. In many minds, that streak was expected to reach five this season.
Nothing doing. Detroit is just .500 at the break and faces a significant part of the second half of the season without their best player, Miguel Cabrera, who suffered a calf injury July 3. He is expected to be out at least six weeks.
Pitching has been the Tigers’ undoing. Their rotation has a 4.48 ERA, ranking 14th out of 15 AL teams. The bullpen’s ERA is 3.97, 13th in the league.
The Royals suffered a big loss when star left fielder Alex Gordon injured his groin and was lost for eight weeks. So the Royals are in the market for an outfielder, preferably a left-handed bat. Ben Zobrist of the Athletics or even Colorado’s Carlos Gonzalez are possibilities, but don’t expect general manager Dayton Moore to go crazy at the trade deadline.
The Royals have the AL’s best record, despite a 4.69 ERA from their No. 1 and No. 2 starting pitchers, Yordano Ventura and Danny Duffy. Could a high-priced pitcher be on Moore’s shopping list?
Twins second baseman Brian Dozier followed up his breakout 2014 season with a campaign that could garner him some MVP votes in 2015. He is the new face of a resurgent franchise.
Spotlight: Kansas City’s Wade Davis
The right-handed reliever has a 0.46 ERA, the result of only two earned runs allowed in 39 innings. He’s primarily a bridge to closer Greg Holland, but Davis was called into closer’s duty this season when Holland battled a pectoral injury. Davis responded by recording nine saves in 10 opportunities. He hasn’t allowed a home run in a club-record 121 innings.
Key number
157
Strikeouts this season by White Sox ace Chris Sale. He tied Pedro Martinez’s major-league record of eight consecutive games with 10 or more strikeouts.
The West
After the first two months of the season, the Astros were on pace to win 101 games. Remember, this was a franchise that lost 111 games in 2013, so they were on pace for the biggest two-year turnaround (50 games) in major-league history.
That was then.
Houston lost eight of nine game going into the all-star break and saw its division lead dissolve. The Angels, led by MVP candidate Mike Trout, won 11 of their last 14 before the break and now have a half-game lead.
The Angels have survived a front-office shake-up and are looking like a formidable force. As the trade deadline nears, they could be seeking a left-handed bat to complement Trout and Albert Pujols. However, there have been 11 blown saves by the bullpen and closer Huston Street’s groin injury is worrisome.
The Rangers have been a nice comeback story, with Prince Fielder hitting .339 with 14 home runs after missing most of 2014 with neck surgery, but the rotation has been decimated by injuries to Yu Darvish, Matt Harrison and Derek Holland.
The Mariners, and Robinson Cano in particular, have been one of the season’s biggest disappointments. The A’s, too, have been a huge flop. They have solid pitching, but they are 8-22 in one-run games. Expect GM Billy Beane to begin listening to sales pitches in the next couple of weeks.
Spotlight: Houston’s Dallas Keuchel
Keuchel, the starting pitcher in the All-Star Game, doesn’t blow opponents away. Rather, he lets them do the work by pounding the ball into the dirt. The left-hander is sturdy, strong, reliable and clutch. In six starts against the Angels, Rangers, Royals and Yankees — the two closest contenders in his division and the two other first-place teams in the AL — he’s 4-0 with a 1.41 ERA.
Key number
838
Strikeout total for the Astros, the most in baseball. The Astros are batting just .240 and it’s starting to catch up to them.
