By Josh:
The midway point of the season in terms of games played has come and gone and I can’t believe how fast the season is going. Since the regular season has started I have made it to one Mariner game, one Salem-Keizer Volcanoes game, and one Cowlitz Black Bears game. (I did go to a few games for spring training so I can’t complain to much.) That’s it. Even with the spring training games I’m not even coming close to the 70 games 2 years ago and the 55 games last year.
Enough about me and my woes, lets talk about some Major League baseball and what is going on.
NL East
To pretty much no one’s surprise the Braves are in first and the Nationals are right on their heels in 2nd place. These teams were picked by pretty much everyone to fight for that top spot and they are living up to expectations. One surprise though is the Miami Marlins. They are in third place and look like a solid team.
NL Central
The Brewers are in first place……
That can’t be right I picked the Cardinals, Reds and Pirates to fight for the division crown. It is true though and more than that the Brewers are up 6 games in the division. The Brewers have talent but come on no one saw this coming. The season isn’t over and you can bet no one is just going to roll over and give the division away without a fight.
NL West
The Giants are running away with the…….wait what do you mean the Dodgers are making a run at the division. They were 9 games out, you must be thinking of last year when the Giants collapsed and the Dodgers came back from 10 games back.
Déjà vu all over again as the Dodger suddenly look like the World Series contenders many picked them to be.
Oh and despite having the worst offense in baseball the Padres are not in last place. I don’t know what is wrong with the Dbacks but whatever it is it isn’t good for the worst team in baseball right now.
AL East
This division is just shaping up to be a dog fight until the last game. The Blue Jay are finally looking like the team most expected last season and lead the division but the O’s and Yankees aren’t going away. Oh and by the way the Red Sox and Rays may have losing records, but I still wouldn’t forget about them just yet. They will have a say in who goes to the playoffs this year.
AL Central
The Tigers can hit the ball really hard and lead the division in part because of their offense, and not too shabby pitching. The Royals aren’t going away though. I actually think by seasons end the Royals will take over first place, but there is a lot of baseball still to be played.
AL West
A’s are in first. That’s surprising said no one.
Mariners are 9 games over .500 and currently sitting in the 2nd Wild Card spot. Bet you didn’t see that one coming. I know that one player does not make a team, but the addition of Robinson Cano sure seems like it is making this team much better then what we have seen the past few years. After getting 5 doubles in one inning, with two outs on Tuesday, this Mariner offense is starting to look solid. Oh and by the way Felix may be having his best season ever. Think about that for a little bit and let it sink in.
Total Recap
I am enjoying this season a ton. Probably because I have the MLB channel over the summer and actually get to watch baseball and baseball highlights instead of Lebron James news on SportsCenter.
Hopefully I make it to a few more games this season but if I don’t I am still just excited for baseball to be playing.