The trade deadline buzz is also
picking up as expected in July, and this year’s top prize appears to be Roy Halladay. He, without a doubt,
would be a game-changer for any team. Will Halladay end up in the NL? It all
remains to be seen. As the final week before the break is played out, here’s the
latest and greatest from around the National League.
East
Division
Philadelphia Phillies (43-38) –
Exactly halfway through the season and the defending champs are in first place
of their division. Accused of being guilty of hangover syndrome early in the
season, the Phils have done just enough to stay afloat the NL East. Unsatisfied,
the Phils are apparently looking for more pitching options. But who isn’t? Word
is they’re eyeballing Pedro Martinez, who has been working out in the Dominican
Republic. But when you score 22 runs in one
game, who needs pitching? After sweeping the battered Mets this past weekend,
the Phils celebrated with a 22-run outburst against the Reds Monday, 10 of which
were scored in the first inning. Jayson Werth led the pack with a homer and five RBI.
Florida Marlins (43-42) – Hanley Ramirez made the All-Star team
and leads the Marlins with a .346 batting average, 60 RBI, and 50 runs scored.
But the star shortstop has now missed three straight games thanks to a sore hip
flexor. Ricky Nolasco continued his
winning ways tossing his second consecutive 8.0-innning game, this time a
12-strikeout shutout against Pittsburgh. He has since improved to 6-6 after
a 2-6 start.
Atlanta Braves (40-43) – It’s tough to
win the NL East when you drop two of three to the Nationals as the Braves did
this past weekend. Starting pitcher Derek Lowe, who was red hot with a 6-2
record through mid-May, has gone 1-5 over his last eight starts leaving him at
7-7 with a 4.56 ERA. The Braves woes don’t end there. They still are struggling
to hit and score runs. At the mid-season point, not a single lineup regular has
a .300+ batting average and no one on the roster has 50+ RBI or 10+ home
runs.
New York Mets (39-43) – Maybe it’s
the fact that he’s underperforming because the rest of his supporting cast is
primarily on the disabled list, but David Wright’s power numbers are
waaaaay down. He has just five home runs this season; he hit 33 in 2008 and 30
in 2007. Interestingly enough, he’s
on pace to collect about the same number of walks, but his strikeouts are up
significantly: 84 through 81 games compared to 118 and 115 through 160 games the
past two years. Go figure.
Washington Nationals (24-57) –
Despite 22 home runs and 59 RBI Adam Dunn was snubbed from the All-Star team. Maybe his big bat just wouldn’t be
useful in the late innings of a close game. The Nationals did pick up
back-to-back 5-3 wins against Atlanta Saturday and Sunday. Mike MacDougal picked up saves in both
games. Still the Nationals might find themselves 20+ games back in the standings
come the All-Star Break.
Central
Division
St. Louis Cardinals (46-39) – The Cards
have a big divisional road trip this week heading into their role as hosts for
the All-Star game. After three games in Milwaukee
they head down I-94 to Chicago for a four-game set with the Cubs,
which includes a Sunday double-header thanks to a rain out. Talk about a way to
end the first half of the season! The Cards are hanging on to their first place
lead. Albert Pujols has been a
machine. The All-Star Game’s top vote getter is batting .336 and leads all of
baseball with 31 home runs and 82 RBI. Adam Wainwright has been on fire as of
late. He’s pitched into the ninth inning of his last two starts picking up 21 Ks
and is 4-1 in his last five decisions.
Milwaukee Brewers (43-40) – Ryan Braun got into trouble by slamming
his teammates in the media stating that the starting pitching wasn’t good enough
after the Cubs took three of four from the Brewers. Yovani Gallardo, who has been the staff
ace this season with a 2.95 ERA, has lost three of his last four starts. His
most recent loss came Tuesday when Wainwright and the Cardinals shut out the
Brewers 5-0.
Chicago Cubs (41-40) – The Tribune
Company reportedly has completed the sale of the Cubs to the Ricketts family
ending a two-year drama. Aramis Ramirez returned from the DL this past week, and just as the team was
getting healthy and starting to play a bit better, the baseball gods woke up and
hurled two more lightning bolts their way. In a scene a la Martin Grammatica, Ryan Dempster broke a toe on his foot
trying to hurdle the dugout railing in celebration after a Cubs win over the
Brewers. He’ll be out about a month. Then 2008 Rookie of the Year Geovany Soto suffered an oblique strain
before the start of Wednesday’s game. The Cubs were poised to make a run for the
division lead this weekend against the Cards and now might be limping into the
All-Star Break.
Cincinnati Reds (41-41) – In their
two games on Sunday and Monday, the Reds lost by a combined score of 32-2: 10-1
to the Cards and 22-1 to the Phils. Ouch! Forget about their arms, the pitching
staff must have sore necks after those poundings. Bronson Arroyo who started the season
red hot can’t seem to right the ship. He’s 1-5 in his last seven starts and has
lost three straight growing his ERA back up to 5.85. Aaron Harang, who had a terrible 2008,
was poised for a nice comeback season, but hasn’t won a game since May
25th, going 0-4 in his last eight starts.
Houston Astros (40-42) – The Astros
suffered back-to-back shutout losses to the Giants this past weekend before
winning the series cap 7-1. They were outscored in the first two games 22-0.
Still the Astros pitching isn’t looking all that bad overall. Wandy Rodriguez went an entire month
without a win, but has gone 2-0 in his last three starts and still has a solid
3.21 ERA. Roy Oswalt has won
back-to-back starts and has given up just one earned run in five of his last
seven outings.
Pittsburgh Pirates (38-46) – The Pirates
lost three straight before beating the Astros Tuesday 6-3 in Houston. Jack Wilson had a home run and three
RBI to lead the way. Paul Maholm got
the win to improve to 6-4 on the season.
West
Division
Los Angeles Dodgers (53-30) – Manny Ramirez got thrown out of
Tuesday’s game in New
York after arguing balls and strikes. From Ramirez’s
need to take days off and come out of games early, it’s apparent he wasn’t quite
in shape enough to return to the club and be an everyday player. Still the
Dodgers remain on fire halfway through the season. And if they land Halladay,
look out! Chad Billingsley has been
their top starter this season, boasting a 9-4 record and 3.14 ERA, but he hasn’t
won a game since June 14th, going 0-1 in his last four
starts.
San Francisco Giants (46-37) –
Just as Randy Johnson was gaining
momentum, the 45-year old, lanky lefthander landed on the DL with a shoulder
strain. But Barry Zito turned out
his best performance of the year on Tuesday when he threw 8.1 shutout innings
giving up just four hits. Meanwhile, fellow starters Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain both made the All-Star roster
for the NL. Pablo Sandoval, who
leads the team with a .328 batting average and 13 home runs is in the running
for the final spot on the NL roster.
Colorado Rockies (44-39) – Jason Marquis picked up his MLB-leading
11th win Monday against the Nationals with 8.0 shutout innings. After
losing his fifth game of the season, Marquis hasn’t given up a run in two starts
and 17 innings of work. And in a random statistical event, Alan Embree earned a win without
throwing a pitch on Tuesday. He came into a 4-4 game in the eighth inning and
picked off Austin Kearns to end the
inning before throwing a pitch to the plate. The Rockies scored the eventual winning run in the bottom of
the eighth when Clint Barmes hit a
sacrifice fly. And so the win goes into the history books.
San
Diego Padres (35-48) – Adrian Gonzalez made the NL roster as
did teammate and club closer Heath Bell. Gonzalez had a scare with his knee last week, but the slugger got
right back on the field. Good news for the Padres and good news for baseball
fans as they’ll get to see him take on the likes of Pujols, Prince Fielder, and Ryan Howard in the home run derby
Monday night. Bell picked up saves 22 and 23 this week. With
just one blown save this year, Bell also has a 3-1 record and a tough 1.49
ERA.
Arizona Diamondbacks (35-49) – It
is likely that the Diamondbacks become big-time sellers as the trade deadline
approaches in an attempt to get some good young talent for their future free
agents. Dan Haren and his 2.16 ERA
likely aren’t going anywhere. Neither are Justin Upton, his .298 batting average,
and his 48 RBI. Haren and Upton are the D’Backs future. It’s just a shame we
can’t seem them star on the big stage this October.
Got questions or comments? Email
them to pete@petekhazen.com.