Week 6 in the MLB is in full swing and there are a few early season surprises, some things that are not so surprising, and are there some pre-season predictions on their way to fulfillment?
We are about 20% through the 2007 season and for me personally, it comes in as a close second to my favorite time of the season.
Teams are jocking for position within their divisions and hope is still alive for most them.
I’m going to go ahead and grade these teams in the Boston Red Sox division like my elementary school teachers graded me, by effort (living up to potential/hype/preseason predictions) and achievement (raw wins and losses measured against preseason hype).
Boston Red Sox (21-10)
First place Boston, with their narrow margin as the team with the best record in the AL, looks stronger than last years team that started in first place for a number of reasons. The regulars are staying healthy and the pitching staff is looking very sharp from top to bottom. The only injury plagued staffer (so far) is reliever Mike Timlin. Bit players are filling their roles when called upon to win games or stretch leads, and while they might not make Sports Center, they make this team what they are. Is it enough to earn Boston their first division crown since 1995? Everyone outside of Red Sox Nation is thinking yes, however I’m a Sox fan and I know a thing or two about the ways of the Sox. There are lots of warm and fuzzies when you’re winning, however Manny started slow, JD Drew is slowing down, and Ortiz is not in full stride yet. Day five starter Julian Tavarez is making things difficult for me to give the starting ‘ro a hardy pat on the back, but the rest of them give me hope. With 2/5th’s of the rotation starting to age I’ll just say this, if Boston wants to win another World Series with this team the time is now.
Achievement: A-
Effort: B+
New York Yankees (15-16)
The Yankees are lucky to be in second place in the AL East. A-Rod made a lot of noise and carried the team for much of April, but he does that every April and May so it was no big shock to me. I loved how everyone freaked out about his 14 home runs last month like it had never been done before. He only tied St. Louis Cardinal’s 1B Albert Pujols who did it last fucking year. Minor injuries to Damon, Giambi, and Posada are made it difficult for the Yanks lineup to get into a rhythm. Constant tinkering from manager Joe Torre didn’t help much either. At least team owner George Steinbrenner got to fire someone, their strength and conditioning coach. Yippy. Bobby Abreu not doing dick didn’t really help either and he was healthy. Once the bats wake up I’d expect the Yankees to start competing again, and not just beat up on the Texas Rangers. With all their firepower how could they not? The lack of offense just added to the real problem with the Bombers, and that’s pitching. Too many injuries and underachieving spelled the first losing April since Torre took over the team. With the addition of Roger Clemens it should add a few more wins, leadership quality, and experience. However, do the Yankees have too many chiefs and not enough Indians now? I know it’s been asked before, but is this the year it all falls apart?
Achievement: C+
Effort: B
Baltimore Orioles (15-18)
So here begins the cluster that is usually the middle of the pack in the AL East. For years it’s been the Red Sox and Yankees then everyone else. Last year saw a bit of change with the Toronto Blue Jays displacing the Red Sox in second place behind the Yankees for the first time since 1997. The O’s tried to go out and fix their big problem from last year when they came off the rails in the second half of 2006, and that was their bullpen. So far it really hasn’t helped that much. Erik Bedard and Daniel Cabrera are off to mediocre starts and the rest of the starting rotation has looked the same. Young hurler Adam Loewen is out for the next 8 weeks with a throwing elbow stress fracture. The bullpen they wanted to work on is doing a serviceable job while closer Chris Ray has blown a couple saves with an ERA of over 3.00, not exactly where you want your closer to be. Still the O’s are somehow in 3rd and only 1 game behind the 2nd place Yankees. The lineup has been below average with a division low 145 runs scored. That’s three less than usual AL East cellar dweller Tampa Bay. SS Miguel Tejada is hitting well at .344, but the top of lineup needs to find a way to get on base so he can start driving in some much needed runs.
Achievement: C
Effort: C-
Tampa Bay Devil Rays (14-18)
The Rays find themselves in unfamiliar territory, and that’s being in the month of May and not in last place. They’ve started to slip the past couple weeks, but western Florida is still abuzz with their better than usual April. Believe me, I was Florida just 50 miles south of Tampa and they are excited, still. The young lineup is batting .260 but still look fairly promising. Young rising hitters 2B BJ Upton, LF Carl Crawford, and 3B Akinori Iwamura are batting a combined .319 and have 44 runs batted in. Of course, having Iwamura on the DL isn’t helping them at the moment. Even most of the time hitter/sometimes bat tosser RF Delmon Young is showing the tendencies of a solid player. Starting pitching is nothing to write home about, their starters get a lot of no decisions which means the bullpen isn’t carrying their weight. The team as a whole is giving up more runs (198) than any other team in the AL, and the lineup just doesn’t have the bats to keep up. Starter James Shields is emerging as a bright spot in their rotation. Closer Al Reyes is looking as good as I thought he might provided the Rays could get him into some save situations. Currently he’s picked up 10 saves, one win, an ERA of 1.20, and batters only hitting once in about every ten tries when facing him. All in all, landing somewhere other than last place gives them a higher grade automatically.
Achievement: C
Effort: B-
Toronto Blue Jays (13-19)
Where to start? At least they still know how to beat the Red Sox. That’s about the only positive thing to say about the Jays after starting well the first couple weeks of April. They’ve fallen off in a major way losing seven in a row and eight of their last 10. Picking up DH Frank Thomas is a move I wouldn’t have made when offensive production wasn’t really a question many were asking in the off season. Pitching is where they needed to fill holes in the home run happy AL. Those holes are starting to become more apparent even in this early stage of the season. Games against the Devil Rays and Oriole’s at home and may solve some issues. The line up is not even close to producing what they were last season and it’s starting to show. Outside of Jay’s ace Roy Holladay the starters are looking atrocious. The bullpen actually looked kind of sharp against the Red Sox last night, but not so much over the course of their losing streak. Closer BJ Ryan is looking to be out past the All Star break, but with the team playing as is, does it really make that much of a difference?
Achievement: D
Effort: D+
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