MLB Halfway Review
We are now approaching the All-Star break in the Major League Baseball season. There have been so many surprises this year.
The World Series champions the Boston Red Sox are ten games under .500 and in last place in the American League East. A huge shock has been the Milwaukee Brewers who are tied for first in the National League Central. The team with the best record this year has been the Oakland Athletics who have been outstanding this year despite having the 25th payroll in the whole MLB.
Some MVP candidates for the AL are Jose Abreu with 29 homeruns also you have Mike Trout with 22 homeruns and an average of .308 and, last you have Nelson Cruz coming off a 50-game suspension he is having a great year with the Baltimore Orioles with twenty-eight home runs and 74 runs batted in.
The AL Cy Young candidates are Felix Hernandez from the Seattle Mariners who has posted an outstanding 2.12 era and 11 wins. Another candidate is Chris Sale from the Chicago White Sox with a tremendous 2.08 era and eight wins. The last candidate for the top three most likely is Masahiro Tanaka of the New York Yankees he has posted a 2.51 era and 12 wins but it will be very especially tough for him because he is on the Disabled List for at least six weeks with elbow inflammation.
The top three NL MVP candidates are Troy Tulowitzki, Gincarlo Stanton, and Andrew McCutchen. Tulowitzki is the top candidate because he leads the NL in average and homeruns. Stanton and McCutchen are close for second but I would give the edge to Stanton because he is tied for first in homeruns and first in runs batted in. McCutchen is having an amazing year producing a .325 average and .422 On Base Percentage.
The top three candidates for NL Cy Young are Johnny Cueto, Clayton Kershaw, and Adam Wainwright. The top two have been Kershaw and Wainwright. I would tend to think Wainwright is the favorite because he has pitched about 40 more innings than Kershaw because Kershaw was on the DL with a back problem. Wainwright’s era is 1.83 while Kershaw’s is 1.78. Wainwright has one more win than Kershaw. Johnny Cueto has had a very underrated season posting a 2.03 ERA and has nine wins.
My final predictions are AL MVP Mike Trout and the AL Cy Young Chris Sale. The NL MVP Andrew McCutchen and the NL Cy Young Clayton Kershaw. My AL playoff teams Baltimore, Detroit, Oakland , Anaheim, and Toronto. My NL playoff teams Washington, Atlanta, St. Louis, Milwaukee, and the LA Dodgers.
My world series prediction the Detroit Tigers beat the LA Dodgers four to two.
