On Deck Circle 6/23/17: Who's Real and Who's Fake?

By Pat Luhta, @PLuhta


The MLB season is quickly approaching the halfway point, teams are hitting the 70 game mark on the season. Right now, there is still a ton of sorting to be done among the top of the division and it can turn quickly one way or the other for any team. There are even teams out there that may win their division and make the playoffs, but will be overmatched and aren't truly made of championship material.

It's time to predict which current contending teams are actually real and will remain in contention and be considered a World Series team, and which ones are fake and will eventually fall off, whether it's before the end of the season or if they manage to make the playoffs. Here's a breakdown of the division leaders and contenders and if they are here to stay or if they are fool's gold.


AL EAST

New York Yankees - REAL: It took everyone a little while to start believing that this team has staying power but the Yankees seem to be back. Their offense, led by Aaron Judge, is exploding this year and if Judge, along with Gary Sanchez, Starlin Castro and others, can keep this up then they have what it takes to remain the division leaders. Their pitching is also looking real good, Luis Severino and C.C. Sabathia (no, you're not seeing things) are having good seasons and what's scary about their staff is that Masahiro Tanaka has not been good. If he turns it around a bit then there's no telling what this team is capable of. They have hit a little bit of a slump lately, but nothing to worry about long-term as this team is for real.


Boston Red Sox - REAL: This team has it all and may end up being the team to beat in the American League. Betts, Bogaerts and Benintendi make a powerful triple threat on offense that is making up for the loss of David Ortiz and Chris Sale has been worth every little bit of the trade so far as he has been their ace pitcher. In order for the Red Sox to become that team to beat though, they will need David Price to fully return to form as right now they really do not have a solid #2 starter behind Sale. Still though, the Red Sox are a team that will be in contention all season long.


Tampa Bay Rays - FAKE: The Rays are currently hanging on in the wild card hunt, but I don't see it lasting too much longer. With a slew of teams right behind them and if they fall out just a little bit then expect them to be seller's at the deadline. I'm not counting them completely out, their offense may provide enough to keep them in it, but Chris Archer will again be a hot commodity at the trade deadline and the Rays end up dealing him this year.



AL CENTRAL

Cleveland Indians - REAL: I've been saying for a month now that the Indians are just working things out and they will be fine. Sure enough, they have seemingly turned that corner are now in 1st place in the division. Edwin Encarnacion is crushing the ball after a very slow start to the season and after a brief DL stint, Corey Kluber is looking like his Cy Young form. This is the team that made the World Series last season, they are definitely for real.


Minnesota Twins - FAKE: The Twins had the luxury of the Indians starting off sluggish, so they did what they could to gain a lead in the division. While Brian Dozier and Miguel Sano have been bright spots in the lineup and Jose Berrios looks like a future ace, their playoff hopes seem about up. Put it this way, when a team has over -40 run differential and ranks 28th in team ERA, there's no chance to sustain a first place lead or make up ground on the wild card spots. Because of that, I have to call the Twins as fake.



AL WEST

Houston Astros - REAL: I'm honestly not sure how anyone could consider this team to be fake, they are as real of a team as it gets. They have the best record in the entire MLB, Carlos Correa and Jose Altuve are both legitimate MVP candidates and their pitching is in the top 5 in a majority of stats. There isn't much else to say, this team is for real and the current favorite to win the World Series.



NL EAST

Washington Nationals - REAL: Even though they are going to win their division and have one of the best records in the league, this was tough for me to choose. Don't get me wrong, on paper they are definitely legit and have what it takes to win the NL, but they use their starting pitching so much that there's a decent chance the wear and tear down the stretch could lead to another 1st round exit. But ultimately, I have to go with the Nationals being real, they have everything it takes so can't call them anything but solely based on a hypothetical that their pitching will eventually breakdown. I don't have high hopes for their playoff run, but this team is for real.



NL CENTRAL

Milwaukee Brewers - FAKE: Let me start by saying that the Brewers are fake, for now. They are beginning to prove themselves and win me over, but I'm just not ready to jump all in on them right now. They are just so middle of the road in many team categories, and both batting and pitching and are being led by some unlikely players. While Eric Thames and Chase Anderson have been real good stories, are we 100% sure that they will keep this going all season long? They just have very little margin for error, and while they likely will win the division, it's still too soon to buy them as a real threat.

Chicago Cubs - FAKE: What? The defending World Series champs are fake this season? At first I thought it was just a little lack of motivation after winning it all last year, that they'd shrug it off and turn it up, but this team has some serious holes that do not look fixable. Their offense is just lacking, Anthony Rizzo being the only player that's really living up to his norm this season. They are 29th in batting average, 18th in On Base %, 19th in OPS, 17th in runs and 29th in stolen bases, all the makings of a pretty subpar offense overall. Their pitching isn't much better, with only 1 starting pitcher (Jon Lester) with an ERA under 4. This goes beyond just a "championship hangover" and are real issues that makes this alarming. They need to win the division in order to even make the playoffs thanks to the 3 teams in the NL West and with these problems, don't be surprised if they miss out on the postseason.



NL WEST

Los Angeles Dodgers - REAL: What if I told you at the start of the season that the offensive MVP of the team would be Cody Bellinger and the Cy Young of the team would be Alex Wood? Bellinger started the season in triple A and the Dodgers have Clayton Kershaw, but sure enough, those two are leading the way for the Dodgers. Bellinger leads the entire NL in home runs despite not being called up until April 25th, add him to a lineup that already has Corey Seager, Justin Turner, Yasiel Puig and Adrian Gonzalez and there's reason why this team is one of the best statistical offenses in the league. Kershaw is still typical Kershaw,(10-2 2.60 ERA, 115 K's) but Alex Wood has just been that much better this season. Wood is 7-0, 1.90 ERA and 72K's in 12 games this season, he's a legitimate 2nd ace on the team. With the offense as good as it is and the pitching being top notch(including Kenley Jansen being 15/15 in saves with 50 K's and zero walks), this team is for real.

Colorado Rockies - REAL: The Rockies having a good offense is nothing new, the friendly atmosphere in Denver will always give them a boost in numbers. But this offense has some serious talent and the offensive numbers can't be blamed on the thin air in Denver. Charlie Blackmon may be the best CF in the NL(McCutcheon isn't ready to give that crown up just yet), Nolan Arenado is a star 3B with ridiculous HR ability and Mark Reynolds is having a career renaissance. Their starting pitching isn't great, but their bullpen has been exceptional this year. Greg Holland leads the league in saves as Adam Ottavino sets the table for him, a top 5 offense with a shut down bullpen is a perfect way to mask any issues with the starting pitching. And we're still a month away from the trade deadline, do not be surprised if the Rockies go for Chris Archer or Jose Quintana to help the starting rotation. Rockies are a playoff team that can contend with any team in the MLB, this team is for real.

Arizona Diamondbacks - REAL: I have been hesitant to call them real all season so far, but can't deny what this team is doing and any team that is circling around +100 in run differential needs to be taken seriously. Paul Goldschmidt leads the way for an offense that is also one of the best in the league(it's an NL West thing), with Jake Lamb, Chris Owings and Brandon Drury also providing a ton of pop off the bat. This team last trade deadline was looking to be sellers and the main guy they were looking to unload was SP Zack Greinke. In his first of a 6 year 205 million dollar deal with the Diamondbacks, Greinke underperformed and the team was looking to give up on him, and it's a good thing for them that they didn't. Greinke has returned to All-Star form, 8-4 with a 3.14 ERA and 1.05 WHIP, he's also struck out 111 batters while only walking 19. Robbie Ray has also been a solid starter for them and Fernando Rodney has been a perfect 20/20 in save opportunities this season. The NL West will be such a fun race the rest of the season and its a shame that 2 of these 3 teams will have to play in the 1 game wildcard playoff. Not sure who the best of the 3 are, but Arizona has a good of a claim to being the best as any.

On Deck Circle 5/2/17: April MLB Recap

By Pat Luhta, @PLuhta


We have made it through one month of the MLB season as April is now behind us. Typically, the month of April is filled with a false sense of hope or despair, a hot or cold start to the season and fans begin to read too much into it. Baseball is a very long season, teams have only played around 25 games in a 162 game season, so it’s way too soon to jump to any conclusions on how a team or player will fare. So while April is not a true indicator on how a teams’ season is going to go, there are definitely some things to take away from it and also some things to keep an eye on as we head into May. Here are a few highlighted stories to recap the month of April.

1. The New York Yankees - The many of us (myself included) that have been reveling in the struggles that the Yankees have faced over the past couple of seasons may have to wipe that grin off of our faces. Picked to finish 4th or 5th in the AL East in preseason, the Yankees are currently tied for 1st place with the Baltimore Orioles with a 15-8 record. They are not only tied with the Orioles for the AL East, but also tied with them for the best record in the AL. Rookie Aaron Judge is leading the way for them on offense with a .303 batting average with 10 home runs and 20 RBI’s. The pitching has been the key though, Luis Severino and Michael Pineda have been dealing for the team and if Masahiro Tanaka finds his groove like he did towards the end of last season then this rotation could keep this team in the playoff hunt all season long. It would seem as though the Yankees did not stay down long and will be a competitive team again in 2017.

2. Chicago White Sox – While the Yankees’ surprising start to the season is noteworthy, no team has had a more surprising good start than the Chicago White Sox. Over the last 2 seasons, and this offseason in particular, the White Sox have gone into full rebuild mode. They gutted the roster for the most part, trading their best players away for prospects, and being inactive in free agency while they build their farm system up. Some were saying that this team might lose 100 games this season, so the bar was set real low for the south siders but right now they are anything but a potential 100 loss team. They are currently 13-10 and only .5 games back of the Cleveland Indians for 1st place in the division. While we will have to wait it out to see if the hitting of Avasail Garcia and the pitching of Derek Holland and Miguel Gonzalez holds up, but a month into the season and the White Sox are standing toe-to-toe with the defending AL champions. All eyes in Chicago have been on the Cubs lately, but if the White Sox keep this up then they may take some shine off their cross town rival here, and this rebuilding process may be coming along a lot faster than most anticipated.

3. Eric Thames and Chase Anderson – These are two real good stories here and both happen to play for the Brewers. Eric Thames started his MLB career back in 2011 for the Toronto Blue Jays. He then played the 2012 season with the Blue Jays and the Mariners, and that was the end of his MLB career…or so we thought. Thames spent the 2013 season in the minors then the next 3 seasons he played in South Korea before attempting a comeback this season. Thames not only made the team but has been the Brewers best hitter, currently batting .345 and is tied for the MLB lead with 11 home runs. He is also responsible for the best interview clip of the season, after it was revealed that he's been drug tested numerous times already as he hot start is drawing some skepticism, he claimed his innocence and said they could test him as many times as they wanted, saying that he has "plenty of blood and urine to spare." If he keeps this up and the Brewers are in the playoff race, we might see him go from out of the league to a potential MVP candidate.

Starting pitcher Chase Anderson’s time in the MLB was almost up, the 29 year old was in a rotation battle for the final spot and if he were to be optioned to triple A then that could have been the end of his MLB career. He won the job as 5th starter and is currently a big reason that Milwaukee is only 1 game back of 1st place in the NL Central. He’s 2-0 on the season, with a 2.10 ERA and 1.07 WHIP and also leads the team in strikeouts with 24. It’s safe to say that he has locked down a starting job for good and doesn’t need to worry about being sent down to triple A any time in the near future now, a good story of someone that had one more chance and has taken advantage of it.

4. The NL West – 2011 was the last time that an NL West team not named the San Francisco Giants or the Los Angeles Dodgers have won the division, and the Dodgers have won it 4 straight years. This year could be a different story, as the Giants have stumbled big time and have lost their ace Madison Bumgardner for at least 2 months and the Dodgers have been around .500 for majority of this month. The Arizona Diamondbacks (16-11) and Colorado Rockies (16-10) have taken full advantage of the slow starts by the Dodgers and Giants, and have vaulted themselves to 1st and 2nd in the division.

The NL West was originally thought to be a 2 team race between SF and LA but Arizona and Colorado have currently made some good cases to take them seriously as they look to dethrone the 2 teams that have had a stranglehold on the division. The Dodgers ended April on a 4 game winning streak which put them only 2.5 games back of the division lead, so they are making a charge to the top and it will be interesting to see if they can continue to climb or if either Colorado or Arizona can win the division this season.

5. Washington's Offense - The Washington Nationals have been known for their starting pitching, with a rotation that may be the best in baseball. Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Gio Gonzalez make for a dominant 1-2-3 punch. But the story in Washington isn't about their pitching, it's been about their offense which is hitting the cover off the ball this season. Washington's offense is on a record pace, breaking some month of April records and their offense ranks 1st in just about every category. On the last day in April, they put a stamp on the month by scoring 23 runs against the Mets, the 7th time in their 25 games that they've scored at least 10 runs. They are on an absolute tear this season and putting up runs at an incredible pace, making them a very scary team considering the pitching staff that they have as well. They did lose Adam Eaton for the season though so that could definitely affect how their offense performs going forward, but this was a ridiculous month of hitting for the Washington Nationals.

This Week In The Show 4.15.16

By Alex Hale, @DaSportsGenius7

It didn’t take long for the MLB Season to give us quite a few big stories.  From record breaking starts, injuries, controversial finishes, and crazy weather cancelling games for teams, we’ve been through almost 2 weeks of the season and it’s already shaping up to be a crazy season.  Throughout the season every so often I’m going to give my thoughts on some of the MLB’s biggest storylines.  For this we did ignore the great starts of Robinson Cano, the Cubs and the Nationals because those shouldn’t surprise anyone.  We instead took some teams and situations and shed a different light on them for you.

The San Diego Padres: While currently their record sits at 3-7, their first series against the Dodgers was a clear warning sign.  They were shutout and swept by the Dodgers and a majority of their runs came from 2 wins in Colorado scoring 29 runs in those games.  They’ve scored 8 runs in the other 8 games combined.  On top of that, on Thursday Vince Velasquez of the Phillies limited the Padres to a 3 hit shutout, striking out 16 Padres.  Padre fans may get the All-Star game, but they’re in for a bad season ahead of them.

My thoughts: Padres are one of those Franchises that thinks it can do a small retooling of their team and not rebuild.  After last season’s failure when they traded for Matt Kemp and Wil Myers, the Padres should’ve rebuilt.  They will be selling big time come July and will have a new GM next year.

The Baltimore Orioles: The Orioles have started the season red hot, jumping out to a 7-1 record.  So far their pitching has been better than expected, especially in the starting rotation where Chris Tillman has emerged as their ace.  We all knew their offense and bullpen were near the top of not just the division, but the American league.  If the pitching staff can continue to hold down the fort all year, the Orioles could cause problems in the American League.

My thoughts: I’m not going to buy the Orioles hot start.  Their rotation has proven in the past to be very erratic.  While they sometimes do just enough to get the W, they lack an ace to really push them over the top.  If they keep this up, they will need to acquire one.  If not, this is a classic, “fool’s gold” start.

Minnesota Twins are still winless: After jumping my expectations of them last year and being one of the young teams to watch out for, the Twins have opened the season and have yet to win a game.  2015 Rookie standout Miguel Sano is only hitting .143 and the team combined is hitting only .210.  The crazy part is the pitching staff has done well, led by Ervin Santana.  What’s worse is the Twins’ Closer Glen Perkins was just put on the 15-day DL.  In a competitive AL Central, they need to turn it around quick, or start prepping for 2017.

My thoughts: The Twins will go as far as Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano can take them.  Both guys are key cornerstones to the franchise and although last year was a great first step, the Twins still got a ways to go before they’re truly ready.

Kyle Schwarber Out for Season with Torn ACL: Really bad break for the Cubs, who were expecting a lot from Schwarber after his strong rookie season and an impressive postseason campaign.  Schwarber was expected to be the Cubs everyday LF in a stacked Cubs OF with Dexter Fowler, Jason Heyward and Jorge Soler coming off the bench.  This forces the Cubs to play Jorge Soler everyday where probably Jorge Soler isn’t ready to play everyday.

My thoughts: Jorge Soler, first off, is a top flight talent with major upside that hasn’t been tapped into yet.  This is a great opportunity for the Cubs to find out how good Soler is because if he’s as good as he was advertised coming out of Cuba, the Cubs are going to have quite the OF problem that is good to have in 2017.  Tough break for Schwarber, who I believe is best suited next year to move to 1B.

Trevor Story… enough said: So much for the Rockies missing Troy Tulowitzki, the long hyped Rockies prospect has not just emerged but dominated the baseball scene in his first few weeks in the bigs.  In the 9 games he’s played, he’s hit 7 HRs.  While hitting in the friendly skies of Coors Field, Story’s talent is there and teams are starting to take notice.  While the reality is Trevor Story won’t hit 40-50 HRs, it’s amazing that Story came into the league and hit the most HRs to begin a career with 7 HRs in 6 games.  Whatever he does the rest of this year and even more so, his entire career, he’s got one of the greatest starts to a career ever.

My thoughts: Trevor Story was hyped up for the past 4 years as the SS behind Tulowitzki and the trade last year opened the door for all of this to happen.  Story is the real deal and he will be the new face of the Rockies franchise with Nolan Arenado for the next few years.

So there you go, some of the big highlight stories to begin the baseball year.  We’ve only been through 2 weeks of this season and already it’s looking crazy.  Anything and everything can very well happen any night this season.  My suggestion, enjoy it because I know this from experience, before you know it we’ll be in October ready for the playoffs.  With a great group of rookies this year and emerging stars like Carlos Correa, Francisco Lindor, and Corey Seager among those players along with established names of Mike Trout, Clayton Kershaw and Bryce Harper, if you haven’t gotten into the MLB season, you better start now before you miss out on all the fun I guarantee is bound to happen this season.

TV Weekend 5.30.14 - 5.31.14

MLB
Rockies @ Indians (Friday, STO, 7 PM)
Orioles @ Astros OR Giants @ Cardinals (Friday, MLB Network, 8 PM)

Rays @ Red Sox OR Pirates @ Dodgers (Saturday, FOX, 7 PM)

NBA
Pacers @ Heat, Game 6, Heat lead 3-2 (Friday, ESPN, 8:30 PM)

NBA Tip-Off (Saturday, TNT, 8 PM)
Spurs @ Thunder, Game 6, Spurs lead 3-2 (Saturday, TNT, 9 PM)

NHL
Blackhawks @ Kings, Game 6, Kings lead 3-2 (Friday, NBC Sports, 9 PM)

COLLEGE SOFTBALL
Florida vs. Oregon (Friday, ESPN 2, 7 PM)
Kentucky vs. Alabama (Friday, ESPN 2, 9:30 PM)

Baylor vs. Florida State (Saturday, ESPN 2, 12 PM)
Louisiana-Lafayette vs Oklahoma (Saturday, ESPN 2, 2:30 PM)

OTHER SPORTS
UFC Fight Night (Saturday, FOX Sports 1, 8 PM)
Track And Field: Prefontaine Classic (Saturday, NBC, 4:30 PM)
NHRA Drag Racing: Toyota Summernationals (Saturday, ESPN, 4:30 PM)

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WWE Friday Night Smackdown (Friday, SyFy, 8 PM)

Primetime: What Would You Do? (Friday, ABC, 9 PM)

Crossbones, SERIES PREMIERE (Friday, NBC, 10 PM)

Bet On Your Baby (Saturday, ABC, 8 PM)

Rock n' Roll Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony (Saturday, HBO, 8 PM)
Orphan Black (Saturday, BBC America, 9 PM)
Sing Your Face Off, SERIES PREMIERE (Saturday, ABC, 9 PM)