Stephen Strasburg did not disapoint. It his much anticipated debut against the Pittsburgh Pirates (who have since lost 11 in a row) he pitched 7 innings, had 2 earned runs, with 14 strikeouts, and zero walks. If its a veteran, you say wow, that's impressive. But a rookie making his first start. What do you say to that? Ok kid, good job. Do it again and ill be impressed? 5 games later he pitched against Cleveland in what was the Indians first sellout of the season. While he had 4 walks, he still had 8 strike outs and got his 2nd win in as many starts. I have no idea if he will keep it up, but if this is any indication, Mr. Strasburg is going to be something special!
No one has had 13 wins in 14 starts since the 1986 season when BoSox rookie pitcher Roger Clemens started the season 13-0 with one no decision. Cue in Ubaldo Jiminez. As of this afternoon where he gave up 1 run to the Minnesota Twins, he dropped his ERA to 1.15 (the lowest since 1945). One other note. Jiminez is a staggering 10-0 when pitching on a day after a Rockies loss. Front runner for NL Cy Young? That remains to be seen, but if i had a vote, he'd get it.
In the AL East, the Tampa Bay Rays have slowed down a bit, and though they are still 17 games over .500, they have let the Yankees catch them atop the division. But, not too far behind them is the surging Red Sox. They are only 2.5 games back and could very well catch them by the all star break. It is going to be fun watching this division and the stories that unfold.
The Al Central is not near as close as the East. This division i expected to be a 3 team race, and this far, it hasn't been. I really expected the White Sox to be closer to the top of the division. But, they just havent gotten the production from the pitching staff that they have needed. Mark Buehrle improved to 5-6 today beating the Pittsburgh Pirates. For the Sox to contend, they will have to get more production from Buehrle, Else where in the division the Twins and Tigers are in what should be a dogfight to the end, as if the two teams didn't get enough of each other last year and in the playoff game for the division championship.
Note to the reader: This point of my writings could get very biased. However, i will try to keep it level headed. The AL west (in my opinion) is the Texas Rangers' to win, or lose. Oakland was close to them and it was a good race for a while, but Oakland just doesnt have the depth or experience needed for a divisional, or pennant race, as of this writing the A's have dropped to 6 games behind the Rangers in the division. Meanwhile, the team i was more worried about as a Rangers homer (the LA Angels) have come past Oakland and are now 2.5 games behind Texas. But, injuries have plagued LA and only time will tell how much it will hurt them. The Angels obvioulsy have the pitching depth, bats and experience to win the division. Seattle was most peoples choice to win the division. They loaded up on pitching in the offseason, and also bought a couple of bats. But they're problem this year, is the same as it was last season. They still have a lack of bats. Ichiro is doing his thing, he has 92 hits on the year and is well on his way to his 10th straight 200 hit season but, other than that they have very little as far as bats. The Rangers, have tonight won their 5th straight road game, doing so for the first time in 8 years, they are also coming up on the easiest 9 game stretch on their schedule (as far as records). They have 3 with a bad Astros team, 3 with a bad Pirates team, then 3 more with the Astros again. Although Pittsburgh has a stud 3rd baseman coming up in the next week or so. Although the Pirates have recently extended the contract of manager John Russell, I fully expect him to be relieved of his duties soon.
The NL East is easily the tightest division in MLB. You have the Braves, Mets and Phillies all within 4 games of each other. Florida dropped to 31-35 tonight despite having a +18 run differential. I look for the Mets to fall apart in the 2nd half of the year once again. Though, they have had a 5 run inning at least once in their last 3 games. Both the Braves (Bobby Cox) and Phillies (Charlie Manuel) have the most post season experience. I full expect those two teams to have a dogfight to the end.
In the NL Central, you have the Reds who have been red hot leading the Cardinals by half a game, and then the Cubbies are 6.5 games out of first. The Reds will cool off and the Cardinals will do what is expected of them, and make their way to the postseason one more time.
The NL West is also very close San Diego, LA Dodgers and the Giants are all within half a game of each other, with the Rockies who are notoriously a late season team, just 4 games back. the Diamondbacks have been just disapointing this year. Whatever moves are made by the top 4 teams in this division, could be very very crucial. One big pickup could mean everything. It's really hard to pick a frontrunner for this division. But if i had to pick, i'd say LA would win, for one reason and one reason only. Joe Torre.
See you next week!
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