MLB 2nd Half Preview

With the All-Star Break nearing it's end, teams and players are focused on gearing up for the stretch run. Congratulations to the American League on earning home field advantage for the World Series. Congratulations also to Mariano Rivera on earning MVP honors in his final All-Star game. There are many intriguing storylines that fans will be fixated on. Will Chris Davis surpass Roger Maris' single-season Home Run total? Will he ruin Miguel Cabrera's chances at earning his second straight triple crown? Will Yasiel Puig build on his torrid start and help lead the Dodgers back to the postseason? Can the defending champion San Francisco Giants make yet another late run to reach the playoffs? These are just a few of the many intriguing subplots to follow in the 2nd half.

The Chase For Triple Crown Numéro Deux

Miguel Cabrera and Chris Davis became the first AND second players in the history of Major League Baseball to record 30+ HomeRuns and 90+ RBI before the All-Star Break. That's staggering considering that the all-time greats that have played before them have never been able to accomplish that feat. Many people know Miguel Cabrera. He won the triple crown a year ago, and is regarded as the best hitter in all of baseball (taking that honor from Albert Pujols a couple of years back). He's an 8-time All-Star and a World Champion. Chris Davis, on the other hand, only recently burst onto the scene. In his first full season with the Baltimore Orioles, last season, he recorded a respectable 33 HomeRuns and 85 RBI. But this season he's taken the league by storm with his ridiculous 37 HomeRuns through the 1st half. I anticipate this being an extremely close race towards the end of the season, barring injury to either one. 

Some believe that Davis has to slow down. It's only one good half of a season, and he's never done something this astonishing before. And I agree to a certain extent. I anticipate his batting average to drop to probably around the .285 mark, whereas I think Cabrera can maintain .340+ batting average for the rest of the season. But where I believe the triple crown will be lost for Cabrera is in the long ball category. I don't see Davis' power slowing down, and I believe he gets to 55+ HomeRuns. He has effortless power and sprays it to all fields. What may look like a pop-up off his bat, amazingly turns into a HomeRun more often than not. Cabrera, while certainly the superior hitter, has only hit more than 40 HomeRuns once in his career. And while I believe he gets past that again this year, I don't see him getting 50+. The guy is incredible, and will win MVP once again this year, but the triple crown will elude him this year thanks to the power bat of "Crush" Davis.

National League West

The most intriguing team to watch out for in the second half of the season has to be the L.A. Dodgers. Injuries and poor run support plagued much of the 1st half for the Dodgers. But once the rookie Yasiel Puig got called up, life began to change in LA. The Dodgers slipped to as many as ten games under .500 in June, but Puig almost single-handedly re-energized that team and helped bring them to .500 by the All-Star Break. Puig hit a ridiculous .391 with 8 HomeRuns, 19 RBI, while showing off his blazing speed and cannon for an arm in RF. As long as Matt Kemp can come back healthy relatively soon out of the break, the sky's the limit for this team in the second half. Hanley Ramirez has been on fire since his return from injury, and Adrian Gonzalez has continued to rake at the plate. Their pitching rotation is one of the best in baseball with Clayton Kershaw and Zach Greinke anchoring the top half of the rotation. Barring even more injuries, there's no reason not to think that the Dodgers will win the West. The time for underachieving stops now.

The San Francisco Giants find themselves in a similar situation to the Dodgers. The defending champs are 6.5 games out of 1st place, but unlike the Dodgers, the Giants can't blame it on injuries so much as actual performance. Their pitching, so crucial to their World Series run a season ago, has been poor to say the least. They rank 20th in baseball with a 4.11 team ERA. Their "Ace", Matt Cain, has delivered much less than that, posting a 5.06 ERA with a 5-6 record. It also doesn't help that pitchers Tim Lincecum and Barry Zito seem to be shelves of their former selves. Plus, they're a middle of the road run-scoring team. I won't count out this team, since they've made late runs in years past, but clearly things must improve if they hope to defend their title come October. 

And then there are the other two "contenders" in the N.L. West. Arizona sits atop the West at the break behind strong pitching and timely hitting. Emerging stars Paul Goldschmidt and Patrick Corbin will look to carry this team to a surprising first place finish. As for the Colorado Rockies, they boast a strong lineup and sit only 4.5 games out of first place. Much of their second half success will depend on the health of Troy Tulowitzki, Carlos Gonzalez, and Michael Cuddyer, the Rockies' heavy hitters. If they can stay healthy, that lineup could potentially carry them to perhaps a WildCard berth at least. 

Seattle Mariners 

Hey, it is a Seattle Sports Blog. What would a second half preview be without talking about the M's? The Seattle Mariners are in an interesting predicament. They finished off the 1st half of the season as one of the hottest teams in baseball. The offense is scoring a ton of runs, and look forward to getting a healthy Michael Morse back. Things appear to be turning for the better in Seattle. Unfortunately the trade deadline is looming. And rumors continue to swirl around Kendrys Morales and Raul Ibanez, and their potential departure. For all of the good things we've seen in the last several weeks, realistically the Mariners are still not in contention for the postseason. 

Does Jack Zduriencik deal one or both of these veterans, who have been the main two reasons why the offense is so improved this season? It's hard to say. It's also hard to see them getting fair value in return. I say you keep these two veterans, look forward to getting Morse back, and hope that Nick Franklin, Brad Miller, Justin Smoak, and Mike Zunino can produce around those guys. Think about it. If we lose these veterans, then we're forced to rely solely on the young guys, which puts too much pressure on them too early in their careers. If you keep this same lineup heading into next season, and insert Taijuan Walker next to Felix and Iwakuma in the rotation, then perhaps we may be talking about a team that could compete for a WildCard berth as early as next season. We shall see as the deadline approaches.