MLB Mid-Season Report: National League

Best Team: Los Angeles Dodgers
Even despite a pair of DL stints for the league’s best player Matt Kemp, the Dodgers find themselves with baseball’s best record sitting fifteen games over .500 thru Friday. While Kemp’s void has been felt, it’s been a cumulative effort from the supporting cast to help keep a firm grip on the National League West standings. 2011 Cy Young winner Clayton Kershaw has been his usual dominate self, while career journeyman Chris Capuano has been spectacular, posting an 8-2 record with a sparkling 2.87 ERA. There’s no reason to think L.A. won’t continue a charge towards the postseason, and with Kemp’s return to lineup just a few weeks away, the Dodgers are sitting pretty.


Surprise Team: New York Mets
Knuckleballer R.A. Dickey has been the biggest pleasant surprise in all of baseball. The Cy Young front-runner has posted an astonishing 10-1 record with a 2.20 ERA, while positioning the Mets as a major player in the National League East. Following an off-season that saw star shortstop Jose Reyes walk away, New York has capitalized on great seasons from third baseman David Wright and right fielder Lucas Duda en route to a 35-30 record. It’s apparent that second year manager Terry Collins has changed the culture of losing that plagued the Mets for the better part of the last decade, as New York emerges as a legitimate Wild Card contender.


Disappointing Team: Philadelphia Phillies
Just one season removed from an 102 win season, the wheels have fallen off in Philly. Thanks in part to a litany of devastating injuries to key contributors (1B Ryan Howard, 2B Chase Utley, and SP Roy Halladay), the Phils find themselves in the National League East cellar, five below .500. Most indicative of Philly’s struggles: Thru 11 starts this season, ace lefty Cliff Lee is yet to record a win. Most figured that even with sluggers Howard and Utley sidelined for the first half of the season, Philly would get by on an elite starting rotation and the addition of all-star closer Jonathan Papelbon. But it’s looking more and more like Philadelphia may just be a spectator when the playoffs roll around in October.

MLB Mid-Season Report: American League

Best Team: Texas Rangers
After back to back American League Pennants, the Rangers look to be in the driver’s seat yet again. Boasting their standard vaunted offense, Texas leads the majors in team batting average (.280), and RBI’s (325). And while MVP front-runner Josh Hamilton’s gaudy statistics (.330, 22 HR’s, 62 RBI’s) have attracted the majority of the nation’s attention, the Rangers lineup top to bottom has been an opposing pitcher’s nightmare. Sitting ten games above .500 thru Thursday, and with a pitching staff on the mend, Texas once again appears to be the cream of the crop of the American League.


Surprise Team: Chicago White Sox
Picked last in their division by many pre-season publications, Manager Robin Ventura has the Sox sitting atop the Central. With an 18-11 road record thru Thursday, Chicago has relied on top prospect Chris Sale’s dominant pitching, as well as the resurgence of veteran slugger Adam Dunn. Despite a brief stint as the Sox closer, Sale leads the American League in both wins (8) and ERA (2.05). And with Dunn (rebounding from a historically bad 2011 campaign) tied for the league lead in homeruns, the White Sox appear to be legit postseason contenders.


Disappointing Team: Detroit Tigers
The offseason acquisition of thumping first baseman Prince Fielder seemed to position the Tigers as a potential World Series contender. And while Fielder and Miguel Cabrera have lived up to their end of the bargain as the most feared third/fourth hitting tandems in baseball, the rest of the Detroit offense has been surprisingly dormant. Couple that with question marks other than Justin Verlander in the starting rotation, and the Tigers are floundering at 30-34 thru Friday. You’ve got to figure that the talented roster eventually begins reaching expectations, but clearly it’s going to be an uphill second half battle in the Motor City.