The season so far….National League
NL East
Unfortunately the biggest story in the East thus far is the injury woes and bad play of the Phillies. The much vaunted starting rotation has been beset with injuries, while Chase Utley and Ryan Howard are yet to swing a bat in anger. All of this leads to Philadelphia sitting in last place in the division, although a .528 win percentage would have them in second place in the Central.
It would be wrong to state that the starting rotation has been poor (they do, after all lead the Majors in quality starts), but injuries to Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee have tested the depth, and one feels that another injury to the rotation could prove costly. The duo have combined for just two wins in 19 starts, which simply reinforces the importance of Howard and Utley to the line-up. While Carlos Ruiz and Juan Pierre have impressed, too many key players haven’t performed up to scratch yet, specifically Rollins and Victorino, who are batting .238 and .250 respectively.
There have been no such rotation worries for the Nationals, however, who lead the Majors in team ERA, batting average against and WHIP. At the time of writing, a three game skid has reduced their lead atop the division to just one game, but with a rotation that has a combined 2.95 ERA, they are always likely to be in games. Offensively they have been poor, but young phenom Bryce Harper has shown he is at home in the Majors, while key players Jayson Werth and Wilson Ramos are long-term injury worries.
The Mets and the Marlins are tied for second place with 29-23 records. New York are coming off the first no-hitter in franchise history (all 8,020 games of history) on Friday night from Johan Santana. I guess it’s fair to say he’s shaken off his injury concerns, eh? While the starting rotation has been solid, everything would be so much rosier in Queens if it wasn’t for a 5.45 bullpen ERA. Even closer Frank Francisco has a 6.10 ERA to go along with his 14 saves. David Wright is hitting .366 and looks every bit the All-Star third baseman he was prior to some injury concerns, while Kirk Nieuwenhuis has been exemplary.
The Florida era got off to an auspicious start, thanks to poor play and Ozzie’s political views, but they are back in the mix. Josh Johnson has struggled, with a 4.83 ERA in close to a dozen starts, but Carlos Zambrano is showing us all what we knew he had. Big Z holds a 3.00 ERA after 10 starts. If anyone has been the key to the recent great run of the Marlins, it has been Jose Reyes. The shortstop, like his team, has overcome a slow start and has hit .366 in his last ten games and has a hit in the last dozen.
If Miami have been impressive lately, the Braves have been anything but, losing eight of their last ten games. At 28-24, they are clearly no slouches, but find themselves languishing in fourth place. Jair Jurrjens has been the main storyline in Atlanta. After a 3.37 ERA in four seasons, the 26 year old struggled mightily and was demoted to the Minors before the end of April with a 9.37 ERA in four starts. Brandon Beachy, however, leads the Majors with his 1.77 ERA and has been an incredible success story in the early part of the season. Martin Prado and, predictably, Chipper Jones, are holding up the offence, while Jason Heyward may not be the phenom we all thought he was going to be, hitting just .233. With over 100 games to go, however, it’s not as if time is running out for him to improve on that front.
NL Central
The only division in the Majors with six teams, and half of them have been woeful. Milwaukee, Chicago and Houston are a combined 63-92 (.406). While the Cubbies and Astros are merely playing up to expectations, the slumping Brewers are a surprise. I hate to say I told you so, but prior to the season I stated that there was no way the Brewers rotation could repeat such an impressive 2011 performance, and, lo and behold, after 52 games their combined ERA isn’t far off 4.50. Although, their relief corps are a mere 0.05 better off at 4.33.
With Prince Fielder no longer around too, there is less protection for Braun and Hart, and as a result, both players numbers have dropped, if only slightly, while Aramis Ramirez has been a major disappointment, with only five long balls.
Chicago and Houston are counting the costs of having a poor pitching staff and poor line-up. That usually, I’ve found, results in a bad team. Chris Volstad has been woeful for the Wrigley men (0-6, 7.46 ERA), although the fact that Ryan Dempster has a sub 3.00 ERA and is winless after two months of the season pretty much sums up the Cubs season. There was an emotional moment, however, when the oft injured Kerry Wood retired mid-season, but not before one glorious final strikeout in front of an adoring Wrigley Field crowd.
For Houston, you can pretty much copy and paste. The rotation has been poor. If we take Wandy Rodriguez out of the equation, the rest of the starters are combining for a 4.75 ERA, nearly double that of Rodriguez. Mind you, the offence isn’t doing much either. Jose Altuve has impressed, as has Jed Lowrie, but that’s pretty much it for the Astros as they look set to whimper out of the National League.
At the top, the Reds resurgence owes much to solid pitching, while Joey Votto has overcome a slow start to lead the team with a .329 average to go along with his eight homers and 30 RBIs. As for the pitching staff, the bullpen has again been lights out, with a combined 2.36 ERA. Aroldis Chapman has pitched 27 scoreless innings and claimed 47 K’s. Simply astonishing.
The reigning champs are going along rather smoothly too, sitting just 2.5 games behind. Not all is well in St. Louis, however, as injuries have cost the team dearly, despite putting up great numbers. Yadier Molina and Rafael Furcal have been outstanding, but Allen Craig, Jon Jay and Lance Berkman have missed 102 games already. Albeit in limited time, all three were hitting above .330. On the pitching side of things, Adam Wainwright has struggled, perhaps predictably, while the bullpen has been erratic.
For the Pirates, it’s a case of déjà vu all over again. After years and years of disappointment, they have repeated the achievement of 2011 and are staying afloat in the first half of the season. At one game over .500, Pittsburgh is remaining relevant, and respectable, which is an achievement in itself given their recent history. While their offence ranks in the bottom three in most categories, the unheralded pitching staff has been terrific. Five relievers have appeared in double digit games and currently have sub 2.50 ERAs, while their starting rotation has been successful enough to keep the low scoring offence in games. Remarkably, over 40% of their games have been decided by a single run, so I guess it’s just as well the bullpen has produced the goods.
NL West
While the bottom three in the Central have been poor, the woeful trio in the West aren’t far off. As with the Central, two teams are merely living up to expectations, while one is falling short. That would be the 23-29 Arizona Diamondbacks.
The young rotation was terrific last year, but seems to have been found out this time round. Daniel Hudson and Josh Collmenter lasted only four games apiece before being ditched. With a combined 7.45 ERA, they can’t really complain. Wade Miley leads the staff with a 2.65 ERA despite not being in the original rotation. Offensively, Chris Young has been out injured, while Justin Upton simply isn’t performing to his capabilities. Free agent acquisition Jason Kubel leads the way in most offensive stats.
For the Padres, it is merely a continuation of last year with decent enough pitching, but not enough hitting. They rank 28th in batting average, runs and hits and rank dead last in home runs. Perhaps that last stat is to be expected in such an obviously pitcher friendly park, but it’s hardly an anomaly. Injuries have played their part, with Carlos Quentin suiting up just four times. Pitching wise, injuries have also proved costly, with 22 pitchers already having been used. Corey Luebke, arguably the ace of the staff, has managed just five games. It appears that it will be a long, long summer in San Diego.
The other struggling team is Colorado, who have needed a five game winning streak just to get to seven games under .500. While Jamie Moyer provided the feel good story (along with teammate Juan Nicasio), both have ultimately struggled. Despite a decent start, Moyer seems done after being designated for assignment at 49 years old.
The Rockies team ERA is better only than the Minnesota Twins, with starters combining for a 5.78 ERA and just eleven wins, the same number as the bullpen. Carlos Gonzalez is hitting everything right now and recently notched four homers in four at-bats over two games. He leads the team with a .335 average and 14 homers. The offence is actually one of the best in the league, so it is disappointing that the pitchers are performing so poorly, otherwise the Rockies may be seven games over .500, as opposed to under it.
At the top of the division, the Dodgers have been far and away the best team all season long, and their 32-20 record suggests as much. They are third in team ERA (3.31) and fourth in hitting (.272). Matt Kemp had been other worldly, but is currently out injured. Even so, in his absence the likes of Andre Ethier and A.J. Ellis (both hitting above .315) are really stepping it up a notch. Both the rotation and bullpen are as solid as you’ll find in the Majors, even if Billingsley’s ERA is surprisingly north of 4.00.
The Giants are keeping up the pace, currently four games back. Their offense is streaky and their rotation exemplary, so no real change from the last few seasons. Melky Cabrera has been the big surprise as he leads the NL with a .376 average, while Angel Pagan and Buster Posey are hitting .315 and .295 respectively. Unfortunately, injuries have played their part too, with Sandoval appearing in less than half the games so far, while closer Brian Wilson didn’t even make double figures in games played before being shutdown.
If Melky Cabrera is the surprise with the bat, Tim Lincecum is just that with the ball. While four of the five man rotation have ERAs below 3.50 (yep, even Barry Zito), the Freak is sitting with a 2-6, 5.82 ERA. Just imagine how much better these Giants will be when he turns it around.