My Quarter of the MLB Season Review

So we are about a quarter of the way through baseball so far this year and what a season it has been thus far.

The American League

In the AL East the Red Sox are in 1st, with the Tampa Bay Rays a half a game behind. The powerful 1-2 punch of Beckett and Dice-K have overwhelmed opponents and the Rays are just playing as Ken Singleton would say “inspired baseball”. The Yankees are off to a bad start suffering serious injuries to major players (A-Rod, Posada, and Jeter) on their team, as well as their pitching rotation being anything but solid. In the Central the White Sox, Indians, and Twins are all pretty much at the top while the ‘always never good enough’ Royals and struggling Tigers are at the bottom. For the moment the Minnesota Twins own the #1 spot in the Central with outstanding pitching by Livan Hernandez (yes, thats right Livan Hernandez) and good ol’ hitting by Mauer and Morneau. In the AL West, the Oakland Athletics and the Los Angeles Angels are neck and neck for the top spot, both with 23 wins. Both teams have suffered major injuries this year with Rich Harden, SP of the Oakland Athletics, going down after the 1st week and John Lackey, SP of the L.A. Angels, being lost heading into the season for months. More recently the Angels suffered the loss of injury prone Chone Figgins, probably the scrappiest player in the Majors.

The National League

The Central in the NL pretty much is identical to the Central in the AL, with three teams vying for 1st place; the Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals, and the Houston Astros. The Cubs are looking very strong in the Central with the play of their powerful offense with Alfonzo Soriano, Derek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, and Japanese sensation Kosuke Fukudome. In the NL East, the Florida Marlins are at the top, with exceptional young players like Hanley Ramirez and Dan Uggla, beating out the under achieving NY Mets, with Santana and Reyes at their helm; the overachieving Phillies, with the batting power behind Chase Utley and Pat “the bat” Burrell; and the legendary Atlanta Braves, with Tim Hudson and Chipper Jones leading the way. The NL West is a different story with the highly anticipated Arizona Diamondbacks owning the top spot with a lead of four games over the L.A. Dodgers. The Diamondback off-season acquisition of Dan Haren really solidified their starting rotation, with other starting pitchers like Brandon Webb and Randy Johnson. There is still a lot to be seen from the L.A. Dodgers and Colorado Rockies who thus far have played below both of their potential. There is still much to be seen with 3/4 of the baseball season left, as to who will play better with the warmer weather, and edge out their competition for 1st place in their division.

Fantasy Baseball

In the beginning of the MLB season, I wrote “Fantasy Baseball is Real to Me” and 6 weeks into the season I am currently in 6th place. I think that the rankings are interesting, so I wanted to show you who the best MLB players are. In fantasy baseball, the #1 player is Lance Berkman, the 1st baseman for the Houston Astros. So far this year his stats are 42 runs, 13 homers, 38 rbi, 6 stolen bases, 22 walks, .393 AVG., 1.27 OPS. Berkman truly has exceptional numbers for playing on such an average team. The #2 player in fantasy baseball is the pitcher, Cliff Lee, the SP for the Cleveland Indians. His numbers: 6 wins, 0 losses, 44 K’s, .67 ERA, .67 WHIP, and 7 quality starts. Note: A quality start is considered 6 innings pitched and 3 earned runs. He beat out great starters such as Brandon Webb, Carlos Zambrano, and Tim Lincecum. The #3 best player in my fantasy league is Hanley Ramirez, the shortstop for the Florida Marlins. His stats are: 34 runs, 9 homers, 22 rbi, 13 stolen bases, 19 walks, .331 AVG, .987 OPS.

Here is a list of the Top 10 players in the Major Leagues, as per my fantasy Yahoo league:

1. Lance Berkman, 1B, Houston Astros
2. Cliff Lee, SP, Cleveland Indians
3. Hanley Ramirez, SS, Florida Marlins
4. Chase Utley, 2B, Philadelphia Phillies
5. Chipper Jones, 3B, Atlanta Braves
6. Derrek Lee, 1B, Chicago Cubs
7. Nate McLouth, CF, Pittsburgh Pirates
8. Rafael Furcal, SS, L.A. Dodgers
9. Dan Uggla, 2B, Florida Marlins
10. Josh Hamilton, OF, Texas Rangers

And they say that the AL has all the good hitters and the NL has all the good pitchers! Ha!