Red Sox in position to win 2nd straight AL East title
The Washington Nationals have Bryce Harper anchoring one of baseball's best lineups, and a glaring hole at the back of their bullpen. The Boston Red Sox are enjoying life with Chris Sale, and missing David Ortiz at times. The Chicago Cubs are searching for answers for their pesky championship hangover.
The Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros are looking down at the rest of the majors right now, and it's quite a gap at the moment.
With the All-Star Game in the rearview mirror and the trade deadline inching closer, the World Series favorites are as clear as the beautiful blue waters of Miami that hosted baseball's best players for the past couple days. The Dodgers and Astros are each on pace to win 100plus games, something that hasn't happened for two teams in a single season since the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Yankees in 2004.
The Astros are feeling pretty good, too. Led by All-Stars Carlos Correa, Jose Altuve and George Springer, they top the majors in runs, hits, home runs, RBIs and batting average. Perhaps most importantly, they also have a whopping 16 1/2-game lead in the AL West, allowing them to go slowly with Dallas Keuchel after the 2015 AL Cy Young Award winner was shelved by a neck injury.
“You don't think you're going to play that well but you don't think you're going to play badly either,” Springer said. “I'll take it.”
A year ago, the Cubs were in the same position as the Dodgers and Astros, on top of the game heading into the second half of the season. They went on to their first World Series championship since 1908, but their title defense has been one bumpy ride so far.
Hampered by injuries and inconsistency, the Cubs are under .500 and trail surprising Milwaukee by 5 1/2 games in the NL Central. The Cleveland Indians, who lost to Chicago in the World Series, have experienced some of the same problems, but they are in position for another October run at the top of the ALCentral.
Another starting pitcher also could help the Cubs, so expect Theo Epstein and company to be working the phones all the way to the nonwaiver trade deadline on July 31. The Astros, Brewers, Rockies and sweet-swinging Yankees also could be on the lookout for rotation help.
Some possibilities include White Sox left- hander Jose Quintana, Athletics right-hander Sonny Gray and Tigers star Justin Verlander. Any one of those pitchers on the right team could help close the gap with the Dodgers and Astros.
“We've had a lot of injuries, a lot of guys going down,” Yankees slugger Aaron Judge said. “We'll get a couple guys back so I'm looking forward to the second half.”
Washington needs another arm or two for its bullpen, and Boston could look for a power-hitting third baseman before the deadline. While Ortiz seems to be enjoying his retirement very much, the ALEast-leading Red Sox have an ALlow 92 homers at the break. The Nationals bashed their way to a big lead in the NL East, but they have 14 blown saves and a major leagueworst 5.20 bullpen ERA.