MLB Halftime Report 2018- Part I: The National League

We’re a little more than 80 games into the never-ending Baseball season and here is the Bozo recap on the first half. There have been some surprises as always and then other teams have performed as expected. Has the new rule limiting mound visits had an effect on the time of the games? Is the one-game Wild Card play-in game fair? Should the DH be used in interleague games? Here is our analysis of the Major Leagues and an assessment of how we feel the run to the playoffs will pan out.

First, the National League, because it’s the more interesting circuit. East: Washington is hovering around .500 after a slow start but they still are the class of the East. Scherzer, 10-5, 2.16 ERA is the definition of an Ace, and is picking up the rest of the starters as Gonzales, 6-5 and Strasburg, 6-6 have struggled. Murphy and Eaton have been hurt but are now back. Big-shot Bryce Harper, 21 HRs is hitting a woeful .217, however he’ll get his act together and with the solid stats of Rendon .291 and rookie Juan Soto .313, 8 HRs, the Nats, even though they are 7 GB, will straighten themselves out to win the Division as once expected. They’ll have to hold off the surprising Phillies and Braves who have shot out of the gate. The Phils have 3 young dudes who have hit 14 HRs each in the starting line-up and a 10 game winner in Nola, 10-2, 2.48 ERA shoring up the staff. Arrieta has struggled with only 5 wins in 16 starts. Eight games over at the break, they’ll finish under .500, but prospects look good for them in the next few years. Atlanta, the big surprise of the league is 15 games over .500 and their youth movement has blossomed a year or two before expectations. A solid yet unspectacular pitching staff has kept them ahead this year and veteran Nick Markakis is leading by example with a .324 average and 56 RBIs. Freddie “The Freeloader” Freeman has 100 hits and 56 RBIs and is the most promising young first baseman in the league. There’s a better than even chance the Braves will hang on for a Wild Card matchup. I can’t even get into how pathetic the Mets are, wasting the talents of Syndergaard and DeGrom by providing zero offense. Both of these guys will be able to excel in other uniforms soon as they bid farewell to Flushing. And poor Donnie Baseball, whose Jeter led Marlins suffer the worst attendance, lowest payroll and youngest squad, are actually competing, but will fade for lack of Major League experience. Mattingly is a good manager, he just needs something to work with and a payroll before it’s too late. Jeter must have a Master Plan but I just can’t figure it out.

Central; Cubbies, 12 games over .500 and 2GB will eke out the Division over the Brewers but aren’t the scourge they were two years ago. Milwaukee is off to a solid start will again make the Wild Card game. The Cards, Bucs and Reds just simply don’t have the talent to compete this year.

West: The Giants are playing much better than last year and are much improved at 45-41 however, losing Bumgarner for the first half and his questionable status has hurt them and it appears they’ll fall short of the playoffs, as will the Rockies, who started well but have faded and will continue to do so. That stadium they play in is so detrimental to a Pitcher’s psyche, I wonder if anyone can consistently perform well there. The Friars from San Diego (discovered by the Germans in 1904, translates to a whale’s vagina) is hopeless again. Nice place, lame organization. So the Dodgers (6 over .500) after disappointing the first half with Kershaw’s injury to blame, still have enough talent to win the division over Arizona. Matt Kemp is having another All-Star year .323, 55 RBIs, but Bellinger has disappointed, however the pitching of Wood, Stripling and Madea have towed the line. The erratic Diamondbacks don’t have enough hitting or pitching depth to carry them through September, maybe they make a Wild Card as they are amazingly 9 games over .500 at this point. Who knows? Greinke (8-5) is still Greinke. Dude is 16-2 at home in is last 18 decisions. Two out of these three will battle to the end to make the postseason: Atlanta, Milwaukee and Arizona, it’ll be tight, at least there is going to some suspense for the Wild Card, unlike the American League.

Next up…The American League and some issues in the league

-HB