2015 Mid-Season Review
Well, the Mets are winning the games that I thought the Marlins would, the Astros are winning the games I thought the Mariners would, and the Twins/Royals are winning the games that I thought the White Sox would. Realizing that three of my playoff teams, and one of my World Series teams, are more than likely out of the running, I’ve come forward with some changes to my pre-season picks.
Preseason playoff teams:
NL East: Nationals AL East: Orioles
NL Central: Pirates AL Central: White Sox
NL West: Dodgers AL West: Mariners
Wildcard: Marlins and Cardinals Wildcard: Blue Jays and Tigers
Mid season playoff teams:
NL East: Nationals AL East: Rays
NL Central: Pirates AL Central: Royals
NL West: Dodgers AL West: Angels
Wildcard: Cardinals and Cubs Wildcard: Blue Jays and Twins
My NL stays primarily the same. I still believe the Pirates will over-take the Cardinals for the division lead and might end up with the best record in the NL, if not the majors. Just replacing the Cubs for the Marlins as Miami has been a major disappointment and Chicago is good enough to push for the Wild Card slot. Especially since their competition is the surprising, and offensively anemic, Mets and the injury prone, hot-and-cold Giants.
AL, however, is different. It seems that when I put my faith in the Rays, they disappoint me. When I take it away, they manage to surprise me. However, they have the best pitching in the AL East and pitching wins games. I didn’t have faith in the Royals; I thought their pitching was rough and Morales has been a huge surprise. They also have the depth to deal with the loss of Alex Gordon. I don’t think the Astros can continue their torrid pace; currently on an eight game losing streak and this team is basically “home run or bust” from top to bottom. The Wild Card gets exciting but the Blue Jays have the offense, they just need the pitching. And I’m sure they’ll go after a top target (Cueto, Kazmir, etc…) and the Twins have a large enough lead and have been consistent enough to instill enough confidence that they’ll hold on to the slot.
DS: Pirates over Cubs, Nationals over Dodgers
Royals over Blue Jays, Rays over Angels
CS: Pirates over Nationals
Royals over Rays
WS: Pirates over Royals in six.
I’m still driving the Pirates World Series champion’s bandwagon. It’ll be tough to get past the Nationals, but if the Pirates over-take the Cardinals, they’ll be able to over-take anyone. The Royals have a little easier road to the World Series as, in my opinion, the AL isn’t as strong as it was last year or as strong as the NL.
Pre-Season Award winners:
NL MVP: Adrew McCutchen NL CY Young: Johnny Cueto
AL MVP: Josh Donaldson AL CY Young: Chris Sale
NL and AL ROY not selected.
Mid-Season Award winners:
NL MVP: Bryce Harper NL CY Young: Gerrit Cole
AL MVP: Josh Donaldson AL CY Young: Chris Sale
My NL predictions weren’t bad, just a few player have risen up. Harper is the mid-season favorite to me and I’ll ride that hot card. Pitching wise, there are a lot of good choices for both the AL and the NL. But Cole, should he continue what he’s doing now, will set some career highs, possible franchise records, and is succeeding past what even I thought he would this preseason.
My AL predictions are staying the same. Sale is a huge bright spot on a struggling White Sox team. And while they won’t be playoff bound, his numbers are bright enough to take the attention. As for Donaldson, he’s currently in the top five of the following AL categories: WAR, hits, runs, HRs, RBIs, XBH, D-WAR, and is top 10 in doubles. Oh, and he’s been healthy all season long.
Rookie of the Year: I told you to ask me mid-season and here are my picks:
AL: Billy Burns, Athletics NL: Kris Bryant, Cubs
Burns has been a catalyst for the Athletics. He hits well for extra bases (10 doubles, five triples, two HRs) and has great speed (17 stolen bases, caught only three times) has 38 runs, and has 82 hits. He leads all AL rookies in those categories sans XBH, where he’s third.
Bryant had some drama to start his ML career, but with the numbers he’s putting up, why wouldn’t any team want to ensure an extra season of control? He leads NL rookies in runs and RBIs and is second in XBH, HRs, WAR, and third in doubles and total hits. Only problem is that he strikes out A LOT (101 Ks in 286 ABs).
Pre-Season overall divisions: * denotes best record in conference, ** best record in baseball, # worst in the conference, ## worst in baseball
NL: East: Central: West:
Nationals Pirates Dodgers (**)
Marlins Cardinals Padres
Mets Cubs Giants
Braves Reds Rockies
Phillies (##) Brewers Diamondbacks
AL East: Central: West:
Orioles White Sox Mariners (*)
Blue Jays Tigers Angels
Yankees Indians Athletics
Red Sox Royals Astros
Rays Twins (#) Rangers
Mid-Season overall divisions: * denotes best record in conference, ** best record in baseball, # worst in the conference, ## worst in baseball
NL: East: Central: West:
Nationals Pirates (**) Dodgers
Mets Cardinals Giants
Braves Cubs Diamondbacks
Marlins Reds Rockies
Phillies (##) Brewers Padres
AL East: Central: West:
Rays Royals (*) Angels
Blue Jays Twins Astros
Yankees Indians Rangers
Orioles Tigers Athletics
Red Sox White Sox (#) Mariners
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