Welcome back to the State of the League! We covered the National League on Tuesday, and now it's time for the Junior Circuit to shine!7/22 - NL SotLSTANDINGS AND WEEKLY MOVEMENTAL WEST7DCHANGEAL CENT7DCHANGEAL EAST7DCHANGE 62-383-2- 56-423-4- 55-453-3- 60-403-3- 51-504-3+1 52-485-1+1 53-482-4- 50-502-4-1 53-494-2-1 42-592-3- 48-543-3- 49-535-0- 40-612-4- 46-542-4- 47-544-2-We didn't see much movement in the divisions this week, though the Yankees have closed a lot of space in the East.With a 7.5 game lead for the first Wild Card spot, the Angels only need to not collapse in these last 62 games to lock up a playoff spot and enjoy the fight going on below them.With 4 teams within 2.5 games of the Mariners for the second Wild Card spot, and another 4 within 6.5 games, the trade deadline might be a very turbulent affair for the American League.UPCOMING SCHEDULES The A's finish up a series against the Astros today before deciding that they like Texas so much they want to visit for themselves, ending the month with 3 game series in both Arlington and Houston. Coming off a series loss to the Orioles, the Angels will be looking to rebound against the Tigers in 4 games, then hit the road for a rematch in Baltimore. Hoping not to let the O's take too much advantage of the AL West, the Mariners welcome the AL East's leaders for a 4 game series, then marine (marinate?) their way out to Cleveland for a pow-wow with the Indians to end July. The Tigers finish up their 7-game road trip in Anaheim this weekend, hoping to build some more breathing room between themselves and the Indians before returning home to take care of some laundry as the White Sox come to town. Completing a whirlwind tour of most of the AL Central with a 4 game set against the Royals, the Indians will look to gather themselves after a poor showing in Minnesota as they end the month against a Mariners team that was left reeling by the Amazing Mets. They started the second half with a 4 game losing streak, but after beating the White Sox in two straight the Royals will look to keep the good times rolling back in Kauffman Stadium as the Indians and Twins come visiting. Having taken 3 of 6 against the two best teams in baseball so far this year, the Orioles will finish their road trip in Seattle before flying back to Baltimore to try and recreate their last series against the Angels. The Yankees seem to have enjoyed the break, and look to continue their winning ways at home as they finish their series against the Rangers and welcome in their Canadian friends. They end the month by flying out to Texas to see if they can take advantage in the wake of Oakland's planned scorched earth tactics on the state. Looking to take a decisive victory against the hapless Red Sox today, the Blue Jays will finish the month with 3 in the Bronx, 3 in Boston, and starting a series in Houston as they try to make up ground in the Wild Card race.TEAM/PLAYER NEWSAL WEST Though Mike Trout and Howie Kendrick both have 8 hits (3 doubles) since the break, Trout edges out his teammate as leader of the offense with 2 homers added in, though Kole Calhoun isn't far behind with 7 hits, 1 HR. On the mound, Hector Santiago, Garrett Richards, and Jered Weaver (twice) have thrown quality starts since the break, and Cory Rasmus has thrown 5.2 IP without giving up a run in 3 appearances out of the pen. CJ Wilson and Collin Cowgill are both working their way back as well, and may be off the DL by the end of the month. Jose Altuve is continuing to prove that good things come in small packages (what an original joke, I'm sure no one else has ever used that before) with 9 hits since the break, including a double and a home run, in support of Brett Oberholtzer and Scott Feldman's quality starts. On the rehab front, Dexter Fowler and Collin McHugh are hopefully close to returning as George Springer lands himself on the DL as well. Hot off his Home Run Derby victory, Yoenis Cespedes has hit 2 homers as part of his 8 hits since returning to action, with Jon Jaso and Josh Donaldson providing 7 and 6 hits to go along with it - each of the three also having at least 3 extra base hits. Sonny Gray and Scott Kazmir have taken advantage of the offensive prowess by throwing quality starts as well, and reliever Ryan Cook has had only 2 baserunners in his 4.1 IP so far. And Alberto Callaspo might be back soon, too. Happy days in Oakland. Dustin Ackley is looking to make a name for himself with 11 hits (4 doubles) in 24 at bats since the break, while Robinson Cano and Kyle Seager support him with 7 each. On the mound, Flex Hernandez, Hisashi Iwakuma, Erasmo Ramirez, and Chris Young have all thrown quality starts, while Fernando Rodney was shot down by the Angels earlier in the week. Michael Saunders is progressing ahead of schedule and might be back from the DL before the middle of August, while James Paxton rehabs in AAA as well. Leading the Power Rangers offense this week is red ranger Leonys Martin and his 8 hits, followed closely by blue ranger Rougned Odor's 7 hits, 2 for extra bases. Temper tantrum prone Colby Lewis threw a quality start this week, as did white ranger Mike Mikolas and yellow ranger Yu Darvish. They say that they do things bigger in Texas, and apparently that includes Disabled Lists - luckily, as Geovany Soto hit the list on Tuesday, it seems that Joseph Ortiz and Engel Beltre may be back before August.AL CENTRAL Yan Gomes's 9 hits leads the Indians, though Michael Brantley, Carlos Santana, Jason Kipnis and Nick Swisher all have at least 7. Despite the hot bats, only Corey Kluber and Trevor Bauer (twice) have thrown quality starts. As Asdrubal Cabrera remains day-to-day with his lower back spasms, Justin Masterson is working his way back to the team, and could be called up before the month's over. With 10 hits, Alex Gordon is the hottest coal on the grill for Kansas City, while Mike Moustakas has hit the team's only 2 home runs since the break. On the hill, Danny Duffy, James Shields and Jeremy Guthrie all threw a quality start since the break, and Greg Holland has converted his only save opportunity. Jason Vargas continues his rehab since his appendectomy earlier this month, and could be back as soon as July 27th. Miguel Cabrera and Austin Jackson both have 12 hits since the break, though Jackson has 4 more extra base hits and 3 fewer strikeouts over that time. Drew Smyly, Rick Porcello and Justin Verlander all threw quality starts this week, and JD Martinez should be back any day now to bolster the outfield. Danny Santana and Kendrys Morales each have 6 hits to lead the team after the break, but Anthony Swarzak was the only pitcher to throw a quality start this week and Matt Guerrier finished with a 36.00 ERA after giving up 4 ER in only 1 inning of work. On the bright side, Joe Mauer is hitting off a tee, which shows he's already preparing for MLB's changes to the Home Run Derby for 2015. Adam Eaton and Tyler Flowers have led the White Sox offense with 9 and 7 hits respectively, in support of quality starts from Chris Sale, Jose Quintana, and Hector Noesi, while Zach Putnam has earned himself 2 saves and Jake Petricka earned one. Dayan Viciedo was scratched from the lineup yesterday with left hamstring tightness, but should hopefully be good to go today.AL EAST Melky Cabrera and Jose Reyes stand atop the Blue Jays offense with 10 and 8 hits respectively, including 2 doubles and a homer each, helping to convert JA Happ and Marcus Stroman's quality starts into wins, while Aaron Loup, Brett Cecil and Casey Janssen all recorded saves. Edwin Encarnacion and Adam Lind are both hitting off tees (hoping to join Mauer next year, I see) and might both be able to return before the end of the month. Nick Markakis's 8 hits and Adam Jones's 3 homers and 10 RBI have led the Orioles' offense out of the break as Bud Norris, Miguel Gonzalez and Chris Tillman (twice) threw quality starts, though only two of them were able to be converted to wins, and Zach Britton converted 3 of his 4 save chances. Ubaldo Jimenez is expected to throw a bullpen session Friday, and Manny Machado should hopefully be available soon too as he battles back spasms. James Loney's 9 hits and Evan Longoria's 6 hits and 6 RBI have been the driving force for the Rays offense as the pitching staff continues to impress, with David Price's 8 shoutout innings and Chris Archer and Alex Cobb's quality starts supported by a bullpen that has given up only 1 run in 12.1 IP. On the injury front, even as Joel Peralta goes down to a virus, Wil Myers has continued his rehab and may be back before September. Mike Napoli has hit 2 homers along with a double and 6 singles to start after the break, while David Ortiz has decided singles are for losers - his 6 hits are all for extra bases, 4 of them home runs. John Lackey and Rubby De La Rosa both threw quality starts with 7 IP/1 ER, while Jon Lester has decided that that stat line was played out - his start went for 8 IP/0 ER. Meanwhile, David Ross is day-to-day, and Will Middlebrooks is working his way through rehab for his fractured finger. Jacoby Ellsbury's second half started with 10 hits, 2 for homers, to lead the Yankees offense while Hiroki Kuroda, Chase Whitley, Brandon McCarthy, and David Phelps all threw quality starts this week. Perusing the exorbitantly expensive menu that is the Yankees' Disabled List with the recent addition of Kelly Johnson, Mark Teixeira may be back available within the next day or two.REMEMBERDO NOT DOWNVOTE BASED ON OPINION OR FLAIR.OR BUD SELIG'S LAST ACT AS COMMISSIONER WILL BE TO FLIP THE DH RULE FOR BOTH LEAGUES via /r/baseball http://www.reddit.com/r/baseball/comments/2bkxw2/state_of_the_league_724_american_league/
No comments:
Post a Comment