Exciting race for the playoffs
After a terrible first half with the bat, young centre fielder Byron Buxton has been on a tear, posting an OPS of 1.027 since the All-Star break. He hit three home runs Sunday. In its final 32 games, Minnesota plays 12 against the out-of-contention White Sox, Tigers and Padres, plus four against the last-place Blue Jays.
That offence took a hit recently when Miguel Sano went down with a shin injury.
Los Angeles Angels (66-65)
Mike Trout has been so good he will likely be in the MVP conversation despite missing about a month and a half while injured.
The Angels have the worst team OPS in the AL. If Trout slumps at all, they’re in trouble. He’s hitless in his last five games, and Los Angeles won only one of them.
Seattle Mariners (66-65)
They’ve been average in most areas this year, but their defensive efficiency numbers are among the best in the AL. In a race where 85 wins might be enough to prevail, Seattle could very well get there.
Felix Hernandez and Hisashi Iwakuma are injured, and James Paxton joined them on the DL earlier this month. That’s a lot of uncertainty for the rotation.
Baltimore Orioles (65-65)
Their old formula is still somewhat intact. The Orioles are third in the AL in homers, and the top arms in the bullpen remain tough.
Their starting pitching has been a mess, and the schedule is a tough one down the stretch, with 16 of their next 23 games against teams with winning records.
Kansas City Royals (64-65)
Their on-base percentage is the worst in the AL, but the Royals have power at the corners, with Mike Moustakas and Eric Hosmer very much in their primes. City’s run differential of minus-46 is easily the worst among these teams. The Royals just went an entire three-game series against Cleveland without scoring a run, and the when the offence goes into funks like that, the rotation and bullpen are no longer good enough to carry the load.
Tampa Bay Rays (65-67)
Pitching and defence. Chris Archer has been as good a starter as any of these teams has, and the Rays are fourth in the AL in ERA.
Tampa Bay is hitting .224 since the AllStar break. The Rays are currently mired in a 14-23 stretch, and the offence would look even worse if not for a huge power season from Logan Morrison.
Texas Rangers (64-66)
The Rangers are the only one of these teams that actually has a positive run differential on the season. If their poor record in one-run games (11-21) evens out down the stretch, that might be enough to earn them a wild card.
They traded star right-hander Yu Darvish about a month ago when things looked bleaker. Cole Hamels is still with the Rangers, but his strikeout rate has plummeted this year. Texas trails the Twins by only three games but has to pass a lot of other teams as well.
Here are a few other developments from around baseball:
HOMER HAPPY
Giancarlo Stanton and Rhys Hoskins. One is a brand name, the other isn’t, but both are hitting homers at a prodigious pace.
Stanton reached 50 homers for the season Sunday with his 17th of August. That happened on the same day Hoskins hit his 11th home run in 18 games. The Philadelphia rookie is slugging .828 since being called up from the minors earlier in the month.
HIGHLIGHT
Hoskins isn’t just making an impact with his bat. He also made a diving catch in the outfield that started a triple play in Sunday’s 6-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs.
LINE OF THE WEEK
Rich Hill of the Dodgers threw nine no-hit innings Wednesday night against Pittsburgh, only to have his own team go scoreless as well. Hill finally allowed a hit in the bottom of the 10th — a leadoff homer by Josh Harrison that gave the Pirates a 1-0 win — but it was still a tremendous pitching display.