The 2021 MLB season has reached its official midway point despite the fact all MLB teams have played more than 81 games with many teams having reached the 90 mark. Be that as it may the All-Star Game will take place in Coors Field in Denver on Tuesday (with apologies to Atlanta Braves' fans).
The team which has me most intrigued right now is the Cincinnati Reds who are a MLB best 9-2 thus far in July and just took three out of four from the NL Central leading Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park. The Brewers had ended June with 8 straight wins and had led the Chicago Cubs by six games. The Reds have overtaken both the Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals and now find themselves only four games back of the Brew Crew. When the second half of the season begins on Friday, the Reds will host the Brewers for a three game series. By this time a week from now, the Reds could be a game back of the Brewers. Or they could be seven games back and have fallen back with the Cubs and Cardinals who are both likely to sell off pieces at the trade deadline. Such is baseball. As for the Pittsburgh Pirates, the only thing Bucs fans have to cheer about is picking catcher Henry Davis number one in the MLB Draft tonight.
Ten days ago, I wrote that the Washington Nationals were partying like its 2019. Since writing those words, the Nats have gone 2-9 and have gone from second to fourth place in the NL East and are now 6 games back of the Mets after being only two back at the beginning of the month. The Mets have a 3.5 game lead on the Philadelphia Phillies despite a lackluster first half from Francisco Lindor. If he gets hot in the second half then watch out. The Phillies finish the half at .500 having won 7 of their last 10 games. The Atlanta Braves, who won the NL East in both 2019 and 2020, are only a game under .500 and only four games back of the Mets. They might as well be 40 games back with the loss of their superstar Ronald Acuna, Jr. for the season after he tore his ACL while making a catch against the Miami Marlins over the weekend. As for the Marlins, they are in the NL East cellar nine games back of the Mets. That notwithstanding, Don Mattingly will be back to manage the Marlins in 2022.
Although the San Francisco Giants own MLB's best record they are only two games ahead of the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers. The San Diego Padres have slipped from 2.5 to 6 games back of the Giants, but if the season were to end today they too would earn a NL Wild Card berth. Colorado Rockies fans can only look forward to hosting the All-Star Game on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the Arizona Diamondbacks are 4-6 so far in July. This might not appear impressive but it is when you consider the D'Backs were 3-24 in all of June.
The Chicago White Sox own the best record in the AL and also have a MLB best 8 game lead over the Cleveland Indians in the AL Central. Chisox manager Tony La Russa being condemned for publicly admonishing rookie slugger Yermin Mercedes seems like ancient history when you consider Mercedes was demoted to Triple-AAA Charlotte earlier this month. Although one could make an argument that Mercedes hasn't been the same since La Russa's lambasting of him. Whatever the case, the Chisox might be the only game in town in the AL Central if the Tribe sees fit to be sellers at the trading deadline. The Detroit Tigers and Minnesota Twins are both 15 games back while the Kansas City Royals, who ended in April in first place, are 18 games back of the White Sox having gone 21-44 since the start of May with losses in 27 of their last 37 games.
Conversely, MLB's tightest race is in the AL East with the Boston Red Sox owning a 1.5 game lead over the Tampa Bay Rays. Both the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees are eight games out. You can get away with that in Toronto, but not in the Bronx. Yankees manager Aaron Boone has Hal Steinbrenner's confidence, but for how long? Then again the Yankees could have a miracle in the second half. The same cannot be said for the Baltimore Orioles who are on their way to yet to their third 100 plus loss season in four years despite All-Star caliber seasons from Cedric Mullins and Trey Mancini.
In the AL West, four of the five teams have records over .500. The hated Houston Astros own a 3.5 game lead over the Oakland A's but both the Seattle Mariners and Los Angeles Angels have a chance to climb into the race in the second half with the Texas Rangers as the division's punching bag. The Angels finished the first half with wins in 7 of their last 10 games and could be moving beyond their underachieving ways.
So where will be at the end of July? Will the Reds overtake the Brewers in the NL Central? Can the Dodgers knock the Giants out of first place in the NL West? Will the Mets pull away from the pack in the NL East? Will Aaron Boone still be managing the Yankees at the end of the month? Will the Chisox have a double digit lead in the AL Central? Can the Mariners or Angels supplant the A's as Houston's top challenger in the AL West? We shall see in three weeks time.
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