NL East/NL Central

By Dr. Jekyll,

NL East

Atlanta Braves: Behind one of the best pitching staffs in the league and rookie phenom Jason Heyward, the Braves look darn good. The middle of the lineup still doesn’t have as much punch as you’d like to see in a possible world series team, but Bobby Cox’s rotation is top to bottom one of the three best in the league. Who would be looking forward to facing Derek Lowe, Tim Hudson, and Tommy Hanson in the playoffs? No one, that’s who. If the lineup can keep up its timely hitting, Cox will have to do his best to not be ejected from a World Series game.

Philadelphia Phillies: This was not supposed to happen. The Phillies are a much better team than their record, but with a rotation that can’t seem to just get it’s finger on the right spot and a lineup that’s struggles have gone on for too long, they’ll be pushing for the wild-card/division heading into the last week of the season. Roy Halladay was still a great pickup, but the Phils must be kicking themselves for not keeping Cliff around to put them in a far more secure position. This is an underperforming ball-club that just needs to get a few hitters hot to make a run at the postseason. The wild-card looks like a dogfight.

New York Mets: Speaking of underperforming ball-club’s, this one was at least expected. The Mets consistently have a competitive team on paper, but this year, much like the last two, looks to end in early disappointment. Apart from Johan, the rotation is an absolute mess. David Wright has absolutely no supporting cast this season. The Mets should really suck it in and just accept this as a lost season at .500 baseball, but they’ll probably make ill advised trade runs before the deadline. Short of an Atlanta-esque Troy Glaus style turnaround, the Mets are sunk.

Florida Marlins: If a team can feel good about playing awful baseball, it’s the Marlins. After all, they’re only supposed to make World Series runs every seven years anyways. The great young rotation, highlighted by soon to be Cy Young award winner Josh Johnson, will be well in its prime by the time they have that seven year run ready for them. Dan Uggla is a beast, and it’s only a matter of time until the pieces fit around him. Two more years til the right crew gets to bring their talents to South beach.

Washington Nationals: This is the kind of team local fans love to get behind. They’re not ready yet, but when you watch them get together you can see it all taking shape. Jordan Zimmermann is going to be an absolute stud in that rotation, as he readies to return from injury after what started last season as a stellar career. He’d be an excellent number one in most big league rotations, but apparently he’s taking a back seat to some Strasburg kid. It’d be great for them to keep Adam Dunn around, as a tutor of the long ball to whoever comes in after him, but this is a team that wasn’t expected to do much but is slowly shaping up to be great.

NL Central

This division was always going to be won and lost on the first basemen, it just didn’t shape up the way some of us, namely me, predicted.

Cincinnati Reds: Assuming he stays healthy, Joey Votto is the league MVP, and he’s needed every bit of this breakthrough season in order to keep the Reds fending off the Cardinals in this division. Scott Rolen has dipped into the fountain of youth just enough to give this team a shot at playoff glory, and Bronson Arroyo, Mike Leake, and Johnny Cueto have put together a surprisingly stable top of the rotation. IF they can hold of Phat Albert and the gang, this team can do damage.

St. Louis Cardinals: Albert Pujols is having an off year. Which is saying a lot when you realize that he’s still hitting .301 with a .962 OPS. Yeah, off year. Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter are pitching well, but this is just a really average team with one great player in a division with two of the worst clubs in baseball. If the Cards keep beating up on the little guys, they can keep making a push for the division. Look for this race to be decided with about four days to go in the season.

Milwaukee Brewers: Again, a very average team, much like the Cardinals (or really the Reds for that matter), but they can prey on the weak links in the division. Prince Fielder should be moved by the end of the trading deadline, and if not him than future all-star Corey Hart. This team has been meddling at .500 for what seems like an eternity. They should really take the opportunity to rebuild while they have meaningful pieces.

Chicago Cubs: Sweet Lou made the right decision in running away from this team. The Cubs have been backsliding for awhile now, and this season proves it. They have very few quality players, they’re just top to bottom not as awful as the Pirates or Astros. It’ll be some time until this team is a legitimate threat to do much in the division again, short of a lightning in a bottle season.

Houston Astros: Much like the Cubs, this team really has no talent on it. Roy Oswalt is a dish best served elsewhere, and would make a lot of sense in bolstering the Phillies rotation or maybe even the Nationals as a tutor for the young guns they have coming up. But more likely the Angels will make a gamble on Roy for a farm system that, in about three season, will make people pay attention to Houston. This club may not get a pitcher more than 11 wins all season, and even that would seem like a miracle with this lineup. Triple A club here, might as well build the farm.

Pittsburgh Pirates: I’m a big Zach Duke fan, but that doesn’t mean much. McCutchen is an animal and will continue to grow, but this club is, much like the previous two teams mentioned, just a triple A club at best. A team constantly in rebuild mode, they need a few good drafts to shape into a competitive team.

Midway point in MLB

By Dan Rodgers

We have reached the midway point in the Major League Baseball season. The all-star break is approaching and every team has played about 80 or so games. The all-star lineups were listed today, but I will write another post on that closer to all-star weekend.

This post is for predictions the rest of the way.

AL EAST
1. New York (1 seed)
2. Boston / Tampa Bay (tiebreaker for 3 seed)
4. Toronto
5. Baltimore

AL CENTRAL
1. Minnesota (4 seed)
2. Detroit
3. Chicago
4. Kansas City
5. Cleveland

AL WEST
1. Texas (2 seed)
2. Los Angeles
3. Seattle
4. Oakland

NL EAST
1. New York (2 seed)
2. Atlanta (3 seed)
3. Philadelphia
4. Washington
5. Florida

NL CENTRAL
1. Cincinnati (4 seed)
2. St. Louis
3. Milwaukee
4. Chicago
5. Houston
6. Pittsburgh

NL WEST
1. Los Angeles (1 seed)
2. San Diego
3. San Francisco
4. Colorado
5. Arizona

Divisional Round
New York (AL) over Minnesota
Tampa Bay over Texas
Los Angeles over Cincinnati
New York (NL) over Atlanta

Championship Round
New York (AL) over Tampa Bay
Los Angeles over New York (NL)

World Series
New York (AL) over Los Angeles
^Six game series in a rematch of the classic New York Yankee/Brooklyn Dodger series.

Look for an awards prediction post in a bit.

Rodgers That

Rounding the bases

By Dr. Jekyll,

A weekly feature on the good, the bad, and the ugly happening around the diamond.

Single: Ichiro Suzuki is the most overlooked future hall of famer in major league baseball. The most consistent hitter of our generation is once again doing just fine, thank you for noticing. He currently sports the 4^th highest batting average in baseball and leads the league in hits. Just another day at the ballpark for Ichiro.

Double: A double is what you expect off the bat of a power hitter. Consistent, nothing special, but you’re just where you thought you would be. Your 2010 Philadelphia Phillies, baseballs most average great team. They give you nothing special, and they’re a no-nonsense club that just comes in every day and delivers. No glaring holes, just great talent. This team has nothing to write about, other than run of the mill dominance. Like the late ‘90’s Yankees, this is a phenomenal club.

Triple: As in triple play. Like the one started by the New York Mets Angel Pagan (take a minute and soak in how great a name that is) against the Nationals and Livan Hernandez. Not only did he start the triple play, he also homered in the game. But his unconventional inside the park round-tripper made him the first big leaguer since 1955 to accomplish both feats in the same game. It’s nice to see someone on that team still showing up.

Home Run: The San Diego Padres were no ones pick to do well this year. With a lineup with no feared hitter besides Adrian Gonzalez, they looked like they’d be lucky to finish any higher than 3^rd in the NL West. But behind their absolute dominance of the Giants, the Pads are just a half game shy of the best record in the entire league. They’re doing all of this despite hitting an abysmal .240 as a team, thanks to their out-of-this-world 2.74 team ERA. The chances of keeping up that kind of a stat line are slim, but for now, the Padres are putting together an impressive run heading into the summer.

Strikin’ them out: Looks like Justin Verlander has gotten himself back on track in a hurry, putting together back to back wins against the Yankees and A’s, including 4-hitting the Athletics in a complete game against last week’s talk of the down Dallas Braden. The Tigers will need Verlander to keep this up if they’re going to stick with the Twins again in the AL Central.

Popping Up: Closers everywhere. Specifically, three of the biggest names in the game with Jonathan Papelbon, Mariano Rivera, and Trevor Hoffman all struggling tremendously. First an uncharacteristic grand slam given up by the Sandman himself, then Papelbon giving up four runs of his own to the tune of two two-run homers. Then Mo coming back the next night and blowing it. Meanwhile, the formerly ageless wonder Trevor Hoffman has now allowed more runs this season than he did all of last year. Yikes.

Caught Looking: Me. At Theo Epstein at a Pearl Jam show. Why worry about your .500 ballclub when you can rock out? I kid. Only a little.

Rounding the bases

By Dr. Jekyll

A look at the good, the bad, and the ugly to this point in the season.

Single: The Athletics are off to a good start in the most up-for-grabs division in baseball. If Ben Sheets keeps his arm the rest of the season they may be able to hang in there for a bit. But that’s asking a lot.

Double: The Minnesota Twins are proving that they don’t need Nathan. But when he does come back around, they’ll be looking to shop a closer. Jon Rauch is a rock in the back of that bullpen right now, and he’ll be worth a hefty price when they go shopping next year.

Triple: The Tampa Bay Rays looked to be third fiddle behind big boys in Boston and New York this year. Apparently, no one told Tampa. Matt Garza looks legit, and this team is flying through a tough early schedule.

Home Run: Jason Heyward is all that and a bag of chips. The slick hitting rookie came into Tuesday tied for the league lead in RBI’s batting in the middle of the order for a team stocked in its rotation. Bobby Cox has to be loving the possibility of another division crown awaiting his sendoff at the end of the season.

Strikin’ them out: All reports of the demise of Tim Lincecum are incredibly premature. The quirky delivery is posting an ERA under 1 thus far in the season, as well as tying for the league lead in wins and leading the strikeouts category. So much for an off year.

Popping up: The Red Sox spent the offseason trying to improve on defense and run prevention. All that’s great, but without a feared middle of the order, there’s not much that’s going to happen. Victor Martinez needs to get his stroke back, and upper management needs to make up their minds on Big Papi.

Caught Looking: The New York Mets are used to being fine on paper and miserable on the field. Well, this year they don’t even have the added bonus of looking good on paper. This team is going nowhere until its roster hops off of the DL. Jason Bay isn’t enjoying the big apple, and neither are the fans.

Double header plus and a no-no

By Dan Rodgers

Today, April 17, happened to be a very special day in baseball.

Colorado Rockies @ Atlanta Braves

Colorado Rockies starter Ubaldo Jimenez pitched the first no-hitter in franchise history, recording a 4-0 win in Atlanta against the Braves. Jimenez walked six batters in the no-no, all of which happened in the first five innings. He also struck out seven in the historic outing.

Troy Tulowitzki sacrificed in a run in the first. Jimenez then helped his own cause by singling in a run in the fourth. This was followed by a two-run double by lead-off man Carlos Gonzalez. From then on, the game was just smooth sailing.

News York Mets @ St. Louis Cardinals

However, another incredible game on this day, was a 20-inning game between the New York Mets and the St. Louis Cardinals. This is easily the longest game I have ever seen before in person or on television.

The scoring didn't get started until inning number 19. Jeff Francoeur hit a sacrifice fly in the top of the inning, and that is all the Mets could manage with the bases loaded and only one out. In the bottom of the inning, Ryan Ludwick walked, but was caught stealing on what looked to be a hit-and-run with Albert Pujols at the plate. Then, with a 1-2 count, Pujols doubled to left. Kyle Lohse, a pitcher playing left field, grounded out to short stop advancing Big Al to third. Yadier Molina hit a line drive just over the glove of Luis Castillo to tie the game.

Unfortunately for the Cards, in inning 20 Angel Pagan singled and then Mike Jacobs singled to send Pagan to third. Jose Reyes hit a sac-fly to give the Mets the lead. In the bottom of the inning, after two consecutive outs, the Cards made it interesting with a single and a walk. However, then Ludwick grounded out to end the game. Unbelievably crazy game in which: Mets closer K-Rod got the win, starter Mike Pelfry got the save, and Cards back-up center fielder Joe Mather got the loss.

In this game:

• Cards utility-man Felipe Lopez pitched a scoreless inning
• First time since 2002, a no-hitter and a 20 inning game in the same night (I'd bet it won't happen again for a really long time)
• Met 3-4-5 hitters went 1-20
• Six Mets and five Cards played the whole game
• 19 pitchers were used
• Over 650 pitches were thrown
  

Well, let me tell you that it is only April and baseball is already treating us to some special moments...gotta love it, enjoy the rest of the season

Rodgers That

MLB pre season peak - NL

By Dr. Jekyll

So now we move on to the National League...

NL East

Philadelphia has the best team in the league, hands down. And it’s not even that close. An absolutely lethal head of the rotation with Doc Halladay and Cole Hamels, backed up by a stud lineup. It’s almost unfair. Yet despite this, the division will probably still produce the wild card team, speaking to the strength of…

The Braves starting pitching. A top four in the rotation of Timmy Hudson, Tommy Hanson, Jair Jurrjens, and Derek Lowe is enough to keep them competitive in every game. That, and the fact that Bobby Cox is in the last year of his contract makes them a sympathetic playoff team. Sadly, sympathy won’t get them past the Phillies, and they’re still less pathetic than…

Your New York Mets. This team has everything on paper. Again. But the injury bug hasn’t looked too kindly on this team in awhile. Will David Wright return to David Wright of old? Will Carlos Beltran live up to his potential/ contract? Will Jeff Francoeur remember how to check a swing? Will Johan Santana be able to start 160+ games? The pieces are there, but the results will be puzzling.

The fish look to be in a very similar spot to their same state AL East pals. Decent starting pitching, good young talent, and a division that is nearly impossible to win based on the level of competition surrounding them. Any other division and they compete for the title. Here, they’ll be lucky to finish outside of the basement.

Well, maybe not that lucky. The Nationals aren’t a good team. Young players to build around like Stephen Strasburg make this a fun team to watch, but they won’t contend for a playoff spot.

NL Central

This division is loaded with power hitters to the point where it’s almost not fair. So ranking them based on pure slugging seems the right way to go. And if we’re going to do that, can anyone bet against Albert Pujols? Me thinks not.

Derek Lee comes sliding into second as far as pop at first goes. Last season he put up arguably his best stats since the 2005 year when he threatened for a triple crown until August. The Cubbies aren’t particularly strong, but they’re not lacking much. Which should be enough to finish just above .500 and place in second, just ahead of…

Cincinnati. A healthy Scott Rolen makes this a solid team in the infield. And that Joey Votto kid is an all-star in the making. But there’s not enough on both sides of the ball yet.

Milwaukee will be an entertaining team to watch so long as Prince and Ryan Braun keep the ball moving, but you know your pitching is week when the number one on your roster is Yovani Gallardo.

Houston and Pittsburgh tie here as teams going in opposite directions. Houston is bottoming out, with the careers of Roy Oswalt and Lance Berkman fading away. Meanwhile, Pitt looks to the future with Andrew McCutchen, but that future is at least two or three years out.

NL West

This entire division is up for grabs, with four teams legitimately talented enough to make noise come playoff time. But the one team that would be the most threatening in October baseball? The Giants. Does anyone want to see Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain? That’s what I thought.

The Dodgers offer the most serious threat to the Giants hopes of a division crown, with a very different approach to victory. As good as San Fran is at pitching, the cluster of Andre Ethier, Manny, and this soon to be perennial all-star Matt Kemp are just as good at hitting, if not better.

Colorado has Ubaldo Jiminez, who could quickly become a dark horse Cy Young candidate by the summer. If this lineup stays healthy, they could threaten the division too.

Just as Arizona can. Standing toe to toe with Timmay and Cain in San Fran are Dan Haren and Brandon Webb in the desert. A healthy return for Webb suddenly makes this lackluster team a force.

Sadly, San Diego has no such magic. Apart from Adrian Gonzalez, this team is Triple A with very little hope.

So here’s to another fantastic season of baseball, of sinking line drives, sliders in the dirt, and dominating closers. Cheers.