As promised, here are my weekly thoughts on the state of baseball in the AL East......
The Toronto Blue Jays have struggled lately. Every team usually goes through a slump at least once during a season. But they've also had to deal with injuries: Adam Lind, Colby Rasmus, Brett Lawrie & now Jose Bautista, among others. Lind & Rasmus are now back and playing quite well. Lawrie was playing extermely well when he got hurt, and Bautista was one of the team's leaders in hitting. On top of that, they still haven't had a regular second baseman in the lineup. They lost starting 2nd baseman Maicer Izturis early into the season & have given several players a try at playing the position effectively. Currently, fan-favorite Muni Kawasaki is being given the chance and has actually played very well so far.
The starting pitching has been pleasantly surprising all season long. Mark Buehrle has pitched great all season long and should actually have a better record. Drew Hutchison has pltched very well & so has rookie Marcus Stroman. J.A. Happ has surprised many & R.A. Dickey has pitched very well, but has been the victim of the long ball in most of his starts.
Even though the Jays have recently been in a slump, they've managed to hold on to first place for most of the season. It should be a tight race between them & the surprising Orioles for the rest of the season. The Orioles don't have great pitching, but man can they hit!!
The New York Yankees. Let me say this: I go through their lineup & can't figure out why they aren't in last place. Other than Brett Gardiner and Jacoby Ellsbury, they don't really have anything hitting-wise. Derek Jeter has been struggling both in the field & at the plate all season long. Ellsbury has been decent, but still a disappointment considering the money he's been paid by the Yankees. Mark Texeira is an average first baseman & no longer hits for average. Brian McCann has so far been the biggest free agent bust in baseball. Brian Roberts is old. Solarte's batting average has continued to decline after a great start, Soriano should have retired after last season, Ichiro is being used sparingly & Carlos Beltran has been a tremendous bust. Light-hitting Kelly Johnson has barely missed a game & you know things can't be good when he's one of your starters.
The only real bright spot in that entire lineup has been Tanaka's pitching. If the season ended today, you could easily hand him the Cy Young. He's been even better than expectations, which were already considerably high in the Bronx. Would it be too crazy to say that without him, the Yankees would have 10 less wins in the win column? Would it be too crazy to say that they'd be behind the Red Sox without him? Sure, he's costing way too much money to the Yankees. And sure, his pitching alone has falsely given Yankee hope about this team. Yes, they suck. But they don't appear to suck as much as they should because of Tanaka alone. And because of this, he's the rare Yankee who has actually played to the level of his big contract. Most of the others should be ashamed of themselves & should give back some of their paycheques to their fans & other charitable organizations.
However, the pitching has been good, especially the bullpen. Betances, Thornton, Kelley & Robertson have been nothing short of great. Sure, they lost Sabathia, Pineda & Nova to injuries, but starting pitching hasn't been the main problem. You can't win with such atrocious hitting, no matter how good the pitching is. However, the Yankees have managed to contend without having a regular .300 hitting in the lineup. Credit to Joe Girardi and his coaching staff.
The Boston Red Sox. Folks, this is a bad team! Currently, their best player is Brock Holt, who's played nearly everywhere in the lineup. Last night, they had him playing first base. He's their best hitter by far. Pappi is now known as Little Pappi. He's showing his age & has slowed down considerably this season. Dustin Pedroia has also slowed down, but plays a decent 2nd base. Free agent Stephen Drew has been a huge disappointment. He's currently hitting only .122. Xavier Bogaerts has slumped and his average is now .256. Centerfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. has barely hit over .200 all season long and should have been sent back to the minors long ago. Victorino being injured hasn't helped, Daniel Nava has spent a good part of the season in the minors, and one of the few bright spots has been Mike Napoli, who's hitting well but hasn't hit the long ball as much as expected. And Johny Gomes hasn't been much better either. More production was expected of him when they signed him a year ago. At catcher, A.J. Pierzinski has played decent, but his back-up David Ross is also one of the league's worst hitters. When he's in the lineup, he's in there for defensive purposes only. They should have held on to Saltylamachia.
The starters haven't been any better. Bucholz has been a huge bust, even though he pitched decent last night. Lester has been okay, but Jake Peavy has been downright awful and there's talk he might be sent to the DL for some rest, just like they just did with Bucholz. Doubront is now in the bullpen and it's about time they give Workman a look as a starter. And finally, John Lackie has impressed at times & has possibly been their best pitcher. In the bullpen, things haven't been that much better, but closer Uehara has been very good so far. This is a team that will be lucky not to finish in last place. Just the other day, a member of the Boston media was saying that it's time to rebuild from scratch and get rid of all your current assets in order to get prospects in return. He also mentionned it's also time to bring up some of the kids & take a good look at them.
The Tampa Rays have been a huge disappointment all season long. Sure, they've had injuries to their pitching staff. But every team goes through injuries. Evan Longoria has also had a tough season at the plate so far. He hasn't played like they all-star he's been in the past. Ben Zobrist will likely be traded. David Price has pitched well most of the time, and he'll also likely be traded soon. This is a team i expect will have a decent 2nd half and will likely surpass the Red Sox and maybe even the Yankees by the end of the season.
