Standings
---------------
I realized that this was kind of a big one to miss... hopefully once we get sortable team stats, I'll be able to build a somewhat comprehensive report directly from the game and deposit it here. For now, these will be updated at the end of the week. That means that these just so happen to the the All-Star Break standings:
Code:
AMERICAN LEAGUE STANDINGS
East W L PCT GB
Cleveland Indians 52 34 .605 -
New York Yankees 47 38 .553 4.5
Boston Red Sox 45 40 .529 6.5
Baltimore Orioles 46 41 .529 6.5
Washington Senators 40 48 .455 13.0
Detroit Tigers 37 48 .435 14.5
West W L PCT GB
Minnesota Twins 52 37 .584 -
California Angels 46 40 .535 4.5
Oakland Athletics 43 39 .524 5.5
Chicago White Sox 42 47 .472 10.0
Milwaukee Brewers 34 53 .391 17.0
Kansas City Royals 33 52 .388 17.0
NATIONAL LEAGUE STANDINGS
East W L PCT GB
Chicago Cubs 51 34 .600 -
New York Mets 48 38 .558 3.5
Philadelphia Phillies 46 39 .541 5.0
Pittsburgh Pirates 47 42 .528 6.0
St. Louis Cardinals 36 50 .419 15.5
Montreal Expos 29 59 .330 23.5
West W L PCT GB
Houston Astros 55 33 .625 -
Cincinnati Reds 52 36 .591 3.0
San Francisco Giants 50 35 .588 3.5
Atlanta Braves 39 47 .453 15.0
San Diego Padres 36 54 .400 20.0
Los Angeles Dodgers 32 54 .372 22.0
Major Transactions
------------------------
July 9: The Angels traded RP Nigel Jones (0-1, 6.00 in AAA Hawaii) to the Cubs for SP Justin Vogel (4-9, 4.88). Jones hasn't played much over the last 3 years but at one point in time he was a solid starter for the Angels and figures to get some time in the Cubs' bullpen. They had to give up Vogel, who is technically still a prospect but is struggling pretty hard in AAA.
July 12: The Braves acquired P Julio Sandoval (2-9, 5.68) from the Mets for $25,000. The real-life player involved in this was a 5th starter / middle reliever type but Sandoval seemed like a better, if bigger fit. Sandoval led the league in ERA last year but has been absolutely horrific this year - that ERA is 4th worst in baseball among players with 80+ IP, and his peripherals, which include 11 HR in 81 innings, 4.4 BB/9, and a .324 opponents' batting average, look like it's not just bad luck. Still, the Braves are desperate. One of the guys "ahead" of Sandoval in the metric I just noted is Kevin Pennock (5-7, 5.81). For the Mets, this was more an "addition by subtraction" move; they recalled 26 year old Dave McNicholas (3-1, 3.66), who looked pretty decent in 6 appearances earlier this year before being squeezed out of the roster, to take Sandoval's place in the rotation.
News
-----------------------
July 6: Angels 2B Chris Adams (.276, 11, 53) took home a rare Player of the Week award for getting 11 hits in 53 at-bats with
six homeruns. Literally half his seasonal total. Good Lord, Chris! I hadn't even considered putting him into the power part of the order but now I'm rethinking things. Also, his career high in dingers is 13, which now he looks like there's no way he's not going to break that unless he gets hurt or something.
July 6: Not to be outdone - or maybe to be outdone but just a little - Cardinals LF Lorenzo Martinez (.272, 24, 61) belted 5 HRs himself last week to pick up the NL POTW. His dingers came on just 8 hits and 17 at-bats. Still, in terms of sheer amounts of amazing, Adams takes the cake.
July 6: Cardinals backup C Jose Medina (no line in 1970), who tore his meniscus in his knee in spring training and was expected to come back around early August, suffered a setback and will now officially miss the entire 1970 season. Medina would have been used a lot this year given the season-ender to John Stuart. Hopefully he'll be better next year; he's still only 26 and so this might not be all she wrote for the guy.
July 6: Angels backup catcher Juan Cavazos (.191, 1, 12) demanded a trade. He's not hitting at all and was never a great fielding catcher. Now he's pretty much awful there. As per the usual, he has been "traded" to the circular file.
July 7: Indians RH Jose Martinez (1-0, 1.30) is really going to be something special. The 25 year old, who at one point in time was named the #4 prospect in all of baseball before suffering a series of injuries that dropped him out of scouts' minds, set a new Indians record with 14 strikeouts in a 3-0 victory over the Washington Senators. Before this game, Martinez had been having issues even getting into the 5th but he finally got over that hump today.
July 8: It looks like all the losing has finally gotten to Padres OF Davin Henderson (.260, 5, 12), who requested a trade today. I'm sure it doesn't help that he's not playing every day either for the 35-50 Pads. I'm not going to cut him outright because he still has a spot on the team and, frankly, I'm not as concerned about team chemistry with a team this bad. Personality-wise he's not disruptive, just not a happy boy. Cheating ahead I don't see any Padres moves until at least the offseason so sorry, Davin, I guess you're stuck here for now (I mean, unless you start playing really badly or something).
July 8: Cubs CF Mark Tooley (.275, 10, 33) tore a ligament in his thumb diving to make a catch against the Expos today and will miss the next month and a half. It's a pretty big blow for Chicago, who have relied on Tooley to provide plus defense and hit leadoff for them. They'll turn to Chance Cooper (.259, 8, 28), who was recently named the #51 prospect in all of baseball, to fill in while Tooley is out.
July 9: Mets LF Mario Diaz (.456, 1, 7) said he ought to be a part of the starting lineup. On the one hand, he's 37 and has been a part-timer for the team since 1964. On the other hand, he is tearing the cover off the ball and the Mets' corner outfielders have been a complete mess this year. I feel like this sets a bad precedent but... the team is really struggling at the outfield corners. I'm going to put him in the lineup in place of Edgar Arriaga (.224, 8, 27) against righties, who shined last year but had a grand total of 99 major-league at-bats prior to 1969. This is obviously not a long-term solution but the Mets are really close in this race and it really looks to me like Arriaga has turned into a pumpkin. Arriaga will still get all the at-bats he wants vs. LHP so if he comes around he can have that full-time job back.
July 9: Twins P Mike Larsen (5-3, 3.55) lost a no-hit bid with 2 outs in the 8th on an infield single by Chicago 2B Brian Long (.279, 4, 43). In some ways this was a blessing, as he was previously only 1 batter over the minimum, his perfect game spoiled by an error by 2B Daniel Gilmet (.296, 5, 21). He wound up shutting out the White Sox on 1 hit. At that, Larsen almost had to pitch this well, as his counterpart Raul Mendoza (6-9, 3.93) only gave up 1 run on 4 hits himself. "I really had to bear down tonight," Larsen said after the game. "I don't like bearing down. I like taking it easy."
July 9: Mets 1B Joshua "Superman" Waltenberry (.307, 11, 50) became the second man in the NL to get 4 doubles in a game today in a 5-4 extra inning victory over the Montreal Expos. Waltenberry got 3 in regular frames but got his shot when stopper Geoff Saus (3-1, 4.02, 18 Sv) blew the save for the third time this year, and he made the most of it. He led off the 11th with a double and came around to score the winning run after Expos wildman Cole Pritchard (2-4, 6.39) walked in the winning run. "Yeah, it was fine," Waltenberry said after the game. "I prefer to let what I do on the field speak for itself."
July 10: Cubs 2B Juan Perez (.301, 6, 25) was expected back from an elbow strain he suffered at the beginning of June shortly after the All-Star Break but now it looks like his return has been pushed back indefinitely. David Holcombe (.247, 3, 18) has been adequate in filling in for him, and looks like he could be a solid starter in the majors in the future (he's only 23), but the Cubs are in a position where they'd much prefer established production.
July 10: There are a lot of big series in the AL East right before the All-Star Break, I guess. This weekend features a showdown between first-place Cleveland and the fading Boston Red Sox. The Tribe won the first game of this 4-gamer, 6-2, behind 8 solid innings by young Josh Matthews (12-4, 2.88), who is definitely making an early case for the Cy Young. The important hit of the game was a homerun by slap hitter SS Josh Johnson (.349, 3, 33). Sandy Hinojosa (9-7, 2.76) took the L for Boston, who have lost their last 3 games and are only 6-6 for the month of July.
July 11: The Indians' bullpen takes another big blow as stopper Eric Godard (3-0, 2.27, 8 Sv) was diagnosed with an elbow strain that will cause him to miss the rest of the regular season. Kids these days... an elbow strain? Godard might be ready to go in time for the playoffs should Cleveland get that far. I've called up RH Joe Brda in his place, who is pretty unremarkable except that a. that is a great name, and b. he is 6'6" and somehow only the 6th tallest player in major league baseball (Expos long reliever Phil Farr is the tallest at 6'9").
July 11: Cleveland still managed to beat Boston 4-1 so now if they get a double-header sweep they'll get a series sweep too. Cleveland is now 7-3 vs. the Red Sox. Andy Kindberg (12-2, 3.62) outdueled 1969 Cy Young Award winner and former Cleveland moundsman Justin Kindberg (11-8, 2.58) to earn the win. RF Tommy Pron (.310, 1, 27) has had a major power outage this year - he belted 19 HRs last year which were instrumental in his leading the league in RBIs with 101 - but went 4-4 from the cleanup slot to lead the team.
July 12: Thor Heyerdahl's boat
Ra II arrives in Barbados. Heyerdahl was... an interesting guy. I think the actual arguments he was trying to push - IIRC the whole point of
Kon-Tiki was to demonstrate his theory that the islands in the Pacific Ocean were populated by people sailing out of South America rather than Asia - have been long debunked, but boy did he do some crazy stuff. The aforementioned boat was made of papyrus and Heyerdahl floated it all the way from west Africa.
July 12: John Lennon and George Harrison remain unsigned. Ringo looks like he's had one start with King of Prussia, going 7 innings and striking out 5. Paul McCartney had a beast of a first week, hitting .636 in 22 at-bats with 5 HRs and 13 RBIs.
July 12: The All-Star Rosters have been announced!
Scheduled to play for the American League All-Stars are:
SP Chris Benavides (MIN) - 9-9, 2.87 ERA, 172.1 IP, 1.25 WHIP, 6.6 K/9, 4.7 WAR
SP Miguel Chavez (KC) - 8-8, 4.04 ERA, 118.0 IP, 1.44 WHIP, 7.0 K/9, 1.9 WAR
SP Sandy Hinojosa (BOS) - 9-7, 2.76 ERA, 143.2 IP, 1.26 WHIP, 7.5 K/9, 3.5 WAR
SP Justin Kindberg (BOS) - 11-8, 2.58 ERA, 153.1 IP, 1.34 WHIP, 7.6 K/9, 4.8 WAR
SP Tracy Mosher (NYY)* - 11-9, 2.71 ERA, 169.2 IP, 1.07 WHIP, 5.9 K/9, 5.3 WAR
SP Angelo Ramos (MIN) - 15-1, 2.62 ERA, 161.2 IP, 1.15 WHIP, 6.4 K/9, 5.3 WAR
CL Jesse Kelly (NYY) - 6-2, 9 SV, 1.88 ERA, 48.0 IP, 1.15 WHIP, 7.3 K/9, 0.3 WAR
CL Montay Luiso (BAL)* - 4-3, 20 SV, 1.07 ERA, 59.0 IP, 0.95 WHIP, 7.0 K/9, 2.2 WAR
CL Pete Lynn (MIN) - 4-2, 9 SV, 2.89 ERA, 43.2 IP, 1.26 WHIP, 10.5 K/9, 1.8 WAR
C Gianluigi Farinelli (DET) - .272/.330/.440, 250 AB, 8 HR, 112 wRC+, 2.0 WAR
C Armando Flores (WAS) - .335/.371/.399, 278 AB, 1 HR, 123 wRC+, 2.6 WAR
1B Alex Cardenas (NYY)* - .323/.391/.560, 334 AB, 18 HR, 174 wRC+, 3.6 WAR
1B Jon Hernandez (BAL)* - .263/.362/.467, 255 AB, 9 HR, 135 wRC+, 2.1 WAR
1B Angelo Martinez (MIN) - .281/.338/.510, 335 AB, 19 HR, 139 wRC+, 2.7 WAR
1B Mike Miller (BOS) - .290/.377/.492, 321 AB, 15 HR, 1 SB, 141 wRC+, 2.7 WAR
2B Brian Long (CHW) - .287/.327/.407, 356 AB, 4 HR, 108 wRC+, 2.7 WAR
2B Chris Moore (OAK) - .338/.414/.597, 77 AB, 4 HR, 191 wRC+, 1.2 WAR
2B Danny Villegas (DET)* - .273/.353/.547, 267 AB, 19 HR, 2 SB, 147 wRC+, 2.3 WAR
3B Mike Brookes (MIN) - .294/.452/.580, 262 AB, 17 HR, 183 wRC+, 4.8 WAR
3B Marco Perez (BAL)* - .358/.425/.509, 316 AB, 10 HR, 20 SB, 169 wRC+, 4.6 WAR
3B Tom Weiss (NYY) - .302/.413/.484, 308 AB, 12 HR, 155 wRC+, 3.2 WAR
SS Oniji Handa (BOS) - .298/.333/.443, 352 AB, 11 HR, 118 wRC+, 3.7 WAR
SS John Johnson (CLE) - .349/.381/.451, 355 AB, 3 HR, 6 SB, 139 wRC+, 3.8 WAR
SS Ty Stover (NYY)* - .270/.421/.498, 263 AB, 15 HR, 170 wRC+, 4.2 WAR
LF Dan Field (NYY) - .304/.353/.494, 322 AB, 12 HR, 142 wRC+, 2.3 WAR
LF Alonzo Huanosta (CLE)* - .343/.375/.521, 280 AB, 10 HR, 2 SB, 149 wRC+, 2.5 WAR
LF Jeff Nation (KC) - .332/.400/.515, 301 AB, 8 HR, 5 SB, 159 wRC+, 3.3 WAR
LF Nelson Vargas (CAL) - .323/.366/.462, 325 AB, 7 HR, 11 SB, 138 wRC+, 2.5 WAR
CF Dave Corona (KC) - .324/.430/.564, 321 AB, 11 HR, 15 SB, 172 wRC+, 2.2 WAR
CF Carlos Hernandez (CLE) - .316/.359/.458, 345 AB, 9 HR, 2 SB, 132 wRC+, 2.7 WAR
CF Alvin Romero (WAS)* - .345/.405/.464, 293 AB, 2 HR, 37 SB, 142 wRC+, 3.7 WAR
CF Bryant Tarala (BAL)* - .199/.347/.423, 196 AB, 11 HR, 10 SB, 119 wRC+, 2.2 WAR (Injured)
RF John Marsden (MIL) - .333/.400/.460, 315 AB, 8 HR, 148 wRC+, 3.0 WAR
RF Frank Meneses (NYY) - .297/.428/.584, 185 AB, 14 HR, 4 SB, 186 wRC+, 3.1 WAR
Heh, I guess Jon Hernandez got so many catcher votes that he's... on the team as a first baseman. This means that there are a couple of snubs at that position - by my eyes, CAL 1B Pete Jennings (.313, 11, 53) and Royals' vet Yakashi Ono (.294, 6, 37) - but on the flip side Armando Flores really, really deserved a nod and I was afraid he'd get left out. Otherwise, the Royals have *3* guys making the team and only one of them is iffy (SP Miguel Chavez? Really?). Meanwhile, AL East leaders Cleveland have just two guys on the roster - SS John Johnson and LF Alonzo Huanosta. Part of that is that key players have gotten hurt but it's more than a little weird that Josh Matthews (12-4, 2.88) and Andy Lagunas (12-2, 3.62) didn't make the roster.
Marco Perez making the All-Star Team isn't really a big story, but what is kind of big news is that he's only 25 and this was his 6th selection already.
The National League All-Stars will feature these players:
SP Jeremy Battaglia (PIT) - 11-5, 2.51 ERA, 150.1 IP, 0.96 WHIP, 5.4 K/9, 4.1 WAR
SP Marius Gaddi (PHI) - 13-2, 2.33 ERA, 154.1 IP, 1.02 WHIP, 7.0 K/9, 5.8 WAR
SP John Mash (NYM) - 9-4, 2.52 ERA, 114.1 IP, 1.22 WHIP, 4.5 K/9, 1.9 WAR
SP Robert Rivera (SF) - 9-7, 2.65 ERA, 159.2 IP, 1.01 WHIP, 6.5 K/9, 2.6 WAR
SP Rogelio Salinas (LAD) - 6-9, 3.10 ERA, 127.2 IP, 1.16 WHIP, 7.5 K/9, 2.0 WAR
SP Steve Waiters (CIN)* - 15-1, 2.35 ERA, 157.1 IP, 0.98 WHIP, 9.0 K/9, 5.2 WAR
CL Jon Douglas (HOU) - 2-4, 15 SV, 2.72 ERA, 46.1 IP, 1.06 WHIP, 8.0 K/9, 1.7 WAR
CL Tom Grohs (PHI) - 4-1, 9 SV, 1.21 ERA, 44.2 IP, 0.74 WHIP, 8.1 K/9, 1.1 WAR
CL Paz Lemus (PIT) - 4-3, 10 SV, 1.96 ERA, 55.0 IP, 1.22 WHIP, 7.5 K/9, 0.3 WAR
CL John Winn (ATL)* - 2-2, 16 SV, 1.55 ERA, 46.1 IP, 1.06 WHIP, 8.9 K/9, 2.6 WAR (Injured)
C Jason Bushon (NYM)* - .252/.348/.398, 246 AB, 8 HR, 2 SB, 113 wRC+, 2.5 WAR
C Greg Darrow (CHC) - .333/.364/.504, 258 AB, 8 HR, 143 wRC+, 2.9 WAR
C Oliver Williams (CIN) - .285/.386/.397, 242 AB, 4 HR, 127 wRC+, 2.8 WAR
1B Dante Chairez (ATL) - .297/.372/.610, 269 AB, 23 HR, 174 wRC+, 2.9 WAR
1B Antonio Lopez (CHC) - .324/.415/.530, 330 AB, 15 HR, 165 wRC+, 4.2 WAR
1B Justin Stone (STL) - .303/.409/.606, 317 AB, 22 HR, 5 SB, 182 wRC+, 4.7 WAR
1B Joshua Waltenbery (NYM)* - .302/.410/.498, 305 AB, 11 HR, 152 wRC+, 3.4 WAR
2B Kevin Dwyer (ATL)* - .356/.410/.632, 329 AB, 21 HR, 1 SB, 194 wRC+, 5.5 WAR
2B Pedro Ortiz (CIN) - .344/.401/.467, 366 AB, 5 HR, 13 SB, 147 wRC+, 4.3 WAR
2B Victor Serna (PHI) - .228/.357/.533, 289 AB, 25 HR, 4 SB, 151 wRC+, 3.7 WAR
3B Sean Gabel (CHC) - .344/.376/.419, 320 AB, 13 SB, 121 wRC+, 3.2 WAR
3B Bobby Kraljevic (CIN)* - .321/.438/.444, 315 AB, 7 HR, 158 wRC+, 4.7 WAR
3B Kevin Landry (SD) - .256/.311/.416, 317 AB, 12 HR, 6 SB, 108 wRC+, 1.5 WAR
SS Jeremy Taylor (CHC)* - .262/.336/.498, 321 AB, 16 HR, 9 SB, 130 wRC+, 3.6 WAR
LF Barry Cooper (SF) - .330/.372/.464, 358 AB, 7 HR, 13 SB, 130 wRC+, 3.2 WAR
LF Ernie Griffin (LAD) - .272/.347/.495, 301 AB, 14 HR, 1 SB, 138 wRC+, 2.9 WAR
LF Jesse Lockhart (HOU) - .336/.374/.494, 342 AB, 11 HR, 7 SB, 147 wRC+, 3.4 WAR
LF Lorenzo Martinez (STL) - .264/.386/.581, 265 AB, 24 HR, 169 wRC+, 2.7 WAR
LF Jason Workman (CHC)* - .350/.377/.646, 280 AB, 23 HR, 181 wRC+, 3.7 WAR
CF Curtis Hope (NYM) - .275/.389/.446, 280 AB, 9 HR, 11 SB, 136 wRC+, 3.4 WAR
CF John Lopez (HOU)* - .282/.368/.427, 354 AB, 10 HR, 14 SB, 123 wRC+, 2.7 WAR
RF Nelson Hernandez (SD) - .294/.368/.591, 320 AB, 21 HR, 4 SB, 169 wRC+, 4.6 WAR
RF Henry Riggs (ATL) - .264/.387/.544, 296 AB, 22 HR, 160 wRC+, 3.1 WAR
RF Jaden Weaver (HOU)* - .258/.353/.590, 310 AB, 27 HR, 1 SB, 163 wRC+, 3.7 WAR (Injured)
RF Matt Williams (MON) - .271/.399/.542, 192 AB, 12 HR, 1 SB, 155 wRC+, 2.4 WAR
This is also right about the only time I ever look at WAR (I guess it exists on the transactions page but I tend to ignore it except for minor leaguers). Man, Marius Gaddi is having a helluva year. Steve Waiters too, for that matter. I kind of want to have him start every 5th day just to give him a chance at winning 30 (I did look into this but the Reds have an insane schedule coming up, with their next off-day after the break coming on I think August 10 with a couple of double-headers in there too... so what I suspect is that even with a 5 man rotation I will have to use spot starters a couple times). Jeremy Taylor is the only SS on this roster; does this mean he's going to play the whole game?
July 12: The Red Sox keep finding new ways to lose. They got swept by the Indians in a double-header today and for the series as a whole to fall 6 1/2 games behind in the AL East with a 45-40 record. The second game was the real killer, as it was tied in the bottom of the 8th with a man on first base when Indians 2B TJ Pritchett (.272, 11, 36), who hasn't hit a triple since 1968, got his first of the season... and then kept motoring all the way home for an inside the park homerun. Reliever Luis Flores (0-2, 5.40) gave up that hit and was charged with the loss. It was the 6th straight losing effort by the Sox, who were tops in the division as recently as June 26 (they've gone 6-14 in their last 20 games) but now might not even be in 3rd pending what happens with the Baltimore Orioles today (who are also 45-40 and have a double-header of their own to play on the road against the lowly Tigers). Cleveland, meanwhile, is now 52-34 and, pending what the Yankees do, are 4 games up in the standings.
July 12: Incidentally the O's split with the Tigers to remain even with the Red Sox in the East. Rookie TJ Ziegler (5-6, 3.01) threw a 7-hit shutout in the second frame to neutralize the Tigers. Baltimore has a long string of games against AL West teams before a mid-week 2-game showdown with Boston on August 4th and 5th.
July 12: Brewers RF John Marsden (.334, 8, 29), the lone Milwaukee representative at the All-Star Game, broke his thumb getting hit by a pitch in the first game of a doubleheader against the Twins and will miss the next month. "I guess Maggie (Twins pitcher Ricardo Magdaleno(5-10, 4.80)) thought I was crowding the plate," said a dejected Marsden after the game. It should be said, before Brewers fans get too excited, that Magdaleno is not known for the brushback: he has only 34 hit batsmen in 1159 career innings pitched and never more than 5 of them in one season. The loss of Marsden does have one silver lining, as it will give Milwaukee a chance to try out OF Tanner Barlow (.347, 17, 43 at AAA Portland), who has been raking in the high minors and could conceivably be a guy.
July 12: Also incidentally, the Yankees laid an egg in their last game of the first half, 12-9, and go into the 2nd half 4 1/2 games back of Cleveland. I'd love to single out one Washington Senators player who killed them but to be honest it was a real team effort: 5 players had 2 RBIs each, with SS Josh Ramey (.294, 4, 28) leading the way with 3 runs scored, including one that came on a steal and a throwing error by Yankees catcher Josh Paige (.357, 0, 1). Well, I guess I did name a Yankee-killer after all...
July 12: Since I seem to be summarizing EVERY SINGLE GAME TODAY, I'll note that the Angels (46-40) slipped ahead of the A's (43-39) for sole possession of 2nd place in the AL West. This spot is probably just bragging rights unless the Minnesota Twins completely melt down in the second half but for now the Angels have those rights. They got to A's stopper Carlos Ramirez (2-6, 3.45, 7 Sv), who, speaking of... I don't want to say "BABIP" but he's struck out 45 batters in 47 innings this season (note: in 1970 that is very, very good) but has yielded 46 hits for just under a hit per inning.
July 12: Julio Sandoval's Braves debut was... fine? He gave up 5 runs in 6 1/3 innings but because 3 of those runs were unearned his overall ERA fell to 5.48 on the year. He still got the loss to drop to 2-10 though.
July 12 (evening): And the power rankings as we head into the break:
1st (1st) Cleveland 119 o
2nd (4th) Houston 117 +
3rd (3rd) Chicago (N) 114 o
4th (6th) Cincinnati 109 +
5th (2nd) San Francisco 108 --
Man, that Cincinnati Reds team, or "the Big Red Machine" as the fans are beginning to call it. They might legitimately be one of the top 3 teams in baseball and yet might not even make the playoffs this season. Which, San Francisco is no slouch themselves. California was the biggest gainer, just missing on the top 5 (6th) after finishing 13th the week before. Baltimore was no slouch this week themselves, climbing from 15th all the way into the top 10 at 9th.
And the ol' bottom five:
20th (22nd) Milwaukee 69 +
21st (19th) St. Louis 67 -
22nd (20th) San Diego 65 -
23rd (24th) Los Angeles 64 +
24th (23rd) Montreal 56 -
If you're worried that the Royals are too successful for an expansion club, don't! They're 19th. Although you'd expect Boston to be the biggest loser what with their recent dive in the standings, that's been happening over the past several weeks and so they "only" fell 4 places this week from 11th to 15th. The booby prize goes to the Yankees, who dropped from 7th all the way to 12th. Atlanta, incidentally treaded water at 16th, balancing a 3-1 series win vs the Reds over the weekend with a 3 games to 1 loss vs. the Giants in San Francisco from Monday to Thursday. The All-Star Break is also, incidentally, Atlanta's first day off since June 29.
Teams In Review
-----------------
June 7: The
Baltimore Orioles (40-40, 4th AL East) are a bit down from their 12-7 April but let's put this in perspective: they lost 98 games last year and a season where they're close to .500 would be a nice one. They were also 88-74 as recently as 1968 so some in the organization think they're still worthy of contention. I guess that explains why they're still trying to make thngs happen with an aging rotation. Speaking of, though, the pitching has been relatively fine (6th in the AL in runs allowed, based on a 7th best rotation ERA (3.92) and the 3rd best bullpen ERA (2.62)) and it's really the offense that's holding them back right now (9th in runs scored thanks to a league-worst .236 BA).
Rotation: 3 of the 5 guys in the rotation are 32 or older. It's not really what you'd expect from a team that just lost 98 games last year. I do have youngster TJ Ziegler (4-6, 3.36) in there, so there's that! I'm going to go ahead and move 138 game winner Carlos Villalpando (5-8, 6.09) out of the rotation. He won't be happy about that but, well, he's 35 and it sure looks like he's washed to me. 26 year old John Colon (1-3, 7.00) takes his place; he's been bad as a starter and awful in long relief so maybe he'll do better with a little more time.
Bullpen: The bullpen is dominated by stopper Montay Luiso (4-3, 0.83, 17 Sv), who is being used early and often and so far has been having a dominant season to rival his 1964, when he went 11-4 with a 1.14 ERA and a league-leading 34 saves. The rest of the 'pen is also looking pretty OK (outside of long relief of course). In the second half, look to the O's to drop games off on these guys even more than in the first half.
Infield: C Robert Keith (.192, 0, 10) looks like he's got the same inability to hit that saw him lose his job with the Dodgers despite winning the Gold Glove. He's still far and away the best defensive catcher they have and I kind of want a guy like him to work with Ziegler and Colon in the rotation. Jon Hernandez (.270, 9, 40) is still there and might even make the All-Star game as a "catcher" even though he's now played more games at first base this year.
Outfield: I gave the temporary CF job to Mario Baca (.289, 3, 16) over Rich Kemm (.182, 1, 2) a few days ago. Baca is obviously outhitting Kemm but as of late he's even proven to have better range than the 37 year old. Baca at 32 is no spring chicken himself but he is only keeping the place warm for Bryant Tarala (.199, 11, 23). I do feel like long-term Tarala gets hurt too much to count on.
RF Matt Nugent (.215, 6, 22) is in there right now pretty much only because of potential. Well, that and the fact that the O's don't really have vets who they can count on to be a clear upgrade. Mario Baca maybe? Nugent is still only 24, has 75 speed, and projects to be a good power hitter, so as long as he's not actively keeping the O's from treading water, I think I've got to keep giving him PAs.
July 7:
Pittsburgh has played a lot of games so far, 83 already (43-40, 4th NL East). They're not exactly in the NL East race but they're not exactly not in it either. This might be the most unbalanced team in the league, which is saying a lot given the existence of the Cubs and Braves. They've got the 2nd best pitching (2nd in runs allowed, the best starters' ERA with 3.10 and 8th in bullpen ERA with 3.98) and the 3rd worst offense (thanks a .247 BA (8th) and the fewest homers in the NL with 46). The glaring hole here is the power, which is somewhat explained by the park they play in - in the last season of Forbes the Pirates have just 18 HRs at home vs 26 on the road. They also just plain don't have a power hitter on this team. Until they get one I think middle of the pack is the best they can hope for.
Rotation: Outside of #4 starter Carlos Torres (5-2, 2.61), the entire Pirates rotation is 30 or younger (Torres is the old man of the rotation at 32). They're also for the most part pitching well, with the possible exception of DJ Cheeves (4-10, 3.91, but I say "possible" because he's still got an 89/48 K/W ratio). I just don't see a need or a want to mess around here. I did look at switching out/back to a 4-man rotation but Pittsburgh's got a pretty steady run of games (excluding the All-Star Break of course) for the next few weeks so I'd just be swapping in spot starters a lot.
Bullpen: Outside of Paz Lemus (4-2, 2,10, 9 Sv) it's kind of a mess. Dustin Kessler (1-2, 6.89) has gotten blown up a lot but he's somehow got an 18/1 K/W ratio so, in spite of the markups I think he's actually still pretty good. He was also the Yankees' stopper as recently as 1967 and really good in that role. The other two guys in there right now are just kind of vaguely "meh" and at least young; as long as Lemus continues to get all the high-leverage innings, this seems fine.
Infield: I've begun mixing 25 year old Ian Swerdlove (.200, 1, 4) in against right-handers at first base, mostly to make sure that the aging Abilio Valdivia (.292, 6, 23) remains healthy. If Swerdlove hit well enough to open up a battle at the position, that would be fantastic; however, he has shown little sign of doing so as of yet.
I am really not big on the second base situation. Arturo Martinez (.191, 0, 14) looked like a solid enough choice to replace Henry Villar (.400, 0, 4) when he went down with a nasty concussion in April but he just plain has not been cutting it. At the same time, he is contributing to a league-best defense (with a +24.1 ZR; no, they didn't have this data back then but they were a lot more able to eye-test stuff than I can so I'll call that a draw). His backup Tyler Cohen (.130, 0, 4) seems to have completely forgotten how to hit, however. I feel like I've got virtually no choice but to cut Cohen and call up 1966 6th round pick Sergio Cando (.248, 1, 26) to work out a platoon with Martinez for the time being.
At third, 37 year old Roberto Prieto (.227, 7, 38) is not hitting well but a. he's still coming in in the clutch (no, it's not a thing but LET ME HAVE MY MYTHOLOGY) and b. the man did hit .280 last year. I'm spelling him with Andrew Kennard (.212, 0, 3) right now but if the Pirates are out of the race in a month or two I'll probably bring up a prospect to try out here.
Outfield: Of the three guys, defensive-minded CF Justin Hearl (.232, 0, 5) has to be on the shortest leash but I like the effect he's having on the Pirates' defense so he stays.
July 10: I admit, as a lifelong Mariners fan I have a visceral dislike for the
California Angels. I say this just to note that I am not blowing them apart on purpose. They're actually not doing all that bad (43-40, 3rd AL West); it's just... the league's biggest 2-way guy was on this team in Paul Kahl (6-7, 3.96) and when I turned off 2-wayness that turned him into a somewhat rickety pitch-to-contact guy who will probably win the Silver Slugger for pitchers but otherwise is unremarkable. Also, the team had two budding stars on the roster last year and circumstances got one of them traded to Washington and the other is barely playing. I'll try and rectify that.
Anyhoo... the Angels are doing what they're doing with a good offensive attack (3rd in runs scored, 2nd in average with a .272) and average-ish pitching (8th in runs allowed off of an 8th best starters' ERA (3.95) and a 3.36 bullpen ERA that ranks 6th). At that, a lot of the "pitching" is really defense, as they've got a couple of defensive wizards in the lineup who are stealing hits and runs away while the pitchers, well, get guys to hit the ball into the field (338 Ks so far is dead last in the AL).
Rotation: Paul Kahl has 20 Ks in 116 innings so far and I am sorely tempted to go in and edit his ratings because Jesus, that's bad. I won't... for now. I also won't pull him from the rotation because he's getting results. That's better than Dustin Beaulieu (6-10, 4.46), who has a 55/42 K/W ratio in 113 innings himself. I'm reticent to pull guys from the rotation in general because they aren't, like, terrible out there and the team is still within a whiff of contention. One thing I will do is switch out to a 5-man; we'd been running a 4-man rotation with Jordan Irons out but he's ready to go tomorrow. In doing so, I demoted youngster Ken Hansen (0-1, 4.50) to long relief and called up veteran Rob Mournier (10-3, 2.68 at AAA Hawaii) to fill out the 5th position. Mournier pitched for the Mets and Reds last year and frankly looked like he was washed, but that's an awfully good first half so perhaps the 34-year-old has something left in the tank after all.
Bullpen: There are too many arms on the roster right now so I needed to send down Scott Richey (0-1, 2.79). Don't let the ERA fool you; Richey has allowed 16 walks in 19.1 innings, so that looks like leaving a lot of men on base to me. Otherwise, the most volatile member of the bullpen is stopper Bubba Touchton (3-2, 3.83, 3 Sv) but I'm not going to do anything with him, I don't think, until at least the dog days of summer.
Infield: This time last year, C Mike Perez (.191, 9, 29) was preparing for his first All-Star Game. Now, he's coming off a month where he hit just .164 and... well, I'd say his job is in jeopardy but I'd be lying. At the very least, the Angels will need to look for an upgrade in the offseason. Perez does have a good amount of pop in his bat and is pretty good at handling pitchers but they've got plenty of AAAA catchers who can hit .191.
Mauricio Mendez (.281, 2, 10) was the second of the two breakout players from last season but I'd been using Chance Hopka (.225, 1, 20), who roams the field like the World Series champion level shortstop that he was. The problem is, he also hits like a good fielding shortstop. Mendez lacks range at second and sometimes forces errors by trying to do too much, but he at least can carry the position with his bat. Frankly, it's already too far into the season to keep him out of the lineup.
Outfield: 1969 13th overall pick Josh Pierce (.294, 7, 32 at AAA Hawaii) has been flying through the minors and deserves a regular job. The obvious choice to put him is right field, where he displaces John Berry (.250, 1, 10) in the short term and Chris Tyree (.339, 3, 28) in the longer term. Tyree was off to a career year and is only 3 years older than Pierce at 26 but he's out indefinitely with a hamstring strain and time waits for no man. In fact, Pierce will make his debut today, pushing Norm Hodge (.253, 5, 25) out of the leadoff spot.