Now that we’re getting into the second week of August, things are tightening up in all six of the division races. Some teams are solidifying their leads (hello St. Louis and Kansas City), while other teams are wondering if they will win their divisions after all (yes, Washington and Houston, we’re talking to you). Let’s look at the latest MLB betting rankings of all 30 teams in the major leagues.
Jose Fernandez has an impressive record (4-0, 2.30 ERA, 53 K, 43 IP) in his seven starts since he came back from Tommy John surgery. However, his shoulder stiffness is a problem now.
The Phillies are an amazing 16-5 since the All-Star break and are finally out of the NL East cellar.
Tyler Cravy is emerging as a potential quality starter for the Brew Crew, and Khris Davis is raking at the plate.
The Rockies can only play the spoiler role now, but Carlos Gonzalez didn’t let that stop him from slugging two home runs against Max Scherzer last Sunday.
Henry Owens made a terrific debut in the Red Sox rotation, but it’s knuckleballer Steven Wright getting the most praise, with 17 K over 15 innings in his last two starts.
That three-year, $30 million deal the Athletics gave Billy Butler is a big stinker, as he is only hitting .239 as the DH. His Wins Above Replacement is -1.1, the 11th worst in all of baseball for position players.
Yes, Todd Frazier dominated the All-Star Game, but he is only hitting .157 with two round-trippers since the break.
The Padres have permitted 120 home runs through 110 games. In 2014, they only gave up 117 over the whole season.
The offense is finally waking up, as Nelson Cruz, Kyle Seager and Robinson Cano are all in the top 35 position players in August.
The rebuilding program has taken an odd turn, with the team picking up Jason Bourn, Nick Swisher, A.J. Pierzynski and some other veterans.
The Tribe loves Abraham Almonte, who went 4 for 5 with two RBI in his major league debut – the best first performance for Cleveland in more than a century.
The White Sox decided not to trade starter Jeff Samardzija before the deadline even though his stock was soaring. Since August 1, he has two starts – 9.1 IP and a gargantuan 15.43 ERA.
The general manager has been sent packing, and the dugout has turned into an MMA octagon. Oh, and they did win 2 of 3 from Kansas City.
Randy Johnson had his number 51 retired this week. Rubby De La Rosa only needs to strike out 1,964 more batters to catch Johnson for the franchise lead.
The Twins have gone 6-16 since the All-Star break and have an ugly 6.17 team ERA during that time, worst in all of baseball.
The Rays are one of the teams sniffing that second wild card. Evan Longoria and the rest of the offense are starting to perk up a bit.
Chris Davis has been leading the way with a big bat, followed by Manny Machado, Caleb Joseph and Jonathan Schoop.
The Rangers are only four games out of the second wild card, and they just added a much-needed right-handed bat in Mike Napoli.
The team brought in Shane Victorino, David DeJesus and David Murphy to spice up the offense, but they are only combining to hit .178 with 21 K so far.
Ryan Zimmerman and Jayson Werth hit home runs in the same game for the first time since July 2014 this past week.
The Astros only lead the Angels by 1/2 game – and the Rangers by 4 1/2. They have lost six of seven, including a particularly tough setback in the ninth against Oakland this past Sunday.
The Giants are in the middle of a 26-game swing against eight teams with winning records. They started by dropping four in a row to the Cubs.
The Mets have scored 77 runs since July 24, third most in the National League. They’ve hit 19 home runs – most in the National League – since July 28.
The Yankees need to find an answer for the Blue Jays if they don’t want to end up falling out of the division lead – and possibly the wild card.
The Cubs are about to play 13 straight against teams under .500. It’s time to make up some ground in the NL Central and the wild card.
Since the All-Star Game, the Blue Jays have the best ERA in the American League. They are only 1 1/2 games behind the Yankees in the East and closing fast.
Yasiel Puig is only batting .167 in August – and only hit .198 in July.
Over the past four games, the Pirates have permitted 20 runs, but they scored 31 to beat Chicago and sweep the L.A. Dodgers.
The team is on pace to win 97 games, which would put them only behind the 1977 team that won 102 games while going 24-1 in September that year.
Pitching and rookies at the plate (Randal Grichuk and Stephen Piscotty especially) are the stories behind this team’s strong season.
Sources
ESPN.com (http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/13419308/jose-fernandez-miami-marlins-placed-dl-biceps-strain)
Rotoworld.com (http://www.rotoworld.com/player/mlb/7172/yasiel-puig)
#30 Miami Marlins
#29 Philadelphia Phillies
#28 Milwaukee Brewers
#27 Colorado Rockies
#26 Boston Red Sox
#25 Oakland A’s
#24 Cincinnati Reds
#23 San Diego Padres
#22 Seattle Mariners
#21 Atlanta Braves
#20 Cleveland Indians
#19 Chicago White Sox
#18 Detroit Tigers
#17 Arizona Diamondbacks
#16 Minnesota Twins
#15 Tampa Bay Rays
#14 Baltimore Orioles
#13 Texas Rangers
#12 Los Angeles Angels
#11 Washington Nationals
#10 Houston Astros
#9 San Francisco Giants
#8 New York Mets
#7 New York Yankees
#6 Chicago Cubs
#5 Toronto Blue Jays
#4 Los Angeles Dodgers
#3 Pittsburgh Pirates
#2 Kansas City Royals
#1 St. Louis Cardinals