The 2017 MLB season is a third of the way through. Some teams wanted to cry May Day while others didn't want the month to end.
First and foremost in this regard is the Houston Astros. After a 16-9 April, the Astros were an astounding 22-7 in May. They ended the month with seven straight wins and 9 wins in their last 10 games. The lineup of Carlos Correa, Jose Altuve, Josh Reddick, George Springer and Carlos Beltran is a beast as are Dallas Keuchel and Lance McCullers at the top of the rotation. The Astros have an 11 game lead in the AL West over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim who are right at the .500 mark. The Angels are very much at a crossroads with two time AL MVP Mike Trout being out six to eight weeks with torn ligaments in his thumb. Angels fans can enjoy Albert Pujols pursuit of his 600th career home run, but might not have much else to look forward to in 2017. The Texas Rangers did have a 10 game winning streak during the month of May, but ended the month losing seven of their last 10 games and are 12 games back of their Lone Star state rivals. The Seattle Mariners are 13 games back, but did finish the month winning their last four games. Can they be the team which mounts a challenge against Houston? One wonders how much patience the Oakland A's will have with manager Bob Melvin. They haven't been the same since losing the AL Wild Card game to the Kansas City Royals in 2014.
While the Astros are dominating the AL West, the Cleveland Indians and Minnesota Twins are tied for first in the AL Central. The Twins have a share of the top spot in the AL Central despite four straight losses (three of them at the hands of the Astros). The Indians have a share of the top spot despite a 13-14 May. The Detroit Tigers and Chicago White Sox went 13-16 and 11-18 in May, respectively. That would have spelled disaster in the AL West, but in the AL Central the Tigers and Chisox are only 3 and 3½ games back of the Twins and Indians. Even the Kansas City Royals have a shot. After ending a 7-16 April with 9 consecutive losses, the Royals went 15-14 in May are only 5½ games off the pace.
In the AL East, April ended with the New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles tied for top spot. While the Yankees remained steady in May, the Orioles have fallen on hard times finishing the month losing eight of their last 10 games. While the O's are only 3½ games back of the Yankees, the Boston Red Sox have supplanted them winning 8 of their last 10 games. The month of June begins with the Orioles and Red Sox facing each other in a four game series. Their meetings in May were marred by hit batsmen, brawls and racial taunts by fans. Hopefully things will settle down. But will the Red Sox continue their momentum or will the Orioles regain their earlier form? Let's not overlook either the Tampa Bay Rays or the Toronto Blue Jays. The Rays managed to climb over the .500 mark with a 17-12 May and are only ½ game back of the Orioles. Meanwhile, the Blue Jays had the second best record in the AL in May going 18-10. They are still in the cellar in the AL East, but with the return of Troy Tulowitzki and Josh Donaldson in the lineup that might not last long. The Jays finished May winning 8 of their last 10 games and are only a game under the .500 mark.
Switching to the National League, the Los Angeles Dodgers had the Senior Circuit's best record in May with a 19-9 mark winning 8 of their last 10 games. Good enough to take a ½ game lead over the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies in the NL West. By the looks of it all three teams will make the post-season. The San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants are both 11½ games back of the Dodgers. But these teams appear to be going in opposite directions. The Padres have won four in a row and 7 of their last 10 games while the Giants have lost three in a row and 7 of their last 10 games.
The NL Central is another story altogether. The Milwaukee Brewers enjoy a 1½ game lead over the St. Louis Cardinals despite having lost 7 of their last 10 games. The Cardinals are in contention despite playing .500 ball in both April and May. The defending World Series champion Chicago Cubs ended May with six straight losses while dropping 7 of their last 10 games. But the Cubs can rebound as they are only 2½ games back of the Brewers. Ditto for the Cincinnati Reds and the Pittsburgh Pirates who are only 3½ and 4½ games off the pace, respectively. To put it into perspective if the Reds and Pirates were in the NL East they would be 9 and 10 games back of the Washington Nationals, respectively.
The Nats finished May winning 8 out of 10 games including a knockout by Bryce Harper in a brawl earlier this week with the San Francisco Giants in which Buster Posey declined to lace his gloves after Harper was plunked by a pitch from Giants reliever Hunter Strickland. Washington will miss Harper for three games because of the thrown helmet and fisticuffs, but they enjoy a 9½ game lead over the New York Mets in the NL East. Things are so frustrating at CitiField that even Mr. Met has flipped the bird. After all, the Mets are only a game ahead of the Atlanta Braves. Hardly a place they expected to be. The team that intrigues me is the Miami Marlins. Their 10-18 was the second worst in MLB during May, but the team finished the month with four straight wins and victories in 7 of their last 10 games. Could this be the beginning of the Marlins' coming of age story? I hope it is because I picked them to win the World Series this year. The only team that had a record worse than the Marlins in May was the Philadelphia Phillies who went 6-22. The Phillies have lost four in a row and 8 of their last 10 games and now own the worst record in MLB. This didn't stop the Phillies from extending manager Pete Mackanin's contract through next season.
Will the Astros and Nationals continue to dominate in June? Will all five AL East teams be over .500? Will any team take charge in the AL Central or NL Central? Will the NL West continue to be a three team race? I'll let you know on Canada Day.
No comments:
Post a Comment