Dodgers, Astros flawless
Los Angeles and Houston on verge of 100-win seasons.
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 the retired David Ortiz at times. The Chicago Cubs are searching for answers for their World Series 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 July 31 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 Cardinals and Yankees in 2004.
“I don’t think there’s one key, but I think that’s probably why we’re doing so well — is that there’s not one specific thing you can hone in on as to why we’re playing so well,” Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw said.
Los Angeles leads the majors with a 61-29 record, one game better than Houston and 7½ ahead of NL West runner-up Arizona. The Dodgers’ plus-163 run differential is the best in NL history at the All-Star break.
Kershaw has been, well, Kershaw, and Kenley Jansen remains one of the majors’ best closers. But rookie Cody Bellinger has provided an unexpected lift with 25 homers, and left-hander Alex Wood is 10-0 with a 1.67 ERA.
“Every night it’s somebody different, and that’s a sign of a good team,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “It seems like I say depth every single night, but that’s probably been the biggest reason for our success.”
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. They also have a 16½-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 Milwaukee by 5½ games in the NL Central. The Indians, who lost in the World Series, have experienced some of the same problems, but they are at the top of the AL Central.
“We know what we have here, what we’re capable of,” Cubs second baseman Ben Zobrist said. “Just got to execute better in the second half and really turn on the burners.”
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. The Astros, Brewers, Rockies and Yankees also could use rotation help.
Some possibilities include White Sox left-hander Jose Quintana, Athletics righthander Sonny Gray and Tigers star Justin Verlander.
“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 (the Nationals have 14 blown saves and have an MLB-worst 5.20 bullpen ERA), and Boston could look for a power-hitting third baseman before the deadline (the AL East-leading Red Sox have an AL-low 92 homers).
One shrewd move by either team, and they could challenge the Astros and Dodgers.
“When it all clicks like it is now,” Bellinger said, “it’s fun.”