MLB Midseason Report

Brewers- They need their separate section because they are my team and I could probably write a page of stuff that just involves the Milwaukee Brewers. First of all if you were to tell me the Cubs have the best record in baseball and the Brewers would only be 5 back after the horrendous series in Boston, I would say “Get the fuck outta here”. They have played amazing baseball and there a many keys to that success… 1. Solomon Torres- He has became a lights out closer for the Brewers after the Eric Gagne Disaster and I always was a Gagne guy although now I feel so much more safer when Soli is in the game instead of Gagne. 2. Starting pitching- Not only has the bullpen been strong but the starting pitching has been fanastic for the Brewers. The addition of Seth McClung has proven to be the right move as he has dominated in every start but one. We already ready know that Ben Sheets is having a NL Cy Young type year going 9-1 so far with about 2.50 ERA. Manny Parra has been stellar with just a vicious variation of a great fastball and curve so the future looks very bright. Soup been great at Miller lets hope he can keep it up on the road. Now, Dave Bush.. yes that Dave Bush has won his last two starts pitching damn near perfect in both. This team becomes very scary. 3. Home Run Power, the Brewers have hit 45 homers in their last 23 games I believe the stat is with that power has provided confidence to Prince Fielder who has hit 16 now and is hitting about .280. Then add Ryan Braun who if he gets his average up about 20 points will make a serious run for the NL MVP.

NL Central- Of course this to me is the most important division in baseball and the fact of the matter is the Chicago Cubs are winning every game in any possible way. Someone on Wissports compared them to the 2001 Chicago Bears who every game they had they seem to get every break which is fairly accurate. Sure lets bring Jimmy Edmonds in who was awful early on and now looks like he did in his prime. Now Alfonso Soriano and Carlos Zambrano are both on the DL which could start the unraveling for the Cubbies so who knows. I am shocked that the Cardinals are leading the Wild Card at the moment. They are not that good of a ball club and they are winning without half of their pitching plus Pujols has been on the DL for a couple of weeks now. Other than that Jay Bruce/Edision Volquez are both great players for the Reds just hople for Volquez sake Baker is leaving in two years. The Pirates just have McClouth/Bay putting up monster numbers and the Astros just have Lance Berkman.

NL East- Well I think when everyone saw the New York Mets lineup and the addition of Johan Santana they could of almost been shoe-in champs of the NL East, not so fast my friend. They have struggled and led to Willie Randolph getting the boot at 315 AM classy move Omar…. I don’t see the Mets making any sort of run for the Wild Card with Jerry Manuel, they are just lost as a team right now. The Marlins once again are doing big things in the first half, it could only be expected that they will trail off in the second half of the season. Phillies once again have a MVP contender in Chase Utley and they are in first place although if they want to make any sort of run, Ryan Howard figure out how to draw walks and get base hits.

NL West- Honestly this division is the worst of the six in the Major League. The Diamondbacks looked like a force to be reckoned with in April then the following months they have just done enough to get by. The Colorado Rockies, Los Angeles Dodgers, and San Diego Padres have both underachieved dramatically even though both teams have gone through their slew of injuries. Another quick hitter on San Diego, how on earth can you boo Trevor Hoffman? He is the staple of your franchise and yes maybe he is coming to the end of his career so his stuff is not what it was in his prime. If I am Hoffman I ask for a trade to somewhere where he is wanted. The Giants have played better than expected with the stellar pitching of Tim Linecum, he is proving why he was the number one pick three years ago.

AL East: The biggest surprise in 2008 has been the Tampa Bay Rays. They have the best record in baseball and they are doing with defense plus a great bullpen which we have to check if they still are strong since Troy Percival (whose a deserving All-Star) has went on the DL with a strained hamstring. I think everyone is right when the Rays and Brewers will be playing in the World Series in 2010. The Red Sox I could see not even making the playoffs if the Rays keep their run up and the Tigers/A’s starting hitting the ball better. I think David Ortiz will not be the same player the rest of the year and their starting pitching is not all that solid. I would not be surprised to see them go after a big name pitcher during the deadline. I think the New York Yankees once again think that they can lie in the weeds and come out red-hot in July/August. I wish the Orioles were in the NL West so they could be contending at least. They were expected to be awful and they have overachieved, good for them.

AL Central- Like the Mets in the NL, we all expected to the Detroit Tigers dominating everything in sight and I still remember on opening day my buddy E telling me “How do you even pitch to the Tigers? Their lineup is destructive?” I thought the same thing and it was a major reason why I kept Justin Verlander in my keeper league which has proven to be a major mistake. I was at the Metrodome over the weekend which by the way is a sub-par stadium. All of us were amazed at the fact the Twins keep winning yet they cannot hit homers and they don’t have Mr. Santana on the hill every five days. They can make a push for the wildcard and the division if they get a big bat in their lineup. The White Sox are replicating what the Twins are doing by getting by with players who had no expectations going into the season like Carlos Quentin or Jermaine Dye. I think the White Sox bullpen is good enough that they will win this division and make a serious push at the World Series. Cleveland is like a rollercoaster, one year you get an AL contender then next they are trading the reigning Cy Young award winning in CC Sabathia. I hope he stays in the Midwest with the Brewers because I think CC Sheeter and Manny will be a dominate top three power pitching staff. Look I know people hate giving up prospects but we have 10 all-stars in AA, not all of them will be Brewers so its only right to trade a couple of them to Cleveland.

AL West- The Los Angeles Angles just seem be forgotten as one of the best teams in baseball and they are doing without Vlad Guerrero heating up. They are doing it once again with great pitching. The A’s who everyone thought it would be a rebuilding for them have played good baseball to keep themselves above .500. How great the story about Josh Hamilton, the guy is is a surefire contender for AL MVP and is living up to the expectations that everyone had for him in 1996. Good luck Josh keep it up, you have a fan in Milwaukee.

-Charlie