(Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)
With Independence Day in the rear-view mirror and the midway point of the season upon us, we can determine which teams are bound to rise and which teams are bound to fall in the second half of the season.
The Favorite
Boston Red Sox
The Red Sox have had two shortstops (Jed Lowrie and Julio Lugo) miss most of the season due to injury.
Josh Beckett and Jon Lester have not been their usual dominant selves, Dice-K has been awful and is now on the DL, and David Ortiz decided to wait until the last week in June to start hitting.
Yet, the Red Sox still own a 49-32 record (tops in the AL) and are one game ahead of the surging New York Yankees. Few would argue that the Red Sox have yet to hit their stride.
Second Half Evaluation: (Rising) With the deepest and best bullpen in baseball and a strong starting staff, this team should continue to get better as the season continues.
The Contenders
New York Yankees
The Yankees have had their fair share of difficulty, needing to overcome a slow start by Mark Teixeira, Chien-Ming Wang’s horrendous (and that’s putting it delicately) pitching, and a hip injury to Alex Rodriguez that will hamper him for the entire season.
Yet, they will wake up at the midway point of the season leading the Wild Card and well within reach of the Red Sox.
Second Half Evaluation: (Rising) The Yankees should get better pitching from free agent signings A.J. Burnett and C.C. Sabathia.
If Phil Hughes can lock down the eighth inning for Mariano Rivera, the Yankees will be very tough to beat in the second half.
Tampa Bay Rays
Last year’s defending AL Champion Rays have not enjoyed the success that their rivals to the north have enjoyed, but they are beginning to right the ship.
B.J. Upton is hitting again after a slow start, and J.P. Howell has brought some stability to the bullpen as the new closer.
Second Half Evaluation: (Rising) The Rays seem like they are a pitcher short, but that can be remedied by the tremendous talent they have in the minor leagues with Wade Davis and Jeff Neimann.
If Scott Kazmir can return to form, there is no reason to think this team will not challenge the Yankees and Red Sox for AL supremacy.
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Dodgers have experienced very little turbulence other than Manny Ramirez’s 50 game suspension on their way to the best record in baseball.
The only real issue the Dodgers had to face in the first half of the season was the lack of a consistent five man starting rotation. Chad Billingsley, Randy Wolf, and Clayton Kershaw were the only three pitchers who started more than 10 games.
Second Half Evaluation: (Falling) The Dodgers enjoyed one of the easiest schedules in baseball in the first half, playing more home games than any other team and 23 games against two of the worst teams in baseball in Arizona and San Diego.
We're going to send you the most entertaining MLB articles, videos, and podcasts from around the web.
2 Comments
Loading more comments...
This comment and all replies have been deleted This comment has been deleted Undo delete