Here are the team OPS+ and ERA+ totals so far this season, via Baseball Reference:
AL Team OPS+
1. Toronto Blue Jays (123)
2. Texas Rangers (116)
3. Boston Red Sox (116)
4. New York Yankees (115)
5. Cleveland Indians (108)
6. Baltimore Orioles (102)
7. Detroit Tigers (101)
8. Tampa Bay Rays (96)
9. Chicago White Sox (94)
10. Los Angeles Angels (93)
11. Minnesota Twins (90)
12. Kansas City Royals (87)
13. Seattle Mariners (77)
14. Oakland A's (68)
Comments:
- The Blue Jays continue to lead the AL in hitting and it will be interesting to see how long that can sustain such an elite offense.
- The Red Sox offense has been hot lately during their current 9 game home stand and they have averaged 6.8 runs per game at home versus just 4.5 on the road. My guess is that you might see their bats get somewhat cold against once the Red Sox go back on the road.
- Pitchers in the AL West must be licking their chops right now, since three of the worst offenses in the AL reside in the AL West with Angels joining the extra pathetic Mariners and A's.
NL Team OPS+
1. St. Louis Cardinals (124)
2. Los Angeles Dodgers (114)
3. Pittsburgh Pirates (105)
4. San Diego Padres (100)
5. Philadelphia Phillies (100)
6. New York Mets (99)
7. Atlanta Braves (98)
8. Washington Nationals (95)
9. Milwaukee Brewers (94)
10. Florida Marlins (92)
11. Colorado Rockies (90)
12. Chicago Cubs (90)
13. Houston Astros (84)
14. San Francisco Giants (73)
15. Cincinnati Reds (73)
16. Arizona Diamondbacks (71)
Comments:
- The NL is one bad hitting league and it's not even because the pitching has been so good. Only 5 out 16 teams are major league average or better at the plate in the NL so far, compared to 7 out of 14 teams in the AL.
- The Cardinals have far and away the best offense in the NL right now, but I don't expect them to sustain their current level. They have a couple players, like Yadier Molina & Joe Thurston, who are off to hot starts and will probably cool off at some point.
- It's surprising to see teams like the Phillies(100), Mets(99), and Cubs(90) struggling with average to below average offenses when they were expected to be elite offenses this season. It's still early, so I expect all 3 to pick things up offensively, but out of these three teams the Cubs have the best pitching, so they could sustain a drop an offense and compete better than the other two teams.
AL Team ERA+
1. Kansas City Royals (136)
2. Seattle Mariners (134)
3. Boston Red Sox (122)
4. Toronto Blue Jays (121)
5. Oakland A's (114)
6. Detroit Tigers (112)
7. Chicago White Sox (110)
8. Tampa Bay Rays (102)
9. Los Angeles Angels (97)
10. Baltimore Orioles (84)
11. Minnesota Twins (83)
12. Cleveland Indians (82)
13. Texas Rangers (80)
14. New York Yankees (77)
Comments:
- The Yankees have the worst pitching in all of baseball, which shouldn't be a surprise the way they've been getting lit up lately. I think they can turn it around though.
- The Royals pitching is flying somewhat under the radar right now, but they have gotten strong starts from Zach Greinke and Gil Meche at the front of their rotation and Juan Cruz and Joakim Soria have been strong at the end of games. Unfortunately, the Royals offense has been below average, so the Royals have just a 9-9 record.
NL Team ERA+
1. Pittsburgh Pirates (143)
2. San Francisco Giants (114)
3. St. Louis Cardinals (113)
4. Cincinnati Reds (109)
5. Los Angeles Dodgers (108)
6. Chicago Cubs (107)
7. Arizona Diamondbacks (104)
8. Atlanta Braves (103)
9. Houston Astros (98)
10. Florida Marlins (98)
11. New York Mets (96)
12. Milwaukee Brewers (96)
13. Washington Nationals (92)
14. San Diego Padres (89)
15. Colorado Rockies (84)
16. Philadelphia Phillies (79)
Comments:
- The Phillies pitching has been just as bad as the Yankees this season and that is not a good thing. The Phillies won't be able to repeat as champs unless they can improve their pitching, which I felt was their weakness coming into this season.
Other MLB News:
- Armando Galarraga is off to an impressive start for the Tigers this season. Through 24.1 innings, he has struck out 24 batters and is 3-0 with a 1.85 ERA. Definitely an impressive start for Galarraga, who has been so good because he has increased his strikeout rate from 6.35 per 9 innings to 8.88 per 9 and reduced his home run rate from 1.41 per 9 innings to 0.37 per 9. However, I don't expect him to be able to maintain those rates and his performance should come back down to earth assuming he doesn't get hurt first. Galarraga was ranked as the riskiest pitcher for 2009, due to his high innings increase and the high amount of curves/sliders he throws.
- In Yankees news, other than that their bullpen stinks, Phil Hughes will get another chance to show his stuff now that his has replaced Chien-Ming Wang at least for the moment. Hughes has been excellent in the minors so far this season going 3-0 with a 1.86 ERA, while striking out 19 in 19 1/3 innings of work. Also, with Brett Gardner struggling there is buzz that top prospect Austin Jackson will get a chance to play CF for the Yankees at some point this season. For now, the Yanks should bench Gardner and play Melky Cabrera in CF, who has been much better at the plate this season.
- Arizona SS Stephen Drew was placed on the 15-day DL with a strained left hamstring. Seems like being injury prone runs in the Drew family. Drew was off to a miserable start this season hitting just .205 with 1 HR and 5 RBI.
- Pedro Martinez is still a free agent, but the Brewers are one team that is emerging as a possible landing spot for Pedro. They definitely need help with the rotation and Pedro could help them if he has anything left in the tank. The Nationals are also believed to have some interest, while the Dodgers apparently do not.
No comments:
Post a Comment